Power Augmentation of a Gas Turbine
ABSTRACT
Increase in the energy demands has lead to techniques of combined cycle gas turbine power plants. It is evident that the demand can be met either by increasing the productivity or by making use of alternatives such as the solar energy, tidal energy, OTEC etc., but the factor of efficiency and performance must also be considered for the better utilization of input. So, comparatively to the alternative source of energy, solar energy, gas energy, nuclear energy are more efficient.
Several gas turbines are being widely used for power generation in several countries all over the world. Obviously, many of these countries have a wide range of climatic conditions, which impact the performance of gas turbines.
Problems rise when a gas turbine is used in a geographic location with hot summers. Hot inlet air results in gas turbines generating less power, during summer seasons when the demand for electricity is possibly higher. In such conditions, power augmentation techniques are highly desirable. Indeed, a little increment of thermal efficiency could result in a significant amount of fuel being saved and higher level of power being generated. The simplest remedy of this problem is to reduce temperature of inlet air. Several different inlet cooling methods are currently employed in various systems.
The techniques of reheating, regenerating, inter cooling require installation of additional heavy machinery which is not economically feasible. Apart from these power augmentation techniques, which could be applied to existing gas turbines, can be divided into two main categories. The first category includes inlet air cooling technique and the second involves techniques based on injection of compressed air, steam or water. Since, our objective, in this paper is to study inlet air cooling technique, we will only review techniques employed in the first category.
This paper focuses on power augmentation of a typical gas turbine cycle by using a
Increase in the energy demands has lead to techniques of combined cycle gas turbine power plants. It is evident that the demand can be met either by increasing the productivity or by making use of alternatives such as the solar energy, tidal energy, OTEC etc., but the factor of efficiency and performance must also be considered for the better utilization of input. So, comparatively to the alternative source of energy, solar energy, gas energy, nuclear energy are more efficient.
Several gas turbines are being widely used for power generation in several countries all over the world. Obviously, many of these countries have a wide range of climatic conditions, which impact the performance of gas turbines.
Problems rise when a gas turbine is used in a geographic location with hot summers. Hot inlet air results in gas turbines generating less power, during summer seasons when the demand for electricity is possibly higher. In such conditions, power augmentation techniques are highly desirable. Indeed, a little increment of thermal efficiency could result in a significant amount of fuel being saved and higher level of power being generated. The simplest remedy of this problem is to reduce temperature of inlet air. Several different inlet cooling methods are currently employed in various systems.
The techniques of reheating, regenerating, inter cooling require installation of additional heavy machinery which is not economically feasible. Apart from these power augmentation techniques, which could be applied to existing gas turbines, can be divided into two main categories. The first category includes inlet air cooling technique and the second involves techniques based on injection of compressed air, steam or water. Since, our objective, in this paper is to study inlet air cooling technique, we will only review techniques employed in the first category.
This paper focuses on power augmentation of a typical gas turbine cycle by using a