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Absorption refrigeration cycle turbine inlet conditioning.

Number: pap. n. 76

Author(s) : ERICKSON D. C., ANAND G., MAKAR E.

Summary

Ambient conditions greatly affect combustion turbine performance. Traditionally, there have been two options to mitigate the effects of hot ambient: evaporative cooling and mechanical chillers. They boost turbine performance, but require significant amounts of water or large parasitic electric loads. Also, the turbine requires separate antiicing equipment for low ambient temperature operation (less than 4.4°C). This paper describes the Absorption Refrigeration Cycle Turbine Inlet Conditioning (ARCTIC) system that can chill or heat the inlet air of a combustion turbine to maintain maximum turbine performance at all ambients. Using an ammonia-water absorption cycle, the ARCTIC unit is powered by heat from the turbine exhaust gas. The design and performance of a 7,034 kW (2,000-ton) ARCTIC unit is presented. The ARCTIC has achieved a new record for net power and heat rate from this model of aeroderivative gas turbine in hot weather. It provides reliable and dispatchable hot day power at less than half the cost of new plant. On a typical summer day (38°C dry bulb, 26°C wet bulb), ammonia refrigerant from the ARCTIC chills the inlet air to 8.9°C. The gas turbine power is increased from 40 MW to 51 MW. After allowing for the 230 kW electric parasitic load, the resulting net power is 2 MW more than the output of a comparable mechanically chilled gas turbine. As a result, the heat rate is improved, whereas the mechanically chilled case has a degraded heat rate. On cold humid days the ARCTIC automatically switches to the Heating Mode. The inlet air is heated by 11°C to eliminate inlet icing potential. For optimizing turbine performance, even more heating is possible. Additional benefits include a lower exhaust temperature which is ideal for the SCR catalyst. The condensate recovered from the inlet-air chilling can also be a valuable by-product. The ARCTIC system has a small cost premium relative to a mechanical chiller. However, when all the auxiliary functions are credited (anti-icing, tempering air, less switchgear), the overall installed cost is comparable. The standout advantages are the increased cold-and-hot weather performance, improved operating efficiency, and reduced maintenance, all obtained at no additional cost. Gas turbines in combined cycle and cogeneration configurations (both frame and aeroderivative) are projected to benefit even more from the ARCTIC.

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Pages: 9 p.

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Details

  • Original title: Absorption refrigeration cycle turbine inlet conditioning.
  • Record ID : 30014343
  • Languages: English
  • Source: International sorption heat pump conference (ISHPC2014), College Park, United States, March 31-April 2, 2014.
  • Publication date: 2014/03/02

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