DESALINATION

ELSEVIER Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45

www.elsevier.com/locate/desal

The cogeneration power-desalting plant with combined cycle:

a computer program
M.A. Darwish
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University,
PO Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait
Tel. +965 481-1188, ext. 5789; Fax +965 484-7131; email: darwish@kucOl.kuniv.edu.kw

Received 8 February 1999; accepted24 May 1999

Abstract
Recent developments in gas turbines encourage their use in utility power generation in many parts in the world. The
addition of a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to a gas turbine to utilize its waste heat f'mds good application in
many of the Arabian Gulf countries to desalt seawater from the steam generated by the HRSG. Also the addition of a
steam turbine to utilize this steam, to form what is called a combined power cycle, greatly increases the efficiency of
power generation. The use of a combined cycle as a cogeneration power-desalting plant looks very attractive as it saves
fuel in producing both electric power and desalted water.

Keywords: Cogeneration; Computer program; Power desalting plant

1. Introduction ambient temperature, air humidity ratio, the type

In a power plant course for senior and
graduate students at Kuwait University, the
teaching of the combined cycle in its cogene-
ration mode of operation and showing how
different parameters are affecting its performance
are greatly facilitated by using a computer pro-
gram. The combined cycle, as shown in Fig. 1,
consists of a gas turbine, heat recovery steam
generator (HRSG), and a steam turbine. The
affecting parameters for the gas turbines include
of fuel used, the compressor compression ratio
and its isentropic efficiency, the combustion
chamber efficiency, the turbine inlet temperature
and its efficiency and exhaust temperature, and
the pressure losses in the ducts of the cycle. As
for the HRSG, their performance depends on the
temperature of the inlet flue gases, number of
pressure stages in the HRSG, the conditions and
the flow rates of the generated steam, the pinch
point for each pressure stage, the water feed
temperature, and the exhaust flue gas tempera-

0011-9164/00/$- See front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
PII: s o 0 1 1 - 9 1 6 4 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 1 9 0 - 3
28 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45

I FuQ't

17 ,_I2.

14 t| I H
IL

6
. I ~

l ST 0

• . . ~..; .d |

D^ L_.I k._-I

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of a combined gas-steam turbine cycle with a two-stage pressure heat recovery steam
generator. Gas turbine: 1 compressor inlet, 2 combustion chamber (CC) inlet, 3 turbine inlet, 4, turbine outlet, 5 hot gases
stack outlet. Heat recovery steam generator: 4 supplementary fired boiler inlet, 6 HRSG hot gases inlet, 7 steam turbine
steam outlet and condenser inlet, 8 steam condenser outlet, deaerator outlet and feed water inlet to the HRSG, I0-11 low-
pressure stage economizer, 12-13 low-pressure stage super-heater, 14-15 high-pressure economizer, 16-17 high-pressure
steam super-heater, 17 steam turbine inlet. AC, GT air compressor; CC, combustion chamber; GT, gas turbine; SF,
supplementary fired boiler; HRB, heat recovery boiler; BFG, boiler feed pump; ST, steam turbine; CP, condenser pump;
C, condenser; FWH, feed water heater; DA, open feed heater (deaerator).
 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45
ture. The condition of the generated steam,
pressure and temperatures are the main factors
affecting the performance of the steam turbines.
The performance of the steam turbines depends
on the mode of its operation in the required
cogeneration mode. It can be condensing,
condensing-extraction, or back pressure turbine,
The pressure and temperature of the extracted
steam to supply the desalting plant have
significant effect on the cycle efficiency,
utilization factor and heat rate. All the mentioned
parameters interact with no simple relations
between them. Thus, it was decided to write a
computer program with the ability to change any
of the design and/or operating parameter(s) to see
their effect on the overall performance.
The equations used in this program with some
explanation are given here to give the reader the
physical meaning behind them. Samples of the
obtained results are given. The analysis is divided
to study of the gas turbine performance, the heat
recovery steam generator, the steam cycle, and
the combination of the desalting plant with the
cycle,
{a)
Je,mbu~uo, i 3/~'
Turblnal
Fig. 2. Split shaft gas turbine, Brayton cycle, with its T-S diagram.
29
2. Components analysis of the gas turbine
cycle
The split gas turbine cycle, shown in Fig. 2, is
analyzed here as outlined by Cohen [1]. It
consists of a compressor, combustion chamber,
gas generator (turbine producing enough power
to drive the compressor), and the power turbine.
The analysis and equations used for each of the
cycle components are presented here. Most of the
equations are correlations derived by this study
from the available thermodynamic tables for
steam, air, and combustion product gases.
2.1. The compressor
The data required to start the analysis in
general are the air inlet temperature T1, and
humidity ratio W, the pressure ratio PR, the gas
turbine inlet temperature T3, and compressor and
turbine efficiencies (from manufacturers' data).
The air enthalpy was correlated as a function of
temperature from the Keenan thermodynamics
table [2] as:
(b} /
~ 2
P1 1
30 M.A. Darwish/ Desalination 127 (2000)27-45
h(T) : 16.383 +(.907* T) +(.000137 * T 2) T(Pr) : 10.041 +(O.O0264*pr2)-(7.32E-6,Pr 3)
(1)
- (1.44E-8 * T 3) + [263.273 *Pr°3)-(O.9489*Pr°7 ln(Pr)]

in kJ/kg where T is deg K. in deg K, Pr< 100 (3)

The relative pressure Pr is defined by
exp(s°/R), where
T(h) = 47.576 -(0.0625374,h 2)
T d__T +(O.114113,h l.8)- ~.859E-7 ,h 3)
S O
= f G (T) T (4)
o + [0.0050771 *h 2*ln(h)]
and consequently, in deg K, 300<h<1000 kJ/kg

T us. at the in.et oomprossor from

el S=constant-PrT- exp (S°/R) T~ and Eqs. (2a)and (2b), and Pr2, is given by
Pr2, _ P2
The relative pressure Pr is used to obtain the Prl P1
property changes during an isentropic process by
taking into consideration the variations of the
specific heat of the air with the temperature. Pr is
The value of h 2 is obtained from Pr2s and the
tabulated by Keenan in terms of temperature and
enthalpy. It is correlated here as a function of following correlations, which express h in terms
of Pr:
temperature and enthalpy or vice versa in
equation form as:
• for Pr<140

• for T<400 deg K h(Pr) = 445.28 +(2865.42,Pr)-(8760.85 */~r 2)

Pr(T) = .4945 -(.043486 * T) - (6.8579E-5, T 2) + (16,531.69,/~r 3)- (15,235.67 */~r 4) (5)

+(1.3416E-7*T3)+[O.OO96349*T*ln(T)] (2a) +(5328.55,/Sr 5) inkJ/kg

• for T>400 deg K

• for Pr>140

PR(T) =4.497-(8.565E-4*T2)-(3.591E-7*T 3) h(Pr) =915.36+(1313.65*Pr)-(1876.16*Pr~)

- (2.1635E- 10*T4) (2b) where + (2381 "93 */3-r3) - (1744"7 */~'r4)

+ (525.07,/7r 5) in kJ/kg
 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 12 7 (2000) 2 7-45 31

Pr = Pr - 70 CxHy +X(dry air) ~ xCO 2 + YH20

38O (10)
- (x+y/4) 0 2 +Xdry air

The fuel-to-air ratio is defined by

where
P2/P1 f _ Dlf _ Mweight of fuel
= ma X* 28.97

288* [Standard pressure ratio (PR)-I] + 1 (7)

T1
Then Pr2,, T2s , and h2~ are obtained, and the
isentropic and actual work done can be given by
Wcomp(ideal ) = h2s - h I
where X is the number of moles of dry air
supplied/mole of fuel. X is chosen to give the
product of combustion the required TIT, and is
obtained by using the following:
/L/products = nreactant s
(8)

Hence,
mcomp(actual) = (h2s - hi)/lqcomp (9)
+Yh
X=
2.2. Combustion chamber hair(T3)- hai~(T2)

The compressor only handles air, but The actual fuel-to-air ratio is calculated as
combusted gases result from the reaction of the follows:
air with the fuel used in the combustion chamber.
The amount of heat input in the combustion f
chambers is calculated by neglecting the heat loss f = --
from the chamber in the following section, l']c°mb
Assume a hydrocarbon fuel having the
following formula: (Cx He); then the complete The mixture specific heat entering the
combustion equation is: combustion chamber is calculated by:

C x n y + (x + y / 4 ) 0 2 ~ x C O 2 + y H 2 0 C/,(mixture)2 = Cp(moist)(combustion inlet) +f*Cp(fuel)

- C (mixture)2 + % (mixture)3
Hence, the amount of excess air can be found as Cp(mgas)l -
follows: 2
32 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 12 7 (2000) 27-45

where Cp(~xt~)3, the specific heat of the gaseous T3 [Eqs. (2) and (3)] and Pr4~ is obtained from h4,
product, and can be expressed with the following [Eqs. (8) and (9)].
equation: The pressure at the gas generator exit (point 4)
is calculated by
c (gaseous) = 0.8397 + [0.00018* T~]
k ~ J

P4 = P 3 *(er4s/Pr3) (14)
+ [0.017038exp (]) *In(T3)]
where
+ 0.032313 * T°Ss * f
P3 = (1 - fraction of combustion chamber
pressure loss) * PR
Hence the amount of heat input into the com-
bustion chamber per unit mass of combustible
mixture is 2.4. Power turbine
The actual enthalpy of the combusted air at
Qin =Cp(mgas)l *(T3-T2a) (12) the gas generator exit may be calculated as
follows:

2.3. Gas generator turbine h4a = h3 - WeT (actual)

The gas generator power output is equal to the
compressor power consumption, i.e.
W
WGT _ compressor
0.95 + f
where 0.95 is the ratio of turbine to compressor
air flow rates where a 5% air loss from the
compressor is used to cool the turbine blades,
The specific ideal work obtained from the gas
generator under the isentropic, but impossible,
expansion is
WGT (ideal) = WGT (actual) / "qGT
The relative pressure at state 4a is Praa =f(h4a);
hence,
(13) Pr5, = Pr4~ ,(ps /P4 )
where Ps~ is the pressure at state 5 = (Patmospheac/
1-fraction of duct pressure loss).
The enthalpy at state 5s can be calculated
from hs, = f(Pr5,). The power turbine specific
work output can be expressed by
WpT (actual) = 1]PT* (h4a-h5s)* (.95 +f)
(15)
WpT (actual) V = ~/air * WpT (actual)

Since hsa = Wpv(ac~al)-haa,the temperature at state

The enthalpy of the combusted air after the 5a is calculated from Tsa =f(hs~).
imaginary isentropic expansion is The first low thermal efficiency of the gas
turbine cycle is
g4s = 8 3 - W'GT (ideal) WPT(actual )
nth -
The relative pressure P r 3 is obtained from h 3 or Qin
 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45 33

3. Analysis of the heat recovery steam
generator
The HRSG (see Fig. 3) utilizes the heat
content of the gas turbine flue gases in generating
steam. It can be a non-fired or supplementary
fired type. The generated steam can be used for
process heat such as refrigeration, desalination,
and chemical processes needing heat, or to
supply steam to a bottoming steam power cycle,
The output of the non-fired steam generator
depends on the temperature and the flow rate of
the flue gases leaving the gas turbine, and this is
affected by the gas turbine operation (full or part
load). Supplementary firing is used to increase
the temperature and the capacity of the generated
steam during the gas turbine low loading periods.
It can also increase the temperature and the
capacity of the bottoming steam power cycle
beyond the thermal capacity of the flue gas
leaving the gas turbine even at full load. Thus,
the supplementary HRSG is independent of the
gas turbine operating mode. Both types can be of
a single- or double- (or rarely used triple-) stage
pressures type. The majority ofHRSG connected
to gas turbines are of the non-fired type with two
pressure stages. The hot gases and water
temperature profiles are given in Fig. 4. This is
the reason for concentrating the discussion of this
paper to that type.
The main components of the HRSG are
economizer, evaporator (boiling section), steam
drum including mist separator, super-heater
(when needed) for each pressure stage, and
recirculating and booster pumps. Sometimes the
super-heater of the low-pressure stage is not
really needed. As mentioned earlier, the
performance of the non-fired HRSG depends on
the operation of the gas turbine combined with it.
An analysis is developed here to determine how
the gas turbine operation in terms of ambient
condition and loading affects the performance of
the HRSG.
The performance of the HRSG is affected by
its operating on design parameters such as the
pinch point, the temperature approach, first- and
second-stage pressures, and the mass ratio of the

iExhaust oas out

[ " Oe-oerotor De-a

1. Economizer ~ 1. Low pressure economizer [2.

2. Evaporator 2 2. Low pressure evaporat.or let It.a@
3. Lew pressure superheater 1;~ " '~'
3. Superheat.st 1st s~age 4. Hiqh pressure economizer
5. High pressure evaporator J4 lea=it

'' "- 6. High pressure superheater 2nd stage L-LlJ

• P.mp, 15
le _

_1 Exhaust gas In

Fig. 3. Single- and dual-pressure stage HRSGs.

34 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45

two stages. The developed analysis is based on T2 = Tat2 + Tpp2 (17)

the mass and energy balances for a dual-pressure
steam generator. The mass flow ratio of the high
pressure stage steam to the total feed water to the (1-RADL). ragas • Cp(gas)' (Tin- Tp2)
economizer is allowed to change in an iterative msup2 = (I+ Sloss)* (Hsup2-/-/sat2) (18)
loop to satisfy the required energy and mass
balances within certain limitations. The limita-
tions include the following: where S~o~sis the steam loss which occurs only in
1. The first stage pinch point is kept within a the superheater.
specified design range of 5-30°C. The enthalpy of the flow gases is correlated
2. The difference between the temperatures of by
the hot gases and the low pressure superheated
steam is kept to a minimum. Cp(gas) = 0.8397 + 0.00018.T× h + 0.017031
3. The approach temperature is kept un- (19)
changed. ' exp (J)' In (Texh)+0.032313" (Texh)°Ss "f
4. The quality of the steam leaving the steam
turbine should be higher than 0.87. This may
necessitate the increase of the condensing The heat balance for the first (low) pressure
pressure, economizer gives
5. The stack temperature is allowed to vary to
satisfy the energy balance while keeping the Mfeed.(nsatl-Hfeedl)
stack temperature higher than the dewpoint Tpl = (l_RADL).mgas. Cp(gas) +Ltk (20)
temperature.
The energy balance for the second (high)
pressure sides of the steam generator gives:
where RADL is the fraction of heat transfer
High pressure losses.
Tin ~ 10W pressure The enthalpy of the feed water is correlated in
-r.~,~. ~'~) ~ ~ ' r , terms of the feed temperature by

_ ~.G) T,,z~-,,,, IT .. Hfeedl = 4'0864" (Tfeedl)1005714 (21)

\l\ --"~21 The value of TppI is calculated by assuming the

r,..,2\: ~. r,,t "r.tw stack temperature T stack and the ratio, M,
¢- (E):(c}r... (B'~,
(A~'rf,,,,, defined by the second (high) pressure steam to
the total feed water flow rates, i.e.,

.................. M =~ ~,M~up2M
/ ~o~a
Heot transferred CQ)

Fig. 4. Temperature profile vs. heat transfer for dual-

pressure HRSG. The first pressure pinch point is given by
 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45 35

T p l = T 1 - Tsatl (22) 4. Steam bottoming cycle

The value of Tpl should be equal or higher than
10 °C. Otherwise new values ofMand T stack are
assumed until the corrected value is obtained.
The temperature of the exhaust gases at the
inlet of the first pressure stage superheater
section can be written as
msup2"(Hsat2- Hfeed,2)
T'gas = T 2 - (1-RADL)'mgas'Cp~gas )
The bottom steam cycle consists of a steam
condensing turbine, steam condenser, and an
open feed heater (deaerator) besides the HRSG.
The T-s schematic diagram of the cycle is given
in Fig. 5.
At the condenser side the enthalpy of seam at
the exit of the turbine (assumed identical to that
of the condenser inlet) is given by
(23) /-/~o.d = Ho.df +~Cfg'Ho.dfg) (26)

where [3] nfeed,2 is the second pressure stage feed where

water enthalpy and is equal to

nfeed,2 =/ttsatl(COIT.) + Wpump(kJ/kg) Hondf = 25.6 + (2.2687"Pco,d)- 0.00093 "(Pc

+ 62.689"1n (Pcona) (kj/kg) (27)

Hence, an energy balance around the first
pressure stage evaporator and superheater will
give the enthalpy of the first stage superheated
steam as f o l l o w s : nc°ndfg = 2492"06"(Pc°ha)001791 (kJ/kg) (28)

//sup 1 = Hsal 1(corr.)

H
~V/sup I
~ EF
where

msupl = (mfeed-msup2) (25)

o
Q.

is the first stage steam mass flow rate (kg/s).

If calculations reveal Ts,pl (corresponding to
Hsupl and Psatl) higher than Tsg~, then the mass
flow ratio (Mratio) has to be changed and the
calculations are repeated for all the past steps Entropy (hi
(starting from step 1), until Ts,pl is sufficiently
lower than Tsgas. Fig. 5. Temperature-entropy diagram for HRSG and
steam bottom cycle.
36 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45

A check is performed on the condensing Hondf.(mfeed-me×tl)+(me×tl.Hxn)

pressure by using the known superheated steam (32)
condition and steam turbine efficiency to insure = mfeed'nfeed 1
that the quality of the steam at the turbine inlet is
within the acceptable conditions, i.e., 0.87<x<1.
The minimum quality in the condenser (i.e., for Mfeed. (Hfeed-ncondf)
100% turbine efficiency or isentropic expansion) mextl = (nextl _ ncondf ) (33)
can be given as follows (assuming isentropic
expansion):

_ Ssup2 -Sco,df Hence, the power output of the steam bottoming

Xcond, is Scondfg (29) cycle can be written, bearing in mind the amount
of steam extracted for feed water heating
purposes, as follows:

Hence, the enthalpy of steam at condenser Power =Tlmech"qgen'[(msup2-Hcond,a)

pressure if the expansion is isentropic is
+ (msupl-Mext i )" (nsup1-/-/cond,a)] (34)
His= acondf + (Xcond,is" acondfg) _ (msup2"Wpump)

Hcond,a =/-/sup2- ['lqst'(Hsup2-His)] (30)

The exhaust energy or power can be written as
follows:
Thus,
(Up(in) + Cp(stk))"(Tin- Tstk) (35)
_ (/-/cond,a -/-/condf) Qinput = mgas 2
Xcond,a - Hondfg (31)

and the overall steam bottoming cycle efficiency

If calculations reveal Xcond,a lower than 0.87 is
(to be specified by the user), then the condenser
pressure has to be increased and the calculations Power
must be repeated until Xcona,a is higher than 0.87. ]]cycle- Qinput (36)
It is worth mentioning that the entropy of the first
pressure stage superheated steam should be close
to the entropy of the second pressure stage
superheated steam since great differences can
5. Coupling a desalting plant with a combined
change the results of equation.
For feed heating purposes saturated steam is gas-steam turbine cycle
extracted from the HRSG first pressure stage. An Kuwait and other Arabian Gulf countries are
energy balance around the feed water heater can arid lands with scarce water sources. These
be written as countries depend on desalted seawater to satisfy
 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45
their potable water needs. Desalting seawater in
large capacities can be performed by two
methods. The first is reverse osmosis where
seawater (feed) is pumped to a high pressure
(60-80 bar) after pretreatment to the reverse
osmosis membranes. The membranes permit
fresh water, but not salt to permeate through it.
Energy recovery turbines are usually used to
regain the pumping energy of the brine stream
leaving the membranes at high pressure (50-
65 bar). A recovery turbine can regain up to 35%
of the high-pressure feed pump energy. Thus this
method needs mechanical energy to run its
pumps. For the water conditions in the Gulf area,
the specific energy consumption, when energy
recovery is used, is in the range of 7.5 kWh/m 3
product,
The other desalting method is multi-stage
flash (MSF), which consumes thermal energy in
the form of low-pressure steam (at 1-2 bar) with
a gain ratio (distillate per kg of supplied steam)
of 6-8. Besides thermal energy, this method also
consumes mechanical energy (in the range of
4-5 kWh/m3 product) to run its pumps. Since the
required heat source is low-pressure steam
(1--2 bar), it is wasteful to use a boiler to operate
the system directly. In the Gulf area MSF
desalting plants are combined with cogeneration
steam turbines where steam is supplied to the
MSF desalting units after being expanded in the
turbine to the pressure required by the MSF units,
For the combined cycle, the steam turbine can
supply mechanical work (through electric
motors) to reverse osmosis desalting units while
bleeding steam to the MSF desalting units (see
Fig. 6). The figure shows that the steam cycle
open feed heater (deaerator) receives condensed
water from the condenser and from the MSF
desalting units. It also receives a fraction of the
low-pressure steam generated in the HRSG. The
temperature of condensate returned from the
MSF is in the range of(100-110°C), close to the
feed water to the HRSG. Consequently, as the
37
mass of steam extracted to the MSF units
increases, the need for low-pressure steam
supplied from the HRSG is decreased. This in
turns increases the low-pressure steam supplied
to the steam turbine. The energy balances for the
opened feed heater and the steam turbine with
bleeding steam to the desalting units can be
written as:
mreed*Hfeed 1 : mextl * n e x t l + n a b s
+ (mfeed - nabs - mextl) */-/cond,a
By rearranging the above equation,
mfeed * (nfeedl -//eond,a) = mextl * (nxtl -ncond,a)
+ nabs* (/-/abs-nond,a)
Thus, the extracted mass is,
_mfeed*(Hfeedl-ncond,a)-mabs*(Gbs-ncond,a)
mextl (Hextl _ncond.a)
(37)
and the steam turbine output power can be
written as follows:
power 1 -- msup2 * (/-/sup2-ncond.a)
+[(msupl-mextl)*(nsupl-ncond.a)] (38)
- n a b s *(Habs-Hond,a)-(msup2 * Wpump)
The above equation shows that a decrease in the
extracted mass will slightly increase the steam
turbine power output.
When the extracted mass to the feed heater is
diminished, the steam turbine power output is
written as follows:
38 M.A. Darw&h / Desalination 127 (1999) 27-45

J_ ._. "' .~ .~
,.0

ij r -,----h
] °+
~ ~'~

.-H ~ ~-t -H d- W"--- ] f,d! I

,~:-7~_1_ ~ 7_~ A_ ~ -

, ° ~ 11_ :: "I

:1++ 1 tI I ..... : +
4o
 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 12 7 (2000) 27-45
power2 = msup2 * (/-/sup2-/-/tonal,a)
+ [m~upl - (Hsupl - H~ond,a)] (39)
__labs* (Habs_Hcond,a)_ (msup2 , (Dpump)
6. Results and discussion
Samples of computer analysis are presented
here. The case of a simple gas turbine was
previously reported [4]. The case of a combined
gas-steam cycle using an extraction-condensing
steam turbine is presented here. In the reported
results, the following assumptions are made. The
compressor, turbine, and combustion efficiencies
are 87%, 89%, and 97%, respectively. The
pressure loss in the combustion chamber was
assumed equal to 3% of the compressor discharge
pressure while the duct loss is equal to l%ofthat
pressure. The considered turbine inlet tempera-
ture (TIT) is 1300 K. The considered pressure
ratio is 11.9. The considered ambient temperature
is in the range of 0 to 60°C. It is interesting to
note that for gas turbines the efficiency and
power output are functions of the pressure ratio,
the ratio of TIT to the ambient temperature, the
efficiencies of the turbine and the compressor. As
previously reported, the efficiency of the gas
turbine is a strong function of the air temperature
at the compressor inlet, and the efficiency
decrease becomes more pronounced at a high-
pressure ratio,
The results clearly show that the efficiency is
increased withthe increase ofthepressureratio
up to certain value; then the efficiency starts to
decrease, i.e., there is an optimum value of
pressure when the efficiency is maximum. This
effect tends to decrease as the TIT is increased,
The air temperature-density relation may be
expressed by Density = 352.32 x (T1) -0.9996 kg/m 3,
where T in is K. Also, the effect of the inlet
temperature can be significant on the specific
39
work output. This mainly is due to the decrease
of the density by increasing the air temperature at
the compressor inlet, while the volumetric air
flOW rate to the compressor is kept constant.
The considered combined cycle (see Fig. 6)
includes a typical gas turbine (model 13 of BBC)
of 89MW power output at 15°C ambient
temperature and the same conditions considered
before. The HRSG has two pressure stages. The
hot gas flow rate is 363 kg/s with a temperature
equal to 503 °C. The high-pressure steam flow
rate is 43 kg/s, and at 433 °C it is 33.2 bar, while
the low-pressure steam flow rate is 7.95 kg/s and
at 188 °C and 4.4 bar. The feed water temperature
is 80°C, and the stack exit temperature is 110°C.
The condenser pressure is 10 kPa and the quality
of the steam inlet to the condenser is 110°C.
It is necessary to investigate the maximum
desalting capacity obtained by adding bottom
steam cycle to the gas turbine. The mechanical
energy output of the cycle is used to produce
desalted water by the reverse osmosis desalting
method. The specific energy consumption for the
seawater condition of the Arabian Gulf in Kuwait
(at 45,000 ppm) is 7.5 kWh/m 3 product when an
energy recovery is used to regain the pressure
energy of the leaving brine. For the pre-
dominantly used system in the Arabian Gulf area,
the multi-stage flash desalting system, steam at
low pressure (2-3 bar) is required to heat the
recirculating stream, and mechanical energy is
required to drive the pump of the system. A
typical mechanical energy consumption to drive
the pumps is 4-SkWh/m 3 (in Kuwait plants
16.2 kJ/kg product is usually used). The thermal
energy of 285kJ/kg product or a gain ratio
(kg product per kg supplied steam) of eight are
usually used to rate the system energy consump-
tion [3]. The steam supplied to the MSF desalting
plant is extracted from the condensing-extraction
turbine at the condition suitable for the desalting
process.
Two special cases can be shown. When no
steam is extracted to the desalting units is a
40 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45
lflO~
170
160
.... 140
130
(~ 120
I I0
i too
0. 90 --
80
o. 70
6O
Stlo~l Turblcm PowQr
50
40 f ,
250 2~ 270
P~olent
Fig. 7. Effect of ambient temperatureon the combinedcycleoutput and efficiency.
special case of condensing turbine. When the
steam expanded in the turbine to the condition
required by the desalting units is totally extracted
to these units, a special ease of back pressure
turbine results,
Fig. 7 shows the combined cycle power output
and its efficiency as a function of ambient
temperature when no steam is extracted from the
steam turbine. Fig. 8 shows the change of the
high and low pressure steam generated by the
heat recovery steam generator as functions of the
ambient temperature. Fig. 9 shows the effect of
adding fuel to the exhaust gases leaving the gas
turbine. This increases the throttling steam
temperature, the steam cycle power output and
efficiency, and the combined cycle power output,
but, as expected, the combined cycle efficiency
decreases due to addition of more fuel. Fig. 10
shows the effect of extracting steam to the MSF
desalting system on the combined cycle
efficiency and utilization factor. It is noted here
that the efficiency (mechanical work output/heat
input) under estimates the performance of the
cycle as it does not include the cycle heat input to
the desalting system. Meanwhile, the utilization
144.0
43.g
Erflclmr~:g "143.8
43.7
40.6 .q
43.5
43.4 ~
43.3
43.2 us
43. I
43.0
J , ' ~ ~ 42.g
~] [~0 300 310 30 330
Temperol;ure( C )
factor (heat added to the desalting system + work
output)/heat input to the cycle)overestimates the
cycle performance since it adds the low avail-
ability heat given to the desalting system to the
high availability work output.
At the ISO standard condition of 15°C
ambient temperature the total power output is
89 MW from the gas turbine and 42.5 MW from
the steam turbine. A total of 131.6MW which
can produce 92.63 mgd (1 mgd is equal to
4550 m3/d) by the reverse osmosis system. The
combined cycle efficiency is 43.65% at this
condition. If the ambient temperature is increased
to 47°C, the total power output, combined cycle
efficiency, and water product are decreased to
120 MW, 43.15%, and 84.46 mgd, respectively.
When the steam turbine of the combined cycle
is working as back pressure turbine, all the steam
expanded in the turbine to the condition required
to the MSF desalting system is supplied to this
system. Then 114 MWthermal energy is supplied
to the MSF system. In this case the power output
of the combined cycle becomes 113 MW, and the
efficiency is 36.55%. In this case the MSF
desalting system produces 8.34mgd, and
 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45 41

5O
~.
Ol 45
v
40 I-.~ M,",,n

o 35
,7
m
30
o
~- 25
E
o 20
co 15
I0 u.o ~cs..

5
1 t ,,. l I I

250 ?.60 270 280 2gO 300 , 310 320 330

FImbi emt T e n ~ e r a t ~ r e (C)

Fig. 8. Effect of ambient temperature on the high and low steam pressure flow rates produced by the HRSG.

~.0 3.0

4~.0 2.5

r,f ,.a

_ 38.0 .0
Bc~ ~-T I~ower

3~.0 .B

34.0 ~ ' , , , ).0

50( 6130 700 800 9130 I000 [ tO0
F_.xh~,~t ~ Tempermtura (deg ~)

Fig. 9. Performance of the combined cycle with a supplementary fired HRSG.

42 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45

0.8

0.7

0.8

0.5

0.4
Efficien~

0 . ~ I r I .... i i ,-

0 I0 20 30 40 50 80
N (Extracted t.o elzsorpticra system) ( k g / s )

Fig. 10. Effect o f flow rate of steam bled from the steam turbine to the MSF desalters on the efficiency and utilization
factor o f the combined cycle.

consumes 6.32 MW mechanical energy. The net equal to 600 ppm) is higher than that accepted for
mechanical energy (113-6.32=106.77MW), drinking.
produces 75.15 mgd. Then the total product of the
desalted water in this case is 83.5 mgd.
As the rate of steam extracted to the steam
7. Symbols
turbine varies from zero (the case of condensing
turbine) to maximum (the case of back pressure Cp(fuel) - - Fuel specific heat at corn-
turbine), the product of the MSF desalting unit is bustion chamber inlet, kJ/kg.K
increased while that of the RO is decreased, as Cp(air) - - Specific heat of dry air at
shown in Table 1. constant pressure, kJ/kg.K
Although the mode with condensing turbine Cem,, - - Mean specific heat at constant
gives more water production (92.63mgd) as pressure, kJ/kg.K
compared with back pressure mode, 82.05mgd), Cp(mix) -- Average specific heat of fuel
the use of a back pressure turbine eliminates the and moist air mixture, kJ/kg.K
need for the condenser and the low turbine and Cp(moist) ~ Moist air specific heat at con-
steam cycle. Moreover, with a back pressure stant pressure, kJ/kg.K
turbine, the desalted water produced by the MSF Cp(mgas ) -- Specific heat of gaseous mix-
system is almost salt free (25 ppm), and can be ture at constant pressure, k J/
blended with desalted water produced by RO; it kg.K
also eliminates the need for a second-stage RO Ce(ste~m) - - Specific heat of water vapor at
when the product salinity of the first stage (say constant pressure, kJ/kg.K
Table 1a
Operating parameters o f a combined plant with steam extracted to MSF desalting units (steam temperature = 120 ° C) with Qinput= 310 MW

M(ext), M condenser, W (Pt), W (St), W (total), Q supplied to MSF MSF desalter Efficiency, Work
kg/s kg/s MW MW MW desalters, M W production, % consumed by
mgd MSF, MW

0.0 51.40 89.1 42.50 131.6 0 42.45 1.29

10.28 41.20 89.1 39.25 128.4 22.9 1.7 41.40 1.29
20.56 30.84 89.1 35.90 125.0 45.8 3.4 40.30 2.576
30.84 20.56 89.1 32.10 121.2 68.7 5.1 39.10 3.86 .~
41.20 10.28 89.1 28.10 117.2 91.6 6.8 37.80 5.15
51.40 0.0 89.1 23.85 113.0 114.0 8.5 36.44 6.44

Table lb
Operating parameters of a combined plant coupled to reverse osmosis and multi-stage flash desalting systems ~..,.

M (ext), M condenser, W (Pt), W (St) Net power RO water MSF water Total water Specific fuel Equivalent ~,q
kg/s kg/s MW MW output output in mgd output in mgd output, mgd consumption, mech. specific
kJ/kg product energy,
kWh/m 3

0.0 51.40 89.1 42.50 131.6 92.63 0 92.63 63.6 7.5

10.28 41.20 89.1 39.25 126.7 89.18 1.7 90.88 64.82 7.64
20.56 30.84 89.1 35.90 121.6 85.59 3.4 88.99 66.2 7.81
30.84 20.56 89.1 32.10 116.1 81.72 5.1 86.82 67.86 8.00
41.20 10.28 89.1 28.10 110.4 77.71 6.8 84.51 69.7 8.22
51.40 0.0 89.1 23.85 104.5 73.55 8.5 82.05 71.8 8.47

4~
44 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45

Cv(gas~ - - S p e c i f i c heat of a gaseous Mw - - M o l e c u l a r weight

mixture at a constant volume, MMw - - Mixture molecular weight
kJ/kg.K P¢ond - - Condenser vacuum pressure,
f - - Actual fuel-to-air ratio (dimen- kPa
sionless) Psatl - - First-stage saturated pressure,
f - - T h e o r e t i c a l fuel-to-air ratio kPa
(dimensionless) Psat2 --Second-stage saturated pres-
hgf~e0 - - Fuel enthalpy, kJ/kg sure, kPa
hair(aT2) -- Air enthalpy at the compressor RADL - - Exhaust gas heat loss due to
outlet, kJ/kg radiation from the HRSG, ratio
hair(al3) -- Air enthalpy at the turbine R - - Universal gas constant
inlet, kJ/kg gmois t -- Moist air gas constant
Heond,a -- Actual enthalpy at the con- Scondf - - Entropy of water at condenser
denser pressure, kJ/kg -1 pressure, kJ kg K -l
Hcondf -- Enthalpy of saturated liquid Scondfg ~ Latent heat of vaporization at
water at condenser vacuum condenser pressure divided by
pressure, kJ/kg -~ the condenser absolute temp-
H¢oneCg - - Latent heat of vaporization of erature, kJ
steam at the vacuum pressure Sloss - - Steam loss in the second stage
in the condenser, kJ/kg-1 superheater, ratio
Hextl -- Enthalpy of the extracted low- Ssur,2 - - Entropy of second-stage super-
pressure saturated steam, kJ/ heated steam, live
kg -1 Tafte r -- Exhaust temperature after addi-
nmake.i n -- Inlet make-up water enthalpy tional burning, °C
going to the first pressure stage Texh - - Exhaust gases temperature,
steam drum, kJ/kg -1 400-1800 K
Hm,keout - - Outlet make-up water enthalpy T1 - - Temperature at compressor-
going to the first pressure stage inlet, K
steam drum, kJ/kg -1 T3 (TIT) - - Maximum turbine inlet temp-
H~atl - - L o w - p r e s s u r e stage saturated erature, K
liquid enthalpy, kJ/kg -I T4a --Actual temperature at gas
nsat2 -- High-pressure stage saturated generator exit, K
enthalpy, kJ/kg -1 Tsa - - Actual temperature at power
H~up2 - - Second stage superheated turbine exit, K
steam enthalpy, kJ/kg -l Tf~d~ - - First-stage feed water tempera-
ma - - Mass of air supplied, kg/s ture, °C
mblow -- Blow-down mass loss, kg/s-I Treed2 -- Second-stage feed water temp-
mfeed --Total feed flow rate to the erature, °C
HRSG, kg s-1 Tgas.p - - Exhaust gas temperature
ragas -- Exhaust gas mass flow rate, entering the HRSG at part load,
kgs -1 °C

remake -- Make-up water mass supply, Tin - - Inlet exhaust gas temperature,
kgs -~ °C
 M.A. Darwish / Desalination 127 (2000) 27-45 45

Tpl - - Gas temperature at the evapora- WGT -- Gas generator work output to
tor inlet, °C compressor
Tp2 - - Gas temperature at the second- Wrr - - Total specific work output of
stage evaporator inlet, °C gas turbine
Tpp I - - First-stage pinch pointtempera- Wpump -- Specific work required by the
ture, °C booster pumps, kJ kg -I
Tpp 2 - - Second-stage pinch pointtemp-
erature, °C
Tsatl - - First-stage temperature (satura- Greek
tion), °C ehx - - Heat exchanger effectiveness
Tsar2 - - Second-stage saturation temp- fist - - Steam turbine efficiency
erature, °C rib - - Combustion efficiency of the
Tsga~ - - Gas temperature at superheater after-burner
inlet, °C ric - - Adiabatic efficiency for com-
Tsteam. p -- Second-stage superheated steam pressor
temperature at part load qGT - - Adiabatic efficiency of the gas
operation, °C generator
Tst k - - Outlet exhaust gas temperature, I]pT - - Adiabatic efficiency of the
°C power turbine
Tsupl -- First-stage superheated steam
temperature, °C
Tsup2 - - Second-stage superheated steam
temperature, °C References
X - - Total number of supplied air [1] H. Cohen and G.F.C. Rogers, Gas Turbine Theory,
moles 2nd ed., Longman, 1972.
Xcond,a - - Actual steam quality at the [2] G.J. Van Wyine and R.E. Sonntag, Fundamentalof
condenser pressure Classical Thermodynamics,Wiley, 1978.
Xfg - - Exit steam quality from the [3] M.A. Darwish, F.A. Yousef and N. AI-Najem,
steam turbine Desalination, 109 (1997) 285.
Wcomp -- Actual specific work to com- [4] B.G. Jabboury and M.A. Darwish, Heat Recovery
pressor Systems & CHP, 10(3) (1990) 243.