Gas Turbine; Gas Generator; Power Turbine; Compressor; Combustor; Engine; GRI 2(a)

HQ 087981 December 21, 1990 CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 087981 CMS CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 8411.82.80 8411.99.90 Ms. Sue Kallmayer-Bockrath Manager, Import Compliance General Electric Aircraft Engines Mail Drop A200 One Neumann Way Cincinnati, OH 45215 RE: Gas Turbine; Gas Generator; Power Turbine; Compressor; Combustor; Engine; GRI 2(a) Dear Ms. Bockrath, Your request dated August 7, 1990, for a classification ruling on certain gas turbine equipment has been forwarded by the Regional Commissioner of Customs, New York, to Customs Headquarters for a reply. Our ruling follows. FACTS: The merchandise consists of the "gas generator" section of a General Electric LM 5000 gas turbine engine. The gas generator consists of a low pressure compressor and turbine, a high pressure compressor and turbine, an annular combustor and an accessory drive gearbox. After importation, the gas generator is coupled to a power turbine to form a complete LM 5000 gas turbine engine. The gas generator compresses air in a compressor and then heats the air in a combustor. In a complete LM 5000 turbine the gaseous emission is then passed from the gas generator through the power turbine. The power turbine then converts the aerodynamic energy into mechanical energy by turning a rotor which is coupled to a shaft. The accessory drive gearbox is used to control the lubrication, variable geometry controls and fuel system of the gas generator. General Electric LM 5000 turbines are simple cycle turbines and are designed for marine and industrial applications. Complete LM 5000 turbines may, for example, be connected to a -2- compressor for use in an oil platform/gas pumper industry application, or may be connected to an electrical generator for use in the power generating industry. ISSUE: Is the gas generator classified in subheading 8411.99.90 as a part of a gas turbine, or in subheading 8411.82.80 as an incomplete gas turbine having the essential character of a complete gas turbine pursuant to GRI 2(a)? LAW AND ANALYSIS: Gas turbines and parts thereof are described by Heading 8411. The Explanatory Notes to Heading 8411, p. 1154, provide that simple cycle gas turbines are turbines "...in which air is ingested and compressed by the compressor, heated in the combustion system and passed through the turbine, finally exhausting to the atmosphere." Lexicographic authorities also describe gas turbines as apparatus that operate with a compressor, combustor and turbine. The McGraw Hill Encyclopedia Of Science And Technology, 6th Ed., Vol. 7 (1987), p. 574, provides: In the usual gas turbine, the sequence of thermodynamic processes consists basically of compression, addition of heat in a combustor, and expansion through a turbine. The "turbine" component in a gas turbine is only one of three main components in the turbine, the other two components being the compressor and combustor. Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, 7th Ed. (1989), p. 1292, provides: Although the turbine is only part of the whole assembly, in modern terminology, the complete assembly is commonly referred to simply as a gas turbine. Air is compressed in the compressor after which it enters a combustion chamber where the temperature is increased while the pressure remains constant. The resulting high-temperature air then enters the turbine, thereby performing work. The gas generator under consideration only consists of the compressor and combustor components and does not include the power turbine component. The gas generator does contain some -3- turbines but these function in the compression process and not as the main turbine which makes up the third component of a gas generator. Without the main turbine, the gas generator under consideration essentially only shoots out hot air; only when the gas generator is coupled to the main turbine is any part of the aerodynamic to mechanical energy conversion process performed. Without being entered with the power turbine component, the gas generator under consideration does not have the essential character of a complete gas turbine. The gas generator is classified as a part of a gas turbine in 8411.99.90, HTSUSA. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division