Gas Turbine Exhaust Systems Design Considerations
Gas Turbine Exhaust Systems Design Considerations
Gas Turbine Exhaust Systems Design Considerations
ABSTRACT
The users of Gas Turbine powered equipment are very aircraft field we moved into the Gas Turbine driven
careful to ensure that they achieve their objectives in equipment arena, and since the early sixties have
terms of power output and overall efficiency, but other provided noise control equipment for power stations
important aspects of the system may be underspecified, having a total of more than 5000 Mw. installed capacity,
and cause the user serviceability and maintenance and some 40 gas compressor installations, both land
problems during the systems planned operating life. based, and for off—shore platforms.
One important area, crucial to reliable operation of The company is involved at the present time in a new
the Gas Turbine, is the power turbine exhaust system. range of aero engine test cells for the United States
If particular care is not taken on the part of the user Air Force. This is a universal test cell capable of
in specifying this component, he is likely to be testing up to ten different engine types, including
provided with the minimum standard of equipment from the large air flow turbo fans, and high fuel burn
supplier. afterburning engines. We are also providing aircraft
Hush Houses to a number of air forces and are building
This paper highlights some of the areas that should and installing equipment for power generation and gas
be considered during the preparation of specifications, compressor stations.
and in the evaluation of proposals. Specific problems
of exhaust design will be addressed to assist the user It is this wide and varied background that will be
to identify and question possible problem areas. utilized in the presentation of this paper on Gas
Turbine exhaust system design.
The paper concludes that for minimal additional input
during the initial stages of a project, long term cost The first part of the paper outlines some of the
savings could be made and that the overall system would basic considerations that are the end users
be more reliable. responsibility. If the ground rules are not clearly
defined at the start, there is the possibility that the
INTRODUCTION user will not get what he expected, and will not be in a
position to easily rectify the situation.
Cullum Detuners Limited, based in Derbyshire in the
United Kingdom, are a specialist contractor in the field ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE
of acoustic engineering from the preparation of the
initial design to the fabrication and installation of The initial acoustic performance laid down for every
all types of noise control equipment. type of installation needs careful consideration by the
specifying authority and the end user.
Our experience with Gas Turbines dates back to 1944
when we built our first exhaust augmentor for a 3000 lb. In a large number of instances the dB(A) weighting
thrust jet engine. Since that time we have designed, criteria is used to set the noise limits for has Turbine
fabricated and installed hundreds of test facilities for installations. This is or little use if the proposed
more than 35 different aero engines, and more than 30 site location includes nearby residential accommodation.
military and civil aircraft types. The facilities range Gas Turbine exhausts generate very high levels of low
from complete aero engine test cells, to aircraft trim frequency noise which the dB(A) weighting curve does not
pads and complete aircraft Hush Houses. take account of. In fact this criteria will permit
excess low frequency noise without necessarily affecting
As a natural extension to our experience in the the specified dB(A) level. Low frequency noise problems
Presented at the Gas Turbine Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim, California — May 31-June 4, 1987
are extremely difficult and expensive to correct after specified there is no reason for acoustic problems to
they have occurred. occur due to interpretation of the specification when
the installation is put into operation, nor are there
The dB(A) weighting for the standard octave band limits, other than financial, to achieving very low
centre frequencies are shown in Fig.l, it clearly shows noise levels to permit 24 hour complaint free operation
how the weighting curve automatically discounts noise adjacent to residential locations.
levels at the lower frequencies. To demonstrate this
effect Fig.2 shows three different spectrums for the As an example, a 300 Mw. Gas Turbine power station
same single dB(A) value. The graphs show that the 31 Hz. using 16 gas generators, can achieve a residual noise
noise level by 15 dB. Spectrums B) and C) would be the level of 37 dB(A) at a distance of 200 metres, with a
most likely to cause complaint due to low frequency 31 Hz. level of 56 dB. In this instance the end user
If the users requirements are properly and carefully If possible, multiple set machines should be
+1 0-
+1.2 +1.2
0 —1.1
0
—3.2
—8.6
—10
—16.1
—20
—26.3
—30
—39.4
—40
Frequency Hz. 31
4000 8000
63 125 250 500 1000 2000
2
10 0
Key
90
A
80
60
50
110
100 -
90
80
0
70
N
7
0
60
a
7
(19 50
Measured level at 200 metres ( 37 dB(A) )
40
30
Frequency Hz. 31 63 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
3
contained within a single building, this provides for silencing system.
better control of the various components, and reduces
the number of external noise sources to the bare An example of turbine exhaust plenum generated noise
minimum. i.e. the intakes and filters, the building occurred on an installation that we provided a number
itself and the exhaust systems. of years ago. The exhaust outlet of the silencer stack
was producing an uncharacteristic 25 Hz. tone that was
Another difficulty with multiple set installations affecting the 31 Hz. octave band and causing noise
is that each machine usually utilizes a number of complaints. After some investigation a simple blanking
separate light weight acoustic enclosures. Due to the plate and flow straightener were inserted into the
nature of this type of construction and the number of exhaust plenum outlet before the silencer. The
joints and seals involved, the acoustic performance modification altered the outlet area from the plenum
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Outlet stack
Silencer
Vertical outlet
stack
Silencer
Offset transition
Transition —
continuous operation, should not be lined with any form DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
of plain carbon steel. Perforated liners should be
specified in the 316, 316L, 321 or equivalent stainless In a typical Gas Turbine exhaust silencer there are
steels, and structural components in a suitable high a number of components that are common to most systems.
operating temperature alloy steel.
These include:
If specifications are sometimes non specific with
regard to the mechanical construction of exhaust o Expansion joints/Compensators
silencers, they are virtually all non specific as to o Transition sections
the type of noise absorption materials and methods of o Ducting sections/Outlet stacks
retention that are to be used. At the very high o Silencer section
operating temperatures of silencers these days, we o Bends and Elbow sections
know of only two suitable materials that are economic o Support points
and that will not migrate out of the silencer. For o External insulation
each type of material different packing techniques
must be used in association with a packing retention Each of these items will be considered in turn.
system. The type of packing, and method of retention
are of paramount importance to the operating life and Expansion joints/Compensators
acoustic performance of the silencer, and yet most These can cause a lot of problems and may require
users pay no attention to this subject in their frequent maintenance and replacement if not specified
specifications. The results can be the use of a correctly. The main factor here is one of cost, unless
packing material that has a very short life and that the requirements are defined very carefully, the user
eventually dusts down and disappears completely. Once will be provided with a compensator of a low standard
again it will be the user who has to bear the cost and of quality. High quality reliable compensators are
inconvenience of putting the silencer right. available, and some users aware of this fact nominate
the supplier in the original specification document.
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Other considerations when evaluating proposed point is to ensure that the correct number of
compensating joints include the degree of mal-alignment compensating joints are provided and that the ducting
that the joint can accommodate, will it operate is supported properly. In the case of outlet stacks
satisfactorily under negative and positive pressure care must be taken to ensure that all environmental
conditions, and have enough compensators been proposed loads can be accommodated with the stack operating at
for the total exhaust system to ensure satisfactory it's maximum temperature.
operation of the system.
Silencer section
Transition sections This is the most critical item in the exhaust system
In most cases the transition section forms a and consequently should be looked at very carefully. A
fundamental consideration is that of the cross sectional
Outlet stack
Turning vanes -/
Cascade bend
Fig. 5 - Tynical arraogement of axial exhaust silencer system.
be of the stainless steel type to ensure a satisfactory whole surface is required, a much more difficult and
and corrosion free operating life. The acoustic expensive solution is required. This should be
packing material should be evaluated together with the incorporated at the design stage.
proposed methods of retention to ensure that it will
operate satisfactorily and stay in place. Finally the Engineering Data
silencer casing and lining structure should be This forms an essential part of any evaluation
evaluated for its ability to permit free thermal growth, process, and users and machinery suppliers vary widely
and avoid stress points likely to cause early fatigue in their requirements.
and failure.
The minimum data that should be requested and
The next consideration concerns the silencing evaluated, includes the following:
All the above points should be considered, and In some instances, particularly with consulting
clarified if necessary, when the proposals are being engineers, structural calculations are taken too far,
evaluated. A superior offer may have been discounted usually after contracts have been placed, with
on the grounds of cost, although it may have more requirements to justify every single piece of
thoroughly covered the spirit of the users requirements. construction within the system. If this level of
Specifications should not allow any contractor to information is really required then the specification
distort the requirements in order to gain an advantage document should clearly define what is to be provided.
over other prospective contractors. Theoretical calculations are a time consuming and
expensive business and in some instances existing
Bends and Elbows historical data and experience may adequately cover
Considerations are, generally, as for the ducting these requirements and provide a more realistic
sections above, but with the added problem of how the approach.
gases are being turned inside the bend section.
Turning vanes provide the best solution from a pressure CONCLUSIONS
loss and acoustic point of view, but care is needed in
their design and construction. Reliability problems The paper reflects some of the problems we have come
are likely if the vanes are not supported properly up against, during the past twenty five years of
along their length, and if their mountings into the producing Gas Turbine noise control equipment. We have
bend section do not allow for free thermal growth. In answers for the majority of the problems but new ones
addition, badly shaped blades and vanes will generate occur, the process is one of continuous development.
noise which may affect the overall exhaust acoustic
performance. Some users are very aware of the potential
difficulties with exhaust system design and
Supports construction, and take great care to avoid them. On a
These are an important feature with regard to the more general basis this is not the case and we still
long term reliability of the exhaust system. receive specifications that are too vague in their
Considerations include, the number of anchor and skid requirements, are asked to solve noise problems that
supports, the location of compensators with respect to need not have occurred, and in some cases have totally
the anchor supports, and differential expansion between replaced unreliable and ineffective silencers. These
the duct sections due to different construction silencers reflect the bad practices of twenty years
techniques. Skid supports must be able to accommodate ago, these should not be continued with the knowledge
the expected thermal growth of the ducting and must that is available today.
ensure that all external environmental loads can be
accepted by the support and transferred into the main For a small amount of additional input at the
foundation. Special consideration must be given to specification stage, and for a marginal increase in the
vertical stack sections that may be attached to the overall initial equipment cost, long term savings could
users building steelwork. These supports must be be made and the sytem would be more reliable.
designed to minimize the transfer of heat and thermal
movement into the building or supporting steelwork. As a minimum the user should be more aware of the
potential problems, and should consider the following
External Insulation points when writing specifications or evaluating
This needs to be defined in the specification proposals.
clearly and evaluated carefully. Costs can be affected
greatly by the degree to which the silencer system is o Ensure that the acoustic specification is
to be insulated, the requirements are rarely clearly defined correctly, is not open to interpretation
defined. and that low frequency noise has been taken into
account.
Personnel protection, i.e. to prevent people
touching the ducting, is inexpensive and straightforward o Consider the plant design in terms of controlling
to provide, but if a guaranteed low temperature over the the noise environment including possible future
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requirements.