Heavy-duty gas turbine undergoes first ignition test

China's independently developed 300 megawatt F-class heavy-duty gas turbine successfully completed its first ignition test on Monday in Shanghai's Lingang area, underscoring the nation's advancements toward enhanced energy security and sustainable development.

The 300MW F-class unit, developed by China United Gas Turbine Technology Co, represents the largest and most technologically advanced heavy-duty gas turbine China has developed entirely through domestic efforts. Its technical indicators match those of mainstream international F-class turbine models currently in operation worldwide, according to the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The ignition validates the turbine's overall design integrity, manufacturing quality and functionality of the testing systems, paving the way for comprehensive operational verification trials.

"This breakthrough follows over eight years of intensive research and development," said Minister Jin Zhuanglong. "This successful ignition is another milestone following the rollout of the first prototype in February, officially advancing the program into full machine testing and validation."

Mo Jingfei, director of the science and technology management department at China United Gas Turbine Technology, highlighted the unit's generating capacity.

"It is estimated that under a combined cycle configuration, a single set of this equipment could generate approximately 450,000 kilowatts per hour — equivalent to one-eighth of the average hourly electricity consumption in Beijing," he was quoted by Xinhua News Agency.

Compared with the generation efficiency of 35-46 percent for conventional thermal power, the generation efficiency of combined cycle power plants can reach 55 percent, and can be coupled with new energy to better meet user demands in peak adjustment, Mo added.

As a type of internal combustion and a core engine in the energy sector, gas turbines generate power by burning fuel like natural gas mixed with air to spin turbine blades. They can operate continuously for long periods in high-temperature, high-stress and highly corrosive environments. Based on operating temperatures, the heavy-duty units are classified into E, F, G/H and J classes, with F-class representing the mainstream global model operating at around 1,400 C.

Compared to traditional coal and oil-fired power plants, natural gas-fired turbines emit significantly lower levels of pollutants. Their carbon dioxide emissions are approximately half those of coal-fired power plants, making this cleaner, more sustainable technology essential for China and other nations striving to meet environmental goals. These turbines have widespread applications in ground-based power generation and peak shaving for power grids.

However, developing huge, ultrahigh temperature gas turbines is widely regarded as an immense engineering challenge. As reported by local news portal The Paper, for about six decades, the global heavy-duty gas turbine market has been dominated by US, German and Japanese manufacturers, and China's gas turbine industry has been plagued by latecomer challenges such as design complexity and restricted access to proprietary foreign technologies.

The tide began to turn in 2012 when China's State Council launched the national strategic program focused on aero engines and gas turbines. In 2014, major enterprises, including the former China Power Investment Corporation, joined forces to establish a united company in Shanghai to spearhead development efforts through independent design efforts and strategic technology cooperation.

In 2017, the united company became China United Gas Turbine Technology Co, which was tasked with leading national R&D initiatives from fundamental research to prototype manufacturing and validation.