Improving turbine performance by cooling inlet air using a waste heat powered ejector refrigerator
- Northeastern Univ., Boston, MA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Stationary turbines are used to produce electricity in many areas of the world. Their performance is adversely affected by high ambient temperatures. Several means of reducing the turbine inlet temperature (offpeak water chiller and ice storage and absorption refrigeration systems) are being proposed as a means of increasing turbine output. In the present investigation the feasibility of increasing turbine output power by using its exhaust gases to power an ejector refrigeration system is demonstrated. The advantages of the ejector refrigeration are: it operates on a non-CFC fluid, its small number of moving parts and its small size. The analysis focuses on United Technologies FT4 turbine with a base load output of 21.6 MW. It is demonstrated that the proposed system can decrease the turbine inlet temperature from 296.2 K to 277.6 K which increases the turbine output by 12.8% during periods of high ambient temperature and improves yearly averaged power output by 5.5% in a temperature climate. It is shown that the energy in the turbine exhaust has the potential of producing additional cooling beyond that required to reduce the inlet temperature.
- OSTI ID:
- 483961
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961105--; ISBN 0-7918-1527-7
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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