Prof. Dr. Ir. Harinaldi, M.

Eng
Mechanical Engineering Department
Faculty of Engineering University of Indonesia
RADial flow
gas turbines
RADial flow gas turbines

Stator and rotor disks
Function of the Radial Flow Gas Turbine

Flow enters the centrifugal compressor axially,
is turned toward the radial direction and is
compressed by the rotating blades of the
centrifugal compressor. The flow exits the
compressor section and enters the stator disk
radial flow combustion section. Hot combustor
exit flow is then expanded in the tangential
direction by stator nozzles to drive the impulse
turbine blades mounted on the rotor disk. Both
compressor and turbine blades are mounted
on the same wheel.
Cross-sectional view of radial flow gas
turbine
Functional
schematic of
radial flow gas
turbine (side and
top views)
Radial Flow Design Advantages
Single rotating component (i.e., mechanically simple and compact
gas turbine)

Rugged and portable
Short axial span
Simple two-disk construction
Low manufacturing costs
Easy maintenance and repair access
High tolerance to injection of particulate matter
Modern small industrial gas turbines are technically complex
machines, consisting of multiple rotating parts, bearings, seals,
lube oil systems and sophisticated electronic controls. The majority
of gas turbine designs are optimized for highest efficiency but
generally do not allow for portability and cannot handle severe
environmental conditions; consequently, ruggedness is often
sacrificed for efficiency. While this may be desirable for most
permanently installed large power plant applications, it is not
practical for small, portable, power-generation applications.

For a number of applications, customers desire simple, low-cost
gas turbines that can:
Function during very rugged environmental conditions
Be easily repaired or replaced
Be operated by untrained personnel
Be moved easily

Many of these applications are within the upstream oil production
or military power generation.

Radial Flow Gas Turbine

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is developing a novel radial flow
gas turbine design. This extremely light, small and rugged gas turbine
can provide a very simple power generation alternative. The gas turbine
incorporates only one rotating part and has no lube oil or seal gas
requirements, thus resulting in:

Low manufacturing costs
Low maintenance
Low repair cost
Low replacement cost

The simple design is:
Highly portable
Able to operate with a wide range of fuels
Tolerant of ingested particles, such as sand or dirt

Because of the inherent robustness of the combustor design, the
radial flow gas turbine can handle a wide spectrum of fuels including:

Natural gas
Liquid hydrocarbons
Heavy oils
Pure hydrogen

Description of the Radial Flow Gas Turbine
A single disk radial flow gas turbine is based on a straight radial flow
design with no axial flow turning. This geometry contains only two
major elements:

Rotor disk consists of a centrifugal compressor and high impulse
radial outward-flow turbine connected to an electric generator (and
starter motor)

Stator shroud disk contains the combustor and nozzles, fuel lines
are attached to the stator shroud disk and are ducted directly into the
combustor
Elements of a 90
0
inward flow radial gas
turbine without inlet nozzle ring
Elements of a 90
0
inward flow radial
gas turbine with inlet nozzle ring
Radial flow gas turbine
rotor
Inward flow volute Throat of nozzle
passage
Nozzle vanes
Nozzle passage
nozzle
Gas turbin aliran radial digunakan untuk kapasistas rendah, sangat
kompak, maks diameter +/- 0,2 m. Kecpt tinggi antara 40.000 180.000
rpm. Umumnya bertipe 90
0
, sudu rotor. Gas masuk dlm arah radial
kemudian keluar dlm arah aksial. Bentuk seperti kompresor sentrifugal,
bedanya alirannya berkebalikan. Gas masuk rumah keong, dimana luas
potongan melintangnya akan menurun secara gradual searah dgn
alirannya
Nosel berisikan sudu-sudu arah yang dapat diatur arah sudunya apabila
beban berubah
Dalam nosel energi kinetik gas dinaikkan, disamping itu gas diarahkan
masuk ( biasanya mempunyai arah 70
0
terhadap arah aksialnya) kedalam
rotor .
Untuk beberapa rancangan, nosel sama sekali tidak menggunakan sudu
arah, tetapi laluannya tetap berfungsi sebagai sebagai vaneless diffuser
seperti pada kompresor.
Rotor yang biasanya berbahan cast nickel alloy mempunyai sudu jalan
yang melengkung aliran arah radial menjadi aksial.
Selanjutnya aliran keluar melalui diffuser yang berfungsi untuk
menurunkan
Kinetik energi dan menaikkan enthalpi yang jatuh saat melalui rotor
Velocity Diagrams and Thermodynamics of Flow
Velocity triangles for the 90
0
inward flow radial gas turbines
Mollier chart for expansion in a 90
0

inward flow radial gas turbine
Spouting Velocity
If the gas passes the turbine isentopically, then the isentropic total
enthalpy drop is given by (h00 h02ss) if no diffuser is fitted and
by (h00 h03ss) if a diffuser is fitted.
The appropriate definition would be used depending upon the efficiency
being determined. It will be noted that the isentropic flow throughout

W/m = U
1
2
= C
s
2
/2

U
1
/C
s
= 0,707

In practice U
1
/C
s
lies in the range 0,68 to 0,7
Turbine Efficiency
Dimensionless Spesific Speed
Variation of efficiency with dimensionless specific speed