General Electric LM2500

The General Electric LM2500 is an industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation. The LM2500 is a derivative of the General Electric CF6 aircraft engine.

The LM2500 is available in 3 different versions:

• The LM2500 delivers 33,600 shaft horsepower (shp) (25,060 kW) 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 40,500 shp (30,200 kW) 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 (35,320 kW) with a thermal efficiency of 39.3 percent at ISO conditions.

The turbines have been used in various applications such as in warships of the U.S. and a number of other world navies, hydrofoils, hovercraft and fast ferries. As of 2004, more than one thousand LM2500/LM2500+ gas turbines have been in service for more than 29 international navies.

Recently, the increasing demands for low weight, high power engines in the oil and gas industry has led to GE developing a dedicated version for offshore use. This FPSO version is lighter and more compact, and is being used both for electricity generation and for directly driving compressors, e.g. for compressing natural gas going out into pipelines.