Review of Heat Exchanger Studies for High-Efficiency Gas Turbines

Abstract

Air transportation has been being expanded remarkably, and its growth is expected to continue in the coming decades. Environmental issues and airlines require gas turbine manufacturers to produce environmentally friendly gas-turbine engines with lower emissions and improved specific fuel consumption. These requirements can be met by incorporating heat exchangers into gas turbines for intercooling and recuperation. Relevant research in such areas as the design of a heat exchanger matrix, materials selection, and manufacturing technology and optimization has been carried out by a variety of researchers. These works are reviewed in this paper. The recent advance in technologies appears to herald the development of intercoolers and recuperators for civil aeroplane gas turbines. Based on results reported in previous studies, potential heat exchanger designs for an aero gas turbine recuperator, intercooler, and cooling-air cooler are suggested.