Gas turbines find wide range of uses in oil industry

During the past 5 yr, gas turbines have captured a growing portion of the industrial prime-mover market. Industrial turbine capacity in service has recently been estimated at more than 25 million hp. Gas turbines are already found in a wide variety of uses in the oil industry, from stimulation to refining and processing. The simple- cyclic turbine consists of an air compressor, a combustion chamber, and a power-recovery turbine. A typical thermodynamic cycle is illustrated which best describes the operation of a gas turbine. Simple installation is one of the most important advantages of the gas turbine. Turbine packages including controls, subsystems, and driven equipment can be entirely self-contained and may weigh in the order of only about 1 lb/hp. Some of the advantages include the following: (1) low maintenance costs resulting from the absence of a water-cooling system; (2) fuel consumption for an open-cycle turbine may be reduced to 4,000 to 7,000 btu/hp-hr when exhaust heat is used; (3) automation is easily applied; (4) flexibility broadens their range of uses; and (5) quick starting is possible. A table shows the comparative installed costs for indoor locations.