UNIT 4

GAS TURBINES
Course Objective:
Student have knowledge of methods of analysis and design of complicated thermodynamic
systems

Course Outcome:

To be able to recognize main and supplementary elements of turbines and define operational principles.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 Brayton Cycle

Brayton cycle, popularly used for gas turbine power plants comprises of adiabatic
compression process, constant pressure heat addition, adiabatic expansion process and
constant pressure heat release process. A schematic diagram for air-standard
Brayton cycle is shown in Fig. 4.1. Simple gas turbine power plant working on
Brayton cycle is also shown here.

Thermodynamic cycle shows following

processes:

1-2: Adiabatic compression, involving (–ve) work, WC in

compressor.

2-3 : Constant pressure heat addition, involving heat Qadd in combustion chamber or
heat exchanger.

3-4: Adiabatic expansion, involving (+ve) work, WT in

turbine.
4-1: Constant pressure heat rejection, involving heat, Qrejected in atmosphere or
heat exchanger.

In the gas turbine plant layout shown process 1–2 (adiabatic compression) is seen to
occur

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 in compressor, heat addition process 2–3 occurs in combustion chamber having open
type arrangement and in heat exchanger in closed type arrangement. Process 3–4 of
adiabatic expansion occurs in turbine.

In open type arrangement exhaust from turbine is discharged to atmosphere while

in closed type, heat rejection occurs in heat exchanger. In gas turbine plant of open
type, air entering compressor gets compressed and subsequently brought up
to elevated temperature in combustion chamber where fuel is added to high pressure
air and combustion occurs. High pressure and high temperature combustion products
are sent for expansion in turbine where its’ expansion yields positive work. Expanded
combustion products are subsequently discharged to atmosphere. Negative work
required for compression is drawn from the positive work available from turbine and
residual positive work is available as shaft work for driving generator.

In gas turbine plant of closed type the working fluid is recycled and performs different
processes without getting contaminated. Working fluid is compressed in compressor
and subsequently heated up in heat exchanger through indirect heating. High
pressure and high temperature working fluid is sent for getting positive work from
turbine and the expanded working fluid leaving turbine is passed through heat
exchanger where heat is picked up from working fluid. Thus, the arrangement shows
that even costly working fluids can also be used in closed type as it remains
uncontaminated and is being recycled.

Air standard analysis of Brayton cycle gives work for compression and expansion
as;

WC = m1 · (h2 –
h1)

WT = m3 · (h3 –
h4)

for air standard analysis, m1 = m3, where as in actual

cycle

m3 = m1 + mf , in open type gas

turbine

m3 = m1, in closed type gas

turbine

For the fuel having calorific value CV the heat added in air standard
cycle;

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 Qadd = m1(h3 – h2), whereas Qadd = mf × CV for actual

cycle. Net work = WT – WC

Wnet = {m3 (h3 – h4) – m1(h2 –

h1)}

Thus, it is obvious from the expression of efficiency that it depends only on pressure
ratio (r) and nature of gas (γ). For pressure ratio of unity, efficiency shall be zero.
For a particular gas the cycle efficiency increases with increasing pressure ratio.
Here the variation of efficiency with pressure ratio is shown for air (γ= 1.4) and
monatomic gas as

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 Regenerative gas turbine cycle

Regenerative air standard gas turbine cycle shown ahead in Fig. 4.3 has a regenerator
(counter flow heat exchanger) through which the hot turbine exhaust gas
and comparatively cooler air coming from compressor flow in opposite directions.
Under ideal conditions, no frictional pressure drop occurs in either fluid stream while
turbine exhaust gas gets cooled from 4 to 4' while compressed air is heated
from 2 to 2'. Assuming regenerator effectiveness as 100% the temperature rise
from 2–2' and drop from 4 to 4' is shown on T-S diagram.

Thus, thermodynamically the amount of heat now added shall be

Qadd, regen = m (h3 – h2 ')

Where as without regenerator the heat added; Qadd = m (h3 –

h2) Here it is obvious that, Qadd, regen < Qadd

This shows an obvious improvement in cycle thermal efficiency as every thing

else remains same. Net work produced per unit mass flow is not altered by the
use of regenerator.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 eheat gas turbine
cycle

Reheat gas turbine cycle arrangement is shown in Fig. 4.4. In order to maximize
the
work available from the simple gas turbine cycle one of the option is to increase
enthalpy of fluid entering gas turbine and extend its expansion upto the lowest
possible enthalpy value.

C: Compressor HPT: High pressure turbine

CC: Combustion chamber LPT: Low pressure turbine

G: Generator RCC: Reheat combustion

chamber f: Fuel

This can also be said in terms of pressure and temperature values i.e. inject fluid at
high pressure and temperature into gas turbine and expand upto lowest possible
pressure value. Upper limit at inlet to turbine is limited by metallurgical limits while
lower pressure is limited to near atmospheric pressure in case of open cycle. Here
in the arrangement shown ambient air enters compressor and compressed air at high
pressure leaves at 2. Compressed air is injected into combustion chamber for
increasing its temperature up to desired turbine inlet temperature at state 3. High
pressure and high temperature fluid enters high pressure turbine (HPT) for first
phase of expansion and expanded gases leaving at 4 are sent to reheat combustion
chamber (reheater) for being further heated. Thus, reheating is a kind of energizing the
working fluid.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 Assuming perfect reheating (in which temperature after reheat is same as temperature
attained in first combustion chamber), the fluid leaves at state 5 and enters low pressure
turbine (LPT) for remaining expansion upto desired pressure value. Generally,

temperature after reheating at state 5 is less than temperature at state 3. In the absence
of reheating the expansion process within similar pressure limits goes upto state 4'.
Thus, reheating offers an obvious advantage of work output increase since constant
pressure

lines on T-S diagram diverge slightly with increasing entropy, the total work of the
two stage turbine is greater than that of single expansion from state 3 to state 4'. i.e.,

(T3 – T4) + (T5 –T6) > (T3 – T4′).

Here it may be noted that the heat addition also increases because of additional heat
supplied for reheating. Therefore, despite the increase in net work due to reheating the
cycle thermal efficiency would not necessarily increase.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 reducing compression work. It is based on the fact that for a fixed compression ratio
higher is the inlet temperature higher shall be compression work requirement and
vice-a-versa. Schematic for intercooled gas turbine cycle is given in Fig. 4.7.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 Thermodynamic processes involved in multistage intercooled compression are shown
in Figs.
4.8, 4.9. First stage compression occurs in low pressure compressor (LPC) and compressed
air leaving LPC at ‘2’ is sent to intercooler where temperature of compressed air is lowered
down to state 3 at constant pressure. In case of perfect intercooling the temperatures
at 3 and 1 are same. Intercooler is a kind of heat exchanger where heat is picked up from
high temperature compressed air. The amount of compression work saved due to
intercooling is obvious from p-V diagram and shown by area 2342'. Area 2342' gives
the amount of work saved due to intercooling between compression.

for gas turbine cycle with intercooling shows that in the absence of intercooling within
same pressure limits the state at the end of compression would be 2' while with perfect
intercooling
this state is at 4 i.e., T2' > T4. The reduced temperature at
compressor

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Isentropic efficiency of turbine and compressor can be mathematically given as

Isentropic efficiency of compressor

Other factors causing the real cycle to be different from ideal cycle are as given below:

(i) Fluid velocities in turbomachines are very high and there exists substantial
change in kinetic energy between inlet and outlet of each component. In
the analysis carried out earlier the changes in kinetic energy have been
neglected whereas for exact analysis it cannot be.
(ii) In case of regenerator the compressed air cannot be heated to the
temperature of gas leaving turbine as the terminal temperature difference
shall always exist.
(iii) Compression process shall involve work more than theoretically estimated
value in order to overcome bearing and windage friction losses.
Different factors described above can be accounted for by stagnation properties,
compressor and turbine isentropic efficiency and polytropic efficiency.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Solution:

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Example 3:

Solution:

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

A heat Exchanger is not used because it would result in an exhaust temperature that would be
too low for use with a high efficiency steam cycle.
The Assumptions are as follows

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Problems for practice
In an air standard Otto cycle, the compression ratio is 7 and the compression begins at 35oC and 0.1
MPa. The maximum temperature of the cycle is 1100oC. Find (a) the temperature and the pressure at
various points in the cycle, (b) the heat supplied per kg of air, (c) work done per kg of air, (d) the cycle
efficiency and (e) the MEP of the cycle.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Problem 2
In a Diesel cycle, the compression ratio is 15. Compression begins at 0.1 Mpa, 40oC. The heat
added is 1.675 MJ/kg. Find (a) the maximum temperature in the cycle, (b) work done per kg of
air (c) the cycle efficiency (d) the temperature at the end of the isentropic expansion (e) the
cut-
off ratio and (f) the MEP of the cycle.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Problem 3
An air-standard Ericsson cycle has an ideal regenerator. Heat is supplied at 1000°Cand heat is
rejected at 20°C. If the heat added is 600 kJ/kg,find the compressor work, the turbine work,
and the cycle efficiency.

Since the regenerator is given as ideal, -Q2-3= Q1-4

Also in an Ericsson cycle, the heat is input during the isothermal expansion process, which is
the turbine part of the cycle. Hence the turbine work is 600 kJ/kg.

Problem 4
In a Braytoncycle based power plant, the air at the inlet is at 27oC, 0.1 MPa.
The pressure ratio is 6.25and the maximum temperature is 800oC.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Find (a) the compressor work per kg of air (b) the turbine work per kg or air
(c) the heat supplied per kg of air, and (d) the cycle efficiency.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
Industrial Applications
The following are the applications of a gas turbine:

1. They are used to propel air-crafts and ships,

2. Gas turbine plants are used as standby plants for the hydroelectric power plants.
3. Gas turbine power plants may be used as peak loads plant and standby plants for
smaller power units.
4. The shaft can be connected to other machinery to do various types of work such
as: turning a helicopter rotor, running a compressor (which "crushes" a gas to a
condensed form for use in industrial applications) or generating electric power.
5. The gas turbine is useful to our modern world because it is relatively compact in
size and makes a lot of power. Gas turbines are used in backup power systems in
Manhattan for example, when the grid goes down due to natural disaster, gas
turbines power up and can produce power for emergency uses.
6. Gas turbines are used on oil platforms to make power. The oil platform is like a
small city, isolated out on the water, so it requires a lot of power and does not
have a lot of space. Gas turbines are also used in oil refineries to make power for
the cracking process.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

TUTORIAL QUESTIONS
 UNIT – IV
Theory Questions:
1. Explain about the open cycle and closed cycle turbines with neat sketches and also
draw P-V & T-S diagrams.

2. State the merits of gas turbines over IC engines.

3. Draw the gas turbine power plant with inter cooling

4. List out the advantages of open cycle gas turbine over closed cycle gas turbine.
5. List different applications of gas turbine power cycles in power sector industries.
6. Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of gas turbines and steam turbines.
7. What are the different methods to improve the efficiency of gas turbines?
8. What are the different types of combustion chambers in gas turbine engines?
Explain them in detail with relevant sketches.
9. Draw the schematic diagram of closed cycle gas turbine and explain its working.
10. Explain the operating principle of Brayton cycle with a schematic diagram p-v and T-s
diagrams.

11. Why Re-heater is necessary in gas turbine? What are its effects
12. What are the requirements of a good combustion chamber for a gas turbine?
13. Explain with neat sketch the gas turbine cycles with intercooling and reheating and
what will be the condition of maximum output

Numerical Problems:

1. A simple gas turbine cycle works with a pressure ratio of 8. The compressor and
turbine inlet temperatures are 300 K and 800 K respectively. If the volume flow rate
of air is 250 m3/s, compute the power output and thermal efficiency

2. A constant pressure open cycle gas turbine plant works between temperature range
of 15ºC and 700ºC and pressure ratio of 6. Find the mass of air circulating in the
installation, if it develops 1100 kW. Also find the heat supplied by the heating
chamber.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
3. In a gas turbine plant, air is drawn at 1 bar, 150 C and the pressure ratio is 6. The
expansion takes place in two turbines. The efficiency of compressor is 0.82, high
pressure turbine is
0.85 and low pressure turbine is 0.84. The maximum cycle temperature is 6250 C.
Calculate
i) Pressure and temperature of gases entering the low pressure turbine.
ii) Net power developed
iii) Work ratio
iv) Thermal efficiency. Work output of high pressure turbine is equal to compressor
work
4. In an air standard regenerative gas turbine cycle the pressure ratio is 5. Air enters
the compressor at 1 bar, 300 K and leaves at 490 K. The maximum temperature in
the cycle is 1000 K. Calculate the cycle efficiency, given that the efficiency of
regenerator and the adiabatic efficiency of the turbine are each 80%. Assume for air,
the ratio of specific heats is 1.4. Also show the cycle on T-S diagram.
5. A gas turbine unit receives air at 1 bar and 300 K and compresses it adiabatically to
6.2 bar. The compressor efficiency is 88%. The fuel has a heating value of 44186
KJ/kg and
the fuel air ratio is 0.017 KJ/kg of air. The turbine efficiency is 90 %. Calculate the
work of turbine and compressor per kg of air compressed and thermal efficiency.
Take Cp=1.005 KJ/kg K, γ=1.4 for the compression process, Cp=1.147 KJ/kg K,
γ=1.33 for the expansion process.
ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
1. a) Describe with neat sketches the working of a simple constant pressure open cycle
gas turbine.
b) Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of gas turbines and steam turbines.
2. Describe with neat diagram a closed cycle gas turbine and explain advantages,
disadvantages and applications.
3. Explain with neat sketch the gas turbine cycles with intercooling and reheating and
what will be the condition of maximum output.
4. Explain about the open cycle and closed cycle turbines with neat sketches and also
draw P-V & T-S diagrams.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 UNIT 5
JET PROPULSION & ROCKETS
Course Objective:
Applications and the principles of thermodynamics to components and systems.

Course Outcome:
Develop problem solving skills through the application of thermodynamics.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING