ADVANCED TURBINE SYSTEMS PROGRAM

Natural gas combustion turbines are rapidly becoming the primary technology of choice for generating electricity. At least half of the new generating capacity added in the US over the next twenty years will be combustion turbine systems. The Department of Energy has cosponsored with Siemens Westinghouse, a program to maintain the technology lead in gas turbine systems. The very ambitious eight year program was designed to demonstrate a highly efficient and commercially acceptable power plant, with the ability to fire a wide range of fuels. The main goal of the Advanced Turbine Systems (ATS) Program was to develop ultra-high efficiency, environmentally superior and cost effective competitive gas turbine systems for base load application in utility, independent power producer and industrial markets. Performance targets were focused on natural gas as a fuel and included: System efficiency that exceeds 60% (lower heating value basis); Less than 10 ppmv NO{sub x} emissions without the use of post combustion controls; Busbar electricity that are less than 10% of state of the art systems; Reliability-Availability-Maintainability (RAM) equivalent to current systems; Water consumption minimized to levels consistent with cost and efficiency goals; and Commercial systems by the year 2000. In a parallel effort, the program was to focus on adapting the ATS engine to coal-derived or biomass fuels. In Phase 1 of the ATS Program, preliminary investigators on different gas turbine cycles demonstrated that net plant LHV based efficiency greater than 60% was achievable. In Phase 2 the more promising cycles were evaluated in greater detail and the closed-loop steam-cooled combined cycle was selected for development because it offered the best solution with least risk for achieving the ATS Program goals for plant efficiency, emissions, cost of electricity and RAM. Phase 2 also involved conceptual ATS engine and plant design and technology developments in aerodynamics, sealing, combustion, cooling, materials, coatings and casting development. The market potential for the ATS gas turbine in the 2000-2014 timeframe was assessed for combined cycle, simple cycle and integrated gasification combined cycle, for three engine sizes. The total ATS market potential was forecasted to exceed 93 GW. Phase 3 and Phase 3 Extension involved further technology development, component testing and W501ATS engine detail design. The technology development efforts consisted of ultra low NO{sub x} combustion, catalytic combustion, sealing, heat transfer, advanced coating systems, advanced alloys, single crystal casting development and determining the effect of steam on turbine alloys. Included in this phase was full-load testing of the W501G engine at the McIntosh No. 5 site in Lakeland, Florida