26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments

09/10/2015

Location, site and climate can all have a substantial impact on the e ciency and power
output of gas turbines

. In hot climates and or at high altitude, gas turbines operating in single or combined cycle
generate less power than their equivalent counterparts operating in a cooler climate or near
sea level.

Seasonal and diurnal weather variations also a ect turbine performance. With the demand
for power in the Middle East and Southeast Asia growing, turbine experts have focused on
developing techniques to improve the e ciency of turbines operating in hot and humid
climates.

Gas turbines are air-breathing machines whose power output is dependent on the air mass
through the compressor. Ambient temperature, altitude and humidity all a ect the density
of air. On hot days, when air is less dense, power output falls o . Hot and humid air is less
dense than dry, cooler air and the density is thinner at high altitudes. As the density of air
decreases, more power is required to compress the same mass of air. This reduces the
output of the gas turbine and decreases e ciency.

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 1/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

Stage 1 bucket being coated with thermal barrier coating by an air plasma spray gun
Credit: GE

Gas turbine manufacturers specify performance at standard conditions called ISO ratings.
The three standard conditions speci ed in the ratings are Ambient Temperature 15oC,
Relative Humidity 60 per cent, and Ambient Pressure at Sea Level. Gas turbine e ciency
deteriorates by 1 per cent for every 10-degree rise in temperature above ISO conditions.
Depending on the gas turbine, this translates into a power output reduction of 5 to 10 per
cent.

Inlet air cooling systems

In the last 20 years in an attempt to compensate for the lower air mass at high
temperatures, gas turbine (GT) manufacturers have introduced techniques to cool inlet air,
thus boosting turbine output in single and combined cycle operations. Feeding cooler air
into the turbine increases mass ow, resulting in higher output. The power required to
compress air is directly proportional to the temperature of the air, so reducing the inlet air
temperature reduces the work of compression and there is more power available at the
turbine output shaft.

Three main types of system are available: evaporative cooling, overspray techniques (high
fogging or wet compression) and chiller technology. In evaporative cooling, water is trickled
through a porous medium to cool the air. Evaporative cooling is not e ective in conditions of
high humidity. Water is not injected into the system.

In a fogging system, water droplets are sprayed in the air to arti cially create colder
conditions. The water evaporates in the air inlet before reaching the compressor. In wet
compression or inlet fogging, a ne spray of demineralized water enters the compressor,
where it evaporates. Fogging and overspray systems require more water than evaporative
cooling. In areas where water is in short supply, other techniques may be more appropriate.

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 2/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

Air inlet chilling cools the air by refrigeration. It is power-hungry but may be economic in
cases where o -peak or cheap power can be used.

Each has advantages and disadvantages and it takes site-speci c analysis of a number of
factors to determine the optimum technology or combination of technologies.

Turbine expert Sasha Savic of SS&A Power Consultancy draws on wide-ranging experience to
carry out the complex process. He starts by studying conditions at the site, including
weather patterns and the availability of water. The next step is to consider the technology
installed - as, for example, some GT technology is more prone to compressor erosion than
others, in which case it might be necessary to limit the amount of water injected. Then the
all-important economic aspects, such as capital investment and the added value from
investment, must be evaluated. It is important to look at the payback as customers have
di erent tari s, boundary conditions, capacity and payback times.

Savic says that it is “a complex equation with no one solution”.

“You have to understand the behaviour and ambient conditions for the operating period.
Normally cooling technologies have lower speci c costs than buying or building new
capacity. It is important to look at all these details before making a recommendation.”

In the Middle East, ambient temperature is very high in summer at the time when peak
demand (notably for air conditioning) is at its highest. Wet compression is one of the
available techniques for inlet air cooling. It can be retro tted to existing frames as well as
supplied with new systems. It works best in a very hot dry climate, but is e ective in high
humidity.

Wet compression increases the power output of the gas turbine by reducing compressor
inlet temperatures, inter-cooling the compressor and increasing mass ow throughout the
turbine.

Demineralized water is injected into the compressor. It evaporates in the air intake and
increases the saturation of air, which increases the mass ow, leading to additional capacity.
Wet compression systems can be easily switched on and o , enabling a rapid increase of
output peak demand.

Retro tting wet compression to existing turbines requires some adaptations to the plant (for
example, coating compressors with advanced coatings), but it enables the addition of
capacity without civil work such as adding generators and additional transformers. Once in
place, the inputs for wet compression are demineralized water and power to run the
forwarding pumps. The water evaporates in the compressor and cannot be recovered, so
the technique is particularly suited to power plants running alongside desalination facilities.

Zaid Al-Sati specializes in wet compression systems for Siemens Power Generation Services
in Dubai. He says that wet compression is perfectly suited to upgrade capacity for baseload
http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 3/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

machines, especially in Middle East areas close to the sea where humidity is high.

“The system has many bene ts here in the Gulf region. It is very sustainable technology
which is independent of ambient temperature and of humidity,” he says.

The company performed its rst upgrade in North America in the late 1990s, followed by the
ME region in 2004.

Operators’ decisions about plant upgrades will be based on economic, nancial and
technical considerations. On the technical side, any power plant being considered for
upgrades must be individually assessed and a step-by-step check of plant components
carried out.

Al-Sati describes the detailed process of assessing suitability for retro tting wet compression
technology:

“First of all, we de ne the amount of water which can be sprayed in the unit, depending on
the frame, the site-speci c boundary conditions and the history of the unit, including reports
from previous outages. We look at casing limitations and condition of blades and vanes at
the last inspection.

“We check maximum fuel supply pressures which can be delivered; check if there are any
boiler limitations in terms of additional exhaust energy. We look at steam turbines and
steam turbine generators and calculate their capability to accommodate the additional
capacity generated by wet compression. We calculate maximum and minimum
temperatures, and look at the generator electrical side and transformers to check that an
additional 15 per cent can be accommodated.”

If the plant is suitable, wet compression technology can be tted to the unit during a regular
plant outage without a ecting outage duration.

Improving designs
During the design of a new or upgraded gas turbine model, the major OEMs take into
account the various extreme climatic conditions of their potential markets.

In Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, the gap between summer and winter temperatures
can be substantial. On a hot day the density of air entering the compressor is less than on a
cold day. Thus, during summer days, the compressor has less mass ow than the gas
turbine capable of utilizing. By installing an oversized compressor, the OEMS can design
their systems to utilize unused capability during hot days.

Alap Shah, AVP & Turbine Technologies Manager with Black and Veatch, explains:

“In that case, if you oversize the compressor you can include variable guide vanes in the rst
few stages of the compressor. Opening the guide vanes passes more volume through the GT

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 4/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

and maintains a more or less linear output curve.”

This advance may not improve e ciency, but it enables more output at a higher
temperature.

Another feature developed for hot climates is thermal energy storage, an extension of
chilling inlet air. Chilling inlet air by mechanical chillers or vapour absorption chillers boosts
the output of the GT by increasing density at the inlet to the compressor. However, while
output goes up, there is a negative impact on the e ciency of the combined-cycle plant
considering the auxiliary power consumed by chillers as well as reduced exhaust energy
from the turbine.

Shah sees potential in using thermal energy storage for peak shaving, a technique used in a
few newly-built combined-cycle plants in the Middle East and North America.

“The concept is to operate the chiller at night [o peak], store the cold energy in a
signi cantly sized tank, and use that cold stored energy during the daytime when you have
higher temperatures and higher demand,” he explains.

Thermal storage has become popular in the last few years as operating pro les have
changed with the integration of renewables. Thermal storage makes good sense when plant
is required to operate at peak load during the daytime and to operate at part or minimum
load during the night to o set the increase in wind power.

The drive for e ciency

There are other areas for improving turbine performance in hot climates. One is to improve
the aerodynamics of compressor technology. Another involves the overall e ciency in the
classic turbine technology areas of materials, coatings and cooling. Improving the ability of
turbines to operate at very high temperatures drives e ciency and reduces emissions. Work
on the combustion system to improve fuel exibility so that fuels such as shale gases and
liquids or unre ned fuels can be burned is another area where work is underway.

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 5/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

GE’s Additive Manufacturing Machines at GE’s facility in Greenville in the US

Credit: GE

Incremental improvements in combined-cycle technology and operations have seen overall

combined-cycle e ciency rise to a current level of more than 61 per cent. Guy DeLeonardo,
general manager for high e ciency gas turbines at GE Power & Water, believes that over the
next decade this gure can be increased to 63 or 64 per cent, which will bene t operators in
all climates.

Advances in materials, additive technologies and manufacturing techniques can all

contribute to developments. For example, 3D printing can reduce the manufacturing costs
of components in the latest-generation turbines. GE is now using an innovative
manufacturing machine designed to produce cooling holes in gas turbine parts using a
pioneering laser-cutting method.

An understanding of how turbines work in speci c conditions is key to driving improvements

in e ciency and preparing gas turbines for di erent conditions. GE is proud of its o -grid,
full speed, full load testing facility in Greenville, South Carolina that tests its latest gas
turbines beyond real-world conditions.

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 6/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

GE’s 7HA gas turbine

Credit: GE

The $200 million test facility enables the company to fully validate its turbines at ambient
ranges of -37°C up to 85°C. More than 6000 sensors and instruments collect data
on all aspects of operation and components of the gas turbine during validation and more
than 8000 data streams are captured continuously during testing. GE says that one unit
running for 200 hours in the test facility is more valuable than 500 units in the eld running
for one year.

Add solar, save fuel

In the US and Spain, solar thermal power stations have been generating electricity for years.
Concentrating solar power (CSP) technology is mainly based on the use of parabolic trough
collectors, concentrating the solar radiation, heating up a thermal oil and transferring the
thermal energy to a boiler generating steam, which then drives a steam turbine.

Additionally, a heat storage system with molten salt can increase operating time even at
night. This can be added to a conventional power plant by integrating a burner into the
collector eld boiler. If there is no solar power (directly or from the storage), the boiler turns
into a conventional one, using any standard fuels for steam production.

In a hybrid integrated solar combined cycle power station (ISCC), the rst part of the plant is
a standard combined cycle driven by a conventional fuel. For example, in the rst stage a gas
turbine generates the power. In the second stage, the exhaust heat is turned into steam
(high temperature and pressure), directly used to feed an additional steam turbine. At the
same time, the steam turbine takes additional steam (with low temperature and pressure)
from a solar eld boiler. Hence the solar collector eld directly improves the power outputs
of the steam turbine and the whole combined cycle, while storage is also used.

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 7/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

GE’s 9HA gas turbine going into the test stand

Credit: GE

Development of ISCC is in its infancy. Florida Power & Light’s Martin Next Generation Solar
Energy Centre was the rst hybrid combined-cycle natural gas and CSP power plant to be
developed in the US, and deploys 75 MW of parabolic trough CSP.

The MENA region’s largest SCC plant is the $554 million Ain Beni Mathar project in Morocco.
The 160 ha site includes a huge solar eld contributing about 20 MW to the total capacity of
472 MW. Hassi R’Mel integrated solar combined cycle power station in Algeria combines a 25
MW parabolic trough concentrating solar power array, covering an area of over 180,000 m2,
in conjunction with a 130 MW combined-cycle gas turbine plant. Mexico’s rst ISCC power
plant comprises a 464.4 MW combined-cycle power plant and a 12 MW solar eld.

Karim Saidi of MAN Turbo Machinery, which has provided turbines to Abengoa and other
solar developers, is enthusiastic about the potential for ISCCs. He says that while the
technology is not fully market-ready, the availability of new materials will drive it forward.

“The material to build a solar receiver with its storage at 900°C is not really available in the
market. Some small developments have been done, but at lower temperature around
650°C-700°C.”

“The objective is to maximize the operating time of the solar share of the combined cycle.
Next steps might take another 10 years, but the development of suitable storage material
will bring interesting fuel savings,” Saidi says.

“Especially for the Middle East, where natural gas is cheap and solar direct radiation capacity
is very high, ISCC solutions could then be turned into reality, bringing a lot of bene ts.”

He points out that organizations in the Middle East often look for established solutions, and
further development of CSP technology is needed to needed to make ISCC hybrids readily
acceptable in the region.
http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 8/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

Penny Hitchin is a journalist focusing on the energy sector

CASE STUDY: FUJAIRAH 2 WATER AND POWER PLANT

Fujairah City on the Gulf of Oman is the business and commercial hub for the mountainous
emirate of Fujairah.

From October to March, daytime temperatures average around 25°C, rarely venturing above
30°C. Summer temperatures climb to over 40°C. High population growth and rapidly
expanding urban and industrial sectors have led to increasing demands for air conditioning
and potable water.

A consortium of ADWEA, International Power and Marubeni Corporation formed the

Fujairah Asia Power Company (FAPCO) to develop, own and operate Fujairah (F2) as a new
IWPP on a Green eld site next to Fujairah F1 plant at Qidfa near Fujairah on the Gulf of
Oman coast.

In 2007 a consortium of Alstom and Sidem was awarded the $2.1 billion engineering,
procurement and construction (EPC) contract for F2. The consortium also has a 12-year long-
term supply agreement for operation and maintenance. F2 has been designed to provide a
constant output of potable water alongside a demand for power that rises to 2000 MW in
the summer and falls during the winter months to around 900 MW. The 2000 MW, 130 MIGD
project started commercial operations in 2011.

Alstom used its Plant Integrator approach to design a exible, tailor-made dual-fuel solution
with in-house core components. Three gas turbine combined-cycle blocks incorporate ve
gas turbines and three steam turbines. Power output varies from 40 per cent to 100 per
cent. All the gas turbines are provided with inlet air-cooling to raise power under the high
ambient temperature conditions frequently found at Fujairah. Each gas turbine also has its

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 9/10
26/04/2018 Technology for gas turbines operating in harsh environments - Power Engineering International

own heat recovery steam generator, which is tted with a duct ring to improve exibility by
allowing additional steam to be raised within the steam generator when required.

The plant operates on natural gas supplied via pipeline from Qatar while a 10-day backup
supply of oil is held o shore as a fallback in case supplies are interrupted. The cooling
system uses sea water.

Rajashekar Sharma, Head of Product Promotion for Gas Turbines at Alstom, told PEi that the
station at Fujairah 2, which uses a combination of evaporative cooling and high fogging (wet
compression), is one of the best examples in the region of how inlet cooling can be used to
improve gas turbine performance in the hot climate of the Middle East.

Copyright © 2007­2018 PennWell Corporation, Tulsa, OK. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions

TOPICS ABOUT US RESOURCES SUPPORT

World Regions Smart Grid T&D About Us Current Issue Site Map
Coal Fired Distributed Gen Contact Us Online Archives
Gas & Oil Fired Business Advertising RSS Feeds
Nuclear Policy & Reg Subscribe Buyer's Guide
Renewables Topic Index PennWell Websites
PennWell Events

PENNWELL POWER SITES

HydroWorld Power Engineering
Hydro Review PennEnergy
Renewable Energy World pennwellhub Power
Nuclear Power International Decentralized Energy
Power Engineering International

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-9/features/taking-the-heat.html 10/10