A

Comparative
Guide to
Inlet Air
Cooling
Technologies
Under High
Temperature/ Humidity
Conditions
An Overview
M E E I N D U S T R I E S , I N C .
Mee Industries Inc. I 204 West Pomona Avenue I Monrovia, California 91016 I 626.359.4550 I Fax 626.359.4660 I 800.732.5364
During hot weather, combustion
turbine (CT) operatorsare posed a
significant problem by the degradation
of turbine generation capacity. The
typical CT on a hot summer day, for
instance, producesup to 20% less
power than on a cold winter day. Asa
result, a number of cooling techniques
have evolved over the yearsto
maximize turbine output.
The basic theory of inlet air cooling
for gasturbinesissimple enough.
Combustion turbinesare constant vol-
ume machines at a given shaft speed
they alwaysmove the same volume of
air but the power output of a turbine
dependson the flow of massthrough
it. Thatswhy on hot days, when air is
lessdense, power output fallsoff. By
feeding cooler air into the CT, mass
flow isincreased, resulting in higher
output. Another factor isthe power
consumed by the CTscompressor.
The work required to compressair is
directly proportional to the temperature
of the air, so reducing the inlet air tem-
perature reducesthe work of compres-
sion and there ismore work available
at the turbine output shaft.
There is, however, a limitation on
the amount of inlet air cooling that can
safely be accomplished. If the tempera-
ture isallowed to go too low, ice can
form on the bell-mouth or inlet guide
vanes, with the risk of thisice flaking
off and doing mechanical damage to
the compressor blades. Thisphenome-
non can occur even when the inlet air
temperature isabove freezing, because
suction at the turbine inlet createsa low
pressure cool zone at the bell-mouth.
To avoid thisproblem, most turbine
manufacturersrecommend that inlet air
be kept at or above 45F.
Traditionally, either mechanical
chillersor media-type evaporative cool-
ershave been used to cool combustion
turbine inlet air.
INLET AIR CHILLERS
Variousrefrigerant-type air chilling
systemshave been successfully
employed for combustion turbine inlet
air cooling. These range from
compressor-type chillersto absorption
chillers, which utilize waste heat asan
energy source for the chilling process.
Thermal storage systemshave also
been successfully applied to CTs.
These use relatively small chiller plants,
running off-peak, to make ice or cold-
brine solutionswhich are stored in an
insulated tank and used to cool the
inlet air during peak-power demand.
Such systemshave proven to be a cost-
effective way to overcome power loss
during peak-demand periods, while
reducing the high costsnormally
associated with chiller plants.
Gas turbines typically
operate at as little as
80%of their rated
capacity on hot days
due to the lower air
density and higher
temperatures. Inlet air
cooling helps to make
up the difference by
increasing the air mass
flow through the turbine
and by cooling the air,
which reduces the work
of compression.
Inlet Air
Chillers
Themost powerful
methodof inlet air cooling,
chillersarecapableof
keepinginlet air at 45F
throughout theyear,
thoughcostscanbe
higher thanwithother
approaches.
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C o m p re sso r I n le t Te m p e ra tu re - F
TURBINE
PERFORMANCE
CHART
HIGH PRESSURE FOGGING
High pressure fogging isa more
recent addition to the roster of tech-
nologiesemployed for inlet air cooling.
Fogging systemsare similar to media-
type evaporative cooling systemsin that
they cool by evaporating water, but
instead of using an evaporative medi-
um, the water isatomized into billions
of super-small fog droplets.
Fog systemsuse high pressure
water pumpsto pressurize demineral-
ized water to between 1000 and 3000
psi. The water then flowsthrough a
network of stainlesssteel tubesto fog
nozzle manifoldsthat are installed in
the air stream. These nozzlesatomize
the water into micro-fine fog droplets
which evaporate quickly.
O ther factorsbeing equal, the
speed of evaporation of water depends
on the surface area of water exposed to
the air. Thisiswhy media-type evapo-
rative coolersuse convoluted honey-
comb type media to maximize the
surface area of water exposed to the
air. In high pressure fogging, however,
the evaporative surfacesare the fog
dropletsthemselves. For thisreason,
the size of droplet generated by the
fog system isa critical factor. For
instance, because of the geometry of
spheres, a given amount of water
atomized into 10-micron dropletsyields
ten timesmore surface area than the
same amount of water atomized into
100-micron droplets.
Fog systemshave been installed on
both base-loaded and peaking gastur-
binesand are used in both simple-cycle
and combined-cycle plants. In most
cases, turbine operatorsopt to install
the fog nozzle manifoldsdownstream
of the air filtersand just upstream of the
silencers. Thisform of installation usu-
ally requiresone to two outage days
and callsfor minor modificationsto the
turbine inlet structures. Fog systems
can also be positioned upstream of air
filters, resulting in no outage time. This
type of installation, however, requires
the use of fog droplet eliminatorsto
prevent wetting of the air filters. When
fog nozzlesare installed inside the air
ducts, special attention must be given
to the nozzle manifolds. They must be
correctly designed to avoid the possibil-
ity of small partsbreaking off and
being ingested by the turbine.
O ne advantage of high pressure
fogging isitsefficiency level in hot,
humid areas. Asa comparison, take
Houston, TX at 96F in high humidity.
In thisclimate, a fog system can
achieve asmuch as19 to 20F of cool-
ing, while a media-type evaporative
cooler can get only about 15 to 17F of
cooling. A chiller takesthe temperature
far lower, but energy demandsand
installation costsare much higher.
Mee Industries Inc. I 204 West Pomona Avenue I Monrovia, California 91016 I 626.359.4550 I Fax 626.359.4660 I 800.732.5364 Mee Industries Inc. I 204 West Pomona Avenue I Monrovia, California 91016 I 626.359.4550 I Fax 626.359.4660 I 800.732.5364
High Pressure
Fogging
Inhighhumidity
conditions, highpressure
foggingusuallycan
providemorecoolingthan
media-typeevaporative
coolers. Chillerstakethe
temperaturelower yet,
but withmuchhigher
installationandoperating
costs.
O verall, chillersare capable of
achieving a greater drop in inlet air
temperature than other methodsof
inlet air cooling. The most powerful
chillers, for example, are capable of
keeping the inlet air at 45F through-
out the year, if desired. Thiscompares
well to itscompeting technologies
which can manage temperature drops
of anywhere from 15 to 25F in
temperate climatesand asmuch as
40F of cooling in arid, desert climates.
There are drawbacksto chillers,
however, including high first costs, and
high operating and maintenance costs.
These factorsmay explain why few
turbine operatorshave taken advantage
of inlet air chillers.
EVAPORATIVE COOLERS
Evaporation isa natural processthat
resultsin the conversion of water from
a liquid to a vapor. Thisconversion is
called a phase change. When water
changesphase, it either absorbsor
releasesheat. For instance, when a
pound of water changesfrom the liquid
phase to vapor phase it consumes1160
BTUsof heat. A good example of
evaporation isthe cooling effect of a
breeze on a summer day. Even if the
air ishotter than body temperature,
the breeze feelscooler because it
evaporatesperspiration off the skin.
M edia-type evaporative coolers
make use of thisprinciple and are the
most common cooling system
employed in combustion turbine inlet
air cooling. They generally consist of a
wetted honeycomb-like pad of cellulose
fiber material (the medium). When air
ispulled through, it evaporateswater
off the convoluted surfacesof the wet-
ted media, thereby cooling the inlet air.
Evaporative coolersare limited by
the amount of moisture present in the
air. O nce saturation (i.e., 100% relative
humidity) isreached, evaporative cool-
ing systemsare unable to evaporate
more water into the air stream. For this
reason, in hot, humid regions, it often
isnt possible to accomplish more than
about 10 to 15F of cooling. Chillers
dont have thisproblem. They are not
restricted by high ambient humidity
and are therefore capable of giving a
larger power boost than evaporative
coolers.
Another factor to be considered
with evaporative coolersisthe cost of
retrofitting and installing them. Although
the unitsthemselvesare generally fairly
inexpensive, installation usually callsfor
duct enlargement, asevaporative coolers
require relatively low air velocities. If the
air velocity acrossthe wetted media is
too high, it can strip water from the
media, cause excessive wetting of the
ductsand even fouling of the compres-
sor blades. For these reasons, evapora-
tive coolersare sometimesruled out as
a retrofit option. O verall though, if
retrofitting or installation costsare not
prohibitive, evaporative coolerswork
well. In low-humidity environmentsthey
are capable of increasing power output
by asmuch as15% , while in high-
humidity areas, the power boost tends
to be 10% or less.
Evaporative
Coolers
Themost widelyusedCT
inlet air coolingsystem,
media-typeevaporative
coolingislesseffectivein
hot, humidconditions. In
lowhumidityenviron-
ments, though, it can
boost power output by
10%or more, depending
onambient conditions.
Case Study:
Chiller Installation
Ripon Cogeneration, near M odesto,
CA, isa good example of how
compressor-type chilling isused for
inlet air cooling. The company runsa
G E LM 5000 gasturbine for power
generation and suppliessteam to the
nearby Fox River paper mill. Producing
22,000 tonsof paper annually, the
200-acre mill demandsover 45,000 lbs
of steam/hr when operating at full
capacity. Power isalso distributed to
the public utility grid in Californias
Central Valley.
Ripon chose a Kohlenberger-
patented 2000-ton, multi-temperature
chilling system. It featuresFrick
ammonia screw compressors, 3 Imeco
evaporative condensersand Frigid Coil
cooling coils. Two coilsare set at differ-
ent temperaturesto provide stages,
enabling the system providing higher
thermodynamic efficiency.
Because Californiastemperatures
rarely dip below 60 degreesF, the
chillersare capable of making the
system believe itsa cool 44 degrees
outside, saysPlant M anager Steve
Bates. O n a really hot day, though,
the chillersdont get the temperature
below 50 degrees.
The system worksusing ammonia
compression, similar to a home air
conditioner. A compressor draws
ammonia vapor from a recirculation
tank, compressesit and dischargesit to
the evaporative condensers. These
remove the heat of compression and
liquefy the ammonia vapors. Liquid
ammonia then returnsto the recircula-
tion tank, and from there it ispumped
to the coils(situated in the air inlet
duct, after the filters). Hot inlet air is
fed past the coils, resulting in thermal
energy absorption and vaporized
ammonia. These vaporsand a small
percentage of liquid return to the
recirculation tank.
Power consumption ishigher with
thistype of system, saysBates. It
variesfrom 1 to 1.4 M W per hour
depending on the load. To keep
consumption to a minimum, the screw
compressorshave slide valves, which
regulate the amount of compression
performed according to system needs.
Ripon bought the chiller unit to
increase peaking capacity, improve fuel
efficiency and generate additional
steam power. The result: power output
rose from 42 to 48 M W on hot days.
Case Study:
Evaporative Cooling
Nevada PowersClark G enerating
Station in LasVegasoperates4
Westinghouse 501B6 gasturbines, each
producing 80 to 82 M W per hour. It is
a combined cycle plant, with the heat
from the gasturbinesbeing utilized to
drive an additional steam turbine. This
providesanother 90 M W of power.
Three of the utilities gasturbines
have been retrofitted with Premier
Mee Industries Inc. I 204 West Pomona Avenue I Monrovia, California 91016 I 626.359.4550 I Fax 626.359.4660 I 800.732.5364 Mee Industries Inc. I 204 West Pomona Avenue I Monrovia, California 91016 I 626.359.4550 I Fax 626.359.4660 I 800.732.5364
FOG INTERCOOLING
An innovative application of high
pressure fogging, known asfog
intercooling, isshowing great promise
asa meansof increasing the power
boost gained from traditional inlet air
cooling fog systems. The basic concept
isto inject more fog into an air stream
than will evaporate with the given
climate conditions. Unevaporated fog
dropletsare carried by the air stream
into the compressor where they
evaporate when the air isheated by
compression. Since the compressor is
consuming asmuch ashalf of the out-
put of the turbine, and the work
required to compressthe air isdirectly
proportional to the temperature of the
air, the evaporation of fog inside the
compressor resultsin a substantial
increase in the net output of the turbine.
Itsinteresting to note that the high-
er output associated with intercooling is
not due to the massof the injected fog.
In fact, water vapor islessdense than
air at the same temperature. So
increasing the water vapor content of
the air, without also cooling the air,
would decrease the density of the mix.
However, with a fogging system, the
water isadded to the air in the liquid
phase, so it coolsthe air when it evapo-
ratesand the cooling effect outweighs
the addition of the inherently less
dense water vapor.
The limitsof fog intercooling have
not been fully investigated. Several
turbine manufacturersare looking into
the idea asthe benefitsare substantial.
Theoretically, itspossible to inject
enough fog to cause a power boost
that isashigh asthat obtained by inlet
air chilling, and at a tiny fraction of the
cost.
If the water dropletsare too large,
one possible drawback of intercooling is
the potential for erosion of the com-
pressor section. Liquid impaction ero-
sion isa term applied to thisphenome-
non. The bombardment of a metal
surface with water dropletscan lead to
the development of micro-fracturesin
the crystalline surface of the metal and
can eventually cause surface pitting.
But experience hasshown, and most
expertsagree, that compressor blades
would not be subjected to damage
unlessthe average droplet size exceeds
about 20 to 30 microns. (The mean
diameter of fog dropletsislessthan 5
microns.) To date, over 60 fog systems
with fog intercooling capacity have
been installed on turbinesin the USA.
Fog
Intercooling
Whilethelimitsof this
technologyhavenot been
fullystudied, fogintercool-
ingshowstremendous
promiseinprovidinglarge
power boosts evenin
veryhumidenvironments
Mee Industries Inc. I 204 West Pomona Avenue I Monrovia, California 91016 I 626.359.4550 I Fax 626.359.4660 I 800.732.5364 Mee Industries Inc. I 204 West Pomona Avenue I Monrovia, California 91016 I 626.359.4550 I Fax 626.359.4660 I 800.732.5364
Case Study:
Chiller & High
Pressure Fogging #1
Calpine G ilroy Cogen, LP of G ilroy,
CA, operatesa G E Frame 7-EA cogen-
eration plant which supplies120 M W
to PG & E and providessteam to a
nearby garlic plant. The plant uses
chillersto cool turbine air regardlessof
ambient temperature. But running
costsmake it desirable at certain times
to add a cheaper supplemental system.
At first, Calpine G ilroy tried media-
type evaporative cooling. But water
entered the air stream and fouled the
compressor. Asa result, turbineshad
to be washed regularly. Also, water
pumpsrequired additional maintenance
and media needed frequent replace-
ment. In 1994, the company decided
to drop evaporative coolers, retain
chillersand supplement them with high
pressure fogging.
G ilroy wasone of the first to install
inlet fogging and the system wasnot
without itsproblems. Water would
sometimesstagnate in the supply lines
to the fog pump units, causing bacteria
to grow, which plugged the fog nozzles
and water filters. The lesson learned
here isthat a fog system which isleft
shutdown for extended periodsof time
must be drained, even when deminer-
alized water isused. O ther initial
problemsinvolved the design and
installation of the system, such asthe
use of PVC pipesto supply the water
to the fogging pumps, and vibrationsin
the discharge pipescausing mechanical
fatigue. Calpine G ilroy now usesstain-
lesssteel supply pipesand hasinstalled
pulsation dampenersto cure pump
vibration both standard featureson
todaysfog systems.
The company currently operatesits
thermal energy chillersduring periods
of peak power demand and otherwise
relieson the fogging system. Result: a
significant reduction in cooling costs
since switching to high pressure fog
and an additional 3 to 6 M W power
increase.
Case Study:
Chiller & High
Pressure Fogging #2
LasVegasCogen operatesa peak-
ing plant, which startsup 560 times
per year using a G E LM 6000 turbine.
The electricity issold to Nevada Power
and thermal energy isused to heat a
12-acre hydroponic greenhouse owned
by the company.
Because it takestime for the
chillersto get online, the cogeneration
facility useshigh pressure inlet fogging
to provide maximum power right away.
The M ee Industriesfog system isused
exclusively when itsbelow 70F out-
side. If temperaturesrise above 70, a
steam absorption chiller isadded.
Although the fog system was
installed upstream of air filters, the final
barrier filtersremain dry and the filters
stay cleaner due to the scrubbing
effectsof the mist. The facility achieves
around 15F of cooling, which repre-
sentsa 500 kW power increase.
Industries evaporative coolers. The
fourth cooling system isdue to be in-
stalled in the last turbine later thisyear,
sayscontrol room operator Ron M oore.
The capital hasbeen allocated and
work should begin after the summer.
These unitsconsist of a stainless
steel, grade 304 housing, a sump
section and the cooling media. The
sump section includesa recirculating
water distribution system with pump,
flow adjustment controlsand flow
metersto pump water from the sump
to header pipesover each level of the
cooling media. The cooling media isa
rigid media manufactured by G lacier-
Cor. It ismade of a cellulose fiber con-
struction with 45/15 degree transverse
flutes. M edia thicknessis16 inches,
provided in two eight-inch sectionsto
reduce replacement costswithout loss
of cooling efficiency. M oisture drift
eliminatorsare also included to trap
raw moisture entrained in the air flow
and return it to the sump. Demineralized
water isused. After Premier Industries
installed the units, Nevada Power mea-
sured M W output for the entirety of
1998 and compared it to 1997 figures
when no evaporative cooling system
existed. July provided the highest
monthly increase of 12.32 percent.
The average power boost per month is
7 percent.
Case Study:
High Pressure
Fogging Installation
In 1997, Portland G eneral Electric
Co. (PG E) built a new combined cycle
plant at Boardman, O regon, using a
G E Frame 7-FA gasturbine (159 M W).
After investigating several cooling
options, the utility found that most
were expensive to implement and
required structural modificationsto
buildingsand air inlet housing. M edia-
type evaporative cooling, for instance,
worked out to be 250 percent more
costly to install than inlet fogging, says
Cheryl Bryant, the mechanical engineer
in charge of specifying and implement-
ing the cooling system. After factoring
in maintenance and running costs, PG& E
decided to install a M ee Industrieshigh
pressure fogging system.
At thisfacility, 1120 fog nozzlesare
installed downstream of air filters/
upstream of silencersand trash screens,
by far the most common location.
O perating pressure is2,000 psi and
pressure drop i s vi rtually ni l.
Demineralized water isused.
Two pump skidsare required, each
containing four FM -630-B1057 pumps.
These pumpsmanage eight stagesof
cooling, which can be controlled by
ambient temperature and humidity
sensors, aswell asmanually.
The only reported problem at
Coyote Springswaswater collecting in
the inlet duct. A drain line, installed
downstream of the fog nozzles,
eliminated thissituation.
The result: 30F of inlet air cooling,
a 16 M W output and a significant
improvement in heat rate.
Mee Industries Inc. I 204 West Pomona Avenue I Monrovia, California 91016 I 626.359.4550 I Fax 626.359.4660 I 800.732.5364
Case Study:
Evaporative
Coolers & High
Pressure Fogging
The UtiliCorp United plant in
G reenwood, M O hasstandard media-
type evaporative coolersinstalled on
four of itsFrame 7001B units. However,
the companysG E M S-7001E gastur-
bine (85.4 M W at ISO conditions) usesa
M ee Industriesfog system to provide
evaporative cooling and intercooling.
Eight fog-cooling stages a total of
1,196 nozzles deliver a temperature
drop of 20 to 32F, depending on
ambient conditions.
After two summers, company
officialshave found that the fog system
iseasier to clean and maintain than the
evaporative coolers. The evaporative
coolerscarry-over untreated water,
resulting in compressor fouling, while
the fog, which isdemineralized water,
helpsto clean the compressor. In
addition, the fog system takesabout
three minutesfrom startup to full
power boost, compared to 30 minutes
with the media-type systems. The
company plant manager said that even
on a 100F day with humidity in the
range of 45-50% , the fog system
providesa power boost of approxi-
mately 4 M W or nearly 7% .
CHOOSING THE RIGHT SYSTEM
When considering which cooling
system to implement, itsimportant to
study the existing situation at the plant,
climatic conditions, budget limitations,
power output expectationsand project
economics. There are no simple answers,
correct in all cases, and sometimesa
combination of systemsmay be best.
Are you talking to Mee?
C o rp o ra te H e a d q u a rte rs
204 West Pomona Avenue
M onrovia, California 91016
626.359.4550
Fax: 626.359.4660
E-mail: meefog@ aol.com
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M E E I N D U S T R I E S , I N C .