The WR-21 gas turbine engine will be employed by the Royal Navy and potentially by the United States and French Navies in their future Integrated Full Electric Powered Surface Combatants. The Intercooled Recuperated (ICR) advanced cycle means that in a Warship power system a single WR-21 engine sits on the throne of the realm that traditionally would have been occupied by two gas turbine engines, one for ‘cruise’ and one for ‘boost’; not forgetting that it is also doing the job of at least two diesel generators in our traditional example. This performance will provide Warship operators with an unprecedented opportunity to configure the Warship propulsion plant to return exceptional Platform Life Cycle Cost reductions in peacetime while retaining warfighting operational capability in time of conflict. The Royal Navy is the first user of the WR-21 ICR gas turbine engine in its Type 45 Air Defense destroyer, an artists impression of which is shown in Figure 1. The vessel is a 7500 tonne monohull, fitted with an integrated electric propulsion plant comprising two WR-21 Gas Turbine Alternators (GTAs), the prime mover side of which is capable of delivering 25 MW (ISO) and the Alternator side of which is rated at 21.6 MWe (0.9 pf lagging), 4.16KV. These GTAs in combination with a pair of diesel generators rated at around 2 MWe (0.9 pf lagging) will provide electrical power to two 20 MWe (0.9 pf lagging) 4.16 KV electric propulsion motors and to the ship’s non propulsion consumer electrical distribution system. Any combination of generator set can provide any consumer with electrical power. In their crudest form any generator set that forms part of the Type 45 power system may be simply regarded as Mega Watts towards the installed power total. The division of priority and delivery of power to meet the Command’s requirements will require skilful and subtle engineering of the control systems that will be used to operate the power system and precise definition of the operating philosophy and principles for the platform. In a Warship that has only four sources of electrical power the principles of survivability and prime mover independence are fundamental. The limitations of operating electrical generation machinery are established. This paper examines how the WR-21 will be capable of providing power to the Command of the Type 45 as an integral part of the Warship power system in all states of operational readiness for war.
Coordinated Model Predictive Control of Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine and Power System