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Compressor
Turbine.
The compressor can be either axial flow or centrifugal flow. Axial flow compressors are more common in
power generation because they have higher flow rates and efficiencies. Axial flow compressors are
comprised of multiple stages of rotating and stationary blades (or stators) through which air is drawn in
parallel to the axis of rotation and incrementally compressed as it passes through each stage. The
acceleration of the air through the rotating blades and diffusion by the stators increases the pressure and
reduces the volume of the air. Although no heat is added, the compression of the air also causes the
temperature to increase.
The compressed air is mixed with fuel injected through nozzles. The fuel and compressed air can be premixed or the compressed air can be introduced directly into the combustor. The fuel-air mixture ignites
under constant pressure conditions and the hot combustion products (gases) are directed through the
turbine where it expands rapidly and imparts rotation to the shaft. The turbine is also comprised of stages,
each with a row of stationary blades (or nozzles) to direct the expanding gases followed by a row of
moving blades. The rotation of the shaft drives the compressor to draw in and compress more air to sustain
continuous combustion. The remaining shaft power is used to drive a generator which produces electricity.
Approximately 55 to 65 percent of the power produced by the turbine is used to drive the compressor. To
optimize the transfer of kinetic energy from the combustion gases to shaft rotation, gas turbines can have
multiple compressor and turbine stages.
Because the compressor must reach a certain speed before the combustion process is continuous or selfsustaining initial momentum is imparted to the turbine rotor from an external motor, static frequency
converter, or the generator itself. The compressor must be smoothly accelerated and reach firing speed
before fuel can be introduced and ignition can occur. Turbine speeds vary widely by manufacturer and
design, ranging from 2,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) to 10,000 rpm. Initial ignition occurs from one or
more spark plugs (depending on combustor design). Once the turbine reaches self-sustaining speed above
50% of full speed the power output is enough to drive the compressor, combustion is continuous, and the
starter system can be disengaged.
Because of the power required to drive the compressor, energy conversion efficiency for a simple cycle gas
turbine power plant is typically about 30 percent, with even the most efficient designs limited to 40
percent. A large amount of heat remains in the exhaust gas, which is around 600C as it leaves the turbine.
By recovering that waste heat to produce more useful work in a combined cycle configuration, gas turbine
power plant efficiency can reach 55 to 60 percent. However, there are operational limitations associated
with operating gas turbines in combined cycle mode, including longer startup time, purge requirements to
prevent fires or explosions, and ramp rate to full load.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Expensive.
High speeds and high operating temperatures.
Designing and manufacturing gas turbines is a tough problem from both the engineering and
materials standpoint.
Tend to use more fuel when they are idling.
They prefer a constant rather than a fluctuating load.
How is it done?
The key components of a combined heat and power system are an internal
combustion, reciprocating engine driving an electric generator. The clean natural gas
fired engine spins a generator to produce electricity. The natural byproduct of the
working engine is heat. The heat is captured and used to supply space heating,
heating domestic hot water, laundry hot water or to provide heat for swimming pools
and spas. The CHP process is very similar to an automobile, where the engine
provides the power to rotate the wheels and the byproduct heat is used to keep the
passengers warm in the cabin during the winter months.
electricity and heat from one source of fuel. However, the heat produced at the
electric utility is not used; it goes into the cooling water or up the smokestack along
with greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Approximately two-thirds of the fuels
energy is wasted. Alternatively, while generating electricity, a properly sized
combined heat and power system recovers nearly all of the heat it produces and
deploys it on site.
In addition, when purchasing power from the electric utility, a separate source of
heat, usually a boiler, is required. Despite using an efficient boiler, the total fuel
required to produce conventional electricity and boiler heat is greater than the
amount of fuel required to produce simultaneous energy with a combined heat and
power system. This demonstrates why CHP-produced energy is more cost effective
than the combined energies from the electric utility and local boilers.
The process for converting the energy in a fuel into electric power involves the
creation of mechanical work, which is then transformed into electric power by a
generator. Depending on the fuel type and thermodynamic process, the overall
efficiency of this conversion can be as low as 30 percent. This means that two-thirds
of the latent energy of the fuel ends up wasted. For example, steam electric power
plants which utilize boilers to combust a fossil fuel average 33 percent efficiency.
Simple cycle gas turbine (GTs) plants average just under 30 percent efficiency on
natural gas, and around 25 percent on fuel oil. Much of this wasted energy ends up
as thermal energy in the hot exhaust gases from the combustion process.
How is it done?
Saturated steam from the steam drums or once-through system is sent to the
superheater to produce dry steam which is required for the steam turbine.
Preheaters are located at the coolest end of the heat exchanger gas path
and absorb energy to preheat heat exchanger liquids, such as water/glycol
mixtures, thus extracting the most economically viable amount of heat from
exhaust gases.
The superheated steam produced by the heat exchanger is supplied to the
steam turbine where it expands through the turbine blades, imparting
rotation to the turbine shaft.
The energy delivered to the generator drive shaft is converted into
electricity.
After exiting the steam turbine, the steam is sent to a condenser which
routes the condensed water back to the heat exchanger.
As most combined cycle generation systems use natural gas as the fuel, the
environmental emissions are low. There is less pollution produced compared
to conventional steam or gas turbine power plants.
As such, complex and expensive environmental control systems are not
needed.
Transportation of fuel via pipelines is also easier than that of coal and oil.
The combined cycle power generation system also offers quick part-load
starting. For example, the GE Model-7000 gas turbine is able to produce
maximum output of 198MW within 30 minutes while the steam turbine portion
takes about an hour to operate from a cold start.
It can operate over a wide range of loads and is suitable for meeting peak
power requirement and also base load.
Supplementary firing can be used to increase steam turbine output in times of
increased output demand. On the other hand, the gas turbine can be stopped
when there is a decrease in demand.
It is also cheaper to build a combined cycle power plant than coal, nuclear or
renewable energy power plant.
Its capital cost is lower than that of steam turbine plant.
As natural gas is the fuel used, its higher cost compared to coal and oil will
result in higher operating cost.
The system is also less flexible with regards to the types of fuel to be used,
thus this limit in resources means the supply of fuel is critical to the plant's
operation.
The combined cycle power generation system is a combination of two
technologies, the complexity will result in higher maintenance cost.
It will require highly skilled and better trained operating staffs.
The capital cost of a combined cycle power generation plant is higher than
that of gas turbine plant.