Status of the European Gas Turbine Program — AGATA

The European Gas Turbine Program “AGATA” which started in 1993 now has reached its verification phase. The objective of the program is to develop three critical ceramic components aimed at a 60 kW turbogenerator in a hybrid electric vehicle — a catalytic combustor, a radial turbine wheel and a static heat exchanger. The AGATA partners represent car manufacturers as well as companies and research institutes in the turbine, catalyst and ceramic material fields in both France and Sweden. Each of the three ceramic components is validated separately during steady state and transient conditions in separate test rigs at ONERA, France, where the high pressure/temperature conditions can be achieved. A separate test rig for laser measurements downstream of the catalytic combustor is set up at Volvo Aero Turbines, Sweden.The catalytic combustor design which includes preheater, premix duct and catalytic section operates at temperatures up to 1623 K. Due to this high temperature, the catalyst initially has undergone pilot tests including ageing, activity and strength tests. The premix duct flow field also has been evaluated by LDV measurements. The full scale combustion tests are ongoing.The turbine wheel design is completed and the first wheels have been manufactured. FEM calculations have indicated that stress levels are below 300 MPa. The material used is a silicon nitride manufactured by AC Cerama (Grade CSN 101). Cold spin tests with complete wheels have started. Hot spin tests at TTT 1623 K will be performed in a modified turbo charger rig and are expected to start in February 1998.The heat exchanger is of a high efficiency plate recuperator design using Cordierite material. Hot side inlet temperature is 1286 K. Therefore initial tests with test samples have been run to evaluate the thermomechanical properties at high temperatures. Tests are now proceeding with a 1/4 scale recuperator prototype to evaluate performance at steady state conditions. Manufacturing of the full scale heat exchanger is now in progress.Copyright © 1998 by ASME