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2004-1385

Modifications of the SR-30 Gas Turbine Experimental Apparatus to Improve Data Accuracy

Dr. Gregory W. Davis, P.E., Kettering University

The SR-30 (LX4000) gas turbine engine manufactured by Turbine Technologies, Ltd. is used for teaching in a growing number of universities throughout North America. This system is a self-contained package that consists of the gas turbine and computer-aided data acquisition system. The base system provides data measurements for thrust, fuel consumption, engine speed, and various additional temperatures and pressures.

During testing, the measurement of thrust, fuel flow, and engine speed were found to be inadequate and the system had no airflow measurement capability. Several modifications were made to this system to make it viable for both classroom use and for research. This paper presents details of these modifications and the resulting data quality. All of these changes can be integrated into the existing computer data acquisition system, which is part of the base LX 4000 package.

Introduction

The base experimental apparatus is a LX4000 gas turbine engine, manufactured by TurbineTechnologies, Ltd. This system is shown in Figure 1. This engine is capable of producing about 22 lbs. of thrust. As shown in Figure 2, there is no bypass flow and the compressor and turbine are directly axially connected. This simple setup makes this unit ideal for experimental studies since it eliminates the need to account for other flows, transmission losses, etc.

This apparatus is used in a senior level mechanical engineering energy systems laboratory course [1]. In this class, students are asked to operate the engine at various speeds, while measuring various pressures and temperatures as well as fuel flow rate, airflow rate, engine emissions and engine thrust. The data is then used to calculate thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC), component efficiencies, Brayton cycle efficiencies, system energy balance, and the A/F ratio. Further, using the linear momentum principle, engine thrust is calculated and compared with the measured value. Reference 1 provides further details of the experiments conducted by the students.

During testing, the measurement of thrust, fuel flow, and engine speed were found to be inadequate. Further, the system had no airflow measurement capability; the airflow was estimated using the compressor speed. The thrust measurement, in particular, was found to vary widely. The observed thrust measurement would lose its zero and impart an offset of as much as 10 lbs (worst case), or about 50% of the rated engine thrust! This Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Davis, G. (2004, June), Modifications Of The Sr 30 Gas Turbine Experimental Apparatus To Improve Data Accuracy Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--12958