Air, along with natural gas or other fuels, is essential for the operation of a gas turbine, which spins a generator to produce electric current.
The process begins with air being drawn into the compressor section of the turbine, where it is compressed like air in a bicycle pump, increasing both temperature and pressure.
Combustion Process
Fuel is injected into the combustor where it mixes with hot compressed air and ignites, converting chemical energy into mechanical energy as hot gases force turbine blades to spin at over 3000 RPM.
This spinning motion drives a shaft connected to a generator; as the generator's magnet rotates within copper wire coils, it creates an electrical current by aligning electrons.
Combined Cycle Power Plants
Video description
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous combustion, internal combustion engine. The main elements common to all gas turbine engines are:
1. An upstream rotating gas turbine compressor;
2. A combustor;
3. A downstream turbine on the same shaft as the compressor.
A fourth component is often used to increase efficiency (on turboprops and turbofans), to convert power into mechanical or electric form (on turboshafts and electric generators), or to achieve greater thrust-to-weight ratio (on afterburning engines).
The working principle of a gas turbine is a Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid. Atmospheric air flows through the compressor that brings it to higher pressure. Energy is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so the combustion generates a high-temperature flow. This high-temperature high-pressure gas enters a turbine, where it expands down to the exhaust pressure, producing a shaft work output in the process. The turbine shaft work is used to drive the compressor; the energy that is not used for compressing the working fluid comes out in the exhaust gases that can be used to do external work, such as directly producing thrust in a turbojet engine, or rotating a second, independent turbine (known as a power turbine) which can be connected to a fan, propeller, or electrical generator.
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