Turbines, Gas

Abstract

The first jet engine-powered aircraft flight and the first electric power produced by a land-based gas turbine both occurred in 1939, making the gas turbine one of the youngest energy conversion devices. A gas turbine consists of a rotating assembly of a compressor to draw in a gas (usually air) and a turbine to extract power from the gas flow. Energy (usually combusted fuel) is added in a combustor between the two rotating components to heat the gas flow and power the turbine. Gas turbines are used to produce either thrust power (e.g., an aircraft jet engine) or shaft power (e.g., to turn an electric generator). The thermal efficiency and power output of a gas turbine are dependent on the compressor pressure ratio and on the gas flow temperature at the inlet to the turbine. Gas turbines range in size from hand-held units to whale-size units, weighing from a few kilograms to almost 400000kg, and producing power from tens of kilowatts up to hundreds of megawatts.