25 MW Gas Turbine MFT-8 for

Compressor Driver

SATOSHI HATA* 1
HIROSHI FUKUI* 1
MASAHIRO KOBAYASHI* 1
OSAMU ISUMI* 1

Recently, energy conversion from petroleum to natural gas is being promoted, and plant constructions of gas
pipe lines and gas fields are increasing globally. In plants having 25 MW class compressors, gas turbines are often
used as compressor drivers. Against this background, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has modified its 25
MW gas turbine MFT-8, highly noted for marine propulsion and power generation use, for compressor driver, and
evaluated the performance and reliability of the equipment in shop load test. As a result, the installation space of
gas turbine is reduced by about 40% as compared with gas turbines of the same class of other manufacturers. In
shop actual loading test, reliability of the equipment is confirmed, and at the rated load, the same high thermal
efficiency as that of the original MFT-8 is confirmed, while in addition at partial load, sufficient practical perfor-
mance is observed.

Table 1 shows the main characteristics of gas turbine

1. Introduction
Recently, as energy conversion from petroleum to
natural gas is being promoted, plant constructions of gas
pipe lines and gas fields have been increasing globally.
In plants having 25 MW class compressors, gas turbines
are often used as drivers.
MHI's 25 MW gas turbine MFT-8, which has been
highly evaluated for marine propulsion and power gen-
eration use, has been newly modified for compressor
driver, and its performance and reliability have been
evaluated in shop load test.
MFT-8 for compressor driver. While maintaining the high
thermal efficiency of the original MFT-8, it has been op-
timally modified for compressor driver.
To be applicable to long-term continuous operation,
which is an essential point as gas turbine for compres-
sor driver, parts of the structure have been simplified
from the original MFT-8 which has been developed be-
cause of the necessity for reduction of weight and quick
starting as a marine propulsion engine.
Table 1 Specifications of MFT-8 for compressor driver

2. Modification for compressor driver Specifications

Fig. 1 is a cross section of the modified gas turbine Type Simple cycle 3-shaft
MFT-8 for compressor driver. This gas turbine is com- Output (kW) 26 800*
posed of a gas generator GG8 based on the aircraft engine Thermal efficiency (%) 38.7*
of Pratt & Whitney Power Systems (PWPS), and a power Operating range (min-1) 3 333 (70%) - 5 000 (105%)
turbine of MHI. Fuel type Natural gas fuel
Power turbine lubricating oil ISO-VG 32 (Mineral oil)
Exhaust
Low pressure, axial flow, 8 stages
Compressor
High pressure, axial flow, 7 stages
Gas
generator Combustor Cannular, 9 cans
GG 8 High pressure, axial flow, 1 stage
Structure Turbine
Low pressure, axial flow, 2 stages
Power turbine (PT) Axial flow, 3 stages
Inlet GG8: ball-and-roller
Bearing type
PT: tilting pad bearing
Power turbine Package dimensions (m) L 9.9 x W3.2 x H 3.5
Gas generator Rotating direction
(GG 8)
Clockwise (view from compressor side)

* Values in ISO standard atmospheric condition, using gas fuel,

Fig. 1 Cross section of compressor driver MFT-8 without inlet and exhaust loss, at shaft end.

*1 Hiroshima Machinery Works Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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 Principal changes are shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 33.
2.1 Power turbine
The power turbine of the original MFT-8 uses ball-
and-roller bearings, and expensive synthetic oil is used
as lubricating oil. For the compressor driver, the bear-
ings of the power turbine are changed to tilting pad
bearings, and mineral oil is used for lubrication, thus
reducing the running cost.
Power turbine shaft
(Hollow shaft Solid shaft)
Gas flow
As a result of the change of bearing type of the power
turbine, the lubricating oil drain temperature is lowered
by about 50 oC. The thermal stress generated in the ex-
haust frame around the bearing was tested by unsteady
FEM analysis as shown in Fig. 4 4, and the reliability was
verified.
In the stress concentrated portion of bearing sup-
p o r t , i t s s t r e s s l e v e l w a s l o w, a n d i t h a s b e e n
confirmed that there is no problem in low cycle fa-
tigue strength.
2.2 Auxiliary equipment
Major changes in the gas turbine are as follows.
(1) Change of control method
Fig. 5 shows a gas turbine operation screen, and
Fig
Fig.. 6 shows an monitoring screen for the gas turbine
and compressor.

Journal and thrust bearings

(Ball-and roller Tilting pad design)

Fig. 2 Improvements to power turbine

Added guide rail MFT-8 Start & Stop button

Control devices
for maintenance

Exhaust

Inlet

Fig. 5 MFT-8 control touch panel

Re-arrangement of piping route

and auxiliary equipment

Fig. 3 Improvements to auxiliary equipment

Power turbine casing

High
Stress level

Gas flow

Stress
concentration
portion

Low

Bearing support
Fig. 6 Monitoring screen for operation condition of MFT-8
Fig. 4 Unsteady thermal stress analysis gas turbine and compressor

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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 Oil console
(for power turbine and compressor) Oil cooler

Fire extinguishing
equipment

3 200
6 400
Inlet air silencer
Ventilation Exhaust silencer
Inlet air filter filter
Cooler

12 000 MFT-8 gas turbine

Ventilation Compressor
Oil console
(for gas generator) fan

GL
Ventilation
damper
5 700 9 900 9 500
Fig. 7 Package arrangement of MFT-8

As the control device of gas generator of PWPS, tion area is reduced by about 40% as compared with other
Micronet of Woodward is used, while the PLC of Allen- manufacturers.
Bradley is used as the control device of the power
turbine of MHI. 4. Load and performance test
Further, by automating starting of the gas turbine A trial machine of MFT-8 for compressor driver was
main body and starting of the auxiliary machine, ac- fabricated in accordance with these changes and modifi-
celeration up to 70% of power turbine rotating speed cations, and a shop load test was conducted for the
(lowest speed in operation range 3 333 min-1) is real- purpose of evaluating the reliability and performance of
ized in a single action. In deceleration, a function is the equipment.
provided for selecting the step-down method automati- Fig. 8 shows an outline of the load test facility. A wa-
cally depending on the cause of stop, and this is ter dynamometer was used as the load device.
automated including stopping of auxiliary machine.
(2) improvement to the enclosure structure
Maintenance rails are provided in the enclosure,
the engine can be removed without disassembly the
enclosure, and easy maintenance is realized. Inlet air duct
Exhaust duct
and silencer Ventilation duct and silencer
3. Comparison with other manufacturers and silencer

Fig. 7 shows the example of the typical arrangement

of compressor train with Mitsubishi Advanced Compres-
sor (MAC) and MFT-8 for compressor driver, and Tabl
ablee2
Ventilation
shows a comparison of gas turbine package dimensions fan
of the same class from other manufacturers.
The package is made compact by adjusting the piping
route and equipment layout, and the package installa- Water
dynamometer

Table 2 Comparison of gas turbine package dimensions

(Unit: m)
MHI (MFT-8) Manufacturer A Manufacturer B
W=3.2

W=3.4

W=4.0

Oil console for

GG 8
L=9.9 Installation L=15.3
area L=12.8
32 m2 52 m2 51m2 Fig. 8 Outline of test equipment for MFT-8

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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 100 100 Expected performance curve
Expected performance curve in ISO condition at maximum
At 100% power turbine speed
in ISO condition at100% speed
Power turbine bearing metal temp. ( C)

95 90 continuous rotation (MCR)

o

(100% rotating speed: 4 762 rpm) (MCR: 5 000 rpm)

90 80 40

Power turbine shaft vibration

85 Active side thrust bearing metal temp. 70 38
#1 journal bearing metal temp.
80 60 36

Thermal efficiency (%)

75 50 34 Measurement points

70 40 32 Test condition* : Expected performance

#2 journal bearing metal temp.
curve in 100% speed
30
65 30 (100% rotating speed: 4 762 rpm)
28
60 20 *Test condition
Inactive side thrust bearing metal temp. 26 o
Ambient temperature: 10 C
55 Power turbine shaft vibration 10
24 Atmospheric pressure: 101.90 kPa
50 0 Inlet loss: 90 mmAq
22
20 000 21000 22 000 23 000 24 000 25 000 Exhaust loss: 160 mmAq
20
Power turbine shaft end output (kW) 15 000 20 000 25 000
Fig. 9 Measurement results of power turbine bearing metal Power turbine shaft end output (kW)
temperature and shaft vibration
Fig. 10 Measurement results of power turbine performance

To confirm the reliability of the improved points of

the power turbine, about 100 points were measured and
the data were collected in real time. 5. Conclusions
Fig. 9 shows the results of measurement of bearing MHI's 25 MW gas turbine MFT-8, in widespread use
metal temperature and shaft vibration at high load with for marine propulsion and power generation purposes,
power turbine 100% rotating speed. The metal tempera- has been modified for compressor driver.
tures of thrust bearings and journal bearings at rated The controllability and maintainability have been
load were, respectively, about 97oC and about 75oC, which improved accordingly, and the installation space of
fall within design allowable values, and reliability was gas turbine is reduced by about 40% as compared with
confirmed. Shaft vibration at rated load was about 30 gas turbines of the same class made by other manu-
u m P-P, which was also within design allowable values. facturers.
At other points, measurements were normal, which re- Reliability of the modified MFT-8 has been confirmed
liability of the equipment was verified. in shop load test. It was verified that the modified MFT-
Fig. 10 shows the results of measurement of perfor- 8 has the same high thermal efficiency as the original
mance. It was confirmed that performances at the rated MFT-8 at rated load, and has sufficient practical perfor-
point and partial load were as planned. Thus, at the rated mance at partial load.
load, the high thermal efficiency of the original MFT-8 In future, the product will be brought to the gas field
is maintained, and at partial load, sufficient practical market as a total package of Mitsubishi Advanced Com-
performance could be confirmed. pressor (MAC) and MFT-8 gas turbine.

Satoshi Hata Hiroshi Fukui Masahiro Kobayashi Osamu Isumi

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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