First turbine engine, some advise needed....

[josh28161]

Hello, I just acquired my first turbine, and know absolutely nothing about it. Thought it would be a great project for the kids and I. Any help would be appreciated. I spent several hours on the web, and cannot find much. I was very happy to find this board.  I am hoping to get the thing running, and I have already figured out it is missing a starter and of course I have no idea what kind or where to get a replacement. The model number is GTCPD30-150F. I would like to know what that model was used for as well if anyone has any ideas. Thanks for the help.

[josh28161]

Here are a few photos.

[racket]

Hi Josh

Theres been a few APU engines purchased by Members , checkout the various Folders to see if theres something similar .

The "GT" is gas turbine, the "C" is compressor supplied compressed air for starting large engines , and the "P" is for shaft power takeoff , its a "universal" APU ......nice :-)

Cheers
John

[racket]

Hi Josh

Looks like a pair of power takeoffs for "generators?" on the casing , there should be a bleed air connection off the compressor stage .

Cheers
John

[gidge348]

Hello Josh,

Nice to have you on board, I am not sure but this engine looks like a FADEC engine in other words it uses a computer to control the speed etc by adjusting the amount of fuel going in. Do you have the computer or any other parts?

There are a few very knowledgeable people on this board and I believe some have made their own FADEC systems so may like to do some research there?

If not one person I could recommend for parts and info is Bruce Linsmeyer at Avon Aero www.avonaero.com/products.htm He is very good to get along with and seems to have a large inventory of APU Parts.

A bit of looking on the net may turn up a manual or Bruce may be able to help.

[josh28161]

Thanks so much for the information so far. I will reach out to Bruce. Unfortunately, the APU did not come with anything extra. A contractor was cleaning out a garage and found it in a corner, Husband had passed away, and wife said get rid of it. It looks like it may have been professionally taken out of service from what ever it powered, as the exhaust output has a cover and the two electrical connections have covers as well. Thanks.

[ernie wrenn]

Looks like a "huffer" unit... Very easy to work on. We have several of them..

[turbochris]

If you try to develop a fadec, plz put a load on that thing! At least a little mass on the output while tuning the fuel schedule. that sucker will flare rpm up fast!

[josh28161]

Thanks again to those the responded. I have been trying to do some research, and it looks like I have narrowed down my needs. So any help in these specific areas is appreciated.

1.Fuel delivery and control - Looks like the unit has some sort of fuel pump or something along those lines already mounted to it, so I am hoping to be able to just connect to a small
boat fuel tank. Assuming I can get some JetA at the small airport near me.

2.Engine monitoring and control - I am looking for a tach, EGT, and what ever else I may need to build a control board. I am hoping to be able to run the turbine without an electronic
control system, as that seems to be a little over my head.

3.Engine Starting. I have been in touch with Bruce and he is trying to find me a starter. (thanks gidge348)

4.Throttle control - I have read that theses APU's are meant to fire up and run at 100%, but I would like to be able to adjust this if possible.

[gidge348]

Hello Josh,

Glad Bruce was able to help you.

One thing I would be VERY careful of is starting a FADEC engine without the controller. These things will adjust the fuel based on speed, temp an other parameters many times a second. Just remember 100% on this engine is probably about 60,000 rpm(??) and if you don't catch it before it runs to 120% (or more) you are basically dealing with bomb.....

When starting it will probably go slowly up to say 30,000 rpm and then to 70,000 in a couple of seconds. Have you ever seen a clutch come apart on a car at say 6000rpm www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxivYugKi24 ..... well multiply that by 10.....

Older engines had mechanical governors to stop this but your engine does not. If Bruce (or Ernie Wren on this board) has a starter just see if they have a controller as well it is just a matter of connecting a few wires.

Don't let me put you off, this is still a great project, but please be safe.

Air ports should be fine selling you some JetA1 but a viable alternative may be 90% diesel and 10% Petrol others may have recipes as well.

So far as controlling the speed I am sure some one know of some electronic gadget to fool the FADEC to let you throttle it?

Ian...

[cursorkeys]

Just to add to the great advice Ian gave, APUs are almost always designed for a fixed speed (some have two speeds, a lower one for electricity generation/idle and a higher one for bleed air production for main-engine starting). So if you start fiddling with the governor you are really in uncharted territory. Things in the engine (like shafts) have mechanical resonance frequencies that on throttle-able engines are designed to be outside the throttle range, on an APU designed to operate at 100% there may be one or more resonance points below that before you hit the minimum self-sustaining speed.

It can be done, and I've stood by a fixed speed APU being throttled all the way down to barely self-sustaining and then back up again, but there is risk involved.


Edit: can't see if you have an air valve on the bleed or not. If not you'll need to add a blank or the engine will be trying to start/run into an enormous load.