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A MICRO GAS TURBINE UNIT FOR

ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION:


DESIGN AND TESTING OF TURBINE AND COMPRESSOR
J. Peirs, D. Reynaerts, F. Verplaetsen
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
Celestijnenlaan 300, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
www.mech.kuleuven.ac.be
dominiek.reynaerts@mech.kuleuven.ac.be

Abstract device through the openings in the outlet disc (6).


A miniature gas turbine is under development that The rotor has a diameter of 10 mm and is supported
generates electrical energy from fuel. The proposed by two ball bearings (4). The nozzle disc and rotor
system combines an axial turbine with a centrifugal are monolithic stainless steel parts, produced by
compressor. The turbine, with a rotor diameter of 10 turning and die-sinking EDM. Figure 2 shows a
mm, is tested with hot compressed air up to 130,000 subassembly of nozzle disc, rotor, and bearings.
rpm and 330C. The system generates up to 50 W of
mechanical power with an overall conversion
efficiency between 20 % and 24 %. Coupled to a
small generator, it generates up to 36 W of electrical
power. The 20 mm diameter compressor produces a
pressure ratio of 1.20 at 150,000 rpm. Extrapolation
1 2 3 4 5 4 6 7 8
predicts a pressure ratio of 1.63 at 250,000 rpm.

I. INTRODUCTION Fig.1. Microturbine design.


A miniature gas turbine is under development that
generates electrical energy from fuel. The main parts The compressed air enters via a pneumatic
are the compressor, turbine, combustion chamber connector (1), expands over the stationary nozzles
and generator. Previous publications discuss the (3) and drives the turbine rotor (5). No expansion
construction and preliminary testing of the turbine takes place in the rotor channels. The air leaves the
[1,2]. This paper reports about an improved test device through the openings in the outlet disc (6).
method, high-temperature tests performed on the The rotor has a diameter of 10 mm and is supported
turbine, and the development and testing of the by two ball bearings (4). The nozzle disc and rotor
compressor. In contrast to other micro gas turbines are monolithic stainless steel parts, produced by
[3-6], this system combines an axial turbine with a turning and die-sinking EDM. Figure 2 shows a
centrifugal compressor. Also the production subassembly of nozzle disc, rotor, and bearings.
technology and materials differ as the parts are made
from stainless steel using micro-electro-discharge
machining. The microturbine developed at MIT [3]
has a purely radial design for both compressor and
turbine and is produced lithographically in Si or SiC. Bearing
The microturbine developed at Stanford [4] uses
axial-radial designs for both compressor and turbine.
The 12 mm diameter silicon nitride rotor is produced Turbine rotor
by gel-casting. Japanese teams [5,6] use radial and
axial-radial designs. Stationary
nozzles
II. TURBINE DESIGN
Figure 1 shows an exploded view of the
microturbine design. A single-stage axial impulse
turbine (Laval turbine) was chosen because of its Fig. 2. Subassembly of nozzle disc, turbine rotor,
simple construction. The nozzles are designed for and bearings. The rotor has a diameter of 10 mm.
subsonic flow and therefore have a converging cross-
section. Sonic speed is reached for a supply pressure
of 1 baro. IV. TURBINE TEST BENCH
The compressed air enters via a pneumatic Figure 3 shows the extended test set-up built for
connector (1), expands over the stationary nozzles measuring the turbine characteristics. The turbine is
(3) and drives the turbine rotor (5). No expansion connected to a generator by a spring that acts as a
takes place in the rotor channels. The air leaves the flexible coupling. The holder of the generator is
mounted on four leaf springs (only two visible) with III. TURBINE PERFORMANCE
each pair of springs having a virtual intersection The turbine is tested for a supply pressure of
point at the centre line of the generator. A total of 0.8 baro at different temperatures of the supplied air,
four strain gauges are mounted on the two right leaf ranging from 21C to 331C. The upper temperature
springs, resulting in a full-bridge torque sensor. The setting is determined by the heater. To avoid
generator (Faulhaber, type 1628 T024B K312) is breakdown of the bearings, the speed is limited to
connected to a variable 3-phase load consisting of 130,000 rpm, far below the (theoretical) optimal
three resistors. The operating point can be changed speed of 210,000 rpm. Figures 4 to 7 show the
by varying the resistive load and supply pressure. mechanical and electrical power and efficiency.
This set-up allows measuring the mechanical and The maximum mechanical power output varies
electrical characteristics simultaneously in steady with temperature between 41 W and 50 W. The vol-
state operation. In previous tests, the mechanical and umetric flow is inversely proportional to the square
electrical characteristics were measured sepa- root of the temperature and decreases from
rately [2]: the mechanical characteristics were 9.5 Nm3/h at 21C to 6.5 Nm3/h at 331C. The
measured with acceleration tests while the electrical mechanical efficiency is defined as the mechanical
characteristics were measured with a similar set-up energy output divided by the energy of an ideal
as shown in figure 3, but without torque sensor. The isentropic expansion of the consumed air. For this
new set-up measures the mechanical characteristics system, the maximum mechanical efficiency ranges
more accurately. between 20 % and 24 %. The maximum electrical
power varies with temperature between 31 W and 36
W. This corresponds to a total efficiency for the
Turbine Generator turbine-generator combination (from air to
electricity) between 15 % and 18 %, not taking into
account the heating of the compressed air.
25
Supply T=21C
pipe 20 T=279C
Mechanical efficiency (%)

T=331C

15

10
Torque
sensor 5
psupply =0.8 baro

0
Fig. 3. Test bench for mechanical and electrical 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Speed (rpm) x 103
characterisation of the turbine. The turbine drives a
generator mounted on a custom-made torque sensor.
Fig. 5. Total efficiency of turbine and generator at
different air supply temperatures.
50
50
T=21C
40 T=279 C T=21 C
Mechanical power (W)

40 T=279 C
T=331 C
Electrical power (W)

30 T=331 C
30

20
20

10
10
psupply =0.8 baro
psupply =0.8 baro
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0
Speed (rpm) x 103 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Speed (rpm) x 103

Fig. 4. Mechanical power generated by the turbine Fig. 6. Electrical power generated by the turbine at
at different air supply temperatures. different air supply temperatures.
25
on special high-speed radial ball bearings (Timken
T=21C super precision bearings DR55B2L and DR01B2L).
20 T=279C The compressor rotor is made from stainless steel
by a combination of turning and die-sinking EDM.
Total efficiency (%)

T=331C

15 The EDM process is used to produce the blades: a


copper electrode with the negative shape of the rotor
10 is sunk axially into the rotor disc. The electrode itself
is produced by wire-EDM. The other parts are made
5 of stainless steel or aluminium.
psupply =0.8 baro
Turbine housing
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Compressor housing
Speed (rpm) x 103 Spacer

Fig. 7. Total efficiency of turbine and generator at


different air supply temperatures. Turbine
The graphs clearly show that power and efficiency Compressor Bearings
increase with speed and that the performance is rotor
limited by the maximal speed allowed by the Diffuser disc
bearings.

V. COMPRESSOR DESIGN Fig. 8. Exploded view of the compressor.


A single-stage radial compressor design was
chosen because radial compressors can generate high
pressure ratios in a single stage and are relatively
easy to realise. Axial compressors on the other hand
need several stages to reach the required pressure
ratio, and the geometry of the blades is more critical.
Figure 8 shows an exploded view of the
compressor design. The air is aspirated through the
central hole on the left. The rotor, which has a
diameter of 20 mm, gives momentum to the air while
pumping it in radial direction. The diffuser converts
the corresponding kinetic energy into pressure. The
geometry of the diffuser is visible in figure 9. To test Fig. 9. Compressor prototype
the compressor at high speed, a simple turbine is (size compared to 1 euro coin).
mounted on its shaft, as shown on the right side of
figure 8. This turbine is not optimised for efficiency VI. COMPRESSOR PERFORMANCE
as it is only used for testing purposes. To measure the compressor characteristics, the
The flow in the centrifugal compressor is here diffuser is connected to a throttle valve that acts as a
limited to subsonic speeds in order to avoid variable load. A pressure sensor and flow meter are
compressibility effects. The compressor has thus placed between diffuser and valve. An optical sensor
been designed to operate at 80 % of the sonic speed, measuring the blade frequency gives the turbine
resulting in a pressure ratio of 1.8. The dimensions speed. The supply pressure of the driving turbine
are chosen such that it can realise a flow rate of 6 controls the speed. Figure 10 shows the compressor
Nm3/h at 0.8 baro, corresponding to the expected characteristics measured for speeds ranging from
working characteristics of the turbine at 600C. The 75,000 rpm to 150,000 rpm. Higher speeds could not
compressor blades have inlet and exit angles of be reached due to bearing problems. The different
respectively 15 and 90 relative to the tangential data points on each curve are obtained by varying
direction. The losses are taken into account by the resistance of the throttle valve. The data are
assuming that the real pressure head of the corrected for the small changes in speed caused by
compressor is 70% of the theoretical pressure head, the load variation. This is done by applying scale
in correspondence to values found in literature for an laws, which say that the flow rate in turbines is
exit angle of 90, but for large compressors [7]. proportional to the speed, while the pressure head is
To attain the required pressure, the rotor has to proportional to the second power of the speed. These
rotate at 250,000 rpm, close to the optimal working scale laws can also be used to extrapolate the
point of the turbine. Therefore, the rotor is mounted measured data to higher speeds.
1.7

1.6
Extrapolated: 250 000 rpm
1.5

Pressure ratio
1.4

1.3

1.2 150 000 rpm


125 000 rpm
1.1
100 000 rpm
75 000 rpm
1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
3
Flow rate [Nm /h]

Fig. 10. Compressor characteristic for different speeds. Extrapolation


of the curves predicts the characteristic at 250,000 rpm.

Figure 10 shows the extrapolated characteristic at To test the compressor and turbine in a complete
250,000 rpm based on the combined data of the four Brayton cycle, both will be mounted on a common
measurements at low speed. The close match of the shaft. Initially, the air coming from the compressor
extrapolated values proves the validity of the scale will be heated externally before being sent to the
laws and the corresponding correction and turbine. Later, a combustion chamber will be
extrapolation techniques. The pressure ratio is low developed and added.
enough to rule out compressibility effects. The To increase the pressure ratio and the overall
extrapolated pressure ratio (1.63) is lower than the efficiency of the Brayton cycle, multiple-stage
theoretical design value (1.8), which means that the designs are envisaged for compressor and turbine.
losses are higher than estimated. Higher internal
leakage and higher viscous friction can explain these ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
higher losses. Internal leakage can increase due to This research is sponsored by the Belgian Federal
the relatively lower accuracy at which miniature Science Policy Office, Interuniversity Poles of
parts can be made. The viscous friction increases Attraction programme (IAP5/06: AMS). The authors
with miniaturisation due to decreasing Reynolds assume the scientific responsibility of this paper.
numbers.
REFERENCES
VII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE [1] J. Peirs, D. Reynaerts, F. Verplaetsen, M.
WORK Poesen, P. Renier, CD-ROM Proc. Eurosensors
First prototypes of two key components for a XVI (2002), pp. 790-793.
miniature gas turbine have been built and tested: a [2] J. Peirs, D. Reynaerts, F. Verplaetsen, M.
compressor and a turbine. At the moment, the Poesen, P. Renier, J. Micromech. Microeng., 13,
performance of both turbine and compressor is no. 4 (2003), pp. S190-S195.
clearly limited by the maximal speed that can be [3] A. H. Epstein, S. A. Jacobson, J. Protz, L. G.
reached. Therefore, the first goal is to increase both Frchette, Proc. ISROMAC-8 (2000).
turbine and compressor speed. An important [4] S. Kang, S.-J. J. Lee, F.B. Prinz, ABB review, 2
improvement will be the dynamical balancing of the (2001) pp. 54-62.
rotors. Also air bearings are studied to attain higher [5] K. Isomura, M. Murayama, H. Yamaguchi, et
speeds and reduce wear. al., Tech. Digest Power MEMS 2002, pp. 32-35.
Secondly, the compressor and turbine will be [6] E. Matsuo, H. Yoshiki, T. Nagashima, C. Kato,
redesigned to match each other's characteristics and Tech. Digest Power MEMS 2002, pp. 36-39.
increase their efficiency. [7] A.J. Stepanoff, Turboblowers, Wiley, p. 90,
1955.

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