A closed-cycle air turbine for naval use

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A closed-cycle air turbine for naval use

Spillmann, W.

The closed-cycle gas turbine is a gas turbine in its thermo-dynamic and mechanical character whilst the heat addition in the air heater is closely related to steam boiler problems. After having made some progress with land-based plants for solid and liquid fuel, a marine installation has been designed, using the knowledge available at the time of design work, approximately two years ago, without the application of more advanced technology. So far the described plant is a prototype to gain experience and of a design that can be developed for propulsion plants of smaller weight and space requirements. The plant is in manufacture at the Mitsui Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd., in Japan and, therefore, operation and service data are not yet available. The closed-cycle plant has a number of qualities common to steam plants, namely external firing, independency from ambient air conditions and small intake and exhaust gas sections. High temperatures can be applied without combining it with high pressures. A new element is definitely the air heater which is simply an air boiler and very similar to a number of marine steam boilers. The air heater has a transferred heat rate, nearly equal to that in combustion chambers of boilers, however, the temperature of the working fluid is higher and the heat transfer coefficient is lower. Compared with a steam superheater the heat transfer coefficient is nearly equal but both the temperature of the working fluid and the transferred heat rate are higher. The resulting higher tube wall temperatures and the needed compactness of the heater give enough reasons for extensive development tests.