Abstract: A process for testing a turbine of a gas turbine engine at high altitudes, where a large volume of compressed air is stored in a large reservoir of at least 10,000 m3 such as an underground storage cavern, compressed air from the storage reservoir is passed through heat exchanger to preheat the compressed air to a temperature that would normally be discharged from a compressor, the preheated compressed air is burned with a fuel in the combustor, and additional compressed air from the reservoir is passed through an injector located downstream from the turbine to produce a decreased pressure such that a low atmospheric condition at the turbine exit is simulated.

Abstract: A process for testing a turbine of a gas turbine engine at high altitudes, where a large volume of compressed air is stored in a large reservoir of at least 10,000 m3 such as an underground storage cavern, compressed air from the storage reservoir is passed through heat exchanger to preheat the compressed air to a temperature that would normally be discharged from a compressor, the preheated compressed air is burned with a fuel in the combustor, and additional compressed air from the reservoir is passed through an injector located downstream from the turbine to produce a decreased pressure such that a low atmospheric condition at the turbine exit is simulated.

Abstract: A process for testing a combustor of a gas turbine engine, where a large volume of compressed air is stored in a large reservoir of at least 10,000 m3 such as an underground storage cavern, compressed air from the storage reservoir is passed through heat exchanger to preheat the compressed air to a temperature that would normally be discharged from a compressor, the preheated compressed air is burned with a fuel in the combustor, and additional compressed air from the reservoir is passed through an injector located downstream from the combustor to produce a decreased pressure such that a low atmospheric condition at the combustor exit is simulated.

Abstract: A process for testing a combustor of a gas turbine engine, where a large volume of compressed air is stored in a large reservoir of at least 10,000 m3 such as an underground storage cavern, compressed air from the storage reservoir is passed through heat exchanger to preheat the compressed air to a temperature that would normally be discharged from a compressor, the preheated compressed air is burned with a fuel in the combustor, and additional compressed air from the reservoir is passed through an injector located downstream from the combustor to produce a decreased pressure such that a low atmospheric condition at the combustor exit is simulated.

Abstract: An industrial gas turbine engine with a high spool and a low spool in which low pressure compressed air is supplied to the high pressure compressor, and where a portion of the low pressure compressed air is bled off for use as cooling air for hot parts in the high pressure turbine of the engine. Annular bleed off channels are located in the LPC diffuser. The bleed channels bleed off around 15% of the core flow and pass the bleed off air into a cooling flow channel that then flows into the cooling circuits in the turbine hot parts.

Abstract: A process for testing a full-sized aircraft or full-sized gas turbine engine in a wind tunnel and includes the steps of securing a full-sized aircraft or engine in a wind tunnel for testing; filling an underground storage reservoir with compressed air; passing pre-treated compressed air from the underground storage reservoir through the wind tunnel for testing of the full-sized aircraft or engine; connecting an outlet of the wind tunnel to an ejector; and, passing compressed air from the underground storage reservoir through the ejector to decrease the exit pressure at the wind tunnel during testing of the full-sized aircraft or engine. The step of pre-treating compressed air from the underground storage reservoir includes preheating the compressed air; and, passing the higher temperature compressed air into the wind tunnel.

Abstract: A process for testing a full-sized aircraft or full-sized gas turbine engine in a wind tunnel and includes the steps of securing a full-sized aircraft or engine in a wind tunnel for testing; filling an underground storage reservoir with compressed air; passing pre-treated compressed air from the underground storage reservoir through the wind tunnel for testing of the full-sized aircraft or engine; connecting an outlet of the wind tunnel to an ejector; and, passing compressed air from the underground storage reservoir through the ejector to decrease the exit pressure at the wind tunnel during testing of the full-sized aircraft or engine. The step of pre-treating compressed air from the underground storage reservoir includes preheating the compressed air; and, passing the higher temperature compressed air into the wind tunnel.

Abstract: A process for testing a compressor of a gas turbine engine, where a large volume of compressed air is stored in a large reservoir of at least 10,000 m3 such as an underground storage cavern, compressed air from the storage reservoir is passed through an air turbine to drive a compressor to produce high pressure and temperature compressed air, and where the compressed air can be discharged into a combustor and burned with a fuel for testing of the combustor under simulated conditions of a real gas turbine engine.

Abstract: An industrial gas turbine engine for electrical power production includes a high pressure spool and a low pressure spool in which the low pressure spool can be operated from full power mode to zero power mode when completely shut off, where the low pressure spool is operated at high electrical demand to supply compressed air to the high pressure compressor of the high pressure spool, and where turbine exhaust is used to drive a second electric generator from steam produced in a heat recovery steam generator. The high pressure spool includes a high pressure compressor with a inner compressed air flow path and an outer compressed air flow path in which a higher pressure supplies cooling to a turbine airfoil that is then discharged into a combustor of the engine.

Abstract: A process for testing a combustor or a compressor of a gas turbine engine, where a large volume of compressed air is stored in a large reservoir of at least 10,000 m3 such as an underground storage cavern, compressed air from the storage reservoir is passed through an air turbine to drive a compressor to produce high pressure and temperature compressed air, and where the compressed air can be discharged into a combustor and burned with a fuel for testing of the combustor under simulated conditions of a real gas turbine engine.

Abstract: An industrial gas turbine engine for electrical power production includes a high pressure spool and a low pressure spool in which the low pressure spool can be operated from full power mode to zero power mode when completely shut off, where the low pressure spool is operated at high electrical demand to supply compressed air to the high pressure compressor of the high pressure spool, and where turbine exhaust is used to drive a second electric generator from steam produced in a heat recovery steam generator. The power plant can operate at 25% of peak load while keeping the unused parts of the power plant hot for easy restart when high power output is required.

Abstract: A turbine of a gas turbine engine with a rotor and a stator forming a rim cavity, where the rotor includes a turbine rotor blade with a cooling air channel opening into the rim cavity, and a centrifugal impeller rotatably connected to the rotor in which the centrifugal impeller discharges pressurized cooling air into the rim cavity to improve the rim cavity seal and to supply pressurized cooling air to the rotor blade cooling air channel.

Abstract: A gas turbine engine with a closed-loop liquid metal cooling fluid system for cooling stator vanes within the turbine, in which the stator vanes are made of a metallic material that will not react with the liquid metal cooling fluid. The stator vane may be made from a typical metal material such as ferrous metal alloys, nickel alloys or cobalt (Co) alloys, and an insert or liner made of molybdenum or tantalum may be placed inside to protect the outer vane material from reacting with a liquid metal such as bismuth, lead (Pb), indium, or alloy mixtures of thereof. In the case where the liquid coolant is bismuth, the liquid bismuth must be purged from the cooling system before the fluid cools and solidifies so the solidified bismuth does not expand and break the vanes.

Abstract: A process for testing a combustor or a compressor of a gas turbine engine, where a large volume of compressed air is stored in a large reservoir of at least 10,000 m3 such as an underground storage cavern, compressed air from the storage reservoir is passed through an air turbine to drive a compressor to produce high pressure and temperature compressed air, and where the compressed air can be discharged into a combustor and burned with a fuel for testing of the combustor under simulated conditions of a real gas turbine engine.

Abstract: A gas turbine engine, especially an industrial gas turbine engine for electrical power production, where a second compressor is used to supply a second compressed air at a higher pressure to a stage of stator vanes in the turbine section of the engine for cooling of the stage of stator vanes, and where the heated compressed air used to cool the stator vanes is then discharged into the combustor to be burned with a fuel and produce a hot gas stream that is passed through the turbine. an intercooler can be used with the second compressor to lower the temperature of the second compressed air used for cooling the stator vanes.

Abstract: A system and a process for testing a gas turbine engine or component thereof, especially for a large aero gas turbine engine, and for a process for testing a large industrial gas turbine engine that requires large flow capacity and pressure ratios. The system and process may include the use of a large compressed air storage reservoir to provide compressed air to the testing system. Further, the system and process may also include the use of a pre-heating system, which may include a heater and a heat exchange device, to warm the compressed air from the compressed air storage reservoir to a temperature suitable to simulate normal operating conditions of the gas turbine engine or component thereof.

Abstract: An industrial gas turbine engine in which a compressor includes later stage airfoils that are cooled using a coolant from an external closed loop cooling circuit or from a heat recovery steam generator. Cooling air compressed by a compressor external to the IGT engine can be used for cooling of the main compressor airfoils with a heat exchanger to preheat a fuel used in the combustor. Or, water and steam from a heat recover steam generator can be used to cool the compressor airfoils in which steam can be bled off from the steam generator for cooling and then reintroduced into the HRSG at a downstream stage. Steam is used to cool the rotor blades while water is used to cool the stator vanes.

Abstract: A high compression ratio compressor having multiple stages of airfoils to produce the high pressure rations, where the last stage airfoils are cooled by passing cooling air through the airfoils without discharging film cooling air. The cooling air for the airfoils is bled off from an upstream stage of the compressor, passed through the airfoil to provide for the cooling, passed through a heat exchanger to preheat a fuel, where the preheated fuel is passed into the combustor. the cooled cooling air form the heat exchanger can be reintroduced back into the compressor or passed through the turbine to cool last stage airfoils in the turbine.

Abstract: A gas turbine engine with a closed loop liquid metal cooling fluid system for cooling stator vanes within the turbine, in which the stator vanes include a liquid metal cooling passage lined with Tantalum or Molybdenum and a liquid metal cooling fluid of Bismuth or Lead or Zinc or Tin or alloy mixtures of these metals.

Abstract: An apparatus and a process for measuring rotor creep values for a monolithic rotor of an industrial gas turbine engine in order to determine when creep growth of the rotor has exceeded an allowable limit. One or more critical locations of the rotor are measured for real-time radius, and a CPU having rotor creep deflection model is used to compare the real-time data and determine if the rotor creep is within safe and allowable limits. If the creep is determined to exceed allowable values, then an alarm in initiated or engine shutdown occurs.