Surviving Increasingly Fierce Competition World-Leading Japanese Gas Turbines
As part of a NEDO project, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which has already put the world’s highest class 1,600°C-class gas turbine into practical service, is taking on empirical research into 1,700°C-class turbines with the aim of establishing the technology by FY 2020. While the power generation efficiency of 1,600°C-class gas turbines is 54%, it is expected the 1,700°C-class gas turbine could reach a power generation efficiency of 57%. “We are facing fierce competition from the USA and Germany over developing the capabilities of gas turbines. Since it requires a long time and tremendous amount of funds to develop the technology, it is necessary for these nations to work together. It is not easy to lead the world and realize the 1,700°C-class gas turbine,” says Mr. Sato, Chief Officer of NEDO’s Environment Department.
Rotor from a 1,500°C-class gas turbine already in service
Improving the Capability of Every Device The Challenge of “Seeing the Summit” of the 1,700°C-Class
“Realizing the 1,700°C class gas turbine requires a wide range of technologies. We set goals for each device from combustor to turbine then work to integrate them together,” says Mr. Koichi Ishizaka, Head of the Gas Turbine Development Center at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Research & Innovation Center, in explaining the difficulties of improving performance 100°C from 1,600°C to 1,700°C.
For example, a combustor which burns gas before sending gas into the gas turbine would increase the emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx), which increases air pollution in an exponential fashion when the temperature of the gas is raised. Therefore, it is necessary to develop technology to limit the NOx emission by being creative in the shape of the combustor.
As for the blades of the turbine, they would melt down if kept exposed to 1,700°C even if they were coated with heat-resistant ceramics. So we place heat vents inside the blades to cool them down from the inside so the blades can be cooled with less air more efficiently.
With regards to the NEDO project, Mr. Ishizaka says, “It is great to work on the development of various technologies as a package.” This nine-year project is now in its fifth year. “We are moving to the phase of integrating the technologies we’ve developed into each device. I feel like we are half way through, and we are just starting to see the summit we are trying to reach to establish this technology,” he says.
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