Thermodynamic performance assessment of an indirect intercooled reheat regenerative gas turbine cycle with inlet air cooling and evaporative aftercooling of the compressor discharge

This study provides a computational analysis to investigate the effects of cycle pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature (TIT), and ambient relative humidity (φ) on the thermodynamic performance of an indirect intercooled reheat regenerative gas turbine cycle with indirect evaporative cooling of the inlet air and evaporative aftercooling of the compressor discharge. Combined first and second‐law analysis indicates that the exergy destruction in various components of gas turbine cycles is significantly affected by compressor pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature, and is not at all affected by ambient relative humidity. It also indicates that the maximum exergy is destroyed in the combustion chamber; which represents over 60% of the total exergy destruction in the overall system. The net work output, first‐law efficiency, and the second‐law efficiency of the cycle significantly varies with the change in the pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature and ambient relative humidity. Results clearly shows that performance evaluation based on first‐law analysis alone is not adequate, and hence more meaningful evaluation must include second‐law analysis. Decision makers should find the methodology contained in this paper useful in the comparison and selection of gas turbine systems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Energetic and exergetic performance analyses of a combined heat and power plant with absorption inlet cooling and evaporative aftercooling

In this paper, exergy method is applied to analyze the gas turbine cycle cogeneration with inlet air cooling and evaporative aftercooling of the compressor discharge. The exergy destruction rate in each component of cogeneration is evaluated in detail. The effects of some main parameters on the exergy destruction and exergy efficiency of the cycle are investigated. The most significant exergy destruction rates in the cycle are in combustion chamber, heat recovery steam generator and regenerative heat exchanger. The overall pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature have significant effect on exergy destruction in most of the components of cogeneration. The results obtained from the analysis show that inlet air cooling along with evaporative aftercooling has an obvious increase in the energy and exergy efficiency compared to the basic gas turbine cycle cogeneration. It is further shown that the first-law efficiency, power to heat ratio and exergy efficiency of the cogeneration cycle significantly vary with the change in overall pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature but the change in process heat pressure shows small variation in these parameters.     

Thermodynamic assessment of advanced SOFC-blade cooled gas turbine hybrid cycle

This paper focuses on novel integration of high temperature solid oxide fuel cell coupled with recuperative gas turbine (with air-film cooling of blades) based hybrid power plant (SOFC-blade cooled GT). For realistic analysis of gas turbine cycle air-film blade cooling technique has been adopted. First law thermodynamic analysis investigating the combine effect of film cooling of blades, SOFC, applied to a recuperated gas turbine cycle has been reported. Thermodynamic modeling for the proposed cycle has been presented. Results highlight the influence of film cooling of blades and operating parameters of SOFC on various performance of SOFC-blade cooled GT based hybrid power plant. Moreover, parametric investigation has also been done to examine the effect of compressor pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, on hybrid plant efficiency and plant specific work. It has been found that on increasing turbine inlet temperature (TIT) beyond a certain limit, the efficiency of gas turbine starts declining after reaching an optimum value which is compensated by continuous increase in SOFC efficiency with increase in operating temperature. The net result is higher performance of hybrid cycle with increase in maximum cycle temperature. Furthermore, it has been observed that at TIT 1600 K and compression ratio 20, maximum efficiency of 73.46% can been achieved.     

Analysis of gas turbine operating parameters with inlet fogging and wet compression processes

Inlet fogging has been widely noticed in recent years as a method of gas turbine air inlet cooling for increasing the power output in gas turbines and combined cycle power plants. The effects of evaporative cooling on gas turbine performance were studied in this paper. Evaporative cooling process occurs in both compressor inlet duct (inlet fogging) and inside the compressor (wet compression). By predicting the reduction in compressor discharge air temperature, the modeling results were compared with the corresponding results reported in literature and an acceptable difference percent point was found in this comparison. Then, the effects of both evaporative cooling in inlet duct, and wet compression in compressor, on the power output, turbine exhaust temperature, and cycle efficiency of 16 models of gas turbines categorized in four A–D classes of power output, were investigated. The results of this analysis for saturated inlet fogging as well as 1% and 2% overspray are reported and the prediction equations for the amount of actual increased net power output of various gas turbine nominal power output are proposed. Furthermore the change in values of physical parameters and moving the compressor operating point towards the surge line in compressor map was investigated in inlet fogging and wet compression processes.     

Analysis of parameters affecting the performance of gas turbines and combined cycle plants with vapor absorption inlet air cooling

The integration of an aqua‐ammonia inlet air‐cooling scheme to a cooled gas turbine‐based combined cycle has been analyzed. The heat energy of the exhaust gas prior to the exit of the heat recovery steam generator has been chosen to power the inlet air‐cooling system. Dual pressure reheat heat recovery steam generator is chosen as the combined cycle configuration. Air film cooling has been adopted as the cooling technique for gas turbine blades. A parametric study of the effect of compressor–pressure ratio, compressor inlet temperature, turbine inlet temperature, ambient relative humidity, and ambient temperature on performance parameters of plants has been carried out. It has been observed that vapor absorption inlet air cooling improves the efficiency of gas turbine by upto 7.48% and specific work by more than 18%, respectively. However, on the adoption of this scheme for combined cycles, the plant efficiency has been observed to be adversely affected, although the addition of absorption inlet air cooling results in an increase in plant output by more than 7%. The optimum value of compressor inlet temperature for maximum specific work output has been observed to be 25 °C for the chosen set of conditions. Further reduction of compressor inlet temperature below this optimum value has been observed to adversely affect plant efficiency. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cost numerical optimization of the triple‐pressure steam‐reheat gas‐reheat gas‐recuperated combined power cycle that uses steam for cooling the first GT

Optimization is an important method for improving the efficiency and power of the combined cycle. In this paper, the triple‐pressure steam‐reheat gas‐reheat gas‐recuperated combined cycle that uses steam for cooling the first gas turbine (the regular steam‐cooled cycle) was optimized relative to its operating parameters. The optimized cycle generates more power and consumes more fuel than the regular steam‐cooled cycle. An objective function of the net additional revenue (the saving of the optimization process) was defined in terms of the revenue of the additional generated power and the costs of replacing the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and the costs of the additional operation and maintenance, installation, and fuel. Constraints were set on many operating parameters such as air compression ratio, the minimum temperature difference for pinch points (δT_ppm), the dryness fraction at steam turbine outlet, and stack temperature. The net additional revenue and cycle efficiency were optimized at 11 different maximum values of turbine inlet temperature (TIT) using two different methods: the direct search and the variable metric. The optima were found at the boundaries of many constraints such as the maximum values of air compression ratio, turbine outlet temperature (TOT), and the minimum value of stack temperature. The performance of the optimized cycles was compared with that for the regular steam‐cooled cycle. The results indicate that the optimized cycles are 1.7–1.8 percentage points higher in efficiency and 4.4–7.1% higher in total specific work than the regular steam‐cooled cycle when all cycles are compared at the same values of TIT and δT_ppm. Optimizing the net additional revenue could result in an annual saving of 21 million U.S. dollars for a 439 MW power plant. Increasing the maximum TOT to 1000°C and replacing the stainless steel recuperator heat exchanger of the optimized cycle with a super‐alloys‐recuperated heat exchanger could result in an additional efficiency increase of 1.1 percentage point and a specific work increase of 4.8–7.1%. The optimized cycles were about 3.3 percentage points higher in efficiency than the most efficient commercially available H‐system combined cycle when compared at the same value of TIT. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of exergy-based sustainability index and performance evaluation of a novel intercooled hybrid gas turbine system

This paper contributes a novel sustainability index and modified exergy indicators for conventional gas turbines and solid oxide fuel cell integrated gas turbine (SOFC-GT) hybrid power cycles. In this work, an intercooled gas turbine (Ic-GT) cycle is considered as a base cycle, which gives an additive advantage in lowering the power required for the compressor. Moreover, on SOFC integration with Ic-GT, the qualitative and quantitative performance are examined. Numerical modeling is done using MATLAB and an exclusive comparison has been made based on energy-exergy and sustainability analysis for the system and its components. On comparing the first law efficiency at turbine inlet temperature, TIT 1250K and rp = 18 for Ic-GT, intercooled recuperated gas turbine (Ic-RGT), and Ic–SOFC–RGT, it is 25.82%, 36.04%, and 64.78%, respectively. Similarly, second law efficiency is 11.43%, 22.33%, and 61.11% and the overall sustainability index is 1.12, 1.28, and 2.57 for Ic-GT, Ic-RGT, and Ic–SOFC–RGT, respectively. Nine other modified exergy-based parameters are used to identify the role of fuel and product exergy and then compare the most affected component in three configurations.     

Maisotsenko循环在燃气轮机进气冷却中的应用研究

采用基于Maisotsenko循环的露点间接蒸发式冷却作为进气冷却的手段,研究了不同环境条件下其对燃气轮机性能的提升效果。建立了针对某9E级燃气轮机的热力循环过程的计算模型,并利用该热力模型分析了进气温度变化对燃机出力的影响。基于Maisotsenko循环的原理,以温降为指标对露点间接蒸发冷却器的性能进行了分析。以功率和效率作为指标,对燃气轮机性能随环境条件的变化情况做了数值模拟,对露点蒸发式冷却与无进气冷却、直接喷雾式冷却对燃机性能的影响进行了计算分析。结果表明,在高温低湿度的条件下,露点间接蒸发式冷却能有效提升燃机性能。     

Thermoeconomic optimization of an ice thermal storage system for gas turbine inlet cooling

The gas turbine power output and efficiency decrease with increasing ambient temperature. With compressor inlet air cooling, the air density and mass flow rate as well as the gas turbine net power output increase. The inlet cooling techniques include vapor or absorption refrigeration systems, evaporative cooling systems and thermal energy storage (TES) systems. In this paper the thermoeconomic analysis of ice (latent) thermal energy storage system for gas turbine inlet cooling application was performed. The optimum values of system design parameters were obtained using genetic algorithm optimization technique. The objective function included the capital and operational costs of the gas turbine, vapor compression refrigeration system, without (objective function I) and with (objective function II) corresponding cost due to the system exergy destruction. For gas turbines with net power output in the range of 25-100 MW, the inlet air cooling using a TES system increased the power output in the range of 3.9-25.7%, increased the efficiency in the range 2.1-5.2%, while increased the payback period from about 4 to 7.7 years.     

Performance analysis of open cycle gas turbines

In this study, the performance of ideal open cycle gas turbine system was examined based on its thermodynamic analysis. The effects of some parameters, such as compressor inlet temperature (CIT), pressure ratio (PR) and the turbine inlet temperature (TIT), on the performance parameters of open cycle gas turbine were discussed. The turbine net power output, the thermal efficiency and the fuel consumption of the turbine were taken as the performance parameters. The values of these parameters were calculated using some basic cycle equations and variables values of thermodynamic properties. Other variables such as lower heating value, combustion efficiency and isentropic efficiencies of compressor and turbine were assumed to be constant. The result showed that the net power output and the thermal efficiency increased by a decrease in the CIT and increase in the TIT and PR values. If it is aimed to have a high net power output and the thermal efficiency for the turbine, the CIT should be chosen as low as possible and the TIT should be chosen as high as possible. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancing the efficiency and power of the triple-pressure reheat combined cycle by means of gas reheat, gas recuperation, and reduction of the irreversibility in the heat recovery steam generator

The main methods for improving the efficiency or power of the combined cycle are: increasing the inlet temperature of the gas turbine (TIT), inlet air-cooling, applying gas reheat, steam or water injection into the gas turbine (GT), and reducing the irreversibility of the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). In this paper, gas reheat with recuperation was applied to the regular triple-pressure steam-reheat combined cycle (the Regular cycle) by replacing the GT unit with a recuperated gas-reheat GT unit (requires two gas turbines, gas recuperator, and two combustion chambers). The Regular cycle with gas-reheat and gas-recuperation (the Regular Gas Reheat cycle) was modeled including detailed modeling of the combustion and GT cooling processes and a feasible technique to reduce the irreversibility of its HRSG was introduced. The Regular Gas Reheat cycle and the Regular Gas Reheat cycle with reduced-irreversibility HRSG (the Reduced Irreversibility cycle) were compared with the Regular cycle, which is the typical design for a commercial combined cycle. The effects of varying the TIT on the performances of all cycles were presented and discussed. The results indicate that the Reduced Irreversibility cycle is 1.9–2.15 percentage points higher in efficiency and 3.5% higher in the total specific work than the Regular Gas Reheat cycle, which is 3.3–3.6 percentage points higher in efficiency and 22–26% higher in the total specific work than the Regular cycle. The Regular Gas Reheat and Reduced Irreversibility cycles are 1.18 and 3.16 percentage points; respectively, higher in efficiency than the most efficient commercially-available combined cycle at the same value of TIT. Economic analysis was performed and showed that applying gas reheat with recuperation to the Regular cycle could result in an annual saving of 10.2 to 11.2 million US dollars for a 339 MW to 348 MW generating unit using the Regular cycle and that reducing the irreversibility of the HRSG of the Regular Gas Reheat cycle could result in an additional annual saving of 11.8 million US dollars for a 439 MW generating unit using the Regular Gas Reheat cycle.     

Energy and exergy analyses of a CFB‐based indirectly fired combined cycle power generation system

Combined cycle configuration has the ability to use the waste heat from the gas turbine exhaust gas using the heat recovery steam generator for the bottoming steam cycle. In the current study, a natural gas‐fired combined cycle with indirectly fired heating for additional work output is investigated for configurations with and without reheat combustor (RHC) in the gas turbine. The mass flow rate of coal for the indirect‐firing mode in circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustor is estimated based on fixed natural gas input for the gas turbine combustion chamber (GTCC). The effects of pressure ratio, gas turbine inlet temperature, inlet temperatures to the air compressor and to the GTCC on the overall cycle performance of the combined cycle configuration are analysed. The combined cycle efficiency increases with pressure ratio up to the optimum value. Both efficiency and net work output for the combined cycle increase with gas turbine inlet temperature. The efficiency decreases with increase in the air compressor inlet temperature. The indirect firing of coal shows reduced use with increase in the turbine inlet temperature due to increase in the use of natural gas. There is little variation in the efficiency with increase in GTCC inlet temperature resulting in increased use of coal. The combined cycle having the two‐stage gas turbine with RHC has significantly higher efficiency and net work output compared with the cycle without RHC. The exergetic efficiency also increases with increase in the gas turbine inlet temperature. The exergy destruction is highest for the CFB combustor followed by the GTCC. The analyses show that the indirectly fired mode of the combined cycle offers better performance and opportunities for additional net work output by using solid fuels (coal in this case). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative performance analysis of cogeneration gas turbine cycle for different blade cooling means

The paper compares the thermodynamic performance of MS9001 gas turbine based cogeneration cycle having a two-pressure heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) for different blade cooling means. The HRSG has a steam drum generating steam to meet coolant requirement, and a second steam drum generates steam for process heating. Gas turbine stage cooling uses open loop cooling or closed loop cooling schemes. Internal convection cooling, film cooling and transpiration cooling techniques employing steam or air as coolants are considered for the performance evaluation of the cycle. Cogeneration cycle performance is evaluated using coolant flow requirements, plant specific work, fuel utilisation efficiency, power-to-heat-ratio, which are function of compressor pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature, and process steam drum pressure. The maximum and minimum values of power-to-heat ratio are found with steam internal convection cooling and air internal convection cooling respectively whereas maximum and minimum values of fuel utilisation efficiency are found with steam internal convection cooling and closed loop steam cooling. The analysis is useful for power plant designers to select the optimum compressor pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, fuel utilisation efficiency, power-to-heat ratio, and appropriate cooling means for a specified value of plant specific work and process heating requirement.     

Analysis and cost optimization of the triple‐pressure steam‐reheat gas‐reheat gas‐recuperated combined power cycle

Increasing the inlet temperature of gas turbine (TIT) and optimization are important methods for improving the efficiency and power of the combined cycle. In this paper, the triple‐pressure steam‐reheat gas‐reheat recuperated combined cycle (the Regular Gas‐Reheat cycle) was optimized relative to its operating parameters, including the temperature differences for pinch points (δT_PP). The optimized triple‐pressure steam‐reheat gas‐reheat recuperated combined cycle (the Optimized cycle) had much lower δT_PP than that for the Regular Gas‐Reheat cycle so that the area of heat transfer of the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) of the Optimized cycle had to be increased to keep the same rate of heat transfer. For the same mass flow rate of air, the Optimized cycle generates more power and consumes more fuel than the Regular Gas‐Reheat cycle. An objective function of the net additional revenue (the saving of the optimization process) was defined in terms of the revenue of the additional generated power and the costs of replacing the HRSG and the additional fuel. Constraints were set on many operating parameters such as the minimum temperature difference for pinch points (δT_PPm), the steam turbines inlet temperatures and pressures, and the dryness fraction at steam turbine outlet. The net additional revenue was optimized at 11 different maximum values of TIT using two different methods: the direct search and variable metric. The performance of the Optimized cycle was compared with that for the Regular Gas‐Reheat cycle and the triple‐pressure steam‐reheat gas‐reheat recuperated reduced‐irreversibility combined cycle (the Reduced‐Irreversibility cycle). The results indicate that the Optimized cycle is 0.17–0.35 percentage point higher in efficiency and 5.3–6.8% higher in specific work than the Reduced‐Irreversibility cycle, which is 2.84–2.91 percentage points higher in efficiency and 4.7% higher in specific work than the Regular Gas‐Reheat cycle when all cycles are compared at the same values of TIT and δT_PPm. Optimizing the net additional revenue could result in an annual saving of 33.7 million US dollars for a 481 MW power plant. The Optimized cycle was 3.62 percentage points higher in efficiency than the most efficient commercially available H‐system combined cycle when compared at the same value of TIT. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling,numerical optimization,and irreversibility reduction of a triple-pressure reheat combined cycle

The main methods for improving the efficiency of the combined cycle are: increasing the inlet temperature of the gas turbine (TIT), reducing the irreversibility of the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), and optimization. In this paper, modeling and optimization of the triple-pressure reheat combined cycle as well as irreversibility reduction of its HRSG are considered. Constraints were set on the minimum temperature difference for pinch points (PP_m), the temperature difference for superheat approach, the steam turbine inlet temperature and pressure, the stack temperature, and the dryness fraction at steam turbine outlet. The triple-pressure reheat combined cycle was optimized at 41 different maximum values of TIT using two different methods; the direct search and the variable metric. A feasible technique to reduce the irreversibility of the HRSG of the combined cycle was introduced. The optimized and the reduced-irreversibility triple-pressure reheat combined cycles were compared with the regularly designed triple-pressure reheat combined cycle, which is the typical design for a commercial combined cycle. The effects of varying the TIT on the performance of all cycles were presented and discussed. The results indicate that the optimized triple-pressure reheat combined cycle is up to 1.7% higher in efficiency than the reduced-irreversibility triple-pressure reheat combined cycle, which is 1.9–2.1% higher in efficiency than the regularly designed triple-pressure reheat combined cycle when all cycles are compared at the same values of TIT and PP_m. The optimized and reduced-irreversibility combined cycles were compared with the most efficient commercially available combined cycle at the same value of TIT.     

Thermo-environmental analysis of an open cycle gas turbine power plant with regression modeling and optimization

In this paper, a gas turbine cycle is modeled to investigate the effects of important operating parameters like compressor inlet temperature (CIT), turbine inlet temperature (TIT) and pressure ratio (PR) on the overall cycle performance and CO₂ emissions. Such effects are also investigated on the exergy destruction and exergy efficiency of the cycle components. Furthermore, multiple polynomial regression models are developed to correlate the response variables (performance characteristics) and predictor variables (operating parameters). The operating parameters are then optimized. According to the results, operating parameters have a significant effect on the cycle performance and CO₂ emissions. The largest exergy destruction is found in the combustion chamber with lowest exergy efficiency. The regression models have appeared to be a good estimator of the response variables. The optimal operating parameters for maximum performance have been determined as 288 K for CIT, 1600 K for TIT and 23.2 for PR.     

发电燃气轮机效率分析及提高措施

近10多年来地面燃气轮机技术迅速发展,其中一个重要方面是燃气轮机效率的提高。燃气轮机效率的提高与涡轮进口温度的提高、压气机涡轮气动特性的改进以及先进联合循环的使用分不开。本文通过对燃气轮机简单热力循环工作过程的分析,讨论了这些因素对燃气轮机效率的影响,并且简要介绍了近10多年来国内外在这些方面为提高燃气轮机效率而采取的一些措施。     

Cycle analysis of an integrated solid oxide fuel cell and recuperative gas turbine with an air reheating system

Cycle simulation and analysis for two kinds of SOFC/GT hybrid systems were conducted with the help of the simulation tool: Aspen Custom Modeler. Two cycle schemes of recuperative heat exchanger (RHE) and exhaust gas recirculated (EGR) were described according to the air reheating method. The system performance with operating pressure, turbine inlet temperature and fuel cell load were studied based on the simulation results. Then the effects of oxygen utilization, fuel utilization, operating temperature and efficiencies of the gas turbine components on the system performance of the RHE cycle and the EGR cycle were discussed in detail. Simulation results indicated that the system optimum efficiency for the EGR air reheating cycle scheme was higher than that of the RHE cycle system. A higher pressure ratio would be available for the EGR cycle system in comparison with the RHE cycle. It was found that increasing fuel utilization or oxygen utilization would decrease fuel cell efficiency but improve the system efficiency for both of the RHE and EGR cycles. The efficiency of the RHE cycle hybrid system decreased as the fuel cell air inlet temperature increased. However, the system efficiency of EGR cycle increased with fuel cell air inlet temperature. The effect of turbine efficiency on the system efficiency was more obvious than the effect of the compressor and recuperator efficiencies among the gas turbine components. It was also indicated that improving the gas turbine component efficiencies for the RHE cycle increased system efficiency higher than that for the EGR cycle.     

MAT, a novel, open cycle gas turbine for power augmentation

A Moisture Air Turbine (MAT) cycle is proposed for improving the characteristics of land-based gas turbines by injecting atomized water through an inlet into a compressor. Compressor work of isentropic compression for moist air mixtures with phase change is theoretically considered, which has revealed that water evaporation may reduce compressor work. An experiment using a 15 MW class axial flow load compressor has also verified the theory. Realistic cycle model calculations predict that a 10% power increment by a ratio of 1% water to compressor intake air is expected and also that the amount of water consumption is much less than that of conventional inlet air cooling systems, used for heat rejection at the cooling tower. In addition, thermal efficiency is anticipated to be improved mainly due to the reduction of compressor work. Contrary to the conventional evaporative cooler, a MAT cycle could provide power output at a desired value within its capability regardless of ambient humidity condition.     

AE94.3A型燃气轮机进气冷却的应用可行性研究

对AE94.3A型燃气轮机燃气-蒸汽联合循环热力系统平衡进行研究进而发现,与同类型、同等级不同型号机组相比,AE94.3A型联合循环机组余热锅炉的排烟温度较高,排烟余热仍有进一步利用的空间。通过设计优化,扩大省煤器受热面,回收烟气余热加热给水,驱动热水型溴化锂制冷机制冷,用于机组满负荷调峰时的压气机进气冷却或厂房及办公区域空调供冷,对改善燃气轮机联合循环的运行性能,实现能源梯级利用,提高能源利用率和机组经济性运行起到了很大作用。