R. K. Bhargava

Gas Turbine Fogging Technology: A State-Of-The-Art Review, Part I: Inlet Evaporative Fogging- Analytical And Experimental Aspects

Ambient temperature strongly influences gas turbine power output causing a reduction of around 0.50% to 0.90% for every 1°C of temperature rise. There is also a significant increase in the gas turbine heat rate as the ambient temperature rises, resulting in an increased operating cost. As the increase in power demand is usually coincident with high ambient temperature, power augmentation during the hot part of the day becomes important for independent power producers, cogenerators, and electric utilities. Evaporative and overspray fogging are simple, proven, and cost effective approaches for recovering lost gas turbine performance. A comprehensive review of the current understanding of the analytical, experimental, and practical aspects including climatic and psychrometric aspects of high-pressure inlet evaporative fogging technology is provided. A discussion of analytical and experimental results relating to droplets dynamics, factors affecting droplets size, and inlet duct configuration effects on inlet evaporative fogging is covered in this paper. Characteristics of commonly used fogging nozzles are also described and experimental findings presented.

Gas Turbine Fogging Technology: A State-Of-The-Art Review, Part II: Overspray Fogging - Analytical And Experimental Aspects

The strong influence of ambient temperature on the output and heat rate on a gas turbine has popularized the application of inlet fogging and overspray for power augmentation. One of the main advantages of overspray fogging is that it enhances power output as a result of decrease in compression work associated with the continuous evaporation of water within the compressor due to fog intercooling. A comprehensive review on the current understanding of the analytical and experimental aspects of overspray fogging technology as applied to gas turbines is presented in this paper.

Thermo-Economic Analysis of an Intercooled, Reheat and Recuperated Gas Turbine for Cogeneration Applications–Part I: Base Load Operation

The knowledge of off-design performance for a given gas turbine system is critical particularly in applications where considerable operation at low load setting is required. This information allows designers to ensure safe operation of the system and determine in advance thermoeconomic penalty due to performance loss while operating under part-load conditions. In this paper, thermoeconomic analysis results for the intercooled reheat (ICRH) and recuperated gas turbine, at the part-load conditions in cogeneration applications, have been presented. Thermodynamically, a recuperated ICRH gas turbine-based cogeneration system showed lower penalty in terms of electric efficiency and Energy Saving Index over the entire part-load range in comparison to the other cycles (nonrecuperated ICRH, recuperated Brayton and simple Brayton cycles) investigated. Based on the comprehensive economic analysis for the assumed values of economic parameters, this study shows that a midsize (electric power capacity 20 MW) cogeneration system utilizing nonrecuperated ICRH cycle provides higher return on investment both at full-load and part-load conditions, compared to the other same size cycles, over the entire range of fuel cost, electric sale, and steam sale values examined. The plausible reasons for the observed trends in thermodynamic and economic performance parameters for four cycles and three sizes of cogeneration systems under full-load and part-load conditions have been presented in this paper.

Gas Turbine Based Power Cycles - A State-of-the-Art Review

Gas turbines have been used in wide ranging applications since their world’s first use in aviation and power generation in the jet engine powered flight of Heinkel aircraft (model He-178) and Brown Boveri & Cie’s (BBC) 4 MW power generation plant in Neuchatel, Switzerland, respectively during 1939. This paper provides the historical evolution of the gas turbine (GT) based power cycles. A detailed parametric thermodynamic cycle analysis is presented for various GT cycles (mostly, which have been implemented). In addition, a comparative performance evaluation of various cycles is presented clearly showing ranges within which a particular arrangement can be beneficial. The simulation results are compared with the performance of existing machines with similar design conditions. A discussion is presented to show limitations and advantages of each GT cycle and the associated technological advancements made. To complete the review, modified Brayton cycles under development by the gas turbine manufacturers, researchers, etc. have also been identified.

A Feasibility Study of Existing Gas Turbines for Recuperated, Intercooled, and Reheat Cycle

In the present paper, a comprehensive and simple in application design methodology to obtain a gas turbine working on recuperated, intercooled, and reheat cycle utilizing existing gas turbines is presented. Applications of the proposed design steps have been implemented on the three existing gas turbines with wide ranging design complexities. The results of evaluated aerothermodynamic performance for these existing gas turbines with the proposed modifications are presented and compared in this paper. Sample calculations of the analysis procedures discussed, including stage-by-stage analysis of the compressor and turbine sections of the modified gas turbines, have been also included. All the three modified gas turbines were found to have higher performance, with cycle efficiency increase of 9% to 26%, in comparison to their original values.

On the Behavior of Water Droplets When Moving Onto Blade Surface in a Wet Compression Transonic Compressor

The process of wet compression in an axial compressor is an intricate two-phase flow involving not only heat and mass transfer processes but also droplet breakup and even formation of discontinuous water film on the blade surface and then breaking into droplets. In this paper, the droplet-wall interactions are analyzed using the theory of spray wall impingement through two computational models for an isolated transonic compressor rotor (NASA rotor 37). Model 1, representing spread phenomenon, assumes that all droplets impacting on the blade are trapped in the water film and subsequently released from its trailing edge and enter the wake region with an equivalent mass flow but bigger in diameter and smaller in number. Whereas, the model 2, representing splashing phenomenon, assumes that upon impacting on the blade, the droplets will breakup into many smaller ones. The three-dimensional flow simulation results of these two models are analyzed and compared in this paper.

Gas Turbine Power Augmentation Technologies: A Systematic Comparative Evaluation Approach

Increasing electric rates in peak demand period, especially during summer months, are forcing power producers to look for gas turbine power augmentation technologies (PATs). One of the major undesirable features of all the gas turbines is that their power output and fuel efficiency decreases with increase in the ambient temperature resulting in significant loss in revenues particularly during peak hours. This paper presents a systematic comparative evaluation approach for various gas turbine power augmentation technologies (PATs) available in the market. The application of the discussed approach has been demonstrated by considering two commonly used gas turbine designs, namely, heavy-duty industrial and aeroderivative. The following PATs have been evaluated: inlet evaporative, inlet chilling, high pressure fogging, overspray, humid air injection and steam injection. The main emphasis of this paper is to provide a detailed comparative thermodynamic analysis of the considered PATs including the main variables, such as ambient temperature and relative humidity, which influence their performance in terms of power boost, heat rate reduction and auxiliary power consumption.Copyright

Thermo-Economic Evaluation of ORC System in Off-Shore Applications

This paper presents a study related with off-shore oil & gas production and processing facilities, where required energy, for electric power, mechanical power and process heat, is mostly produced using gas turbines, as the fuel source (natural gas) is available onsite. Since size and weight of all equipment on an offshore facility are critical, it becomes necessary for the facility engineering team to ensure that all equipment are sized and selected appropriately to obtain better return on the investment. Therefore, any approach which could help in utilizing energy resources effectively will influence the bottom-line of the project, namely reduced capital cost and/or increased return on investment. In this paper, one such approach of recovering power and thermal energy through the use of Organic Rankine Cycle system is discussed. A detailed thermo-economic analysis, conducted considering a system with four gas turbines operating, shows that power recovery equivalent to one topping gas turbine is achievable with a suitable working fluid. The presented thermo-economic analysis clearly shows that use of the Organic Rankine Cycle system for waste heat recovery is a technically viable and economically attractive solution for the offshore applications.Copyright

Gas Turbine Compressor Performance Characteristics During Wet Compression: Influence of Polydisperse Spray

The available literature shows that there exists a lack of understanding about the impact of wet compression, involving two-phase flow, on the physics of flow in the compressor stages of a gas turbine engine. In recent years, analytical models have been proposed which provide effects of wet compression on the overall compressor performance and in few studies on the stage-by-stage performance. In spite of the fact that the wet compression technology for power augmentation has been commercially implemented on numerous gas turbines from all the major gas turbine manufacturers, many issues such as, effects of polydisperse spray, droplets dynamics, influence on the performance characteristics of individual stages, stage and overall surge margin, etc., remain not completely understood. This investigation clearly shows importance of considering effects of polydisperse spray on the overall and stage-by-stage compressor performance characteristics. The presented results show that for a given droplets distribution and ambient condition, later stages of a compressor are prone to reduced surge margin under wet compression process due to redistribution of stage loading. Moreover, the study shows that smaller distributions allow the achievement of higher performance, but the compressor surge is reached with a lower amount of injected water.Copyright

Gas Turbine Fogging Technology — A State-of-the-Art Review: Part II — Overspray Fogging, Analytical and Experimental Aspects

The strong influence of ambient temperature on the output and heat rate on a gas turbine has popularized the application of inlet fogging and overspray for power augmentation. One of the main advantages of overspray fogging is that it enhances power output as a result of decrease in compression work associated with the continuous evaporation of water within the compressor due to fog intercooling. A comprehensive review on the current understanding of the analytical and experimental aspects of overspray fogging technology as applied to gas turbines is presented in this paper.Copyright