Efficiency combined cycle turbines

Power plants under about 350 MWe cannot use the latest high-efficiency combined cycle technologies. Those below about 250 MWe cannot use particularly high-efficiency steam turbines because of friction losses and leaks in small dimension gas paths. Those below about 100 MWe cannot economically use reheat steam cycles, giving a further efficiency drop. Moving further down in size gives a steady reduction in efficiency of the gas turbine, whichever manufacturer is selected. The scale effect of gas turbine efficiencies is due to flow paths and pressure drops and can only be partly compensated for with additional components such as intercoolers or reheaters. 

Commercial introduction by General Electric, Mitsubishi-Westinghouse, and Siemens of high-efficiency combined cycles based on gas turbines with firing temperatures of about 2300°F. 

Gas turbine-based power plants, particularly natural gas-fired cogeneration and combined-cycle faciUties, have proven to be highly rehable, efficient, and environmentally attractive. Advances in machine design, more efficient plant integration, and optimistic forecasts for the availabiUty of affordable natural gas worldwide have boosted the appeal of these systems for both base-load and peaking service. 

The next generation of gas turbine-based, combined-cycle power plants, under constmction in many parts of the world, is to feature net plant efficiencies in the 60% range based on LHV of fuel input. These faciUties, scheduled for start-up in the latter 1990s, are anchored by large gas turbines capable of simple-cycle efficiencies >40% LHV in some cases. To develop these machines, manufacturers have scaled up and improved upon designs that have already proved to be highly rehable. 

A 165-MW-class gas turbine/generator has been introduced by another manufacturer. This machine, also developed by scaling up a proven design, features a simple-cycle efficiency of 37.5% a turbine inlet temperature of 1235°C a pressure ratio of 30 1, up from 16 1 on the previous generation and an output of 165 MW for gas fuel firing under International Standards Organization (ISO) conditions (101 kPa, 15°C (14.7 psia, 59°F)). A combined-cycle facihty based around this machine could achieve efficiencies up to 58% or a heat rate of about 6209 kj/kWh (5885 Btu/kWh). 

At least two manufacturers have developed and installed machines rated to produce more than 210 MW of electricity in the simple-cycle mode. In both cases, the machines were designed and manufactured through cooperative ventures between two or more international gas turbine developers. One 50-Hz unit, first installed as a peaking power faciUty in France, is rated for a gross output of 212 MW and a net simple-cycle efficiency of 34.2% for natural-gas firing. When integrated into an enhanced three-pressure, combined-cycle with reheat, net plant efficiencies in excess of 54% reportedly can be achieved. 

As of the mid-1990s, many older conventional steam plants have been converted to combined cycle. The old boiler is removed and replaced by a combustion turbine and heat recovery steam generator. Although the cycle efficiency is not as high as completely new plants, substantial capital cost is avoided by the modification and reuse of existing steam turbine and auxiHary equipment. In many combined cycle power plants, steam is injected into the combustors of the combustion turbine to lower peak flame temperatures and consequendy lower NO. ... 

The combined cycle is also appHcable to dedicated power production. When the steam from the waste heat boiler is fed to a condensing turbine, overall conversion efficiencies of fuel to electricity in excess of 50% can be achieved. A few pubHc utihty power plants use this cycle, but in general utihties have been slow to convert to gas turbines. Most electricity is generated by the cycle shown in Figures 5d and 6d. 

The capital investment required for gasification-based power systems is 1400 to 1600 /kW (1994 US dollars) and is projected to become less than 1200 /kW in the year 2000 because of the higher efficiency associated with gas-turbine combined-cycles currently being designed by turbine vendors. 

A comparison of the effect of the various cycles on the overall thermal efficiency is shown in Fig. 29-40. The most effective cycle is the Brayton-Ranidne (combined) cycle. This cycle has tremendous potential in power plants and in the process industries where steam turbines are in use in many areas. The initial cost of the combined cycle is between 800- 1200 per kW while that of a simple cycle is about 300- 600 per kW. Repowering of existing steam plants by adding gas turbines can improve tne over plant efficiency of an existing steam turbine plant by as much as 3 to 4 percentage points. 

The Fossil Power Plants of the 1990s and into the early part of the new millennium will be the Combined Cycle Power Plants, with the gas turbine as being the centerpiece of the plant. It is estimated that between 1997-2006 there will be an addition of 147.7 GW of power. These plants have replaced the large Steam Turbine Plants, which were the main fossil power plants through the 1980s. The Combined Cycle Power Plant is not new in concept, since some have been in operation since the midl950s. These plants came into their own with the new high capacity and efficiency gas turbines. 

The new marketplace of energy conversion will have many new and novel concepts in combined cycle power plants. Figure 1-1 shows the heat rates of these plants, present and future, and Figure 1-2 shows the efficiencies of the same plants. The plants referenced are the Simple Cycle Gas Turbine (SCGT) with firing temperatures of 2400 °F (1315 °C), Recuperative Gas Turbine (RGT), the Steam Turbine Plant (ST), the Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP), and the Advanced Combined Cycle Power Plants (ACCP) such as combined cycle power plants using Advanced Gas Turbine Cycles, and finally the ITybrid Power Plants (HPP). 

In the area of performance, the steam turbine power plants have an efficiency of about 35%, as compared to combined cycle power plants, which have an efficiency of about 55%. Newer Gas Turbine technology will make combined cycle efficiencies range between 60-65%. As a rule of thumb a 1% increase in efficiency could mean that 3.3% more capital can be invested. However one must be careful that the increase in efficiency does not lead to a decrease in availability. From 1996-2000 we have seen a growth in efficiency of about 10% and a loss in availability of about 10%. This trend must be turned around since many analysis show that a 1% drop in the availability needs about 2-3% increase in efficiency to offset that loss. 

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