This paper describes the FT8-2 Dry Low NOx (DLN) combustor development process and reviews the development history and initial field experience at a natural gas pipeline station in Germany. The development process is primarily focused on defining a fuel nozzle or injector, investigating emissions, fuel-air mixing, flame stability, acoustics, flashback resistance, and flame disgorgement. Empirical development tools including single nozzle and sector combustion rigs, as well as flame imaging techniques, are discussed. A summary of in-house engine development testing is provided. The control methodology used to meet emissions, while maintaining combustor pressure pulsations at an acceptable level, is provided. The natural gas compressor station design and operational experience with a GHH BORSIG compressor driven by the FT8 engine in Werne, Germany is summarized. Also presented are details of the very short conversion period from Standard to DLN combustor with the first successful ignition of the engine 26 days after work had begun.

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Test rig results and their comparison with computational analyses of a highly-loaded 11-stage compressor for a newly developed industrial gas turbine will be presented in this paper. The scope of the tests has been validation of aerodynamic and mechanical features of the bladed flow path to meet both the demands for single- and dual-shaft operation of the gas turbine. The test was carried out in three phases using extensive instrumentation. In phase 1 the front stages have been tested, and in phase 2 the test of the full 11-stage compressor was performed including numerous aerodynamic and structural check-outs. Vane and blade vibration modes were measured in all rows with numerous strain gauges using a telemetry system and Tip Timing, which additionally was applied to the front stage rotors. Concerning the mechanical design, finite element predictions of the vibration modes of all blades and vanes were carried out in the design phase to guarantee safe and resonance-free operation for a wide range of operational speeds which could be verified by the test data up to higher modes. Flow field computations were carried out with both a through flow solver and full 3-D viscous multistage solver based on Denton’s TBLOCK, where all rotor and stator flow fields had been solved simultaneously and compared with experiments. The effects of tip clearance and stator cavities on compressor performance have been taken into account by the computational analysis. Effects of inlet distortion were examined in phase 3. Comprehensive comparisons of computed and measured results will be presented. The extensive instrumentation gave also insight into flow details as vane pressure distributions and total pressure profiles in span wise direction. It will be shown that the agreements of predicted and measured data were excellent.

Solar hybrid power plants are characterized by a combination of heat input both of high temperature solar heat and heat from combustion of gaseous or liquid fuel which enables to supply the electricity market according to its requirements and to utilize the limited and high grade natural resources economically. The SHCC® power plant concept integrates the high temperature solar heat into the gas turbine process and in addition — depending on the scheme of the process cycle — downstream into the steam cycle. The feed-in of solar heat into the gas turbine is carried out between compressor outlet and combustor inlet either by direct solar thermal heating of the pressurized air inside the receivers of the solar tower or by indirectly heating via interconnection of a heat transfer fluid. Thus, high shares of solar heat input referring to the total heat input of more than 60% in design point can be achieved. Besides low consumption of fossil fuels and high efficiency, the SHCC® concept is aimed for a permanent availability of the power plant capacity due to the possible substitution of solar heat by combustion heat during periods without sufficient solar irradiation. In consequence, no additional standby capacity is necessary. SHCC® can be conducted with today’s power plant and solar technology. One of the possible variants has already been demonstrated in the test field PSA in Spain using a small capacity gas turbine with location in the head of the solar tower for direct heating of the combustion air. However, the authors present and analyze also alternative concepts for power plants of higher capacity. Of course, the gas turbine needs a design which enables the external heating of the combustion air. Today only a few types of gas turbines are available for SHCC® demonstration. But these gas turbines were not designed for solar hybrid application at all. Thus, the autors present finally some reflections on gas turbine parameters and their consequences for SHCC® as basis for evaluation of potentials of SHCC®.

The THM 1304 industrial gas turbine is a two shaft machine incorporating a two stage free power turbine suitable for mechanical and generator drive applications (Fig. 1). As part of an ongoing uprating and upgrading program design modifications were made to the power turbine. The aim was not only to increase power output and efficiency but also to improve on the high availability. The latest design incorporates new blades and vanes, increasing the aerodynamic efficiency and improving the high temperature endurance. Additionally, a new single piece casing and a redesigned mechanical turbine discs arrangement and shaft leads to a higher performance and optimized maintainability. The up rated turbine covers the entire nominal design load range from 9 to 14 MW and extends the available speed range compared to its predecessor. Furthermore, compatibility with the existing product range has been considered. A test program was carried out on the MAN TURBO test bed in Oberhausen, Germany to verify the achievement of the design goals. The program covered not only thermodynamic and aerodynamic measurements but also temperature and mechanical measurements. Special emphasis was put on the validation of the vibration characteristics by means of a telemetry system. Examples will highlight the development testing program in detail. The first production engine went into service at the WINGAS pipeline compression station in Reckrod, Germany. Not only the station layout but also the purpose of the station will be described. Service data registered by the installed monitoring system within the first 10,000 service hours will be discussed and the service experience with the new engine will be presented. During the in house test program the entire turbine performance map was covered.