CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 087981 CMS
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