Ruston Gas Turbine TB5000 TB5400, Lincoln England

At the end of 1990 four Typhoons have been installed with three of the four fully operational and having a cumulative count of 5,000 hours. The lead engine having accumulated over 3,000 hours. The avail- ability of the sets has been extremely high at almost 100%. Figure 21 shows the installation at Direct Worktops, County Durham, U.K.  The performance, both mechanically and thermodynamically, of the Typhoon has been effectively demonstrated by the conclusion of one of the most exhaustive development programmes undertaken. The reliability of the set during the endurance programme and in the field is an endorsement of the robustness and simple concept of the turbine. The development programme has also validated the performance of the full package including the generator and systems.  The work reported in this paper is the result of the combined efforts of a team of Engineers, Designers and Technicians too numerous to mention by name but the Authors acknowledge their contribution...

DETAILED COMPONENT PERFORMANCE Compressor and Diffuser The performance of the engine compressor, following the clearance adjustments, was found to be very close to the rig measured results. The basic parameters of engine measured mass flow, efficiency and pressure ratio are superimposed on the rig measured results in Figure 5. The reason for the starting ease is apparent from Figure 5 where the surge line is noted to be almost straight, therefore offering a constant surge margin with speed.  Compressor blade vibration characteristics have been measured over a wide operating speed range. Figure 6 shows the predicted Campbell diagram for the first stage rotor blade with the ratio of maximum measured dynamic strains relative to the allowable super-imposed. The compressor exit diffuser is also observed to be performing close to design with a recovery of .68 being achieved relative to the expected level of .65. Figure 7 shows the predicted pressure recovery along the diffuser using STAR...

 ENGINE PERFORMANCE Table 1 shows the measured engine performance relative to design intent. The observations from these early tests showed that the thermal efficiency of the engine was slightly down with the knock on effect that the firing temperature required to achieve the power is increased. This deficiency was traced to the turbine which appeared not to be performing to the same level of performance as seen on the model turbine test presented in Reference 2. A strip of the turbine revealed that the HP turbine tip clearance seal had not cut into the honeycomb seal. The tip clearance on both the HP and LP turbines is controlled via a low expansion carrier ring and therefore both stages were expected to behave in a similar manner. Detailed tip clearance measurements on the LP stage showed the turbine to be running with approximately 0.5 mm excessive clearance. In a similar manner the high pressure end of the compressor was observed to be running with tight clearances and these we...

 The pre-engine development programmes, including compressor and turbine rigs, are dealt with in Reference 1. This paper concentrates on the engine development programme. Two dedicated test beds, at the Gas Turbine Engineering Division (GTED) and a further bed at the Ruston Works combined test facility have been used for the development of the Typhoon. The engines tested at GTED ran coupled to a water brake and are fully data logged to provide on-line data acquisition, reduction and analysis. The water brake also uses a digital control system which interfaces with the turbine control module. This allows loads to be changed via pre-programmed routines allowing rapid transient simulations to be carried out. The Ruston Works test bed allows the full power generation package including the generator to be tested. All the development engines are dual fuel. Three separate cores, with additional modules and assemblies, have been used in the development programme, each with the following sp...

INTRODUCTION The Typhoon gas turbine is a third generation industrial gas turbine of high thermal efficiency and significantly reduced component count. It is designed for all power generation duties within the 4 MW power bracket and is available in both 50 Hz and 60 Hz output. The paper describes, and presents results, from the Development programme undertaken, including performance, emissions, package tests and cyclic endurance programme. Early field experience is also reviewed. The Typhoon gas turbine is the latest Ruston product to enter service. Initially rated at 4.1 MW ISO zero loss it is of high simple cycle efficiency and has a signifi- cantly reduced component count over its competitors. The high thermal efficiency of the engine and the relatively high exhaust temperature make the turbine particularly suitable for combined cycles and cogeneration applications. Design of the Typhoon commenced in 1985, the first of the prototype engines went to test in the summer of 1988 and the...

RUSTON GAS TURBINE TB5000 ENGINE DESCRIPTION  The design of the engine is fully described in Reference 1, the following is a brief summary. The general layout of the engine is shown in Figure 1. The core comprises of three major modules: a single spool 10 stage axial compressor, a two stage turbine and a com- bustion system made up of six reverse flow combustors canted and housed in a pressure casing between the compressor and turbine modules. The compressor utilises 10 stages to achieve the design pressure ratio of 14:1, although at the current engine rating the pressure ratio is 12.8:1. The first two stages are transonic with a maximum tip Mach Number of 1.1. The compressor, as shown in Figure 2, is characterised by large chord blades which allow aerodynamically thin sections to be used while still maintaining adequate strength for service durability. The first three stators and the Inlet Guide Vane are made variable for surge control at part speed and ultimately for twin shaft o...