Gas Turbine Hot-Stage Parts in Aggressive Atmospheres

Westinghouse experience in burning heavy residual fuels in gas turbines dates back 25 years when such fuels were burned in a 2000 hp turbine powering a locomotive. In this paper we present case histories for several turbines burning fuels potentially corrosive, erosive, or deposit forming. These include in addition to the locomotive turbine, several turbines operating on heavy liquid fuels in Brazil, Panama, Italy, Japan, and Yugoslavia. Additional field experience is now being accumulated with high temperature machines, supplemented with laboratory testing. Over the years a number of groups representing technical societies have worked on corrosion problems. Their work and accomplishments are summarized.