Chapter 986: Ship Gas Turbine
Liu Chenchen has the key to Chang Haonan's office, but she certainly can't let anyone in casually.
Therefore, when the latter returned upstairs, Yan Zhongcheng was waiting in the corridor, holding a cotton hat in his hand and fanning himself with the earmuffs.
He looks like an ordinary old man from Northeast China.
"Boss Yan, why didn't you contact me before you came here? I can be prepared."
Chang Haonan said as he took out his key and opened the door.
In fact, his main feeling about Yan Zhongcheng's arrival was surprise.
Especially since the other party actually came directly to the Torch Laboratory.
But no matter what, the two have been friends for so many years, so they are definitely welcome.
"I'm in Beijing for a meeting, so I thought I'd come over to see Mr. Chang..."
"Meeting?"
Chang Haonan stopped opening the tea box:
"Isn't it a bit early?"
At the end of winter and the beginning of spring, when the topic of going to Beijing for a meeting came up, Chang Haonan naturally thought it was a national conference.
But that should have started in mid-March.
"It's not that meeting..."
Yan Zhongcheng quickly denied it:
"It was a symposium held by the Navy Equipment Department. Several institutes including our 606th Institute and the 703rd Institute of Shipbuilding Industry were invited to attend."
Although the theme of the conference was not directly mentioned, the fact that the 606th Institute and the 703th Institute were put together basically means there is only one possibility:
"New ship-mounted gas turbines?"
Chang Haonan frowned:
"But... the group has not received any news about the start of the selection process?"
The gas turbine selection being carried out at this moment is definitely for use in new destroyers, and it is likely to be the main model for the next 20 years or even longer.
In fact, the reason why he had already drawn up the 30MW WS-10 aero-engine fuel early on was to target this demand.
Now that the WS-10 has completed production and finalization, the establishment of the QC300 project should indeed be put on the agenda.
But no matter what, such a big thing could not be decided between the Navy Equipment Department and several secondary research institutes.
It must involve the General Armament Department and the group level.
But he hadn't heard anything about it.
"Oh... we haven't even started the formal selection process yet."
Yan Zhongcheng explained:
"The Haizhuang side didn't say it explicitly, but I guess... this time they are just trying to find out the bottom line in advance so that the higher-ups will have a clear idea."
Chang Haonan held two cups and sat on another sofa next to Yan Zhongcheng. He gave the cup with tea leaves to the latter:
"There's nothing much to say about other institutions. They probably don't have any products that can compete with them."
"There are only 703 institutes... They should be working on the localized UGT25000 now?"
Yan Zhongcheng took the teacup, his expression and movements seemed a little awkward.
For him, the situation was a bit awkward after Chang Haonan took office as the chief planner of the Aviation Power Group.
It is equivalent to his former subordinates now becoming superiors.
In theory, this situation is not particularly rare.
Moreover, when Yan Zhongcheng was carrying out the 83 Project, he guessed that this day would come sooner or later.
The problem is, Chang Haonan's reversal was too early...
There is simply no time to adapt.
Of course, this is human nature.
Chang Haonan could also understand.
But precisely because he could understand, he roughly guessed from just now that the other party came to visit him today, and it was definitely not just a matter of passing by.
Now it seems that is indeed the case.
"Correct."
Yan Zhongcheng nodded:
"There have been rumors that this symposium will affect not only the selection of ship-based gas turbine models, but also the subsequent development path of the entire domestic destroyer."
"052C?"
Chang Haonan asked almost subconsciously, but then he realized that the time didn't match:
"No... the first two Type 052Cs are about to be launched..."
"That's the new improved model in the future..."
The model verification of 052B/C was completed as early as 1993, and at this moment, eight units used on the four ships 168-171, plus two as backups, a total of ten UGT25000s have been shipped to China.
In any case, the design of these two models is unlikely to change.
Therefore, the influence route mentioned by Yan Zhongcheng can only be the newer 052D.
However, due to some influence from Chang Haonan, the design of the 052C on this timeline now actually has many shadows of the previous 052D, such as the more universal common vertical launch system, and the 346 radar that skips air cooling and goes directly to water cooling.
Of course, there is also a longer hangar and helicopter deck to accommodate the Z-12 helicopter.
Therefore, it is difficult to speculate what the 052D will look like in this life.
"Although the 052C has not yet been launched, its combat system has been fully verified on the Bi Sheng. The 052B, which uses the same power and hull design, is also undergoing sea trials. The Navy is generally very satisfied with the performance of this combination..."
Having said this, Yan Zhongcheng took a sip of water and then continued:
"So, whether the Type 052C will be mass-produced directly or just two will be built like the previous models to verify the regional air defense system, and then a newer and more powerful model will be developed. This is still a matter of debate."
"The hull of the 052B/C, especially the compartment distribution, is designed based on the use of UGT25000. If the 052C is to be mass-produced, UGT25000 must be fully localized."
"Institute 703 has already pushed the localization rate to about 75%. Basically, most of the vulnerable parts no longer need to be imported. This is a low-risk, low-cost and quick choice."
"However, some people believe that the UGT25000 was not originally designed as a power engine. Although it has sufficient power, it cannot compare with similar models in terms of fuel consumption, vibration, failure rate and size, and is not suitable for long-term use as the power of my country's main models..."
"I came here today just to ask Mr. Chang what you think about this matter..."
After hearing this, Chang Haonan finally understood.
Both the shipbuilding industry and the aviation industry currently have the ability to develop gas turbines, but the logistical needs of the military mean that it is impossible to treat them equally in terms of selection.
This is another version of the dispute between sea and air engines.
In the original timeline, the WS-10 itself did not mature until after 2010, so this competition ended almost before it even began.
As the only practical option, the domestically produced GT703 of Institute 25000 won without a doubt.
But now, the fate of WS-10 is completely different.
Although compared to GT25000, QC300 has not yet been officially launched, and even the specific technical indicators have not yet been released.
But seeing that the Air Force next door is now making a lot of money, the Navy, as the second brother, has to consider a more tempting option.
That means being greedy again.
Anyway, the military struggle situation has eased to a certain extent in recent years.
It seems that it is entirely possible to install more advanced gas turbines in one step.
This will also allow for model compatibility with larger battleships that may exist in the future, as well as other gas turbine-powered auxiliary ships.
Yan Zhongcheng's visit was undoubtedly to seek advice.
"Boss Yan, you should have seen the detailed technical specifications of the WS-10 core engine, right?"
Chang Haonan did not directly give a solution, but instead asked a seemingly irrelevant question.
"Of course."
Yan Zhongcheng answered without hesitation:
"After the QC130 was finalized, I actually considered upgrading the turbofan 10 engine. However, at that time, the resources of the group and the 606th Institute were all focused on the turbofan 10 itself..."
"That's all, as long as you have a good idea of the situation of WS-10."
Chang Haonan waved his hand and interrupted the other party:
"Compared with the 703 Institute, our solution has an absolute advantage in technical indicators."
"Even according to the most conservative estimate, the QC300 can fully match the LM2500+ that the US military has just installed on its ships, that is, a rated power of 30 megawatts, a fuel consumption of 0.21kg/(kW·h), a simple cycle efficiency of 38-40, and a total weight of 5.5 tons... or even lighter."
"Especially the last one. Even if the ship's hull design itself is not significantly changed, a lighter and smaller gas turbine can leave more internal space, which will reduce the burden on the engine department."
“In addition, because the QC300 is smaller in size, even if an indirect cooling and heat recovery system is added, it will not put too much pressure on the cabin.”
The so-called intercooling and heat recovery means adding an intercooler between the low and high pressure compressors and adding a heat regenerator at the exhaust port.
The intercooler lowers the temperature of the air entering the high-pressure compressor, thereby reducing the compression power consumption of the high-pressure compressor.
The regenerator allows the compressed air to absorb heat from the exhaust gas, which reduces the amount of heat that needs to be added to the combustion chamber.
At the same time, the intercooler can also reduce the outlet temperature of the high-pressure compressor accordingly, thereby increasing the temperature difference of the fluid on both sides of the regenerator and further improving the heat exchange efficiency of the regenerator itself.
This significantly improves thermal efficiency.
For QC39 which can achieve 300% thermal efficiency in a simple cycle, if it is changed to an intercooling and heat recovery cycle, it is not an exaggeration to increase the efficiency to about 45% under ideal working conditions.
Yan Zhongcheng smiled when he heard this:
"With what you said, Mr. Chang, I feel relieved..."
"We don't even have the blueprints for the QC300 yet. If I were to tell them about it without any evidence, the Navy would inevitably have concerns... But if I say that this is information revealed by you, General Chang, then the persuasiveness will be different..."
Chang Haonan almost couldn't hold it back——
Compared to asking for advice, this wave seems to be more about seeking endorsement.
Fortunately, the results are similar.
"Cough-cough-"
He cleared his throat:
"Don't be too aggressive when the time comes. After all, the overall design of the ship is still completed by the shipbuilding industry. We will have to cooperate in the future anyway. It would be bad if the relationship becomes strained..."
"In addition, during the development of QC300, we can consider cooperating with the 703 Institute."
"First, we can't take all the benefits... Secondly, the ship's power system includes more than just gas turbines. After all, the other party is a shipbuilding research institute, and has much more experience in ship-fuel coordination than us..."
