Gas turbine

Simplified diagram of a gas turbine

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine.^[1] The simplest form has three main parts:

A rotating gas compressor (SP in the diagram) to compress air
A combustion chamber, called a combustor (KS in the diagram) where fuel is injected
A turbine (TG in the diagram) on the same shaft as the compressor

The diagram shows a single-shaft gas turbine. One turbine drives both the compressor and the load, such as an electric generator. There are also two-shaft gas turbines, with separate turbines to drive the compressor and the load. Two-shaft turbines are better for driving road and rail vehicles because they can give more torque at low speed.

Gas Turbine Media

Examples of gas turbine configurations: (1) turbojet, (2) turboprop, (3) turboshaft (shown as electric generator), (4) high-bypass turbofan, (5) low-bypass afterburning turbofan
Sketch of John Barber's gas turbine, from his patent
typical axial-flow gas turbine turbojet, the J85, sectioned for display. Flow is left to right, multistage compressor on left, combustion chambers center, two-stage turbine on right
An LM6000 in an electrical power plant application
Gateway Generating Station, a combined-cycle gas-fired power station in California, uses two GE 7F.04 combustion turbines to burn natural gas.
GE H series power generation gas turbine: in combined cycle configuration, its highest thermodynamic efficiency is 62.22%
Scale jet engines are scaled down versions of this early full scale engine
MAZ-7907, a transporter erector launcher with a turbine-electric transmission
The 1950 Rover JET1

Related pages

Turbojet

References

↑ A Dictionary of Aviation, David W. Wragg. ISBN 10: 0850451639 / ISBN 13: 9780850451634, 1st Edition Published by Osprey, 1973 / Published by Frederick Fell, Inc., NY, 1974 (1st American Edition.), Page 141.

Other websites

[1] A Dictionary of Aviation, David W. Wragg. ISBN 10: 0850451639 / ISBN 13: 9780850451634, 1st Edition Published by Osprey, 1973 / Published by Frederick Fell, Inc., NY, 1974 (1st American Edition.), Page 141.

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