Abstract
Pressure gain combustion evokes great interest as it promises to increase significantly gas turbine efficiency and reduce emissions. This also applies to advanced thermodynamic cycles with heat exchangers for intercooling and recuperation. These cycles are superior to the classic Brayton cycle and deliver higher specific work and/or thermal efficiency. The combination of this revolutionary type of combustion in an intercooled or recuperated gas turbine cycle can, however, lead to even higher efficiency or specific work. The research of these potentials is the topic of the presented paper. For that purpose, different gas turbine setups for intercooling, recuperation, and combined intercooling and recuperation are modeled in a gas turbine performance code. A secondary air system for turbine cooling is incorporated, as well as a blade temperature evaluation. The pressure gain combustion is represented by analytical-algebraic and empirical models from the literature. Key gas turbine specifications are then subject to a comprehensive optimization study, in order to identify the design with the highest thermal efficiency. The results indicate that the combination of intercooling and pressure gain combustion creates synergies. The thermal efficiency is increased by 10 percentage points compared to a conventional gas turbine with isobaric combustion.
Highlights
Different improvements are available for conventional gas turbines
The conventional isobaric combustion can be substituted by pressure gain combustion (PGC), a technology that has the potential to substantially improve the thermal efficiency of gas turbines [2,3]
Insights into the optimum pressure ratio split between low pressure compressor (LPC) and high pressure compressor (HPC) are presented where applicable
Summary
Different improvements are available for conventional gas turbines. The main objectives of these improvements is to increase efficiency or specific work and reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Grönstedt [1] carried out an exergy analysis, which identified the conventional isobaric combustion process and the exhaust heat as two dominate loss sources of gas turbines. The conventional isobaric combustion can be substituted by pressure gain combustion (PGC), a technology that has the potential to substantially improve the thermal efficiency of gas turbines [2,3]. The benefit of this type of combustion is associated with the reduced production of entropy during the combustion process compared to conventional constant pressure combustion. Heat is transferred from the gas turbine exhaust back into the main flow upstream the combustor. Less heat has to be added into the combustor and fuel is saved
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