How does the intercooler change the efficiency of a gas turbine?

In order to improve the thermal efficiency of gas turbines, people have come up with a variety of methods. One of them is an intercooler. In principle, gas turbines are heat engines. The energy comes from the expansion of the air by heat. Therefore, a measure of the energy of the gas turbine is the temperature difference between the air in and out of the combustion chamber The most direct method of this temperature difference is to increase the temperature of the combustion chamber, but the withstand temperature of the combustion chamber and high-pressure turbine is also limited, so the gas temperature cannot be increased without limit. In this case, people do the opposite and reduce the entry into the combustion Chamber air temperature, so that the temperature difference between the two sides of the combustion chamber can be increased without increasing the temperature of the combustion chamber itself. This is how the intercooler works.

According to relevant data, intercoolers are generally installed between low-pressure compressors and high-pressure compressors, that is, after the air passes through the low-pressure compressors, and then enters the high-pressure compressors through the intercoolers, the intercooler reduces the air into the high-pressure compressor The temperature of the engine, the compression power consumption of the high-pressure compressor is therefore reduced, and the specific power of the entire unit is improved.

Shenshi’s titanium alloy intercooler for marine engines developed by and 1300kW titanium alloy high temperature air and water / sea water plate-fin heat exchanger for marine gas turbines are well used in ships, effectively improving the ship Gas turbine efficiency.