Recently, it was reported that China's domestically produced 40MW gas turbine test has been advanced, and the test process has been unusually smooth, if this is the case, then the power problem of China's large destroyers will be completely solved! I have to say that this is particularly good news. From this, a conjecture also arises, will we use this to build a more powerful Type 052E missile destroyer?
At present, China's Type 052D missile destroyer is placed in the world, even compared with the Burke-class missile destroyer of the United States, the ** equipment of 052D can be comparable to it. Although the 052D is very good, with the continuous development of technology, there is also a day of obsolescence. In order to maintain its leading position in the field of world destroyers, our military-industrial specialists will upgrade them. At present, the upgrade space of 052D can be said to have reached the limit, and the biggest obstacle restricting its upgrade is the insufficient power output of the power system.
Because the internal space was overutilized, the rest space of the crew of the Type 052D missile destroyer was compressed to a size that could not be smaller. And the entire interior of the 052D ship is arranged with a variety of electronic systems and ** equipment, like a squirrel stuffed with nuts in its mouth, there is no extra space. The root cause of the problem is that the power system and power system of the 052D are not strong enough.
The power system of the American Burke-class missile destroyers is 4 LM2500-30 gas turbines, which provide it with 77175 MW power output. The power system is composed of three AG9160 gas turbine generator sets, with a daily power generation of 9 megawatts and a power output of 12 megawatts in the extreme case.
Our 052D power system uses diesel-fuel alternating power (CODOG), which is composed of 2 CGT25-M gas turbines and 2 MTU-20V956TB92 diesel engines, with a total power output of 5586 MW. The power system uses 4 MTU-12V396 diesel engines, with a total power generation capacity of 504 MW, with a power generation of 6 in extreme operating conditions72 MW.
Obviously, the 052D is lagging behind the Burke class in the United States in terms of power system and power generation system. Our 052D has a lot of room for improvement. Replacing it with a more powerful powertrain requires more carrying space, and more carrying space means more tonnage, so it seems likely that the upgraded version of the 052D will be redesigned and built.
In fact, China has always wanted to have an MT30 gas turbine similar to that developed by Rolls-Royce in the United Kingdom, with a power of 40 megawatts and a rated power of 36 megawatts. However, European and American countries have already imposed a ban on exports and related technology transfer to China. The Chinese can only rely on their own wisdom, feel the stones to cross the river, step by step, and finally develop a 40-megawatt marine gas turbine today.
With the successful progress of the test of the domestically produced 40 MW gas turbine, we hope to see the batch construction and service of the Type 052E missile destroyer with a displacement of about 9,000 tons in the future. We'll see!