Majed Sammak

Post-Combustion CO2 Capture for Combined Cycles Utilizing Hot-Water Absorbent Regeneration

The partly hot-water driven CO2 capture plant offers a significant potential for improvement in performance when implemented in a combined-cycle power plant (CCPP). It is possible to achieve the same performance with a dual-pressure steam cycle as in a triple-pressure unit. Even a single-pressure plant can attain an efficiency competitive with that achievable with a triple-pressure plant without the hot-water reboiler. The underlying reasons are better heat utilization in the heat recovery unit and less steam extraction to the absorbent regenerating unit(s). In this paper, the design criteria for a combined cycle power plant utilizing hot-water absorbent regeneration will be examined and presented. The results show that the most suitable plant is one with two steam pressure levels. The low-pressure level should be much higher than in a conventional combined cycle in order to increase the amount of heat available in the economizer. The external heat required in the CO2 capture plant is partly supplied by the economizer, allowing temperature optimization in the unit. The maximum value of the low-pressure level is determined by the reboiler, as too great a temperature difference is unfavourable. This work evaluates the benefits of coupling the economizer and the reboiler in a specially designed CCPP. In the CO2 separation plant both monoethanolamine (MEA) and ammonia are evaluated as absorbents. Higher regeneration temperatures can be tolerated in ammonia-based plants than in MEA-based plants. When using a liquid heat carrier the reboiler temperature is not constant on the hot side, which results in greater temperature differences. The temperature difference can be greatly reduced by dividing the regeneration process into two units operating at different pressures. The possibility of extracting more energy from the economizer to replace part of the extracted steam increases the plant efficiency. The results show that very high efficiencies can be achieved without using multiple pressure-levels. (Less)

Conceptual Design of a Mid-Sized Semi-Closed Oxy-Fuel Combustion Combined Cycle

This paper presents the study of a mid-sized semi-closed oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle (SCOC-CC) with net power output around 108 MW. The paper describes not only the power balance and the performance of the SCOC-CC, but also the conceptual design of the SCOC turbine and compressor. A model has been built in the commercial heat and mass balance code IPSEpro to estimate the efficiency of semi-closed dual-pressure oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle using natural gas as a fuel. In order to obtain the real physical properties of the working fluids in IPSEpro, the code was linked to the NIST Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties Database (REFPROP). The oxy-fuel turbine was modeled with the in-house Lund University package LUAX-T. Important features such as stage loading, loss modeling, cooling and geometric features were included to generate more accurate results. The oxy-fuel compressor has been modeled using a Chalmers university in-house tool for conceptual design of axial compressors. The conceptual design of the SCOC-CC process has a net efficiency of 47 %. The air separation unit and CO2 compression reduce the cycle efficiency by 10 and 2 percentage points, respectively. A single-shaft configuration was selected for the gas turbine simplicity. The rotational speed chosen was 5200 rpm and the turbine was designed with four stages. All stage preliminary design parameters are within ranges of established industrial axial turbine design limits. The main issue is the turbine exit Mach number; the stage must be lightly loaded in terms of pressure ratio to maintain the exit Mach number below 0.6. The compressor is designed with 18 stages. The current value of the product of the annulus area and the blade rotational speed squared (AN2) was calculated and found to be 40*10^6.

Conceptual Mean-Line Design of Single and Twin-Shaft Oxy-Fuel Gas Turbine in a Semiclosed Oxy-Fuel Combustion Combined Cycle.

The aim of this study was to compare single- and twin-shaft oxy-fuel gas turbines in a semiclosed oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle (SCOC-CC). This paper discussed the turbomachinery preliminary mean-line design of oxy-fuel compressor and turbine. The conceptual turbine design was performed using the axial through-flow code luax-t, developed at Lund University. A tool for conceptual design of axial compressors developed at Chalmers University was used for the design of the compressor. The modeled SCOC-CC gave a net electrical efficiency of 46% and a net power of 106 MW. The production of 95% pure oxygen and the compression of CO2 reduced the gross efficiency of the SCOC-CC by 10 and 2 percentage points, respectively. The designed oxy-fuel gas turbine had a power of 86 MW. The rotational speed of the single-shaft gas turbine was set to 5200 rpm. The designed turbine had four stages, while the compressor had 18 stages. The turbine exit Mach number was calculated to be 0.6 and the calculated value of AN2 was 40 · 106 rpm2m2. The total calculated cooling mass flow was 25% of the compressor mass flow, or 47 kg/s. The relative tip Mach number of the compressor at the first rotor stage was 1.15. The rotational speed of the twin-shaft gas generator was set to 7200 rpm, while that of the power turbine was set to 4800 rpm. A twin-shaft turbine was designed with five turbine stages to maintain the exit Mach number around 0.5. The twin-shaft turbine required a lower exit Mach number to maintain reasonable diffuser performance. The compressor turbine was designed with two stages while the power turbine had three stages. The study showed that a four-stage twin-shaft turbine produced a high exit Mach number. The calculated value of AN2 was 38 · 106 rpm2m2. The total calculated cooling mass flow was 23% of the compressor mass flow, or 44 kg/s. The compressor was designed with 14 stages. The preliminary design parameters of the turbine and compressor were within established industrial ranges. From the results of this study, it was concluded that both single- and twin-shaft oxy-fuel gas turbines have advantages. The choice of a twin-shaft gas turbine can be motivated by the smaller compressor size and the advantage of greater flexibility in operation, mainly in the off-design mode. However, the advantages of a twin-shaft design must be weighed against the inherent simplicity and low cost of the simple single-shaft design.

A Comparative Analysis of Two Competing Mid-Size Oxy-Fuel Combustion Cycles

Conceptual turbine and compressor designs have been established for the semi-closed oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle and the Graz cycle. Real gas effects are addressed by extending cycle and conceptual design tools with a fluid thermodynamic and transport property database. Maximum compressor efficiencies are established by determining optimal values for stage loading, degree of reaction and number of compressor stages. Turbine designs are established based on estimates on achievable blade root stress levels and state of the art design parameters. The work indicates that a twin shaft geared compressor is needed to keep stage numbers to a feasible level. The Graz cycle is expected to be able to deliver around 3% net efficiency benefit over the semi-closed oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle at the expense of a more complex realization of the cycle.

Postcombustion CO2 Capture for Combined Cycles Utilizing Hot-Water Absorbent Regeneration

The partly hot-water driven CO2 capture plant offers a significant potential for improvement in performance when implemented in a combined-cycle power plant (CCPP). It is possible to achieve the same performance with a dual-pressure steam cycle as in a triple-pressure unit. Even a single-pressure plant can attain an efficiency competitive with that achievable with a triple-pressure plant without the hot-water reboiler. The underlying reasons are better heat utilization in the heat recovery unit and less steam extraction to the absorbent regenerating unit(s). In this paper, the design criteria for a combined cycle power plant utilizing hot-water absorbent regeneration will be examined and presented. The results show that the most suitable plant is one with two steam pressure levels. The low-pressure level should be much higher than in a conventional combined cycle in order to increase the amount of heat available in the economizer. The external heat required in the CO2 capture plant is partly supplied by the economizer, allowing temperature optimization in the unit. The maximum value of the low-pressure level is determined by the reboiler, as too great a temperature difference is unfavorable. This work evaluates the benefits of coupling the economizer and the reboiler in a specially designed CCPP. In the CO2 separation plant both monoethanolamine (MEA) and ammonia are evaluated as absorbents. Higher regeneration temperatures can be tolerated in ammonia-based plants than in MEA-based plants. When using a liquid heat carrier the reboiler temperature is not constant on the hot side, which results in greater temperature differences. The temperature difference can be greatly reduced by dividing the regeneration process into two units operating at different pressures. The possibility of extracting more energy from the economizer to replace part of the extracted steam increases the plant efficiency. The results show that very high efficiencies can be achieved without using multiple pressure-levels. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4004146] (Less)

Influence of Working Fluid on Gas Turbine Cooling Modeling

Cooling is essential in all modern high-temperature gas turbines. Turbine cooling is mainly a function of gas entry temperature, which plays the key role in overall gas turbine performance. High turbine entry temperatures can be achieved through appropriate selection of blade cooling method and blade material. The semi-closed oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle (SCOC-CC) operates at the same high entry gas temperature, hence blade cooling is necessary. The aim of this paper was to calculate the required turbine cooling in oxy-fuel gas turbines and compare it to the required turbine cooling in conventional gas turbines. The approach of the paper was to evaluate the thermodynamic and aerodynamic factors affecting turbine cooling with using the m*-model. The results presented in the paper concerned a single turbine stage at a reference diameter. The study showed greater cooling effectiveness in conventional gas turbines, but a greater total cooled area in oxy-fuel gas turbines. Consequently, the calculated total required cooling mass flow was close in the both single stage turbines. The cooling requirement and cooled area for a conventional and oxy-fuel twin-shaft gas turbine was also examined. The gas turbine was designed with five turbine stages. The analysis involved various turbine power and combustion outlet temperatures (COT). The results showed that the total required cooling mass flow was proportional to turbine power because of increasing gas turbine inlet mass flow. The required cooling mass flow was proportional to COT as the blade metal temperature is maintained at acceptable limit. The analysis revealed that required cooling for oxy-fuel gas turbines was higher than for conventional gas turbines at a specific power or specific COT. This is due to the greater cooled area in oxy-fuel gas turbines. The cooling effectiveness of conventional gas turbines was greater, which indicated higher required cooling. However, the difference in cooling effectiveness between conventional and oxy-fuel gas turbines was less in rear stages. The cooling mass flow as percentage of gas turbine inlet mass was slightly higher in conventional gas turbines than in oxy-fuel gas turbines. The required cooling per square meter of cooled area was used as a parameter to compare the required cooling for oxy-fuel and conventional gas turbines. The study showed that the required cooling per cooled area was close in both studied turbines. (Less)

Reduced-order through-flow design code for highly loaded cooled gas turbines

The development of advanced computational fluid dynamic codes for turbine design does not substitute the importance of mean-line codes. Turbine design involves mean-line design, through-flow design, airfoil design, and finally 3D viscous modeling. The preliminary mean-line design continues to play an important role in early design stages. The aim of this paper was to present the methodology of mean-line designing of axial turbines and to discuss the computational methods and procedures used. The paper presents the Lund University Axial Turbine mean-line code (LUAX-T). LUAX-T is a reduced-order through-flow tool that is capable of designing highly loaded, cooled axial turbines. The stage computation consists of three iteration loops – cooling, entropy, and geometry iteration loop. The stage convergence method depends on whether the stage is part of the compressor turbine (CT) or power turbine (PT) stages, final CT stage, or final PT stage. LUAX-T was developed to design axial single-and twin-shaft turbines, and various working fluid and fuel compositions can be specified. LUAX-T uses the modified Ainley and Mathieson loss model, with the cooling computation based on the m*-model. Turbine geometries were established by applying various geometry correlations and methods. The validation was performed against a test turbine that was part of a European turbine development program. LUAX-T validated the axial PT of the test turbine, which consisted of two stages with rotational speed 13000 rpm. LUAX-T showed good agreement with the available performance data on the test turbine. The paper presented also the mean-line design of an axial cooled twin-shaft turbine. Design parameters were kept within limits of current practice. The total turbine power was 109 MW, of which the CT power was 55 MW. The CT was designed with two stages with a rotational speed of 9500 rpm, while the PT had two stages with a rotational speed of 6200 rpm. The total cooling mass flow was calculated to 31 kg/s, which corresponds to 23 % of compressor inlet mass flow. LUAX-T proved capable of designing uncooled and cooled turbines. (Less)

Conceptual Mean-line Design of Single and Twin-shaft Oxy-fuel Gas turbine in a Semi-closed Oxy-fuel Combustion Combined Cycle

The aim of this study was to compare single- and twin-shaft oxy-fuel gas turbines in a semi-closed oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle (SCOC-CC). This paper discussed the turbomachinery preliminary mean-line design of oxy-fuel compressor and turbine. The conceptual turbine design was performed using the axial through-flow code LUAX-T, developed at Lund University. A tool for conceptual design of axial compressors developed at Chalmers University was used for the design of the compressor. The modeled SCOC-CC gave a net electrical efficiency of 46% and a net power of 106 MW. The production of 95% pure oxygen and the compression of CO2 reduced the gross efficiency of the SCOC-CC by 10 and 2 percentage points, respectively. The designed oxy-fuel gas turbine had a power of 86 MW. The rotational speed of the single- shaft gas turbine was set to 5200 rpm. The designed turbine had four stages, while the compressor had 18 stages. The turbine exit Mach number was calculated to be 0.6 and the calculated value of AN2 was 40x10^6 rpm^2m^2. The total calculated cooling mass flow was 25% of the compressor mass flow, or 47 kg/s. The relative tip Mach number of the compressor at the first rotor stage was 1.15. The rotational speed of the twin-shaft gas generator was set to 7200 rpm, while that of the power turbine was set to 4500 rpm. Twin-shaft turbine designed with five turbine stages to maintain the exit Mach number around 0.5. The twin-shaft turbine required a lower exit Mach number to maintain reasonable diffuser performance. The compressor turbine was designed with two stages while the power turbine had three stages. The study showed that a four-stage twin-shaft turbine produced a high exit Mach number. The calculated value of AN2 was 38x10^6 rpm^2m^2. The total calculated cooling mass flow was 23% of the compressor mass flow, or 44 kg/s. The compressor was designed with 14 stages. The preliminary design parameters of the turbine and compressor were within established industrial ranges. From the results of this study it was concluded that both single- and twin-shaft oxy-fuel gas turbines have advantages. The choice of a twin-shaft gas turbine can be motivated by the smaller compressor size and the advantage of greater flexibility in operation, mainly in off-design mode. However, the advantages of a twin-shaft design must be weighed against the inherent simplicity and low cost of the simple single-shaft design.