Simple-cycles

Conventional fossil fuel-fired power plants, nuclear power faciUties, cogeneration systems, and combined-cycle faciUties all have one key feature in common some type of steam generator is employed to produce steam. Except for simple-cycle cogeneration faciUties, the steam is used to drive one or... 

Fig. 10. Simple-cycle, two-shaft gas turbine where HP and LP are high and low pressure, respectively.

Fig. 12. Combustion turbine engine simple cycle (a) schematic of plant and (b) thermodynamics, where the horizontal lines correspond to the pressure...

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. 

In addition to the distinction between open- and closed-cycle systems, refrigeration processes are also described as simple cycles, compound cycles. 

The gas turbine in the simple cycle mode consists of a compressor (axial or centrifugal) that compresses the air, a combustor that heats the air at constant pressure and a turbine that expands the high pressure and high temperature combustion gases and produces power to run the compressor and through a mechanical coupling to the driven equipment. The power required to compress the gases varies from about 40-60 percent of the total power produced by the turbine. 

FIG. 29-33 Performance map showing the effect of pressure ratio and tiirhine inlet temperature on a simple cycle. 

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 simple cycle in Figure 3-1, presented as the basis for this study, serves to illustrate these effects and to provide a basis for their evaluation. 

Technology Comparison Diesel Engine Gas Engine Simple Cycle Gas Turbine Micro Turbine Fuel Cell Solar Energy Photovoltic Cell Wind Bio Mass River Hydro... 

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). 

Simple Cycle Regenerative Steam Turbine Combined Cycle Advanced Gas Hybrid Power Plant... 

Capstone Micro Turbine Sales Literature, Simple Cycle Micro Turbine Power Generation System, 2000, Chatsworth. California. 

Increasing the Work Output of the Simple Cycle Gas Turbine... 

The thermal efficiency of an ideal simple cycle is decreased by the addition of an intercooler. Figure 2-7 shows the schematic of such a cycle. The ideal simple gas turbine cycle is 1-2-3-4-1, and the cycle with the intercooling added is -a-b-c-2- i-A-. Both cycles in their ideal form are reversible and can be simulated by a number of Carnot cycles. Thus, if the simple gas turbine cycle 1-2-3-4-1 is divided into a number of cycles like m-n-o-p-m,... 

All the Carnot cycles making up the simple gas turbine cycle have the same efficiency. Likewise, all of the Carnot cycles into which the cycle a-b-c-2-a might similarly be divided have a common value of efficiency lower than the Carnot cycles which comprise cycle 1-2-3-4-1. Thus, the addition of an intercooler, which adds a-b-c-2-a to the simple cycle, lowers the efficiency of the cycle. 

The simple cycle is the most common type of cycle being used in gas turbines in the field today. The actual open simple cycle as shown in Figure 2-9 indicates the inefficiency of the compressor and turbine and the loss in pressure through the burner. Assuming the compressor efficiency is rjc and the turbine efficiency is t], then the actual compressor work and the actual turbine work is given by ... 

Figure 2-9. T-S diagram of the actual open simple cycle.

A simple cycle with intercooler can reduce total compressor work and improve net output work. Figure 2-7 shows the simple cycle with intercooling between compressors. The assumptions made in evaluating this... 

Figure 2-21 show the effect of 5% by weight of steam injection at a turbine inlet temperature of 2400 °F (1316 °C) on the system. With about 5% injection at 2400°F (1316 °C) and a pressure ratio of 17 1, an 8.3% increase in work output is noted with an increase of about 19% in cycle efficiency over that experienced in the simple cycle. The assumption here is that steam is injected at a pressure of about 60 psi (4 Bar) above the air from the compressor discharge and that all the steam is created by heat from the turbine exhaust. Calculations indicate that there is more than enough waste heat to achieve these goals. 

Refrigerated inlet cooling is much more effective in humid areas and can add about 12.8% to the power output of the simple cycle gas turbine. The... 

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