General Electric LM6000

Last updated
LM6000
General Electric LM6000.jpg
LM6000 GTG in an electrical power plant application
Type Aeroderivative gas turbine
National originUnited States
Manufacturer General Electric
Developed from General Electric CF6

The General Electric LM6000 is a turboshaft aeroderivative gas turbine engine. The LM6000 is derived from the CF6-80C2 aircraft turbofan. It has additions and modifications designed to make it more suitable for marine propulsion, industrial power generation, and marine power generation use. These include an expanded turbine section to convert thrust into shaft power, supports and struts for mounting on a steel or concrete deck, and reworked controls packages for power generation. It has found wide use including peaking power plants, fast ferries and high speed cargo ship applications.

Contents

Design and development

The LM6000 provides 54,610  shp (40,720  kW ) from either end of the low-pressure rotor system, which rotates at 3,600 rpm. This twin spool design with the low pressure turbine operating at 60 Hz, the dominant electrical frequency in North America, eliminates the need for a conventional power turbine. Its high efficiency and installation flexiility make it ideal also for a wide variety of utility power generation and industrial applications, especially peaker and cogeneration plants.

GE has several option packages for industrial LM6000s, including SPRINT (Spray Inter-Cooled Turbine), water injection (widely known as "NOx water"), STIG (Steam Injected Gas Turbine) technology and DLE (Dry Low Emissions) which utilizes a combustor with premixers to maximize combustion efficiency. The SPRINT option is designed to increase efficiency and power of the turbine, while the water injection, STIG and DLE are for reducing emissions. An alternative form of power augmentation is Evaporative Cooling, which is a water fogging system that sprays a fine mist of water into the inlet air before the air filters. This system is high maintenance and may be replaced by chillers in newer units. The SPRINT system injects demineralized water into the engine either upstream of the low pressure compressor or between the low pressure and high pressure compressors. The water injection system injects water into the primary or secondary fuel nozzle inputs, usually on natural gas fired engines.

The GE LM6000 PC is rated to provide more than 43 MW with a thermal efficiency of around 42% LHV [1] at ISO conditions. With options, this can be increased to around 50 MW rated power. [2]

Applications

Over 1000 LM6000 gas turbines shipped and over 21 million hours of operation. Applications include power generation for combined cycle or peak power.[ citation needed ] Other applications include combined heat and power for industrial and independent power producers.

See also

Related development

Related lists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbocharger</span> Exhaust-powered forced-induction device for engines

In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gas turbine</span> Type of internal and continuous combustion engine

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part and are, in the direction of flow:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbofan</span> Airbreathing jet engine designed to provide thrust by driving a fan

The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the turbo portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanical energy from combustion, and the fan, a ducted fan that uses the mechanical energy from the gas turbine to force air rearwards. Thus, whereas all the air taken in by a turbojet passes through the combustion chamber and turbines, in a turbofan some of that air bypasses these components. A turbofan thus can be thought of as a turbojet being used to drive a ducted fan, with both of these contributing to the thrust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbojet</span> Airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft

The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and a turbine. The compressed air from the compressor is heated by burning fuel in the combustion chamber and then allowed to expand through the turbine. The turbine exhaust is then expanded in the propelling nozzle where it is accelerated to high speed to provide thrust. Two engineers, Frank Whittle in the United Kingdom and Hans von Ohain in Germany, developed the concept independently into practical engines during the late 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brayton cycle</span> Thermodynamic cycle

The Brayton cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that describes the operation of certain heat engines that have air or some other gas as their working fluid. The original Brayton engines used a piston compressor and piston expander, but modern gas turbine engines and airbreathing jet engines also follow the Brayton cycle. Although the cycle is usually run as an open system, it is conventionally assumed for the purposes of thermodynamic analysis that the exhaust gases are reused in the intake, enabling analysis as a closed system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Electric GE90</span> High-bypass turbofan aircraft engine

The General Electric GE90 is a family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines built by GE Aviation for the Boeing 777, with thrust ratings from 81,000 to 115,000 lbf. It entered service with British Airways in November 1995. It is one of three options for the 777-200, -200ER, and -300 versions, and the exclusive engine of the -200LR, -300ER, and 777F. It was the largest jet engine, until being surpassed in January 2020 by its successor, the 110,000 lbf (490 kN) GE9X, which has a 6 in (15 cm) larger diameter fan. The GE90 however is still more powerful than its successor, the GE9X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combined cycle power plant</span> Assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat

A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant. The same principle is also used for marine propulsion, where it is called a combined gas and steam (COGAS) plant. Combining two or more thermodynamic cycles improves overall efficiency, which reduces fuel costs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Electric TF39</span> Turbofan aircraft engine

The General Electric TF39 was a high-bypass turbofan engine that was developed to power the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. The TF39 was the first high-power, high-bypass jet engine developed. The TF39 was further developed into the CF6 series of engines, and formed the basis of the LM2500 marine and industrial gas turbine. On September 7, 2017, the last active C-5A powered with TF39 engines made its final flight to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for retirement. The TF39 was effectively retired, and all remaining active C-5 Galaxys are now powered by F138 engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cogeneration</span> Simultaneous generation of electricity, and/or heating, or cooling, or industrial chemicals

Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Electric LM2500</span> Industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation

The General Electric LM2500 is an industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation. The LM2500 is a derivative of the General Electric CF6 aircraft engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Electric J79</span> Axial flow turbojet engine

The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under license by several other companies worldwide. Among its major uses was the F-104 Starfighter, B-58 Hustler, F-4 Phantom II, A-5 Vigilante and IAI Kfir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Electric CF6</span> Turbofan aircraft engine family

The General Electric CF6, US military designations F103 and F138, is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines produced by GE Aviation. Based on the TF39, the first high-power high-bypass jet engine, the CF6 powers a wide variety of civilian airliners. The basic engine core also powers the LM2500 and LM6000 marine and power generation turboshafts. It is gradually being replaced by the newer GEnx family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbomachinery</span>

Turbomachinery, in mechanical engineering, describes machines that transfer energy between a rotor and a fluid, including both turbines and compressors. While a turbine transfers energy from a fluid to a rotor, a compressor transfers energy from a rotor to a fluid.

Engine efficiency of thermal engines is the relationship between the total energy contained in the fuel, and the amount of energy used to perform useful work. There are two classifications of thermal engines-

  1. Internal combustion and
  2. External combustion engines.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Electric LMS100</span>

The General Electric LMS100 is an aero derivative gas turbine produced by GE Distributed Power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbine blade</span>

A turbine blade is a radial aerofoil mounted in the rim of a turbine disc and which produces a tangential force which rotates a turbine rotor. Each turbine disc has many blades. As such they are used in gas turbine engines and steam turbines. The blades are responsible for extracting energy from the high temperature, high pressure gas produced by the combustor. The turbine blades are often the limiting component of gas turbines. To survive in this difficult environment, turbine blades often use exotic materials like superalloys and many different methods of cooling that can be categorized as internal and external cooling, and thermal barrier coatings. Blade fatigue is a major source of failure in steam turbines and gas turbines. Fatigue is caused by the stress induced by vibration and resonance within the operating range of machinery. To protect blades from these high dynamic stresses, friction dampers are used.

The General Electric LM1600 is an industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation. The LM1600 is a derivative of the General Electric F404 aircraft engine series. The LM1600 delivers 20,000 shaft horsepower (shp) (14,920 kW) with a thermal efficiency of 37 percent at ISO conditions.

The Dorad power station is a power station in Ashkelon, Israel. It is a combined cycle power station powered by natural gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turbine inlet air cooling</span>

Turbine inlet air cooling is a group of technologies and techniques consisting of cooling down the intake air of the gas turbine. The direct consequence of cooling the turbine inlet air is power output augmentation. It may also improve the energy efficiency of the system. This technology is widely used in hot climates with high ambient temperatures that usually coincides with on-peak demand period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internal combustion engine</span> Engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber

An internal combustion engine is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion applies direct force to some component of the engine. The force is typically applied to pistons, turbine blades, a rotor, or a nozzle. This force moves the component over a distance, transforming chemical energy into kinetic energy which is used to propel, move or power whatever the engine is attached to. This replaced the external combustion engine for applications where the weight or size of an engine was more important.

References