Thermal Energy Storage For Gas Turbine Power Augmentation

Vasilis Gkoutzamanis,Alberto Traverso,Theofilos Efstathiadis,Anestis Kalfas,Justin Chiu,Anastasia Chatziangelidou

doi:10.33737/jgpps/110254

Abstract

This work is concerned with the investigation of thermal energy storage (TES) in relation to gas turbine inlet air cooling. The utilization of such techniques in simple gas turbine or combined cycle plants leads to improvement of flexibility and overall performance. Its scope is to review the various methods used to provide gas turbine power augmentation through inlet cooling and focus on the rising opportunities when these are combined with thermal energy storage. The results show that there is great potential in such systems due to their capability to provide intake conditioning of the gas turbine, decoupled from the ambient conditions. Moreover, latent heat TES have the strongest potential (compared to sensible heat TES) towards integrated inlet conditioning systems, making them a comparable solution to the more conventional cooling methods and uniquely suitable for energy production applications where stabilization of GT air inlet temperature is a requisite. Considering the system’s thermophysical, environmental and economic characteristics, employing TES leads to more than 10% power augmentation.

Highlights

In the 21st century, Combined Cycle (CC) flexibility and global efficiency are receiving the utmost research attention that is ought to
The results show that there is great potential in such systems due to their capability to provide intake conditioning of the gas turbine, decoupled from the ambient conditions
One general conclusion that can be drawn according to the available scientific literature is that there is no strict rule as to what technology is the best to be applied in each configuration

Summary

Introduction

In the 21st century, Combined Cycle (CC) flexibility and global efficiency are receiving the utmost research attention that is ought to. The gas turbine (GT) is one of the most important components in a CC power plant and power augmentation technologies concerning this part have gained significant attention. From the power consumers’ perspective who operate GT generators and purchase electricity from electric power companies, power augmentation is important to reduce demand and energy charges of electricity purchased (Yokoyama and Ito, 2004). The research activities for CCs flexibility focus mainly on the GT, aiming to extend the operational envelope of this component, mainly constrained by emissions. The main focus of power augmentation technologies is directed to inlet cooling systems as a costeffective way to add machine capacity at times when peak power is required for warm and dry operational environments

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Discussion

Conclusion