Gas Turbine Handbook : Principles and Practices

The Gas Turbine's Future 279
Chapter 18
The Gas Turbine’s Future
Gas turbine production worldwide has varied over the past
fifteen years from a low of $20 billion per year to a high of just
over $40 billion per year. The total value of production in 2004
was $21.9 billion. Of this amount $14.9 billion was for aviation gas
turbines and $7.1 billion was for non-aviation gas turbines.
In the aviation category $3.7 billion was for military applications
while $11.2 billion was for commercial aviation. The US Military F35
Joint Strike Fighter powered by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft (Division
of United Technologies Corp.) F135 is a 40,000 pound thrust jet engine
(Figure 18-1). This jet engine will power the F35 for all three types
of service—conventional takeoff/landing ( CTOL), carrier variant ( CV),
and short takeoff/vertical landing ( STOVL).
In commercial aviation the Airbus A380, a 555- to 800-passenger
aircraft, will be powered by the General Electric—Pratt & Whitney
Alliance GP7000 or the Rolls Royce Trent 900 jet engines. These
engines will each produce between 70,000-80,000 pounds of thrust.
In the non-aviation gas turbine category $6.04 billion was for
electric generation, $0.78 billion for mechanical drive applications, and
$0.28 billion for marine applications. The Queen Mary 2, the largest
cruise ship at 1,132 feet long (about three times the size of the Titanic),
is powered by two General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines and four
diesel engines. There are presently 16 gas turbine powered cruise ships
in operation. 1
Large power plants utilizing techniques such as the atmospheric
fluidized bed combustion systems, advanced pressurized fluidized bed
combustion systems, integrated gasification-combined-cycle systems
(reference Case Study #1), and integrated gasification-fuel cell
combined-cycle systems and small microturbine electric generator sets
will make up the new generation of gas turbine applications.
While many of these techniques—implemented to facilitate the use
of solid fuels ( coal, wood waste, sugar cane bagasse) and improve power
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