Intercooled gas turbine. Final report, February 1985-February 1987

Technical Report · Thu May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

OSTI ID:6533188

Karstensen, K W

The simple addition of an intercooler to the Solar 5650 gas turbine increases its maximum output from 3600 to 4700 horsepower and its maximum thermal efficiency from 34.1% to 37.6%. Concurrent improvements under development can boost thermal efficiency to 43%. The optimum near-term intercooler is liquid cooled and is available in four months lead time from the heat-exchanger industry based on an existing heat-transfer surface and associated production tooling. Air-cooled intercoolers of conventional construction are prohibitively large. Air-to-air intercooling offers attractive advantages if a suitable size can be achieved.

• Research Organization: Solar Turbines, Inc., San Diego, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6533188
• Report Number(s): PB-87-178042/XAB; ER-6129
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
425001* -- Engineering-- Power Cycles-- Brayton-- (1980-)
BRAYTON CYCLE
COMPRESSORS
COOLING
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GAS TURBINE ENGINES
GASES
HEAT ENGINES
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
NATURAL GAS
REGENERATORS
THERMAL EFFICIENCY
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES