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112-512: Gas , steam , and water turbines have a casing around the blades that contains and controls the working fluid. The word "turbine" was coined in 1822 by the French mining engineer Claude Burdin from the Greek τύρβη , tyrbē , meaning " vortex " or "whirling". Benoit Fourneyron , a former student of Claude Burdin, built the first practical water turbine. Credit for invention of the steam turbine

224-479: A turbine map or characteristic. The number of blades in the rotor and the number of vanes in the stator are often two different prime numbers in order to reduce the harmonics and maximize the blade-passing frequency. A large proportion of the world's electrical power is generated by turbo generators . Turbines are used in gas turbine engines on land, sea and air. Turbochargers are used on piston engines. Gas turbines have very high power densities (i.e.

336-415: A turbojet , driving the fan of a turbofan , rotor or accessory of a turboshaft , and gear reduction and propeller of a turboprop . If the engine has a power turbine added to drive an industrial generator or a helicopter rotor, the exit pressure will be as close to the entry pressure as possible with only enough energy left to overcome the pressure losses in the exhaust ducting and expel the exhaust. For

448-409: A turboprop engine there will be a particular balance between propeller power and jet thrust which gives the most economical operation. In a turbojet engine only enough pressure and energy is extracted from the flow to drive the compressor and other components. The remaining high-pressure gases are accelerated through a nozzle to provide a jet to propel an aircraft. The smaller the engine, the higher

560-420: A turbopump to permit the use of lightweight, low-pressure tanks, reducing the empty weight of the rocket. A turboprop engine is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear to translate high turbine section operating speed (often in the 10s of thousands) into low thousands necessary for efficient propeller operation. The benefit of using the turboprop engine is to take advantage of

672-452: A turboshaft design. They supply: Industrial gas turbines differ from aeronautical designs in that the frames, bearings, and blading are of heavier construction. They are also much more closely integrated with the devices they power—often an electric generator —and the secondary-energy equipment that is used to recover residual energy (largely heat). They range in size from portable mobile plants to large, complex systems weighing more than

784-402: A blade length up to 80 meters (260 ft). Designs with 10 to 12 MW were in preparation in 2018, and a "15 MW+" prototype with three 118-metre (387 ft) blades is planned to be constructed in 2022. The average hub height of horizontal axis wind turbines is 90 meters. Vertical-axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. One advantage of this arrangement

896-413: A buildup on the outside of the blades. Nickel-based superalloys boast improved strength and creep resistance due to their composition and resultant microstructure . The gamma (γ) FCC nickel is alloyed with aluminum and titanium in order to precipitate a uniform dispersion of the coherent Ni 3 (Al,Ti) gamma-prime (γ') phases. The finely dispersed γ' precipitates impede dislocation motion and introduce

1008-440: A designer to change from impulse at the base, to a high reaction-style tip. Classical turbine design methods were developed in the mid 19th century. Vector analysis related the fluid flow with turbine shape and rotation. Graphical calculation methods were used at first. Formulae for the basic dimensions of turbine parts are well documented and a highly efficient machine can be reliably designed for any fluid flow condition . Some of

1120-517: A few dozen hours per year—depending on the electricity demand and the generating capacity of the region. In areas with a shortage of base-load and load following power plant capacity or with low fuel costs, a gas turbine powerplant may regularly operate most hours of the day. A large single-cycle gas turbine typically produces 100 to 400 megawatts of electric power and has 35–40% thermodynamic efficiency . Industrial gas turbines that are used solely for mechanical drive or used in collaboration with

1232-579: A gas turbine engine is its power to weight ratio. Since significant useful work can be generated by a relatively lightweight engine, gas turbines are perfectly suited for aircraft propulsion. Thrust bearings and journal bearings are a critical part of a design. They are hydrodynamic oil bearings or oil-cooled rolling-element bearings . Foil bearings are used in some small machines such as micro turbines and also have strong potential for use in small gas turbines/ auxiliary power units A major challenge facing turbine design, especially turbine blades ,

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1344-441: A gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive an electrical generator. Some turbines use a different type of generator suited to slower rotational speed input. These don't need a gearbox and are called direct-drive, meaning they couple the rotor directly to the generator with no gearbox in between. While permanent magnet direct-drive generators can be more costly due to

1456-412: A greater friction moment and thus a lower power coefficient. The air velocity is the major contributor to the turbine efficiency. This is the reason for the importance of choosing the right location. The wind velocity will be high near the shore because of the temperature difference between the land and the ocean. Another option is to place turbines on mountain ridges. The higher the wind turbine will be,

1568-490: A hundred tonnes housed in purpose-built buildings. When the gas turbine is used solely for shaft power, its thermal efficiency is about 30%. However, it may be cheaper to buy electricity than to generate it. Therefore, many engines are used in CHP (Combined Heat and Power) configurations that can be small enough to be integrated into portable container configurations. Gas turbines can be particularly efficient when waste heat from

1680-418: A lesser extent, on cars, buses, and motorcycles. A key advantage of jets and turboprops for airplane propulsion – their superior performance at high altitude compared to piston engines, particularly naturally aspirated ones – is irrelevant in most automobile applications. Their power-to-weight advantage, though less critical than for aircraft, is still important. Gas turbines offer a high-powered engine in

1792-474: A lower blade speed ratio, which lowers blade bending stresses. Straight, V, or curved blades may be used. These are drag-type devices with two (or more) scoops that are used in anemometers, Flettner vents (commonly seen on bus and van roofs), and in some high-reliability low-efficiency power turbines. They are always self-starting if there are at least three scoops. Twisted Savonius is a modified savonius, with long helical scoops to provide smooth torque. This

1904-416: A pressure casement around the rotor since the fluid jet is created by the nozzle prior to reaching the blades on the rotor. Newton's second law describes the transfer of energy for impulse turbines. Impulse turbines are most efficient for use in cases where the flow is low and the inlet pressure is high. Reaction turbines develop torque by reacting to the gas or fluid's pressure or mass. The pressure of

2016-402: A reaction lift from the moving fluid and impart it to the rotor. Wind turbines also gain some energy from the impulse of the wind, by deflecting it at an angle. Turbines with multiple stages may use either reaction or impulse blading at high pressure. Steam turbines were traditionally more impulse but continue to move towards reaction designs similar to those used in gas turbines. At low pressure

2128-532: A recovery steam generator differ from power generating sets in that they are often smaller and feature a dual shaft design as opposed to a single shaft. The power range varies from 1 megawatt up to 50 megawatts. These engines are connected directly or via a gearbox to either a pump or compressor assembly. The majority of installations are used within the oil and gas industries. Mechanical drive applications increase efficiency by around 2%. Oil and gas platforms require these engines to drive compressors to inject gas into

2240-461: A second, independent turbine (known as a power turbine ) that can be connected to a fan, propeller, or electrical generator. The purpose of the gas turbine determines the design so that the most desirable split of energy between the thrust and the shaft work is achieved. The fourth step of the Brayton cycle (cooling of the working fluid) is omitted, as gas turbines are open systems that do not reuse

2352-584: A series of batteries . The batteries powered various electrical tools and lamps, as well as a threshing machine. Friedländer's windmill and its accessories were prominently installed at the north entrance to the main exhibition hall (" Rotunde ") in the Vienna Prater . In July 1887, Scottish academic James Blyth installed a battery-charging machine to light his holiday home in Marykirk , Scotland. Some months later, American inventor Charles F. Brush

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2464-417: A stable environment. Different materials have varying effects on the efficiency of wind turbines. In an Ege University experiment, three wind turbines, each with three blades with a diameter of one meter, were constructed with blades made of different materials: A glass and glass/carbon epoxy , glass/carbon, and glass/polyester. When tested, the results showed that the materials with higher overall masses had

2576-569: A threshold stress, increasing the stress required for the onset of creep. Furthermore, γ' is an ordered L1 2 phase that makes it harder for dislocations to shear past it. Further Refractory elements such as rhenium and ruthenium can be added in solid solution to improve creep strength. The addition of these elements reduces the diffusion of the gamma prime phase, thus preserving the fatigue resistance, strength, and creep resistance. The development of single crystal superalloys has led to significant improvements in creep resistance as well. Due to

2688-550: A very small and light package. However, they are not as responsive and efficient as small piston engines over the wide range of RPMs and powers needed in vehicle applications. In series hybrid vehicles, as the driving electric motors are mechanically detached from the electricity generating engine, the responsiveness, poor performance at low speed and low efficiency at low output problems are much less important. The turbine can be run at optimum speed for its power output, and batteries and ultracapacitors can supply power as needed, with

2800-419: Is a major drawback. Vertical turbine designs have much lower efficiency than standard horizontal designs. The key disadvantages include the relatively low rotational speed with the consequential higher torque and hence higher cost of the drive train, the inherently lower power coefficient , the 360-degree rotation of the aerofoil within the wind flow during each cycle and hence the highly dynamic loading on

2912-425: Is also required to drive a helicopter rotor or land-vehicle transmission ( turboshaft ), marine propeller or electrical generator (power turbine). Greater thrust-to-weight ratio for flight is achieved with the addition of an afterburner . The basic operation of the gas turbine is a Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid : atmospheric air flows through the compressor that brings it to higher pressure; energy

3024-431: Is approximately 50% of the building height it is near the optimum for maximum wind energy and minimum wind turbulence. While wind speeds within the built environment are generally much lower than at exposed rural sites, noise may be a concern and an existing structure may not adequately resist the additional stress. Subtypes of the vertical axis design include: "Eggbeater" turbines, or Darrieus turbines, were named after

3136-419: Is derived to be independent of turbine size. Given the fluid flow conditions and the desired shaft output speed, the specific speed can be calculated and an appropriate turbine design selected. The specific speed, along with some fundamental formulas can be used to reliably scale an existing design of known performance to a new size with corresponding performance. Off-design performance is normally displayed as

3248-623: Is determined by the stiffness of fibers and their volume content. Typically, E-glass fibers are used as main reinforcement in the composites. Typically, the glass/epoxy composites for wind turbine blades contain up to 75% glass by weight. This increases the stiffness, tensile and compression strength. A promising composite material is glass fiber with modified compositions like S-glass, R-glass etc. Other glass fibers developed by Owens Corning are ECRGLAS, Advantex and WindStrand. Carbon fiber has more tensile strength, higher stiffness and lower density than glass fiber. An ideal candidate for these properties

3360-463: Is distinguished from the Otto cycle , in that all the processes (compression, ignition combustion, exhaust), occur at the same time, continuously. In a real gas turbine, mechanical energy is changed irreversibly (due to internal friction and turbulence) into pressure and thermal energy when the gas is compressed (in either a centrifugal or axial compressor ). Heat is added in the combustion chamber and

3472-415: Is given both to Anglo-Irish engineer Sir Charles Parsons (1854–1931) for invention of the reaction turbine, and to Swedish engineer Gustaf de Laval (1845–1913) for invention of the impulse turbine. Modern steam turbines frequently employ both reaction and impulse in the same unit, typically varying the degree of reaction and impulse from the blade root to its periphery. Hero of Alexandria demonstrated

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3584-574: Is often used as a rooftop wind turbine and has even been adapted for ships . Airborne wind turbines consist of wings or a small aircraft tethered to the ground. They are useful for reaching faster winds above which traditional turbines can operate. There are prototypes in operation in east Africa. These are offshore wind turbines that are supported by a floating platform. By having them float, they are able to be installed in deeper water allowing more of them. This also allows them to be further out of sight from land and therefore less public concern about

3696-677: Is reducing the creep that is induced by the high temperatures and stresses that are experienced during operation. Higher operating temperatures are continuously sought in order to increase efficiency, but come at the cost of higher creep rates. Several methods have therefore been employed in an attempt to achieve optimal performance while limiting creep, with the most successful ones being high performance coatings and single crystal superalloys . These technologies work by limiting deformation that occurs by mechanisms that can be broadly classified as dislocation glide, dislocation climb and diffusional flow. Protective coatings provide thermal insulation of

3808-520: Is that the turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind to be effective, which is an advantage on a site where the wind direction is highly variable. It is also an advantage when the turbine is integrated into a building because it is inherently less steerable. Also, the generator and gearbox can be placed near the ground, using a direct drive from the rotor assembly to the ground-based gearbox, improving accessibility for maintenance. However, these designs produce much less energy averaged over time, which

3920-448: Is the spar cap, a structural element of a blade that experiences high tensile loading. A 100-metre (330 ft) glass fiber blade could weigh up to 50 tonnes (110,000 lb), while using carbon fiber in the spar saves 20% to 30% weight, about 15 tonnes (33,000 lb). Instead of making wind turbine blade reinforcements from pure glass or pure carbon, hybrid designs trade weight for cost. For example, for an 8-metre (26 ft) blade,

4032-412: Is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so that the combustion generates a high-temperature flow; this high-temperature pressurized gas enters a turbine, producing a shaft work output in the process, used to drive the compressor; the unused energy comes out in the exhaust gases that can be repurposed for external work, such as directly producing thrust in a turbojet engine , or rotating

4144-419: Is then ducted into the combustor section which can be of a annular , can , or can-annular design. In the combustor section, roughly 70% of the air from the compressor is ducted around the combustor itself for cooling purposes. The remaining roughly 30% the air is mixed with fuel and ignited by the already burning air-fuel mixture , which then expands producing power across the turbine . This expansion of

4256-475: Is used, it is possible to use exhaust air from the turbine as the primary combustion air. This effectively reduces global heat losses, although heat losses associated with the combustion exhaust remain inevitable. Closed-cycle gas turbines based on helium or supercritical carbon dioxide also hold promise for use with future high temperature solar and nuclear power generation. Gas turbines are often used on ships , locomotives , helicopters , tanks , and to

4368-577: The Académie royale des sciences in Paris. However, it was not until 1824 that a committee of the Académie (composed of Prony, Dupin, and Girard) reported favorably on Burdin's memo. Benoit Fourneyron , a former student of Claude Burdin, built the first practical water turbine. Credit for invention of the steam turbine is given both to Anglo-Irish engineer Sir Charles Parsons (1854–1931) for invention of

4480-968: The Airbus A400M transport, Lockheed AC-130 and the 60-year-old Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber. While military turboprop engines can vary, in the civilian market there are two primary engines to be found: the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 , a free-turbine turboshaft engine, and the Honeywell TPE331 , a fixed turbine engine (formerly designated as the Garrett AiResearch 331). Aeroderivative gas turbines are generally based on existing aircraft gas turbine engines and are smaller and lighter than industrial gas turbines. Aeroderivatives are used in electrical power generation due to their ability to be shut down and handle load changes more quickly than industrial machines. They are also used in

4592-528: The BMW 801 . This, however, also translated into poor efficiency and reliability. More advanced gas turbines (such as those found in modern jet engines or combined cycle power plants) may have 2 or 3 shafts (spools), hundreds of compressor and turbine blades, movable stator blades, and extensive external tubing for fuel, oil and air systems; they use temperature resistant alloys, and are made with tight specifications requiring precision manufacture. All this often makes

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4704-413: The specific volume of the gas increases, accompanied by a slight loss in pressure. During expansion through the stator and rotor passages in the turbine, irreversible energy transformation once again occurs. Fresh air is taken in, in place of the heat rejection. Air is taken in by a compressor, called a gas generator , with either an axial or centrifugal design, or a combination of the two. This air

4816-428: The "lowest relative greenhouse gas emissions, the least water consumption demands and the most favorable social impacts" compared to photovoltaic , hydro , geothermal , coal and gas energy sources. Smaller wind turbines are used for applications such as battery charging and remote devices such as traffic warning signs. Larger turbines can contribute to a domestic power supply while selling unused power back to

4928-501: The 11th and 12th centuries; there are reports of German crusaders taking their windmill-making skills to Syria around 1190. By the 14th century, Dutch windmills were in use to drain areas of the Rhine delta. Advanced wind turbines were described by Croatian inventor Fausto Veranzio in his book Machinae Novae (1595). He described vertical axis wind turbines with curved or V-shaped blades. The first electricity-generating wind turbine

5040-617: The 7th century. These " Panemone " were vertical axle windmills, which had long vertical drive shafts with rectangular blades. Made of six to twelve sails covered in reed matting or cloth material, these windmills were used to grind grain or draw up water, and were used in the gristmilling and sugarcane industries. Wind power first appeared in Europe during the Middle Ages . The first historical records of their use in England date to

5152-521: The Betz limit of power extractable from the wind, at rated operating speed. Efficiency can decrease slightly over time, one of the main reasons being dust and insect carcasses on the blades, which alter the aerodynamic profile and essentially reduce the lift to drag ratio of the airfoil . Analysis of 3128 wind turbines older than 10 years in Denmark showed that half of the turbines had no decrease, while

5264-417: The French inventor, Georges Darrieus. They have good efficiency, but produce large torque ripple and cyclical stress on the tower, which contributes to poor reliability. They also generally require some external power source, or an additional Savonius rotor to start turning, because the starting torque is very low. The torque ripple is reduced by using three or more blades, which results in greater solidity of

5376-477: The United States from 5 kilowatts (kW) to 25 kW. Around the time of World War I, American windmill makers were producing 100,000 farm windmills each year, mostly for water-pumping. By the 1930s, use of wind turbines in rural areas was declining as the distribution system extended to those areas. A forerunner of modern horizontal-axis wind generators was in service at Yalta , USSR, in 1931. This

5488-456: The active species (typically vacancies) within the alloy and reducing dislocation and vacancy creep. It has been found that a coating of 1–200 μm can decrease blade temperatures by up to 200 °C (392 °F). Bond coats are directly applied onto the surface of the substrate using pack carburization and serve the dual purpose of providing improved adherence for the TBC and oxidation resistance for

5600-510: The addition of a ducted fan are called turbofans or (rarely) fan-jets. These engines produce nearly 80% of their thrust by the ducted fan, which can be seen from the front of the engine. They come in two types, low-bypass turbofan and high bypass , the difference being the amount of air moved by the fan, called "bypass air". These engines offer the benefit of more thrust without extra fuel consumption. Gas turbines are also used in many liquid-fuel rockets , where gas turbines are used to power

5712-443: The air arrives at the turbine. The maximum theoretical power output of a wind machine is thus 16 ⁄ 27 times the rate at which kinetic energy of the air arrives at the effective disk area of the machine. If the effective area of the disk is A, and the wind velocity v, the maximum theoretical power output P is: where ρ is the air density . Wind-to-rotor efficiency (including rotor blade friction and drag ) are among

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5824-401: The blade and offer oxidation and corrosion resistance. Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are often stabilized zirconium dioxide -based ceramics and oxidation/corrosion resistant coatings (bond coats) typically consist of aluminides or MCrAlY (where M is typically Fe and/or Cr) alloys. Using TBCs limits the temperature exposure of the superalloy substrate, thereby decreasing the diffusivity of

5936-430: The blade, the pulsating torque generated by some rotor designs on the drive train, and the difficulty of modelling the wind flow accurately and hence the challenges of analysing and designing the rotor prior to fabricating a prototype. When a turbine is mounted on a rooftop the building generally redirects wind over the roof and this can double the wind speed at the turbine. If the height of a rooftop mounted turbine tower

6048-580: The blades snapped off. The unit was not repaired, because of a shortage of materials during the war. The first utility grid-connected wind turbine to operate in the UK was built by John Brown & Company in 1951 in the Orkney Islands . In the early 1970s, however, anti-nuclear protests in Denmark spurred artisan mechanics to develop microturbines of 22 kW despite declines in the industry. Organizing owners into associations and co-operatives led to

6160-414: The blades upwind of the tower ( i.e.   blades facing the incoming wind) produce the overwhelming majority of wind power in the world today. These turbines have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower and must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane , while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a yaw system. Most have

6272-401: The calculations are empirical or 'rule of thumb' formulae, and others are based on classical mechanics . As with most engineering calculations, simplifying assumptions were made. Velocity triangles can be used to calculate the basic performance of a turbine stage. Gas exits the stationary turbine nozzle guide vanes at absolute velocity V a1 . The rotor rotates at velocity U . Relative to

6384-420: The closely related form of the turbocharger . The turbocharger is basically a compact and simple free shaft radial gas turbine which is driven by the piston engine's exhaust gas . The centripetal turbine wheel drives a centrifugal compressor wheel through a common rotating shaft. This wheel supercharges the engine air intake to a degree that can be controlled by means of a wastegate or by dynamically modifying

6496-473: The compressor and the turbine with a compressed air store. In a conventional turbine, up to half the generated power is used driving the compressor. In a compressed air energy storage configuration, power is used to drive the compressor, and the compressed air is released to operate the turbine when required. Turboshaft engines are used to drive compressors in gas pumping stations and natural gas liquefaction plants. They are also used in aviation to power all but

6608-513: The compressor/shaft/turbine rotor assembly, with other moving parts in the fuel system. This, in turn, can translate into price. For instance, costing 10,000  ℛℳ for materials, the Jumo 004 proved cheaper than the Junkers 213 piston engine, which was 35,000  ℛℳ , and needed only 375 hours of lower-skill labor to complete (including manufacture, assembly, and shipping), compared to 1,400 for

6720-444: The construction of a simple gas turbine more complicated than a piston engine. Moreover, to reach optimum performance in modern gas turbine power plants the gas needs to be prepared to exact fuel specifications. Fuel gas conditioning systems treat the natural gas to reach the exact fuel specification prior to entering the turbine in terms of pressure, temperature, gas composition, and the related Wobbe index . The primary advantage of

6832-425: The early 2020s. In March 2018, GE Power achieved a 63.08% gross efficiency for its 7HA turbine. Aeroderivative gas turbines can also be used in combined cycles, leading to a higher efficiency, but it will not be as high as a specifically designed industrial gas turbine. They can also be run in a cogeneration configuration: the exhaust is used for space or water heating, or drives an absorption chiller for cooling

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6944-414: The energy converted to electrical energy. Since outgoing wind will still possess some kinetic energy, there must be a maximum proportion of the input energy that is available to be converted to electrical energy. Accordingly, Betz's law gives the maximal achievable extraction of wind power by a wind turbine, known as Betz's coefficient, as 16 ⁄ 27 (59.3%) of the rate at which the kinetic energy of

7056-435: The engine cycled on and off to run it only at high efficiency. The emergence of the continuously variable transmission may also alleviate the responsiveness problem. Turbines have historically been more expensive to produce than piston engines, though this is partly because piston engines have been mass-produced in huge quantities for decades, while small gas turbine engines are rarities; however, turbines are mass-produced in

7168-730: The engine's crankshaft instead of to a centrifugal compressor, thus providing additional power instead of boost. While the turbocharger is a pressure turbine, a power recovery turbine is a velocity one. Wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy . As of 2020 , hundreds of thousands of large turbines , in installations known as wind farms , were generating over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. Wind turbines are an increasingly important source of intermittent renewable energy , and are used in many countries to lower energy costs and reduce reliance on fossil fuels . One study claimed that, as of 2009, wind had

7280-533: The entire engine from raw materials, including the fabrication of a centrifugal compressor wheel from plywood, epoxy and wrapped carbon fibre strands. Several small companies now manufacture small turbines and parts for the amateur. Most turbojet-powered model aircraft are now using these commercial and semi-commercial microturbines, rather than a Schreckling-like home-build. Small gas turbines are used as auxiliary power units (APUs) to supply auxiliary power to larger, mobile, machines such as an aircraft , and are

7392-407: The exhaust gases, or from ducted fans connected to the gas turbines. Jet engines that produce thrust from the direct impulse of exhaust gases are often called turbojets . While still in service with many militaries and civilian operators, turbojets have mostly been phased out in favor of the turbofan engine due to the turbojet's low fuel efficiency, and high noise. Those that generate thrust with

7504-423: The expanding gas efficiently. Newton's third law describes the transfer of energy for reaction turbines. Reaction turbines are better suited to higher flow velocities or applications where the fluid head (upstream pressure) is low. In the case of steam turbines, such as would be used for marine applications or for land-based electricity generation, a Parsons-type reaction turbine would require approximately double

7616-453: The factors affecting the final price of wind power. Further inefficiencies, such as gearbox , generator, and converter losses, reduce the power delivered by a wind turbine. To protect components from undue wear, extracted power is held constant above the rated operating speed as theoretical power increases as the cube of wind speed, further reducing theoretical efficiency. In 2001, commercial utility-connected turbines delivered 75% to 80% of

7728-470: The gas generator to suit its application. Common to all is an air inlet but with different configurations to suit the requirements of marine use, land use or flight at speeds varying from stationary to supersonic. A propelling nozzle is added to produce thrust for flight. An extra turbine is added to drive a propeller ( turboprop ) or ducted fan ( turbofan ) to reduce fuel consumption (by increasing propulsive efficiency) at subsonic flight speeds. An extra turbine

7840-526: The gas or fluid changes as it passes through the turbine rotor blades. A pressure casement is needed to contain the working fluid as it acts on the turbine stage(s) or the turbine must be fully immersed in the fluid flow (such as with wind turbines). The casing contains and directs the working fluid and, for water turbines, maintains the suction imparted by the draft tube . Francis turbines and most steam turbines use this concept. For compressible working fluids, multiple turbine stages are usually used to harness

7952-998: The generator, is 15.24 meters (50.0 ft) and weighs around 300 tons. Due to data transmission problems, structural health monitoring of wind turbines is usually performed using several accelerometers and strain gages attached to the nacelle to monitor the gearbox and equipment. Currently, digital image correlation and stereophotogrammetry are used to measure dynamics of wind turbine blades. These methods usually measure displacement and strain to identify location of defects. Dynamic characteristics of non-rotating wind turbines have been measured using digital image correlation and photogrammetry. Three dimensional point tracking has also been used to measure rotating dynamics of wind turbines. Generally, efficiency increases along with turbine blade lengths. The blades must be stiff, strong, durable, light and resistant to fatigue. Materials with these properties include composites such as polyester and epoxy, while glass fiber and carbon fiber have been used for

8064-411: The higher the wind velocity on average. A windbreak can also increase the wind velocity near the turbine. Wind turbines can rotate about either a horizontal or a vertical axis, the former being both older and more common. They can also include blades or be bladeless. Household-size vertical designs produce less power and are less common. Large three-bladed horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) with

8176-550: The hobby of engine collecting. In its most extreme form, amateurs have even rebuilt engines beyond professional repair and then used them to compete for the land speed record. The simplest form of self-constructed gas turbine employs an automotive turbocharger as the core component. A combustion chamber is fabricated and plumbed between the compressor and turbine sections. More sophisticated turbojets are also built, where their thrust and light weight are sufficient to power large model aircraft. The Schreckling design constructs

8288-435: The inlet air and increase the power output, technology known as turbine inlet air cooling . Another significant advantage is their ability to be turned on and off within minutes, supplying power during peak, or unscheduled, demand. Since single cycle (gas turbine only) power plants are less efficient than combined cycle plants, they are usually used as peaking power plants , which operate anywhere from several hours per day to

8400-617: The lack of grain boundaries, single crystals eliminate Coble creep and consequently deform by fewer modes – decreasing the creep rate. Although single crystals have lower creep at high temperatures, they have significantly lower yield stresses at room temperature where strength is determined by the Hall-Petch relationship. Care needs to be taken in order to optimize the design parameters to limit high temperature creep while not decreasing low temperature yield strength. Airbreathing jet engines are gas turbines optimized to produce thrust from

8512-813: The lobbying of the government and utilities and provided incentives for larger turbines throughout the 1980s and later. Local activists in Germany, nascent turbine manufacturers in Spain, and large investors in the United States in the early 1990s then lobbied for policies that stimulated the industry in those countries. It has been argued that expanding the use of wind power will lead to increasing geopolitical competition over critical materials for wind turbines, such as rare earth elements neodymium , praseodymium , and dysprosium . However, this perspective has been critically dismissed for failing to relay how most wind turbines do not use permanent magnets and for underestimating

8624-550: The marine industry to reduce weight. Common types include the General Electric LM2500 , General Electric LM6000 , and aeroderivative versions of the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 , Pratt & Whitney FT4 and Rolls-Royce RB211 . Increasing numbers of gas turbines are being used or even constructed by amateurs. In its most straightforward form, these are commercial turbines acquired through military surplus or scrapyard sales, then operated for display as part of

8736-495: The mean stage radius. Mean performance for the stage can be calculated from the velocity triangles, at this radius, using the Euler equation : Hence: where: The turbine pressure ratio is a function of Δ h T {\displaystyle {\frac {\Delta h}{T}}} and the turbine efficiency. Modern turbine design carries the calculations further. Computational fluid dynamics dispenses with many of

8848-400: The mixture then leaves the combustor section and has its velocity increased across the turbine section to strike the turbine blades, spinning the disc they are attached to, thus creating useful power. Of the power produced, 60-70% is solely used to power the gas generator. The remaining power is used to power what the engine is being used for, typically an aviation application, being thrust in

8960-528: The number of blade rows as a de Laval-type impulse turbine, for the same degree of thermal energy conversion. Whilst this makes the Parsons turbine much longer and heavier, the overall efficiency of a reaction turbine is slightly higher than the equivalent impulse turbine for the same thermal energy conversion. In practice, modern turbine designs use both reaction and impulse concepts to varying degrees whenever possible. Wind turbines use an airfoil to generate

9072-415: The operating fluid medium expands in volume for small reductions in pressure. Under these conditions, blading becomes strictly a reaction type design with the base of the blade solely impulse. The reason is due to the effect of the rotation speed for each blade. As the volume increases, the blade height increases, and the base of the blade spins at a slower speed relative to the tip. This change in speed forces

9184-562: The other half saw a production decrease of 1.2% per year. In general, more stable and constant weather conditions (most notably wind speed) result in an average of 15% greater efficiency than that of a wind turbine in unstable weather conditions, thus allowing up to a 7% increase in wind speed under stable conditions. This is due to a faster recovery wake and greater flow entrainment that occur in conditions of higher atmospheric stability. However, wind turbine wakes have been found to recover faster under unstable atmospheric conditions as opposed to

9296-467: The pioneer of modern Micro-Jets, Kurt Schreckling , produced one of the world's first Micro-Turbines, the FD3/67. This engine can produce up to 22 newtons of thrust, and can be built by most mechanically minded people with basic engineering tools, such as a metal lathe . Evolved from piston engine turbochargers , aircraft APUs or small jet engines , microturbines are 25 to 500 kilowatt turbines

9408-439: The power of economic incentives for the expanded production of these minerals. Wind Power Density (WPD) is a quantitative measure of wind energy available at any location. It is the mean annual power available per square meter of swept area of a turbine, and is calculated for different heights above ground. Calculation of wind power density includes the effect of wind velocity and air density. Wind turbines are classified by

9520-474: The purpose of using pulverized coal or finely ground biomass (such as sawdust) as a fuel. In the indirect system, a heat exchanger is used and only clean air with no combustion products travels through the power turbine. The thermal efficiency is lower in the indirect type of external combustion; however, the turbine blades are not subjected to combustion products and much lower quality (and therefore cheaper) fuels are able to be used. When external combustion

9632-469: The rare earth materials required, these gearless turbines are sometimes preferred over gearbox generators because they "eliminate the gear-speed increaser, which is susceptible to significant accumulated fatigue torque loading, related reliability issues, and maintenance costs". There is also the pseudo direct drive mechanism, which has some advantages over the permanent magnet direct drive mechanism. Most horizontal axis turbines have their rotors upwind of

9744-410: The ratio of power to mass, or power to volume) because they run at very high speeds. The Space Shuttle main engines used turbopumps (machines consisting of a pump driven by a turbine engine) to feed the propellants (liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen) into the engine's combustion chamber. The liquid hydrogen turbopump is slightly larger than an automobile engine (weighing approximately 700 lb) with

9856-460: The reaction turbine, and to Swedish engineer Gustaf de Laval (1845–1913) for invention of the impulse turbine. A working fluid contains potential energy (pressure head ) and kinetic energy (velocity head). The fluid may be compressible or incompressible . Several physical principles are employed by turbines to collect this energy: Impulse turbines change the direction of flow of a high velocity fluid or gas jet. The resulting impulse spins

9968-435: The reinforcing. Construction may involve manual layup or injection molding. Retrofitting existing turbines with larger blades reduces the task and risks of redesign. As of 2021, the longest blade was 115.5 m (379 ft), producing 15 MW. Blades usually last around 20 years, the typical lifespan of a wind turbine. Materials commonly used in wind turbine blades are described below. The stiffness of composites

10080-670: The rotation rate of the shaft must be to attain the required blade tip speed. Blade-tip speed determines the maximum pressure ratios that can be obtained by the turbine and the compressor. This, in turn, limits the maximum power and efficiency that can be obtained by the engine. In order for tip speed to remain constant, if the diameter of a rotor is reduced by half, the rotational speed must double. For example, large jet engines operate around 10,000–25,000 rpm, while micro turbines spin as fast as 500,000 rpm. Mechanically, gas turbines can be considerably less complex than Reciprocating engines . Simple turbines might have one main moving part,

10192-459: The rotor, the velocity of the gas as it impinges on the rotor entrance is V r1 . The gas is turned by the rotor and exits, relative to the rotor, at velocity V r2 . However, in absolute terms the rotor exit velocity is V a2 . The velocity triangles are constructed using these various velocity vectors. Velocity triangles can be constructed at any section through the blading (for example: hub, tip, midsection and so on) but are usually shown at

10304-436: The rotor. Solidity is measured by the blade area divided by the rotor area. A subtype of Darrieus turbine with straight, as opposed to curved, blades. The cycloturbine variety has variable pitch to reduce the torque pulsation and is self-starting. The advantages of variable pitch are high starting torque; a wide, relatively flat torque curve; a higher coefficient of performance ; more efficient operation in turbulent winds; and

10416-483: The same air. Gas turbines are used to power aircraft, trains, ships, electrical generators, pumps, gas compressors, and tanks . In an ideal gas turbine, gases undergo four thermodynamic processes: an isentropic compression, an isobaric (constant pressure) combustion, an isentropic expansion and isobaric heat rejection. Together, these make up the Brayton cycle , also known as the "constant pressure cycle" . It

10528-408: The simplifying assumptions used to derive classical formulas and computer software facilitates optimization. These tools have led to steady improvements in turbine design over the last forty years. The primary numerical classification of a turbine is its specific speed . This number describes the speed of the turbine at its maximum efficiency with respect to the power and flow rate. The specific speed

10640-545: The size of a refrigerator . Microturbines have around 15% efficiencies without a recuperator , 20 to 30% with one and they can reach 85% combined thermal-electrical efficiency in cogeneration . Most gas turbines are internal combustion engines but it is also possible to manufacture an external combustion gas turbine which is, effectively, a turbine version of a hot air engine . Those systems are usually indicated as EFGT (Externally Fired Gas Turbine) or IFGT (Indirectly Fired Gas Turbine). External combustion has been used for

10752-503: The smallest modern helicopters, and function as an auxiliary power unit in large commercial aircraft. A primary shaft carries the compressor and its turbine which, together with a combustor, is called a Gas Generator . A separately spinning power-turbine is usually used to drive the rotor on helicopters. Allowing the gas generator and power turbine/rotor to spin at their own speeds allows more flexibility in their design. Also known as miniature gas turbines or micro-jets. With this in mind

10864-511: The substrate. The Al from the bond coats forms Al 2 O 3 on the TBC-bond coat interface which provides the oxidation resistance, but also results in the formation of an undesirable interdiffusion (ID) zone between itself and the substrate. The oxidation resistance outweighs the drawbacks associated with the ID zone as it increases the lifetime of the blade and limits the efficiency losses caused by

10976-420: The supporting tower. Downwind machines have been built, because they don't need an additional mechanism for keeping them in line with the wind. In high winds, downwind blades can also be designed to bend more than upwind ones, which reduces their swept area and thus their wind resistance, mitigating risk during gales. Despite these advantages, upwind designs are preferred, because the pulsing change in loading from

11088-510: The turbine and leaves the fluid flow with diminished kinetic energy. There is no pressure change of the fluid or gas in the turbine blades (the moving blades), as in the case of a steam or gas turbine, all the pressure drop takes place in the stationary blades (the nozzles). Before reaching the turbine, the fluid's pressure head is changed to velocity head by accelerating the fluid with a nozzle . Pelton wheels and de Laval turbines use this process exclusively. Impulse turbines do not require

11200-595: The turbine engines high power-to-weight ratio to drive a propeller, thus allowing a more powerful, but also smaller engine to be used. Turboprop engines are used on a wide range of business aircraft such as the Pilatus PC-12 , commuter aircraft such as the Beechcraft 1900 , and small cargo aircraft such as the Cessna 208 Caravan or De Havilland Canada Dash 8 , and large aircraft (typically military) such as

11312-463: The turbine housing's geometry (as in a variable geometry turbocharger ). It mainly serves as a power recovery device which converts a great deal of otherwise wasted thermal and kinetic energy into engine boost. Turbo-compound engines (actually employed on some semi-trailer trucks ) are fitted with blow down turbines which are similar in design and appearance to a turbocharger except for the turbine shaft being mechanically or hydraulically connected to

11424-480: The turbine is recovered by a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to power a conventional steam turbine in a combined cycle configuration. The 605 MW General Electric 9HA achieved a 62.22% efficiency rate with temperatures as high as 1,540 °C (2,800 °F). For 2018, GE offers its 826 MW HA at over 64% efficiency in combined cycle due to advances in additive manufacturing and combustion breakthroughs, up from 63.7% in 2017 orders and on track to achieve 65% by

11536-424: The turbine principle in an aeolipile in the first century AD and Vitruvius mentioned them around 70 BC. Early turbine examples are windmills and waterwheels . The word "turbine" was coined in 1822 by the French mining engineer Claude Burdin from the Greek τύρβη , tyrbē , meaning " vortex " or "whirling", in a memo, "Des turbines hydrauliques ou machines rotatoires à grande vitesse", which he submitted to

11648-448: The turbine producing nearly 70,000 hp (52.2 MW ). Turboexpanders are used for refrigeration in industrial processes. Gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine . The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the direction of flow: Additional components have to be added to

11760-490: The utility supplier via the electrical grid . Wind turbines are manufactured in a wide range of sizes, with either horizontal or vertical axes, though horizontal is most common. The windwheel of Hero of Alexandria (10–70 CE) marks one of the first recorded instances of wind powering a machine. However, the first known practical wind power plants were built in Sistan , an Eastern province of Persia (now Iran), from

11872-491: The visual appeal. Wind turbine design is a careful balance of cost, energy output, and fatigue life. Wind turbines convert wind energy to electrical energy for distribution. Conventional horizontal axis turbines can be divided into three components: A 1.5 ( MW ) wind turbine of a type frequently seen in the United States has a tower 80 meters (260 ft) high. The rotor assembly (blades and hub) measures about 80 meters (260 ft) in diameter. The nacelle , which contains

11984-498: The wells to force oil up via another bore, or to compress the gas for transportation. They are also often used to provide power for the platform. These platforms do not need to use the engine in collaboration with a CHP system due to getting the gas at an extremely reduced cost (often free from burn off gas). The same companies use pump sets to drive the fluids to land and across pipelines in various intervals. One modern development seeks to improve efficiency in another way, by separating

12096-514: The wind as each blade passes behind the supporting tower can cause damage to the turbine. Turbines used in wind farms for commercial production of electric power are usually three-bladed. These have low torque ripple , which contributes to good reliability. The blades are usually colored white for daytime visibility by aircraft and range in length from 20 to 80 meters (66 to 262 ft). The size and height of turbines increase year by year. Offshore wind turbines are built up to 8 MW today and have

12208-406: The wind speed they are designed for, from class I to class III, with A to C referring to the turbulence intensity of the wind. Conservation of mass requires that the mass of air entering and exiting a turbine must be equal. Likewise, the conservation of energy requires the energy given to the turbine from incoming wind to be equal to that of the combination of the energy in the outgoing wind and

12320-471: Was a 100 kW generator on a 30-meter (98 ft) tower, connected to the local 6.3 kV distribution system. It was reported to have an annual capacity factor of 32 percent, not much different from current wind machines. In the autumn of 1941, the first megawatt-class wind turbine was synchronized to a utility grid in Vermont . The Smith–Putnam wind turbine only ran for about five years before one of

12432-858: Was able to build the first automatically operated wind turbine after consulting local University professors and his colleagues Jacob S. Gibbs and Brinsley Coleberd and successfully getting the blueprints peer-reviewed for electricity production. Although Blyth's turbine was considered uneconomical in the United Kingdom, electricity generation by wind turbines was more cost effective in countries with widely scattered populations. In Denmark by 1900, there were about 2500 windmills for mechanical loads such as pumps and mills, producing an estimated combined peak power of about 30 megawatts (MW). The largest machines were on 24-metre (79 ft) towers with four-bladed 23-metre (75 ft) diameter rotors. By 1908, there were 72 wind-driven electric generators operating in

12544-579: Was installed by the Austrian Josef Friedländer at the Vienna International Electrical Exhibition in 1883. It was a Halladay windmill for driving a dynamo . Friedländer's 6.6 m (22 ft) diameter Halladay "wind motor" was supplied by U.S. Wind Engine & Pump Co. of Batavia , Illinois . The 3.7 kW (5 hp) windmill drove a dynamo at ground level that fed electricity into

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