Experimental research of the small gas turbine with variable area nozzle

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to present the experimental data of the operating parameters and emissions obtained in a small gas turbine equipped with a variable area nozzle system. The variable area nozzle is proposed as a means of improving turbine efficiency, which has been a popular trend in recent development of gas turbine engines. Based on turbine vane twisting, the proposed variable area nozzle system was developed and implemented in GTM-120 small gas turbine. The concept was experimentally investigated on the engine test bench and engine working parameters were accurately measured. Experimental research shows that significant improvement of engine specific fuel consumption (up to 4%) and specific thrust (up to 5%) has been achieved. Additionally, reduction in CO emissions (up to 64%), NO emissions (up to 7%) and NO2 emissions (up to 53%) has been noted. Experimental research results were compared with analytical engine model showing moderate, qualitative agreement between the experimental data and model outputs. Main advantages of variable area nozzle system and design challenges of the proposed concept are discussed in the article summary.