Primary Surface Recuperator for Vehicular Gas Turbine

Over four thousand primary surface recuperators have been produced for the AGT1500 gas turbine to power the Abrams Ml main battle tank for the U.S. Army. The technology advancements leading to the successful development and production of this compact and efficient recuperator are reviewed. Descriptions of the recuperator performance, its development, durability enhancement, design methodology, material selection, fabrication process, development testing and its quality assurance programs are presented. Concluding discussions focus on the technological barriers and required breakthroughs of future high temperature recuperators for vehicular gas turbine applications.