Transpiration Air Protected Turbine Blades: An Effective Concept to Achieve High Temperature and Erosion Resistance for Gas Turbines Operating in an Aggressive Environment
The future generation is looking forward to the use of gas turbine inlet temperatures as high as 3000 F (1650 C) with attendant thermal efficiencies of from 40 to 50 percent in combined cycle electric power plants. In addition to the use of high temperature for improved efficiency, the national needs, due to scarcity of oil and natural gas, will heavily stress the use of coal as a fuel. The particulate from combustion of coal derived liquid and gaseous fuels, even after employing hot gas cleanup systems, may damage conventional turbine blades and thus reduce turbine life. This paper is intended to show how a transpiration-cooled blade can cope with both of the foregoing problems simultaneously. The fundamental aspects of the transpiration-cooled blade technology will also be explained. Experimental results using this design concept indicate that significant erosion resistance is feasible for gas turbine blading in the near future.