Design and Test of a New Axial Compressor for the Nuovo Pignone Heavy-Duty Gas Turbines

This axial compressor design was primarily focused to increase the power rating of the current Nuovo Pignone PGT10 Heavy-Duty gas turbine by 10 percent. In addition, the new 11-stage design favorably compares with the existing 17-stage compressor in terms of simplicity and cost. By scaling the flowpath and blade geometry, the new aerodynamic design can be applied to gas turbines with different power ratings as well. The reduction in the stage number was achieved primarily through the meridional flowpath redesign. The resulting higher blade peripheral speeds achieve larger stage pressure ratios without increasing the aerodynamic loadings. Wide chord blades keep the overall length unchanged thus assuring easy integration with other existing components. The compressor performance map was extensively checked over the speed range required for two-shaft gas turbines. The prototype unit was installed on a special PGT10 gas turbine setup, that permitted the control of pressure ratio independently from the turbine matching requirements. The flowpath instrumentation included strain gages, dynamic pressure transducers, and stator vane leading edge aerodynamic probes to determine individual stage characteristics. The general blading vibratory behavior was proved fully satisfactory. With minor adjustments to the variable stator settings, the front stage aerodynamic matching was optimized and the design performance was achieved.