Gas turbine performance enhancement for naval ship propulsion using wave rotors

Abstract

The propulsion demands of high-speed naval vessels often rely on gas turbines, producing significant amount of power achieving thus high performance requirements. Gas turbines can be used either to provide purely mechanical propulsion, or alternatively to generate electricity, which is subsequently used by electric drives to propel the ship. However, the thermal efficiencies of gas turbines are lower than those of Diesel engines of similar power. In the context of improving the performance of existing marine gas turbines, it is proposed to enhance engine’s performance by integrating a pressure wave supercharger (or wave rotor), while keeping the basic components of the baseline engine unchanged. This article is an application of a method developed by the author for marine gas turbines with and without recuperator, [Fatsis 2019]. It is found that important benefits are obtained for the topped engines in comparison to the self-standing baseline engines. The wave rotor integration is more appropriate for engines with low compression ratios and high turbine inlet temperatures. Application of wave rotor technology to recuperated marine gas turbines shows efficiency gain exceeding 19% for all the compression ratio and turbine inlet temperatures examined. Abbreviations: COGAS, Combined gas turbine and steam turbine; COGES, Combined gas turbine electric and steam; GTE, Gas turbine engines.