Department of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay

EN 317 Thermo-fluid Devices

Combined Brayton and Steam Rankine cycle

Ashank Deo(20d170006) Atharva Chodankar(20D170008)
Vaibhav Vishwakarma(20D170042) Prathamesh Shimpi(20D110016)

Group VI, Reading Assignment-1

Paper topic:
Parametric study on the performance of combined power plants of steam and gas turbines.
By M.R. Almajali and Omar A.S. Quran

Objective of the study and the analysed system configuration:

The paper investigates the effects of the main parameters of the combined gas and steam cycle on the
efficiency and performance of the Combined Power Plant (CPP). The authors also attempt to
investigate how using a reheat steam cycle in the CPP plants will lead to an increase in both thermal
efficiency and dryness factor of steam at the exit of the steam turbine. The authors slightly brief on the
usage of regenerative steam cycle on the efficiency of the combined cycle
System configuration analysed:
The authors conduct a parametric study of combined cycle with an open cycle gas turbine and a
bottoming cycle steam turbine.

Overall methodology and assumptions:

 To avoid the complexity of solving equations analytically, the authors implemented a
parametric study to investigate the impact of required parameters on the CPP performance.

 Various factors were considered as input to the derived model to investigate the performance
of combined cycles in terms of the efficiency, the output power, and the specific fuel
consumption as well as the temperature of the stack gasses and their impact on the generation
of CO2 and NOX.

 To conduct a parametric study and to simplify the analysis, the following assumptions were
taken by the authors:

o The air and the produced gases from the combustion chamber are considered
ideal gases.
o Constant specific heat capacity (CP) during the process
o Average temperature was taken during the process.
o The inlet pressure at the combustion chamber has a constant rate of losing stagnation
pressures

 To calculate gas turbine cycle performance, step-by-step analysis for each different
component in the cycle using the fundamentals of thermodynamic and heat transfer is done by
the authors.

 Computer program was derived to determine the required efficiency and specific output work
of the combined cycle. During the calculations, the thermodynamic analyses conducted along
with the considered limitations for the desired parameters were considered. Additionally, the
accounted values were considered to be more realistic in the case of future work is required to
be carried out.

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 Department of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay
EN 317 Thermo-fluid Devices

 The authors vary the design parameters based on the following conditions:

o The pressure ratio varies from unity to max value when the gas turbine specific work
is equal to zero.
o Steam turbine and condenser pressure have to be greater than the minimum value and
both based on the system wetness.
o Condensation is avoided by keeping the stack exhaust temperatures greater than the
value required for condensation condition.

 The critical parameters which are included in the parametric analysis conducted by the
authors include:

o Gas turbine parameters such as inlet temperature, pressure ratio and exhaust
temperature
o The pressure of HRSG and steam condenser
o Pinch point temperature difference

 The data derived from performing the parametric calculations is plotted onto multiple graphs
each one explaining the relationship between the various critical parameters of the combined
cycle, which are then used to draw several conclusions,

Key results and discussion:

 Optimized parameters have a huge practical impact on the application of the real combined
plants. This includes a higher rate of heat recovery, higher efficiency of the CPP’s than
individual plants, and less destructive emissions as well as better fuel consumption with
higher power output.

 Maximum CPP thermal efficiency can be achieved by increasing turbine inlet temperature
accompanied by an increase in the pressure ratio of the gas turbine.

 High heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) pressures are only justified at high gas turbine
inlet temperatures, optimum pressure being in between 30-60 bar. As the HRSG pressure
increases, the SAR (Steam to Air Ratio (kg steam/kg air)) decreases, but as the gas turbine
inlet temperature increases, the SAR reduction rate decreases. Post-combustion can only be
justified if the exhaust gas temperature of the gas turbine is low.

 As the gas turbine inlet temperature rises, the rate at which the steam-specific work increases
which in turn increases the efficiency of CPP (combined cycle power plant).

 At constant gas turbine inlet temperature, as the condenser pressure decreases, thermal
efficiency will increase and the dryness factor of the steam turbine will decrease. But the
dryness fraction should not drop below 90% (to avoid corrosion of blades at the exit of the
steam turbine)

 The efficiency of a simple combined cycle increases by increasing the specific work of the
combined cycle up to a limiting value. Above this value, thermal efficiency decreases due to
increased specific work.

 Using regenerative steam instead of simple steam in a combined cycle leads to a decrease in
the thermal efficiency of the CPP.

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 Department of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay
EN 317 Thermo-fluid Devices

 As the pinch point temperature difference is increased, the CPP thermal efficiency will
decrease.

Things that we found interesting and limiting in the study:

 The authors point out that the use of cogeneration cycle CHP has a basic and simple structure
along with higher efficiency compared to the CPP.

 The paper has considered more realistic values (which can be used for future work, if
needed), as they help in the correct understanding of combined cycle power plants.

 The authors considered many parameters and used graphs that helped to visualize its
dependence on efficiency of the CPP.

 The authors witfully tackled the problem of solving required equations analytically by
assessing the impact of parameters on performance of CPP

 The paper should have mentioned the computational tool used for the simulation other than
just mentioning “computer program” used.

 Reheating is mentioned in the paper, but not its application criteria such as what temperature
it should be used and how it affects the efficiency of the CPP.

 The exhaust gas temperature of the steam turbine might reach 650 °C and this is considered
low compared to the gases in the boiler of a coal-fired power plant. The heat is usually taken
by the water and the steam flowing in the tubes through the path of the hot gases. Hence, it is
expected that additional electrical power will be produced and the thermal efficiency of the
combined power plant (CPP) increases to around 60%.

 There was scope to include economic aspects of the combined cycle power plant in the paper.
Then it could have helped us to understand other aspects of CPP like when it is feasible to
install HRSG, how many gas turbines need to be installed for a single HRSG, etc.

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