Overview
Today gas turbine performance is of paramount importance as it directly influences the profitability of any business that employ them. It is indeed the end product that operators purchase and manufacturers have to guarantee. Gas turbine performance is affected by various factors. These include ambient conditions, performance deterioration and control system performance. Therefore, this course on industrial gas turbine performance engineering addresses these issues and has been design using simulators. The use of simulators in training and education brings a holistic understanding of the subject and therefore increases the width and depth of understanding. This differs from traditional methods such as numerical exercises, which gives a somewhat narrow understanding and can also be laborious. However, the course begins with the discussion of theory of gas turbine performance and operation, and then uses these virtual engines to revisit the theory by applying these simulators.
We have therefore divided the course into three parts. In Part 1, we discuss the thermodynamics of gas turbine cycle and the performance of engine components such as compressors, turbines and combustion. This includes the performance behavior of gas turbines during off-design operating conditions as this is where the gas turbine operates for most of its life. The impact of performance deterioration on engine performance, turbine creep life usage and emissions are also included. The performance engine control systems are also discussed as applied to a single and two-shaft gas turbine operating with a free power turbine.
In Parts 2 and 3 we revisit Part 1, where we employ gas turbine simulators to illustrate much of the discussion in Part 1, particularly the effects of ambient conditions, performance deterioration and control system performance on engine performance, turbine creep life usage and emissions. We have also included power augmentation techniques in the latter parts of the course and include peak rating, maximum continues rating and turbine inlet cooling, which is becoming increasingly popular. The simulation of control system performance is also discussed and includes the simulation of faults associated with control systems. Two simulators are employed and they correspond to the single shaft gas turbine, which is extensively used in power generation, and the two-shaft gas turbine operating with a free power turbine, which is widely used in mechanical drive and naval applications. Thus, these two cover the vast majority of gas turbine configurations operating in the field.
The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of fifty (50) questions at the end of this course to obtain PDH credits.
Completion of this course requires the use of single shaft and two-shaft gas turbine simulators, available from Gas Path Analysis Limited. The simulators can be downloaded and used free of charge for 14 days. Below is the link to download the simulators:
http://www.gpal.co.uk/tryit.htm
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Various thermodynamic processes of as simple gas turbine cycle.
- The performance of an ideal simple gas turbine cycle and its comparison with the ideal Carnot cycle.
- Maximum power condition of an ideal simple gas turbine cycle.
- Concept of irreversibility and (isentropic and polytropic) efficiency of a compression and expansion process.
- The variation in performance between the ideal and practical gas turbine cycle.
- Compressor stage and overall characteristics using non-dimensional parameters.
- Compressor surge.
- Principles of gas turbine combustion including dry low emission (DLE) combustors. This includes the use of simulators to illustrate the principle of DLE combustion.
- Turbine stage and overall characteristics using non-dimensional parameters.
- Turbine creep life prediction and turbine cooling techniques
- Prediction and the behavior of the off-design performance of gas turbines (single shaft gas turbine and two-shaft gas turbine operating with a free power turbine)
- The impact of ambient conditions (such as temperature, pressure and humidity) on engine performance, creep life usage and emissions, and illustrated using simulators
- Introduction to the concept of rating curves to ensure satisfactory turbine creep life and illustrated using simulators
- Illustrating various means of power augmentation using simulators
- Optimization of gas turbine performance for a given operating environment
- The impact of gas turbine performance deterioration, such as compressor fouling, hot end damage and rubs, on engine performance, turbine creep life usage and emissions and illustrated using simulators
- Principles of gas turbine controls and its impact on engine performance, creep life usage and emissions, including faults and illustrated using simulators. The control and operation of variable inlet guide vanes (VIGV) applied to a single shaft gas turbine is also simulated and discussed in detail
Course
Click on the following link to the PDF document to review the course material before taking the quiz for credit.
Industrial Gas Turbine Performance Engineering
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