Performance Improvement of Small Gas Turbines Through Use of Wave Rotor Topping Cycles Available to Purchase

Results are presented predicting the significant performance enhancement of two small gas turbines (30 kW and 60 kW) by implementing various wave rotor topping cycles. Five different advantageous implementation cases for a four-port wave rotor into given baseline engines are considered. The compressor and turbine pressure ratios, and the turbine inlet temperatures vary in the thermodynamic calculations, according to the anticipated design objectives of the five cases. Advantages and disadvantages are outlined. Comparison between the theoretic performance (expressed by specific cycle work and overall thermal efficiency) of wave-rotor-topped and baseline engines shows a performance enhancement by up to 33%. The results obtained show that almost all the cases studied benefit from the wave-rotor-topping, but the highest gain is obtained for the case in which the topped engine operates with the same turbine inlet temperature and compressor pressure ratio as the baseline engine. General design maps are generated for the small gas turbines, showing the design space and optima for baseline and topped engines.