GAS, STEAM & HYDRO TURBINES ENGINEERING HUB

Driving GE Ecomagination with the Low-Emission GEnx Jet Engine July 20, 2005 -- EVENDALE, Ohio - With its GEnx jet engine, General Electric Company (GE) engineers are introducing breakthrough combustion technology that will dramatically reduce emissions in jet travel. The GEnx engine is being developed for the new Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 aircraft. The GEnx enters airline service in 2008, and has already received more than $2 billion in orders on the strength of new technologies that make it the most fuel efficient, quiet, and low-emissions jet engine that GE has ever introduced for large jet aircraft. The GEnx is part of GE's "ecomagination" products portfolio - GE's commitment to develop new, cost-effective technologies that will enhance customers' environmental and operating performance. Lowering exhaust emissions in jet engines, especially oxides of nitrogen (NOx), will continue to be a worldwide requirement. With the GEnx, GE is at the forefront of that tec...

Also known as miniature gas turbines or micro-jets. Many model engineers relish the challenge of re-creating the grand engineering feats of today as tiny working models. Naturally, the idea of re-creating a powerful engine such as the jet, fascinated hobbyists since the very first full size engines were powered up by Hans von Ohain and Frank Whittle back in the 1930s. Recreating machines such as engines to a different scale is not easy. Because of the square-cube law, the behaviour of many machines does not always scale up or down at the same rate as the machine's size (and often not even in a linear way), usually at best causing a dramatic loss of power or efficiency, and at worst causing them not to work at all. An automobile engine, for example, will not work if reproduced in the same shape at the size of a human hand. With this in mind the pioneer of modern Micro-Jets, Kurt Schreckling, produced one of the world's first Micro-Turbines, the FD3/67. This engine can produce up...

1963, Norway, Jan Mowill initiated the development at Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk. Various successors have made good progress in the refinement of this mechanism. Owing to a configuration that keeps heat away from certain bearings the durability of the machine is improved while the radial turbine is well matched in speed requirement. Concept The difference between axial and radial turbines consists in the way the air flows through the components (compressor and turbine). Whereas for an axial turbine the rotor is 'impacted' by the air flow, for a radial turbine, the flow is smoothly orientated at 90 degrees by the compressor towards the combustion chamber and driving the turbine in the same way water drives a watermill. The result is less mechanical and thermal stress which enables a radial turbine to be more simple, more robust and more efficient (in a similar power range as axial turbines). When it comes to high power ranges (above 5 MW) the radial turbine is no longer competitive ...

Also known as: *Turbo alternators *MicroTurbine (registered trademark of Capstone Turbine Corporation) *Turbo generator (registered trade name of Honeywell Power Systems, Inc.) Micro Turbines are becoming widespread for distributed power and combined heat and power applications. They are one of the most promising technologies for powering hybrid electric vehicles. They range from hand held units producing less than a kilowatt, to commercial sized systems that produce tens or hundreds of kilowatts. Part of their success is due to advances in electronics, which allows unattended operation and interfacing with the commercial power grid. Electronic power switching technology eliminates the need for the generator to be synchronized with the power grid. This allows the generator to be integrated with the turbine shaft, and to double as the starter motor. Microturbine systems have many advantages over reciprocating engine generators, such as higher power density (with respect to fo...

Industrial gas turbines differ from aeroderivatave in that the frames, bearings, and blading is of heavier construction. Industrial gas turbines range in size from truck-mounted mobile plants to enormous, complex systems. They can be particularly efficient——up to 60%——when waste heat from the gas turbine is recovered by a heat recovery steam generator to power a conventional steam turbine in a combined cycle configuration. They can also be run in a cogeneration configuration: the exhaust is used for space or water heating, or drives an absorption chiller for cooling or refrigeration. A cogeneration configuration can be over 90% efficient. The power turbines in the largest industrial gas turbines operate at 3,000 or 3,600 rpm to match the AC power grid frequency and to avoid the need for a reduction gearbox. Such engines require a dedicated enclosure, both to protect the engine from the elements and the operators from the noise. Simple cycle gas turbines in the power industry require sm...

Auxiliary power units (APUs) are small gas turbines designed for auxiliary power of larger machines, such as those inside an aircraft. They supply compressed air for aircraft ventilation (with an appropriate compressor design), start-up power for larger jet engines, and electrical and hydraulic power.

A popular hobby is to construct a gas turbine from an automotive turbocharger. A combustion chamber is fabricated and plumbed between the compressor and turbine. Like many technology based hobbies, they tend to give rise to manufacturing businesses over time. Several small companies manufacture small turbines and parts for the amateur.

Aeroderivatives and Jet Engines: Airbreathing jet engines are gas turbines optimized to produce thrust from the exhaust gases, or from ducted fans connected to the gas turbines. Jet engines that produce thrust primarily from the direct impulse of exhaust gases are often called turbojets, whereas those that generate most of their thrust from the action of a ducted fan are often called turbofans or (rarely) fan-jets. Gas turbines are also used in many liquid propellant rockets, the gas turbines are used to power a turbopump to permit the use of lightweight, low pressure tanks to be used, which saves considerable dry mass. Aeroderivatives are also used in electical power generation due to their ability to startup, shut down, and handle load changes quicker than industrial machines. They are also used in the marine industry to reduce weight. The GE LM2500 and LM6000 are two common models of this type of machine.

Gas turbines are described thermodynamically by the Brayton cycle, in which air is compressed isentropically, combustion occurs at constant pressure, and expansion over the turbine occurs isentropically back to the starting pressure. In practice, friction, and turbulence cause: non-isentropic compression: for a given overall pressure ratio, the compressor delivery temperature is higher than ideal. non-isentropic expansion: although the turbine temperature drop necessary to drive the compressor is unaffected, the associated pressure ratio is greater, which decreases the expansion available to provide useful work. pressure losses in the air intake, combustor and exhaust: reduces the expansion available to provide useful work. Brayton cycleAs with all cyclic heat engines, higher combustion temperature means greater efficiency. The limiting factor is the ability of the steel, nickel, ceramic, or other materials that make up the engine to withstand heat and pressure. Considerable engineeri...

60: Hero's Engine (aeolipile) - apparently Hero's steam engine was taken to be no more than a toy, and thus its full potential not realized for centuries. 1500: The "Chimney Jack" was drawn by Leonardo da Vinci which was turning a roasting spit. Hot air from a fire rose through a series of fans which connect and turn the roasting spit. 1551: Taqi al-Din invented a steam turbine, which he used to power a self-rotating spit.[1] 1629: Jets of steam rotated a turbine that then rotated driven machinery allowed a stamping mill to be developed by Giovanni Branca. 1678: Ferdinand Verbeist built a model carriage relying on a steam jet for power. 1791: A patent was given to John Barber, an Englishman, for the first true gas turbine. His invention had most of the elements present in the modern day gas turbines. The turbine was designed to power a horseless carriage. 1872: The first true gas turbine engine was designed by Dr F. Stolze, but the engine never ran under its own...

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a flow of combustion gas. It has an upstream compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between. (Gas turbine may also refer to just the turbine element.) Energy is added to the gas stream in the combustor, where air is mixed with fuel and ignited. Combustion increases the temperature, velocity and volume of the gas flow. This is directed through a (nozzle) over the turbine's blades, spinning the turbine and powering the compressor. Energy is extracted in the form of shaft power, compressed air and thrust, in any combination, and used to power aircraft, trains, ships, generators, and even tanks.

Alignment is the adjustment of an object in relation with other objects, or a static orientation of some object or set of objects in relation to others. * An alignment of megaliths: see stone row. * An alignment (archaeology) in archaeology is a secondary or circumstantial form of evidence used to associate features such as postholes * Alignment (role-playing games) refers to the moral and ethical perspective of the player characters, non-player characters, monsters, and societies in the game. * This meaning applies in particular to alignment in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It has a more specific meaning in some disciplines: * Business/IT alignment, Business/IT alignment optimizes the relational mechanisms between the business and IT organization by working on the IT effectiveness of the organization in order to maximise the business value from IT. * Typographic alignment, in typesetting, lines of text or images can be aligned left, right, c...

When two machines are connected together through a shaft coupling, every effort must be made to eliminate misalignment of those shafts which can lead to damage or wasteful loss of energy. Lasers are highly accurate and easy to use in aligning objects. Using laser shaft alignment techniques can reduce the amount of time in the alignment process. Precise laser coupling alignment is used to reduce bearing and seal damage, minimize energy loss, and reduce production downtime. Performing coupling alignment on a scheduled basis will make machinery last longer and perform more efficiently. There are several methods used to align couplings including 'eyeing' it, dial calibration and laser alignment. Each method varies in its degree of accuracy and dial calibration can be a very time consuming process. Utilizing a state-of-the-art laser measurement system, a technician will measure and align couplings, universal joints and belts. This alignment allows conveyor systems and manufacturing ...

Maximum Reliability With millions of hours of operation, F class turbines have established GE as the clear industry leader for successful fired hours in advanced technology gas turbines. Representing the world's largest, most experienced fleet of highly efficient gas turbines, designed for maximum reliability and efficiency with low life cycle costs, GE's F class turbines are favored by both power generators and industrial cogenerators requiring large blocks of reliable power. Introduced in 1987, GE's F class gas turbines resulted from a multi-year development program using technology advanced by GE Aircraft Engines and GE's Global Research Center. GE continually advances this technology by incrementally improving the F class product to attain ever higher combined cycle efficiencies. GE's F class gas turbines offer flexibility in cycle configuration, fuel selection and site adaptation. All F class gas turbines include an 18-stage ax...

GE offers the widest range of heavy duty gas turbines available, ranging from 26 to 480 megawatts. Within the GE product line are machines for every utility, IPP and industrial application, from pure power generation to cogeneration and district heating. Our worldwide installed fleet totals more than 6,000 gas turbines, the largest installed base of any gas turbine supplier. These units have accumulated well over 200 million fired hours of operating experience at unparalleled reliability levels. Always on the cutting edge of gas turbine technology, GE offers a wide array of technological options to meet the most challenging energy requirements. Using an integrated approach that includes parts, service, repair and project management, we deliver results that contribute to our customers' success.