The LM2500 delivers with a thermal efficiency of 37 percent at ISO conditions. When coupled with an electric generator, it delivers 24 MW of electricity at 60 Hz with a thermal efficiency of 36 percent at ISO conditions.
The improved, 3rd generation, LM2500+ version of the turbine delivers with a thermal efficiency of 39 percent at ISO conditions. When coupled with an electric generator, it delivers 29 MW of electricity at 60 Hz with a thermal efficiency of 38 percent at ISO conditions.
The latest, 4th generation, LM2500+G4 version was introduced in November 2005 and delivers 47,370 shp with a thermal efficiency of 39.3 percent at ISO conditions.
As of 2004, the U.S. Navy and at least 29 other navies had used a total of more than one thousand LM2500/LM2500+ gas turbines to power warships. Other uses include hydrofoils, hovercraft and fast ferries. In 2012, GE developed an FPSO version to serve the oil and gas industry's demand for a lighter, more compact version to generate electricity and drive compressors to send natural gas through pipelines.
Design and development
The LM2500 was first used in US Navy warships in the Spruance class of destroyers and the related Kidd class, which were constructed from 1970. In this configuration it was rated to. This configuration was subsequently used into the 1980s in the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates, and Ticonderoga class cruisers. It was also used by one of People's Republic of China's Type 052 Luhu Class Missile Destroyer acquired before the embargo. The LM2500 was uprated to for the Arleigh Burke class destroyers, which were initiated in the 1980s and started to see service in the early 1990s, and the T-AOE-6 class of fast combat tanker. In 2001 the LM2500 was installed in a sound-proof capsule in the South African NavyValour class frigates as part of a CODAG propulsion system with two MTU 16V 1163 TB93 Propulsion Diesels. The current generation was uprated in the late 1990s to over. LM2500 installations place the engine inside a metal container for sound and heat isolation from the rest of the machinery spaces. This container is very near the size of a standard intermodal shipping container - but not the same, the engine size very slightly exceeds those dimensions. The air intake ducting may be designed and shaped appropriately for easy removal of the LM2500 from their ships. The LM2500+ is an evolution of the LM2500, delivering up to or 28.6 MW of electric energy when combined with an electrical generator. Two of such turbo-generators have been installed in the superstructure near the funnel of Queen Mary 2, the world's largest transatlantic ocean liner, for additional electric energy when the ship's four diesel-generators are working at maximum capacity or fail. Celebrity Cruises uses two LM2500+ engines in their Millennium-class ships in a COGAS cycle. The LM2500 is license-built in Japan by IHI Corporation, in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and in Italy by Avio Aero. The LM2500/LM2500+ can often be found as turbine part of CODAG, CODOG, CODLAGpropulsion systems or in pairs as powerplants for COGAG systems.
The GE TM2500 is derived from the LM2500, and mounted on a trailer that makes it possible to move it to wherever 30MW of temporary electricity generation is required. It can be installed and commissioned in 11 days.
Specification
Specifications for three models of LM2500 series gas turbine engines:
