General Electric has announced a multi-year joint development agreement with Cascade Technologies that will focus on applying and improving simulation software that enables engineers to virtually look inside a gas turbine as it operates and gain a better understanding of the turbulent fluid, chemical and acoustic processes occurring within advanced, low-emissions gas-turbine combustion systems.
The companies say this will improve efficiency, lower emissions and increase durability in future products.
The gas turbine combustion process involves multiple steps at high speed. Compared to other digital modeling techniques, Cascade simulation software enables better visualization of the combustion process so engineers can understand more about the subtle changes that occur, the company says. It’s like looking at the world through a slow-motion video versus a time-lapse snapshot.
This visualization is made possible by unique code software that can be scaled to run on national laboratory super-computers and at other high-performance computing facilities. The code allows GE and Cascade teams to simulate the combustion process with microsecond time fidelity and sub-millimeter resolution, while generating petabytes of data.
Such an unprecedented amount of information combined with proprietary web-based analysis tools can help shorten the path between simulations and engineering insight, the partners say. During a typical two-year development cycle, engineers utilizing the full potential of the software can iterate on a design up to ten times faster to accelerate learning and improve the design.
Earlier this month GE announced that its advanced cooling and chemical treatment technology has helped a natural gas development platform in the Gulf of Thailand save $52 million per year and significantly reduce water usage and chemical consumption.