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LMS 100: 46% in simple cycle: an off engine intercooler in the compression section is the key to the extraordinary efficiency claimed for GE's latest gas turbine. It is the first modern production power generation gas turbine to use this technology.

Article Excerpt
When asked to describe their requirements for future power generation facilities, GE says its customers put the following high on their priority list: 100 MW blocks of power; high efficiency at full and part power; cycling capability; fast start; peaking capability; sustained hot-day power; fuel flexibility; and, of course, low emissions. The new LMS 100 gas turbine aims to respond to these needs, "changing the game in the power generating industry", claims GE.

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The new LMS 100 design is the first GE gas turbine to combine actual components from the company's heavy duty frame gas turbines with those from its aeroderivative machines.

The LMS100 features an inlet and low pressure compressor (LPC) comprised of the first six stages of an MS600FA (heavy duty gas turbine) compressor. These stages are followed by an aerodynamically designed volute which ducts the low pressure compressed air into the off-engine intercooler. Cooled air from the intercooler is ducted back through another volute into the high efficiency aeroderivative "supercore". The latter is a term coined by GE for the LMS 100.

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The supercore module is described as "rotable", which means that when an existing module has to go away for depot maintenance, a lease or spare unit can be installed in 24 hours. The supercore consists of:

* A high pressure compressor (HPC), based...