UHEGT: The Ultra-High Efficiency Gas Turbine Engine With Stator Internal Combustion

Abstract

The current article introduces a physics based revolutionary technology that enables energy efficiency and environmental compatibility goals of future generation aircraft and power generation gas turbines. An Ultra-High Efficiency Gas Turbine technology (UHEGT) is developed, where the combustion process is no longer contained in isolation between the compressor and turbine, rather distributed in three stages and integrated within the first three HP-turbine stator rows. The proposed distributed combustion results in high thermal efficiencies, which cannot be achieved by conventional gas turbine engines. Particular fundamental issues of aero-thermodynamic design, combustion, and heat transfer are addressed in this study along with comprehensive CFD simulations. The aero-thermodynamic study shows that the UHEGT-concept improves the thermal efficiency of gas turbines 5–7% above the current most advanced high efficiency gas turbine engines, such as Alstom GT24. Multiple configurations are designed and simulated numerically to achieve the optimum configuration for UHEGT. CFD simulations include combustion process in conjunction with a rotating turbine row. Temperature and velocity distributions are investigated as well as power generation, pressure losses, and NOx emissions. Results show that the configuration in which fuel is injected into the domain through cylindrical tubes provides the best combustion process and the most uniform temperature distribution at the rotor inlet.