How a Gas Turbine Works
The power behind the plant
A gas turbine compresses air and mixes it with fuel. The fuel is burned and the hot air-fuel mixture is expanded through turbine blades, making them spin about a shaft. The spinning turbine drives a generator that converts the spinning energy into electricity.
- Fuel is burned in the gas turbine
- The resulting energy in the gas turbine turns the generator drive shaft
- Exhaust heat from the gas turbine is sent to a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG)
- The HRSG creates steam using the gas turbine exhaust heat and delivers it to the steam turbine
- The steam turbine delivers additional energy to the generator drive shaft
- The generator converts the energy into electricity