• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1068-1076
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• 2006

A plate-fin type recuperator for a gas turbine/fuel cell hybrid power generation system was designed, manufactured, and tested. Performance analysis shows that the performance of the system is directly affected by the performance of the recuperator. Therefore, the recuperator should be designed and manufactured carefully, and its performance should be tested and verified before it is integrated into the system. In this paper, the developing procedure including designing, manufacturing, and testing of a cross flow plate-fin type recuperator was presented. Performance test results showed that the design requirements of the recuperator were almost satisfied. Based on the test results, improved design to reduce the size of the recuperator was suggested.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.2105-2110
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• 2004

Plate-fin type recuperators for the gas turbine/fuel cell hybrid power generating system were designed using commercial design software, MUSE. Heat transfer efficiency and total pressure drop in the recuperator were calculated to confirm required recuperator performance. Both counter flow and cross flow type plate-fin recuperators were designed. Results show that the counter flow type has higher efficiency and short core length, but the cross flow type is simpler to construct because the cross flow type does not need additional distributors. Two or three headers for the each recuperator core will be designed and tested to evaluate best header design. The designed recuperators and headers which will be designed later will be constructed, tested, and used in gas turbine/fuel cell hybrid power generating system.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1178-1185
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• 2011

In the present study, a recuperator is suggested to improve the thermal efficiency of a micro gas turbine. Primary design parameters of the recuperator are determined from the ideal cycle analysis. The counter flow plate-fin heat exchanger with offset strip fins is chosen as the type of the recuperator. In order to satisfy the design constraints which are the minimum effectiveness and the maximum pressure drop, the optimization for the internal structure of the recuperator is performed with varying the fin spacing and the fin height of offset strip fins. Also the effects of the thermal conductivity of fins and separation plates and the longitudinal heat conduction on the thermal performance of the recuperator are investigated.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.12a
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• pp.80-87
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• 2003

Micro gas turbines are designed with low turbine inlet temperature and pressure ratio. To overcome the efficiency defect of the simple cycle, adoption of the recuperator is an inevitable choice. In addition to the design performance, we should also pay attention to the off-design performance of gas turbines since they usually operate at part-load conditions for a considerable amount of the time. This study aims at analyzing off-design performance characteristics of micro gas turbines and addressing the importance of the recuperator in the part load operation. Comparative analyses have been performed to evaluate the part load performance differences among various design and operating options : simple vs recuperative cycles, single vs two shaft configurations, various operating strategies for the single shaft configuration (fuel only control, variable speed operation, variable inlet guide vane control), and current vs advanced engines. Major finding is that maintaining turbine at high level is crucial in efficient operation of micro gas turbines.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.847-856
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• 2013

In this study, thermal performance of recuperators with plain and offset strip fins is investigated to enhance the thermal efficiency of a micro gas turbine. Thermal cycle analysis is conducted to determine major design parameters of a single-pass counterflow recuperator. In order to evaluate the performance of the recuperator, the effectiveness and the pressure drop in the recuperators are chosen as the objective function and the design constraint, respectively. The optimized geometries for internal structure of the recuperators with plain and offset strip fins are obtained with varying the fin spacing and height. From the result, the recuperator with offset strip fins has better thermal performance when the fin spacing, s, is smaller than 1.45mm and the thermal performance of the recuperator with plain rectangular fins is higher than that with offset strip fins in the region of $s{\geq}1.45mm$. In addition, it is found that the entrance region effect and the longitudinal wall heat conduction effect should be taken into account for accurately predicting the thermal performance of the recuperators with both plain and offset strip fins.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.769-777
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• 1999

This paper presents models for the dynamic simulation of a regenerative gas turbine and describes dynamic behaviors of a small regenerative engine. A quasi-steady model is introduced where the inertia of the working fluid is assumed to be negligible compared with the mechanical inertia of the rotating shaft. Based on this quasi-steady model, the transient model for the heat exchanger is employed to simulate the unsteady heat exchange in the recuperator. The effect of the thermal inertia of the recuperator metal on transient behaviors is analyzed by comparing the predicted results of the transient and steady state heat exchanger models. For several load change modes such as sudden increase, decrease and periodic variation, engine dynamic characteristics are investigated by applying a fuel control logic for the constant shaft speed. It is found that the thermal inertia of the recuperator metal has a dominant effect on the whole engine dynamic behavior.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.39-45
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• 2012

This paper describes the outcome of the design of a 200 kW class micro gas turbine and the sensitivity of its performance (efficiency and power) to the variations in major design parameters. The reference design parameters were set up based on the best available component technologies. The resulting net electricity generation efficiency of the micro gas turbine package was found to be competitive to those of other systems in the market. The sensitivities of power and efficiency to the variations in compressor and turbine efficiencies, pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, recuperator effectiveness, secondary air ratio, pressure loss ratios of both the cold and hot sides of the recuperator were estimated. Based on the sensitivity data, a simplified method to predict the variation in system performance responding to the combinations of small changes in all design parameters were set up and validated.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.7 no.3 s.24
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• pp.39-47
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• 2004

Micro gas turbines are designed with low turbine inlet temperature and pressure ratio. To overcome the efficiency defect of the simple cycle, adoption of the recuperator is an inevitable choice. In addition to the design performance, we should also pay attention to the off-design performance of gas turbines since they usually operate at part-load conditions lot a considerable amount of their lifetime. This study analyzes off-design performance characteristics of micro gas turbines and addresses the importance of the recuperation process doting the part load operation. Comparative analyses have been performed to evaluate the part load performance differences among various design and operating options : simple vs recuperative cycles, single vs two shaft configurations, various operating strategies for the single shaft configuration, and current vs advanced engines. Major finding is that maintaining high turbine exhaust temperature is crucial for efficient operation of micro gas turbines.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.48-55
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• 1999

Performance analysis of a 50KW turbo-generator gas turbine engine with a recuperator was studied. Recuperated cycle has been employed to meet maximum fuel economy and ultra low emissions especially for military and vehicular engines. From thermodynamic stand point, it is known that recuperative cycle can contribute most to enhance thermal cycle efficiency for the Pressure ratios under 10 and of comparatively low turbine inlet temperature. Efficiency of a simple cycle with a recuperator increases relatively about 30% than without one at effectiveness of 0.5. Pressure losses in the heat exchanger less than 5.2% is considered in the design process. A tubular type heat exchanger is selected for this particular engine because it can provide simple construction as well as structural sturdiness and excellent leak tightness.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• v.y2005m4
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• pp.225-230
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• 2005

It is theoretically known that recuperator can bring a significant increase in thermal efficiency of the gas turbine unit, but it also has disadvantages such as pressure loss in the flow channel, thermal stress and increase in weight. Therefore it is necessary to consider all pros and cons of this equipment in view of economic aspects throughout its life cycle. Recuperator has been applied mostly in the power ranges of $20\sim300kW$ class industrial units but hasn't been used as a larger power generation unit except for naval applications in mid twentieth century. Present paper considered the applicability of a recuperator cycle in term of pressure loss, part load aspects for power generation purpose.