THE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION OF THE ROLLS-ROYCE MT30 MARINE GAS TURBINE

摘要

The MT30 is the latest and most powerful gas turbine to enter the marine market. Recently entering US Navy service in USS Freedom, the first-of-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), MT30 has now been selected to be the prime power plant for two further classes of front-line warships; The Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers for the Royal Navy, and the US Navy DDG-1000 Destroyers. This paper tracks the development of the MT30 from its well-established Rolls-Royce Aero Trent parent, discussing the changes necessary to adapt and harden the gas turbine for the marine application. The MT30 development program is described, including the rigorous testing undertaken to qualify the engine to American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) rules. Existing and future applications for the MT30 are described. Systems for achieving efficient hybrid propulsion utilising electric motors for cruise and the MT30 for boost are presented. The latest all-electric marine propulsion architectures as used on DDG-1000 and the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers is discussed -in particular, the issue of maintaining the quality of power supply through transient load demands. The paper concludes with an insight into the latest MT30 package, which sees the system reaching class-beating power densities whilst ensuring maintainability through innovative design features.