199

S.Q.J. JUNE 1967

The Applications and Control of

Gas Turbo-Generators*
D. G. WALTERS, B.SC.(ENG.), C.ENG., A.M.I.MAR.E. (MEMBER)

THE principle of the gas turbine is by no means

new, in fact the first patent granted for a gas
turbine was to a J. Barber in England in 1791.
However, practical power producing gas turbines
had to wait until the twentieth century when suitable heat resisting materials became available for
their construction. The first industrial gas turbine
was installed in 1935 at an oil refinery in the
U.S.A. This turbine drove an alternator rated at
900 kVA and also supplied process steam to the
plant via a waste heat boiler. A second set was
installed in 1939 this time in Switzerland. This set
was rated at 4 mW, and unlike the previous set,
the second set was designed purely for power
generation.
The Second World War gave fresh impetus to
research into high temperature alloys for gas turbine aero engines, and in the post-war years when
turbine manufacturers again turned to the manufacture of industrial units they brought to bear
the full resources of their aircraft experience,
which has resulted in the production of much
larger gas turbo-generators than were contemplated hitherto.

coupled to the shaft of the gas producer. This is

not a practical arrangement owing to the high
speed of the gas producer and to the fact that the
speed of the gas producer varies with power output, whilst the generator is required to run at a
constant (synchronous) speed. In practice, therefore, the exhaust gases from the gas producer are

Basic Principles of the Gas Turbine Engine

Before dealing in more detail with the applications and control of gas turbo-generators it is
perhaps desirable to explain in very simple terms
how a gas turbine engine works.
Fig. la (i) shows two fans, each coupled to an
electric motor and placed at opposite ends of a
tube. If fan A is driven by its motor, the airflow
'down the tube will cause fan B to rotate and it
will be possible to take some power from machine
B which acts as a generator.
If the separate motor and generator are now
replaced by a single machine as in Fig. la (ii) and
a combustion chamber is added, we have an
elementary gas turbine. To start the set the fans
are first rotated by the electric motor. Fuel injected
into the combustion chamber is then ignited and
the resultant hot gases passing out of the combustion chamber drive fan B. Since heat energy
has been added to the gases the power output
from fan B exceeds the power input to fan A, and
hence the electric motor now acts as a generator.
In Fig. lb this concept has been taken a stage
further. A heat exchanger has been added to
improve efficiency (although this is by no means
always done), and the set is started by a small
electric motor which is declutched as the turbine
runs up to speed.

Coupling the Generator to the Gas Turbine

In Fig. lb the generator was shown direct

Fig. 1. (a) Operating principles of the gas turbine;

(b) Direct coupled gas turbo-generator
passed over a free running power turbine which
drives the generator at synchronous speed either
directly or via a gearbox.
Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically the components
of a practical gas turbo-generator. These include:
the gas producer (equivalent to the pure jet engine
used in an aircraft); the power turbine; the gearbox (if fitted); and the generator and exciter.
Mr. Walters, 31 years old, trained as a graduate apprentice
with the Brush Electrical Engineering Company and was later
employed in the rotating machines, design, applications and
control gear departments of that company. He joined Compton
Parkinson, Leeds, as a management trainee and has recently
been appointed Assistant to the Manager of the Industrial
Motors Division. Married with one son, his hobbies include
sailing and looking after the house and garden.
Abstract of a paper awarded a Premium and read before
the East Midland Section, 16th February, 196S, and the Merseyside and North Wales Section, 24th March, 1965.

S.Q.J. JUNE 1967

200

If the engine has been developed from a pure

jet aircraft engine the power turbine will form a
unit separate from the gas producer and it can be
designed to deliver full power at the synchronous
speed of the generator. If on the other hand the
engine has been developed from a prop-jet aero
engine, then the power turbine will be included in
the structure of the gas producer and is generally

gas turbine engine. Although their overall efficiency is rather less than that of the equivalent
diesel alternator set, mobile gas turbo-generators
have the following advantages which sometimes
justify their use: light weight; long life between
overhauls; vibration free running; and extreme
simplicity of design and construction.
This type of gas turbo-generator finds its prin-

EXHAUST

Fig. 2. Components of a practical gas turbo-generator

arranged to drive the generator via a gearbox.
Fig. 3 shows a cross-section through a typical
17i mW gas turbo-generator set in which the gas
producer and power turbine are separate units.
At present the extremes of the gas turbogenerator power output range are 20 kW and
70 mW. However, for convenience in this paper
we may divide gas turbo-generators into two

ciple application with electricity supply authorities who use it to maintain supplies to isolated
loads whilst the feeders normally supplying those
loads are undergoing repair. The whole concept
of the unit is that of a self-contained power
package (sometimes even including the fuel tanks)
which is extremely robust and very simple both
in design and operation. It is intended that the sei

Fig. 3. Cross-section through a 17-5 MW gas turbo-generator

groups: small units having outputs in the range
170-800 kVA, and larger units haying power
outputs in the range 1-70 mW.

be "plugged in" to the local transmission networl

at a convenient substation and hand synchronism!
facilities are provided.

Small Units Having Outputs in the Range

170 to 800 kVA '

Large Units Having Power Outputs up to

70 mW
Economic Considerations

These units are often mobile and thus take

advantage of the high power/weight ratio of the

It is important at this stage to look briefly a

S.Q.J. JUNE 1967

201

the economics of relatively large-scale power

generation using gas turbo-generators. Compared
with thermal generating plant in the U.K. gas
turbo-generators are cheap to install, but expensive to operate. The relative capital costs are
shown in Fig. 4a. Part of the reason for the low
capital cost of the gas turbo-generator is well
illustrated by the aerial photograph of a C.E.G.B.
power station shown in Fig. 5. The small building
shown circled on the right hand side of the photograph houses two 70 mW gas turbo-generators
whilst the much larger building alongside it
houses only four 30 mW steam sets.
However, the rather obvious advantages of low
capital cost are offset to some extent by the higher
running costs of the gas turbine unless the latter
is run for relatively few hours per year. Reference
to Fig. 4b shows that provided the plant is utilized
for less than about 700 hours/annum, then despite

in the U.K. are therefore designed for one or

more of the following duties: A. Peak lopping;
B. Power station "mains failure" duty; C. Power
factor correction (generator running as synchronous condenser).
A. Peak lopping
This application is practically self explanatory.
The generators are run for a few hours morning
and evening to help meet the peak demands for
electricity at those periods.
B. Power station "mains failure" duty
This application requires rather more explanation. In this context it means complete disconnection of a large thermal power station from the
national grid under heavy overload conditions, a
fault which can and actually has occurred on

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Fig. 4. (fl) Relative capital costs of steam and gas turbo-generators; (b) Economic annual utilization
curves'for steam and gas turbines
several occasions. The gas turbo-generator sets
for this duty are also used as peak loppers and
they are located adjacent to the large thermal
Applications
station which they are designed to protect. In the
Economic considerations govern the applica- event of this station becoming disconnected from
tions of the larger gas turbo-generators. Overseas, the grid the gas turbines are designed to start
in locations where plentiful supplies of natural automatically and safeguard the supplies to the
gas or oil exist they are sometimes used for base essential auxiliaries of the main station. The
load power generation. In such locations where manner in which these sets operate is best underfuel costs are low, the low capital cost of the gas stood by reference to Fig. 6 which shows diagramturbo-generator compared with the equivalent matically the interconnections between the steam
steam generating plant often make it a parti- and gas turbo-generators at such a station.
cularly attractive proposition.
Should the station busbar frequency fall to
In the U.K., however, the relatively high fuel 49 c/s the gas turbine set will start, run up, and
costs of the gas turbo-generator make it com- synchronize automatically. As soon as the gas
mercially unsuitable for. base load generation turbo-generator is developing full power, circuit
except in certain industrial plants where the steam breaker "B" is tripped automatically, and the gas
generated by an exhaust gas boiler can be fully turbine increases speed to supply the steam auxiutilized. Most of the gas turbo-generators installed liaries at normal frequency.
the higher fuel costs of the gas turbo-generator it
nevertheless provides the cheapest electricity.

202
C. Power factor correction
This application is becoming increasingly important as the 275 kV supergrid network is
extended and line reactance becomes an everincreasing problem. Peak lopping sets intended
for this alternative duty have the generator connected to the power turbine via a clutch. The
generator is then run up and synchronized in the
normal way using the gas turbine. When the
machine is connected to the bars the gas producer
is cut out and the clutch is disengaged. Synchro-

S.Q.J. JUNE 1967

for manual control under emergency conditions;

provide facilities for remote control; provide
adequate protection for the set under all likely
fault conditions; and be completely reliable.
A few words on each of these points will serve
to illustrate some of the principles involved.

Normal Automatic Control Functions

The normal automatic control functions are:
A. Start-up; B. Synchronizing; C. Load control;
D. Shutdown; E. Emergency shutdown.

Fig. 5. Relative sizes of steam and gas turbo-generator installations [Steam 128 MW, Gas 140 MW
(circled)]
nous motor/generator units having ratings up to
70 mW have so far been produced.

Shapes and Sizes

Gas turbine driven generating sets come in a
wide variety of shapes and sizes ranging from
small completely mobile sets to large static installations. In between these two extremes the concept
of the "package power station" pioneered in the
U.S.A. is finding an ever-increasing market, particularly overseas. Some idea of the units which
have been manufactured to date is given by Fig. 7.

Control and Protection

Most gas turbo-generator control systems are
either fully or semi-automatic. Various control
schemes have been evolved, but basically all fully
automatic systems have to fulfil the following
requirements: they must control automatically all
normal operating sequences of the set; be suitable

Fig. 6. Connections of a gas turbo-generator for

power station "Mains Failure" duty

S.QJ.

203

JUNE 1967

A. Start-up
A simplified start-up sequence for a typical gas
turbo-generator set is shown in Fig. 8a. It will be
noted that at each stage the system is self-checking
and the start sequence is stopped if any stage is
not satisfactorily completed.
B. Synchronizing
For a gas turbo-generator the automatic synchronizing unit must be designed to: synchronize
rapidly; cause minimum shock; have high reliability; fail to safety; and not prevent manual
synchronizing in the event of failure.
When synchronizing a generator on to a grid
system its output voltage, frequency and phase
must be closely matched to that of the grid in
order to limit electrical and mechanical shock.
With modern automatic voltage regulating systems
accurate voltage control presents little difficulty,
but frequency and phase are less easy to match.
Consider the case of a generator running at a
frequency slightly less than that of the grid but at
the same voltage. Let the grid voltage be represented by a stationary voltage vector Vg as shown
in Fig. 9. The generator voltage is then represented by a vector Va which will rotate clockwise

relative to Vg. The difference voltage (Vf-Va) is

therefore the voltage which would be indicated by
a voltmeter connected across the circuit breaker.
On an oscilloscope this is seen as a modulated
voltage waveform as shown in Fig. 9. The fundamental frequency of this voltage can be shown to
be equal to the mean of the generator and grid
frequencies and the number of zeros/second in
the envelope equals the difference between the
generator and grid frequencies. The essential
problem of synchronizing is to ensure that the
circuit breaker closes at one of these zeros.
The circuit breaker has a definite closing time
(anything from 150 to 600 milliseconds depending
on the type and size of breaker) and this must be
allowed for when deciding the correct moment to
initiate the breaker closing signal. The synchronizing unit measures the slip over 180 of the
beat envelope (representing 180 rotation of the
generator voltage vector relative to that of the
grid) and having been set up for a breaker closing
time of say 350 milliseconds, it initiates the
breaker closing signal when the phase angle
between the incoming and supply voltages corresponds to a phase coincidence occurring 350
milliseconds later.

Fig. 7. (a) 3 MW mobile gas turbo-generator;

C. Load control
The specific fuel consumption of the gas producer rises steeply as load is reduced and this
makes it a very uneconomical power unit except
at full load. In most cases, therefore, automatic
load control implies nothing more than automatic control of the governor to maintain full
power output. Automatic power factor control is
not normally provided but can be incorporated
in the generator excitation control circuit if
necessary.

Ili
(b) 70 MW gas turbo-generator installation

D. Normal shutdown
The normal shutdown sequence is shown
schematically in Fig. 8b. The sequence does not
need to be self-checking to the same extent as the
start-up sequence, but provision is made to
prevent barring the power turbine and generator

S.Q.J. JUNE 1967

204

in the event of lubricating oil pressure failure

during the barring period.
E. Emergency shutdown
The emergency shutdown sequence is necessarily more rapid than that for normal shutdown.
The fuel is usually cut off simultaneously with
tripping the main circuit breaker, and if the shutdown has been initiated by a generator fault then
the generator field circuit breaker is tripped also.

Manual Control
For emergency or test purposes manual control
of the turbine throttle and governor are usually

matically adjusted so that should an A.V.R.

failure occur the set will revert automatically to
S.F.R. control without a change in excitation. The
operating principle of a typical follow-up scheme
is illustrated in Fig. 10. The main components are
the A.V.R., a double track S.F.R., a voltage
matching unit (shown for simplicity as a two-coil
relay) and an A.V.R./S.F.R. changeover relay.
Under normal conditions with the set on A.V.R.
control the path of the main exciter field current
to and from the pilot exciter is via the A.V.R.,
the A.V.R./S.F.R. changeover relay, the field coil
of the voltage matching unit and the main exciter
field. The "ghost" coil of the voltage matching

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Fig. 8. 00 Simplified start sequence; (b) Normal shutdown sequence

provided. Likewise the generator exciter is provided with a manually operated shunt field regulator in addition to the A.V.R. In some installations a "follow-up" scheme is included whereby
the position of the shunt field regulator is auto-

unit is simultaneously energized via the "ghost

resistance" connected to the second track of the
S.F.R. When the ampere turns of the two coils of
the voltage matching unit are equal there is no
signal to the S.F.R. drive motor. This is the

S.Q.J. JUNE 1967

205

balance position and the S.F.R. resistance is so control, although the type of remote control
graded that under this condition, should the set system adopted varies with the application of the
be switched to S.F.R. control, there would be no generator. For mains failure/peak lopping sets
change in the exciter field current. Any out of located adjacent to large power stations remote
balance detected by the voltage matching unit control is exercised from the station control room
causes a correcting signal to be given to the S.F.R. using conventional relay type control gear. Transdrive motor. The S.F.R. thus maintains a position mission of signals is at 50 volts over telephonewhich will result in an approximately stepless type cables, but each control and metering circuit
changeover from A.V.R. to S.F.R. control and has its own separate conductors.
vice versa. The A.V.R./S.F.R. changeover relay
Some sets, however, are located many miles
remote from the control centre and for these units
it is obviously out of the question to run heavy
multicore cables for considerable distances across
country. In these cases it is usual to control the
set remotely via either one pair of telephone wires
or even via a microwave radio link.
In either case a typical remote control system
employs a scanning device at the control centre
which is synchronized with a similar device at the
generating set. The transmission scanner "looks"
at each of the input channels in turn, and transmits the information it sees to the appropriate
channel of the receiver. The transmission signals
are usually generated in the form of pulses and
each channel is characterized by a different pulse
sequence which makes it impossible for a receiving
channel to pick up signals other than those
intended for it.
It is possible (and also usual) to relay meter
readings from the set to the control centre over
the same transmission line. In this case the mark/
space ratio of the pulse signals generated by the
' transmitter is varied by the magnitude of the
signal to be transmitted.

Protection

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Fig. 9. Voltage waveform across circuit breaker

prior to synchronizing
changes position automatically in the event of
failure of the A.V.R. or of its associated voltage
transformer or fuses.

Remote Control
Being fully automatic most gas turbo-generator
control schemes lend themselves readily to remote

It is usual to provide comprehensive protection

equipment covering both the gas turbine and the
generator although the philosophy adopted when
designing a protection system varies considerably
with the application of the generator.
For power station "mains failure" sets the
majority of faults are arranged to initiate an
alarm and the decision to shut down the set is
left with the engineer on duty in the control room.
The reason for this philosophy is that the gas
turbo-generator may be the sole unit supplying
essential station auxiliaries and under these conditions it may be acceptable to run some part of
the set beyond its normal limits for a short time
in order to maintain the supply.
For pure peak lopping sets, however, and particularly for those which run unattended many
miles from the control centre, the majority of
faults are arranged to shut down the set. The
resultant loss of supply for an hour or so may be
inconvenient, but it is a lot less inconvenient than
the loss of supply for several days or even weeks
which could occur if the set were seriously
damaged.

Reliability
The reliability of the control gear for this type
of generating plant is of paramount importance.

S.Q.J. JUNE 1967

206
When designing the equipment the control gear
engineer should have four guiding principles
firmly in mind, viz:
(1) Make absolutely certain that every component is adequately rated. If in doubt
specify the next larger size.
(2) Keep control circuits as simple as possible.
Never use two components where one will
do.
(3) Never overcrowd a control panel with
equipment. Make sure maintenance will be
a possible task.
(4) Check everything. If possible, carry out a
sequence check on the control equipment
before it leaves the factory, using a "mock
BOUSLC -rfTACK" f
MOTOR DRIVEN
SHUNT f^lGTt-J?

(2) By reliable but cheap peak load generating

plant for which the gas turbine driven
generator is most suitable.
It seems probable that more sets will be produced having two or more gas producers driving
a single turbo-generator, thus increasing the overall part load efficiency of the set by running with
one gas producer only.
The developments of the last five years have
created a completely new market both at home
and overseas for gas turbine aero engines and
they have recreated a market for the smaller sizes
of turbo-generator. Not only will this benefit the
industries involved, but, particularly if attention
is focused on the overseas market, this develop-

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Fig. 10. Basic circuit for A.V.R./S.F.R. automatic "Follow-up" scheme

up" test rig. With care taken in design construction and maintenance this type of control equipment, like any other, will give
years of trouble-free service. If adequate
care is not taken at any stage then nothing
but trouble can be expected.

Future Prospects
It now appears that the future electricity
requirements of this and many other countries
will be met in two ways:
(1) By large efficient base load thermal nuclear
and hydro power stations operating at a
high load factor.

ment could have a marked effect on certain

sectors of the British economy over the next ten
years.

Ackno wledgemen ts
The author would like to thank the Directors
of the Brush Electrical Engineering Company for
permission to publish this paper. He is also deeply
indebted to Bristol-Siddeley Engines Limited, The
Orenda Industrial Division of Hawker Siddeley
(Canada) Limited, and to Centrax Limited for the
considerable help and information received from
them, and to his colleagues at Brush for help and
advice.