The Chronological Development of the Cheng Cycle Steam Injected Gas Turbine During the Past 25 Years

Abstract

The Cheng Cycle gas turbine has enjoyed its 25th anniversary since its conception. More than 100 sites around the world including the United States, Japan, Australia, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands have used the Cheng Cycle. A chronology will be presented in this paper which will highlight the steps taken to develop the fully automated, load following power and cogeneration system. The Cheng cycle operates with a steam to air ratio trajectory that has its highest “peak efficiency” at the onset of a turbine’s operation. The peak efficiency point was coined as the Cheng point by Dr. Urbach [ref.1] of the US Navy’s David Taylor Research Center. Many thermodynamic and professional textbooks refer to the original Dual Fluid Cycle as the Cheng Cycle. Besides the high efficiency feature, the Cheng Cycle is mechanically simple and flexible in operation. It can put power on line faster than a combined cycle, and it has extremely clean emissions at low cost. The future performance of the Advanced Cheng Cycle will also be projected.