Comparative study of steam injection effects on operation of gas turbine cycles
In the present work, gas turbine cycles are modified with steam injection between the combustion chamber exit and the gas turbine inlet. Heat recovery steam generators, utilising the exhaust gases, provide these cycles with the injected steam at saturated vapour. The irreversibility of the different composing units of the cycles and the variation of gas properties owing to steam injection as well as changes in the interrelation of component performance parameters are taken into account. The isentropic temperature ratio and maximum to minimum cycle temperature ratio are varied over some ranges that slightly exceed their practically acceptable bounds in order to comprehensively investigate their effects on cycle characteristics. At the chosen values of the operating parameters, the enhancement achieved in the overall efficiency for the simple, reheat (with steam injection at high and low pressures) and partial oxidation (with steam injection at high and low pressures) gas turbine cycles are of about 20∼30%, 120∼200%, 10∼12%, 120∼260%, 20% respectively. The present modified cycles technique can be considered among the possible ways to improve the performance of gas turbine cycles-based power plants at feasible costs.
Humidification in Evaporative Power Cycles
Evaporative gas turbine cycles (EvGT) show an exceptionalexhaust heat recovery potential, which makes them a strongcompetitor to other advanced gas turbine cycles, especiallyfrom small to intermediate sizes. Evaporative gas turbines aredistinguished by humidifying the working fluid beforecombustion at temperatures below the boiling point of water;and the heat required for evaporation of water is partly takenout of the exhaust gas. Thus, humidification is a key operationin these cycles. This thesis investigates, both theoreticallyand experimentally, two alternative approaches tohumidification: the packed-bed humidification tower and thetubular humidifier. Both these equipments involvecountercurrent contact between water and the working fluid.Humidifier design criteria are developed and criticalparameters such as flooding, wetting rate and entrainment arediscussed. The experimental parts were carried out on thepacked-bed tower in the EvGT pilot plant, and on a tubularhumidifier test rig especially erected for this purpose. Thetheoretical models were confirmed by the experiments.The height of a transfer unit, necessary for designingpacked beds, was calculated for the packing employed in theEvGT pilot plant. It was found that the data provided by themanufacturer may be used with minor corrections.The tubular test rig operated satisfactorily delivering hothumid air. The theoretical models coincided well with theexperimental results, verifying the design criteria developedhere. The heat transfer calculations indicated that mostresistance to heat transfer is on the exhaust gas side. Thus, asurface extended tube (Sunrod) was used in the test rig. Itcould be concluded that the tubular humidifier is a strongalternative to the packed-bedtower, especially in smallhigh-pressure gas turbines.Furthermore, the importance of the non-ideality of theair-water vapor mixture in modeling evaporative cycles wasfirst highlighted in this work. Through applying realthermodynamic properties of air-water vapor mixtures in cyclecalculations, it was found that the compressed air contains ahigher amount of moisture than indicated by the ideal gasmixture model. This affects the design of the heat recoverysystem and cannot be neglected.Key words:evaporative gas turbine, indirect-fired gasturbine, humidification, packed bed, tubular humidifier,evaporator, saturator.
Fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transfer
Units and dimensions Flow of fluids - Energy and Momentum Relationships Flow of Liquids in Pipes and Open Channels Flow of Compressible Fluids Flow of Multiphase Mixtures Flow and Pressure Measurement Liquid Mixing Pumping of Fluids Heat Transfer Mass Transfer The Boundary Layer Quantitative Relations Between Transfer Processes Applications in Humidification and Water Cooling Appendix Problems.