Abstract
Conventional gas turbines are approaching their efficiency limits and performance gains are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. Pressure Gain Combustion (PGC) has emerged as a very promising technology in this respect, due to the higher thermal efficiency of the respective ideal gas turbine thermodynamic cycles. Up to date, only very simplified models of open cycle gas turbines with pressure gain combustion have been considered. However, the integration of a fundamentally different combustion technology will be inherently connected with additional losses. Entropy generation in the combustion process, combustor inlet pressure loss (a central issue for pressure gain combustors), and the impact of PGC on the secondary air system (especially blade cooling) are all very important parameters that have been neglected. The current work uses the Humphrey cycle in an attempt to address all these issues in order to provide gas turbine component designers with benchmark efficiency values for individual components of gas turbines with PGC. The analysis concludes with some recommendations for the best strategy to integrate turbine expanders with PGC combustors. This is done from a purely thermodynamic point of view, again with the goal to deliver design benchmark values for a more realistic interpretation of the cycle.
Highlights
Based on information from the International Air Transportation Association [1], 3.8 billion passengers traveled by air in 2016, which is 8% more than the previous year
Pressure gain combustion has been compared to constant pressure combustion on the basis of the specific impulse, mainly because pressure gain combustors are assumed to exhaust directly to atmosphere and not to a turbine expander
The current analysis focuses on the Humphrey cycle with turbine inlet temperature of 1700 ◦ C
Summary
Based on information from the International Air Transportation Association [1], 3.8 billion passengers traveled by air in 2016, which is 8% more than the previous year. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecasts that air transport CO2 emissions will grow by 23 %. By 2050, if no measures for their abatement are taken [2]. Stringent environmental regulations are already in place with the ultimate goal to cut net emissions to half of the 2005 level by. Stationary gas turbines are the only thermal power plant technology capable of delivering both secondary and tertiary control reserve from idle [3]. The rapid expansion of renewable generation in Europe is expected to double the demand for both reserves in the coming decade [4]
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