INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF COMPRESSOR FOULING ON THE PERFORMANCE AND CREEP LIFE OF A TWIN-SHAFT INDUSTRIAL GAS TURBINE

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of compressor fouling on the performance and creep life of a twin-shaft industrial gas turbine. Data obtained from the public domain were used to model the twin-shaft engine. The modeled twin-shaft engine was derived from the LM2500 class of gas turbines. Flow capacity and compressor isentropic efficiency reductions of 5% and 3%, respectively, representing typical compressor fouling scenarios, were obtained and used to  simulate the effect of compressor fouling on the engine's performance. GasTurb simulation
software was employed to analyze the performance of the twin-shaft engine under both clean and fouled conditions. The results show that thermal efficiency dropped from 36.3% in the clean case to 35.4% in the fouled case, representing a 2.5% reduction. Also, mass flow rate and surge margin ecreased by 2.6% and 16%, respectively from the clean to the fouled condition. A comparison of turbine blade creep life revealed that the clean engine had a time-to-rupture of 77,681 hours, while the compressor fouled engine had only 13,130 hours.