Thoughts on gas turbine development in energy industry
Author of the article:GUO Huazhang
Author's Workplace：China Railway International Group, Beijing, 100036, China
Key Words：Gas turbine; Working principle; Key technology; Development status; Existing problems; Development trend
Abstract：Gas turbine is an industry derivative of jet engine, whichis a high-end industrial cutting-edge technology. As Chinas independent research and development of gas turbine is lagging behind, the current international gas turbine market is dominated by European, US and Japanese manufacturers. The technology blockage by these countries has become a bottleneck in the development of gas-fired power generation in China. In order to clearly understand the development trend of gas turbines, this paper explains the working principles and key technologies of gas turbines, and carries out the technical classification of gas turbines; reviews the development history and analyzes development trends of gas turbines domestically and internationally. It is believed that as the production of natural gas, shale gas and coal-bed methane continue to increase, China has formed diversified fuel supply infrastructures (conventional natural gas, shale gas, coal-bed methane, imported natural gas, LNG), and built more than 144,000 kilometers of pipelines, forming a network of five horizontal and two vertical natural gas pipeline grids covering the whole country. Thus, natural gas power generation is provided with a stable fuel supply. The paper analyzes the restrictive factors of the development of gas turbines in China, and puts forward suggestions for research and promoting the application of gas turbine generators:1)Joint scientific research between institutions, manufacturers, and end-users to overcome key technologies development challenges and focus on the research and development of medium and low calorific value fuel combustion technology and combustion chamber technology;2)Establish a long-term operation test base, adopt appropriate incentives, and promote the localization of supply of gas turbine equipment and hot section component maintenance;3)Formulate specifications for gas turbine operation and maintenance, and make maintenance plans for vulnerable parts in advance;4)Perform routine inspections on the flame tube, combustion chamber, etc., and routine maintenance plan for the combustion chamber, transition piece, first-stage nozzle, bearing, rotor, etc.;5)Centralized dispatching and unified management of distributed gas turbines, reducing maintenance costs, developing maintenance technology, and improving gas turbine utilization efficiency;6)Gas fired electricity pricing should consider the cost of gas turbines for peak-shaving and emission reduction, implement priority access to the grid for clean power, and guarantee the utilization hours of gas turbine power generators;7)Expand the application of distributed gas-fired power generation in oil and gas drilling and production, to produce gas with gas, and combine gas with electricity to support the application and development of gas turbines technology. Gas turbine power generation embraces broad prospect for commercial application in China.