Evaluation of Different Alternatives of Power Augmentation for an Exhisting Combined Cycle Power Plant in Brazil

Power generated from gas turbine based power plants is considerably reduced with the increase of the ambient temperature. Many technologies of power augmentation of gas turbines have been proposed along the last decades, and several systems have already been applied in real plants. Power augmentation techniques are concentrated on the philosophy of increasing the mass flow rate which goes through the gas turbine. The increase in mass flow rate is achieved either by reducing the gas turbine inlet temperature or by direct injection of working fluid. These techniques are divided in two main categories: inlet air cooling techniques and techniques based on the injection of compressed air, steam or water. This paper presents and discusses the main techniques, their applications and the expected changes in performance parameters, such as power and thermal efficiency.

César Celis Pérez, Sandro Barros Ferreira