DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS OF A 6 KW HIGH-SPEED MICRO GAS TURBINE PROTOTYPE

摘要

Small portable electricity generating systems are suitable in remote locations where the access by vehicles is restricted or not even possible. These kind of places include for example catastrophic areas after earthquakes or tropical cyclones. Such machines can also be used as auxiliary power units in motor or sail boats. Gas turbine based electricity generation systems offer a good alternative for typical engine-generator units which are characterized by lower specific powers. It is suggested that the power to weight ratio of a 6 kW micro gas turbine can be more than eight times higher than that of the corresponding engine-generator unit. The biggest drawback is the higher specific fuel consumption; however, by introducing a recuperator, the specific fuel consumption can be improved. In this article, the design process and experiments of a 6 kW micro gas turbine prototype are described and discussed in detail. The built non-recuperated prototype is based on a commercial, small jet engine originally designed to give thrust to radio controlled model airplanes. The jet nozzle of the jet engine was replaced by an axial power turbine which was directly connected to a small, high speed permanent magnet generator. The experiments showed the potential of the prototype.