Gas Turbine Powerhouse : The Development of the Power Generation Gas Turbine at BBC - ABB - Alstom

[BOOK DESCRIPTION]

This book tells the story of the power generation gas turbine from the perspective of one of the leading companies in the field over a period of nearly 100 years, written by an engineer. Especially in times of imminent global economic crises it appears to be worthwhile to reflect on real economic values based on engineering ingenuity and enduring management of technological leadership.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS]

1 Introduction 1
2 Survey 7
2.1 Short Company History – Power Generation                          . 11
2.1.1 BBC Aktiengesellschaft Brown Boveri & Cie., 1891–1988                  . 13
2.1.2 ABB Asea Brown Boveri Power Generation Ltd., 1988–2000              . 26
2.1.3 ALSTOM Power Ltd., since 2000                                       . 30
2.2 Gas Turbine Types                                                     32
2.2.1 Stationary Power Generation Gas Turbines                             . 32
2.2.2 Gas/Steam Combined-Cycle Power Plants                                35
2.2.3 Aero Propulsion Gas Turbines                                         . 36
2.3 Technical Basics                                                       37
2.3.1 Gas Turbine Thermodynamics                                         . 37
2.3.2 Gas Turbine Component Performance                                   40
2.3.3 Gas/Steam Combined-Cycle Power Plant                               . 41
3 Gas Turbine Forerunners 43
3.1 Turbomachines and Turbochargers                                      43
3.1.1 Early Turbo- and Fluidmachines                                       . 43
3.1.1.1 Historic Compressors                                                 . 46
3.1.1.2 Water Wheels                                                         48
3.1.1.3 Steam Turbines                                                        50
3.1.1.4 Turbocompressors                                                     52
3.1.2 Turbocharger Development History                                     53
3.2 Early Attempts with the Gas Turbine Principle                          . 66
3.3 The Holzwarth Gas Turbine                                           . 72
4 The Path to the First Power Generation Gas Turbine, 1927–1945 77
4.1 Development Survey at BBC                                            77
4.1.1 Development Department and Business Environment                     78
4.1.2 Prominent Engineers                                                   84
4.1.2.1 Adolf Meyer (1880–1965)                                               87
4.1.2.2 Walter G. Noack (1881–1945)                                          . 88
4.1.2.3 Claude Seippel (1900–1986)                                             92
4.1.2.4 Hans Pfenninger (1903–1989)                                           96
4.2 GT Key Component: Axial Flow Compressor                             98
4.2.1 Early Ideas and Trials                                                  99
4.2.2 First Axial Compressor Development Tests after 1926                     102
4.2.3 The Degree of Reaction and Other Fluid Mechanic Research               109
4.2.4 Successful Compressor Reference Projects Beginning 1932               . 122
4.2.4.1 The First Supersonic Wind Tunnel at ETH Zurich                       . 126
4.2.4.2 The Guidonia Wind Tunnel                                           . 128
4.2.4.3 The AVA/LFM Wind Tunnel Projects                                  . 131
4.2.4.4 The Mach 4 Wind Tunnel at LRBA Vernon, France, 1947                  135
4.2.4.5 The Hypersonic Wind Tunnel for Kochel/Tullahoma 1943–1960          . 137
4.2.4.6 The von Kármán Team at BBC Baden CH, June 1945                      146
4.2.5 Outlook – Further Compressor Development                           . 152
4.3 The Early BBC Gas Turbines                                          . 158
4.3.1 VELOX Boiler                                                         158
4.3.1.1 Concept Settlement                                                    158
4.3.1.2 Multi-Purpose Velox Deliveries to UK, 1940                              164
4.3.1.3 Blast Furnace Gas Extension of the Velox Principle                      . 166
4.3.1.4 Velox – the Final Stages                                                168
4.3.2 Houdry Refinery Process                                               169
4.3.2.1 BBC Equipment                                                     . 169
4.3.2.2 Transforming Crude Oil into 100 Octane Petrol                         . 173
4.3.2.3 Strategic Importance and Side Effects                                  . 178
4.3.3 The World’s First Utility Gas Turbine Set at Neuchâtel (1939)              181
4.3.3.1 A Consequential Engineering Harvest                                   181
4.3.3.2 Certified by Stodola and at the ‘Landi 39’                               . 183
4.3.3.3 After 62 Years in Service – An ASME Technical Landmark               . 188
4.3.4 First BBC Power Generation Gas Turbines                               191
4.3.5 BBC Locomotive Gas Turbines                                          196
4.3.5.1 Von Ohain’s ‘Tuttlingen Engine’                                        204
4.3.5.2 German Tank Gas Turbine Developments                              . 206
4.3.5.3 Separate Gas Generators for Large Transport Aircraft                     208
5 Gas Turbine Technology Development 1945–1988 211
5.1 Development Survey at BBC                                          . 212
5.1.1 ‘Die Muehen der Ebene’                                                212
5.1.2 A Rare Top-Down View of the BBC Gas Turbine Business (1978)         . 221
5.1.3 Strategic Failures: The BST and Turbodyne Interlude                    . 227
5.1.4 Business Facts                                                         232
5.1.5 Early Plants and the Key Development Projects GT8/GT9/GT11/GT13      234
5.1.5.1 BBC Gas Turbine Development Roadmap 1945–1988                     234
5.1.5.2 Beznau and Other Tailor-Made Gas Turbines                           . 240
5.1.5.3 The Development of Ready-Made GT Families after 1970                  246
5.1.5.4 GT Designs on the Brink – and Beyond                                  270
5.1.6 Prominent Engineers                                                 . 279
5.1.6.1 Albert Eiermann (1924–2013)                                          . 279
5.1.6.2 Wilhelm Endres (1927–2007)                                            283
5.1.6.3 Franz Farkas (*1935)                                                  . 285
5.2 Competitive Designs and Developments                                . 287
5.2.1 Escher Wyss – The Closed Cycle AK Engine                            . 287
5.2.2 Sulzer – Gas Turbine with Semi-Closed Process                         . 290
5.2.3 Other Companies                                                      29
5.3 GT Key Component: Combustor                                       . 298
5.3.1 Early Developments and Evolution of Combustor Arrangements           299
5.3.2 First Generation Lean Dry, Low NOx Technology                        305
5.3.3 Multi-Injection Burner and GT8 Annular Combustor                      307
5.3.4 Second Generation EV Premix Burner Technology                        308
5.3.5 SEV Burner Development for GT24/GT26 Applications                    311
5.3.6 Further Low Emission Combustion Development                         315
5.4 BBC Gas Turbine Mechanical Design and Manufacturing                  317
5.4.1 General Gas Turbine Design Principles                                 . 317
5.4.2 The Welded Rotor Design and Manufacturing                            319
5.4.3 Gas Turbine Manufacturing Sites and Network                           325
5.5 Gas Turbine Special Projects                                            333
5.5.1 Mobile and Packaged Energy Stations                                  . 333
5.5.2 Aero Jet Expander                                                    . 337
5.5.3 Compressed Air Energy Storage                                       . 340
5.5.4 Low and Medium BTU Fuels (GT11N2-LBTU, GT13E2-MBTU)            . 343
6 Combined Cycle Power Plants – GT Technology Breakthroughs
since the 1990s 347
6.1 Gas Turbine Development Survey                                       347
6.1.1 The GT Technology and Business Environment in the 1990s               348
6.1.2 The ABB/Alstom Development Department                              351
6.1.3 The Key Development Project GT24/GT26                              . 354
6.1.3.1 Secret ‘Skunk Works’ 1991–1995                                        356
6.1.3.2 GT24/GT26 Design Stabilisation 1996–2002                             . 366
6.1.3.3 GT24/GT26 Success Story since 2003                                   . 376
6.1.4 Prominent Engineers                                                   380
6.1.4.1 Fredy Haeusermann (*1942)                                           . 380
6.1.4.2 Jakob J. Keller (1950–1999)                                              381
6.1.4.3 Hans Koch (*1929)                                                    . 383
6.2 GT Key Component: Turbine                                384
6.2.1 Aerodynamic Turbine Development Milestones             385
6.2.2 Turbine Cooling Technology                             397
6.2.2.1 Out of Time: Turbine Water and Film Cooling 1925–1945 397
6.2.2.2 Heavy-Duty GT Turbine Cooling Development after 1965   407
6.2.3 High Temperature Materials and Coatings        414
6.2.4 Tests at the Gas Turbine Power Plant Birr      421
6.3 The Combined Cycle Power Plants                  423
6.3.1 Historic Developments                          424
6.3.2 The Bright Presence of Combined-Cycle Power Generation  428
6.4 Gas Turbine Outlook                             434
6.4.1 Future Power Generation Market                434
6.4.2 Innovative Gas Turbine Technologies            435
7 ‘Les Palmarès’ 439
7.1 BBC–ABB–Alstom Historical Firsts in Gas Turbine Technology for Power Generation                  439
7.2 BBC–ABB–Alstom GT Development Directors (Baden, CH)  441        
7.3 The Members of the GT Development ‘Hall of Fame’  442         
8 Bibliography 445
9 Index of Names 473
10 Subject Index 479
11 Nomenclature and Abbreviations 491
12 The Author 497