International

INTERNATIONAL Journal of Mechanical

JOURNAL Engineering and Technology (IJMET),
OF MECHANICAL ISSN 0976 –
ENGINEERING
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME
AND TECHNOLOGY (IJMET)

ISSN 0976 – 6340 (Print)

ISSN 0976 – 6359 (Online) IJMET
Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013), pp. 43-54
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THERMAL ANALYSIS OF A GAS TURBINE POWER PLANT TO IMPROVE

PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY

*Aram Mohammed Ahmed, **Dr. Mohammad Tariq

*Technical College /Kirkuk, Foundation of Technical Education,
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Republic of Iraq
**Deptt. of Mech. Engg. SSET, SHIATS-DU Allahabad (U.P.) INDIA-211007

ABSTRACT

The gas turbine cycle has various uses in the present scenario. The ancient and mostly use of
gas turbine cycle for the generation of power. The gas turbine cycle is based on Braton cycle. In the
present work the parametric study of a gas turbine cycle model power plant with intercooler
compression process and regeneration turbine were proposed. The thermal efficiency, specific fuel
consumption and net power output are simulating with respect to the temperature limits and
compressor pressure ratio for a typical set of operating conditions. Simple gas turbine cycle
calculations with realistic parameters are made and confirm that increasing the turbine inlet
temperature no longer means an increase in cycle efficiency, but increases the work done.
Regenerative gas turbine engine cycle is presented that yields higher cycle efficiencies than simple
cycle operating under the same conditions. The analytical formulae about the relation to determine
the thermal efficiency are derived taking into account the effected operation conditions (ambient
temperature, compression ratio, intercooled effectiveness, regenerator effectiveness, compressor
efficiency, turbine efficiency, air to fuel ratio and turbine inlet temperature).The analytical study is
done to investigate the performance improvement by intercooling and regeneration. The analytical
formula for specific work and thermal efficiency are derived and analyzed. The simulation results
shows that increasing turbine inlet temperature and pressure ratio can still improve the performance
of the intercooled gas turbine cycle. The power output and thermal efficiency are found to be
increasing with the regenerative effectiveness, and the compressor and turbine efficiencies. The
efficiency increased with increase the compression ratio to 5, then efficiency decreased with
increased compression ratio, but in simple cycle the thermal efficiency always increase with
increased in compression ratio. The increased in ambient temperature caused decreased thermal
efficiency, but the increased in turbine inlet temperature increase thermal efficiency.

Keywords: Gas turbine, Intercooling, Regeneration, Thermal efficiency, Power plant, Brayton cycle.

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

1. INTRODUCTION TO GAS TURBINES

The world energy demand has increased steadily and will continue to increase in the future:
the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts an increase of 1.7% per year from 2000 to 2030.
This increase corresponds to two thirds of the current primary energy demand, which was 9179 Mtoe
in 2000, and in 2030, fossil fuels will still account for the largest part of the energy demand. In
addition, the IEA predicts that the demand for electricity will grow by 2.4% per year and that most of
the new power generating capacity will be natural gas-fired combined cycles [1] Therefore, it is
important to find improved technologies for power generation with high electrical efficiencies and
specific power outputs (kJ/kg air), low emissions of pollutants and low investment, operating and
maintenance costs for a sustainable use of the available fuels. Advanced power cycles based on gas
turbines can meet these requirements, since gas turbines have relatively high efficiencies, low
specific investment costs (USD/kW), high power-to-weight ratios and low emissions. The power
markets have been deregulated in several countries and distributed generation and independent
power producers have become more competitive. These changes require flexible power plants with
high efficiencies for small-to-medium power outputs. As a result of this, it was estimated that more
than half of the orders for new fossil-fueled power plants in the last part of the 1990s were based on
gas turbines [2], since non-expensive and clean natural gas was available, and the demand for gas
turbines continues to increase [4].

2. MODELLING OF THE COMPONENTS

The thermodynamic properties of air and products of combustion are calculated by

considering variation of specific heat and with no dissociation. The curve fitting the data is used to
calculate specific heats, specific heat ratio, and enthalpy of air and fuel separately from the given
values of temperature. Mixture property is then obtained from properties of the individual component
and fuel air ratio (FAR).
Combustion Products (72.54% N2, 6.48% O2, 0.86% Ar, 13.46% H2O, 6.66% CO2) Specific
heat of the gases is assumed only function of temperature alone. Polynomial fits for the specific heats
of each of those three components as a function of temperature are used in the calculations. The
polynomial fit for specific heat is taken from [20]. Those polynomials are used to calculate the
specific heats of air and gas as a function of temperatures are given by:

(1)

(2)
In the above equations, T stands for gas or air temperature in deg K and

2.1 Gas Turbine analysis with Intercooling

Consider replacing the isentropic single-stage compression from p1 to p2 in figure 2 with two
isentropic stages from to and to . Separation of the compression processes with a heat
exchanger that cools the air at to a lower temperature acts to move the final compression

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

process to the left on the T-s diagram and reduces the discharge temperature following compression
to . The work required to compress air from to in two stages is given by considering two
compressors namely low pressure compressor and high pressure compressor. Therefore, work
required by the low pressure and high pressure compressor depends upon their pressure ratios.

For low pressure compressor the work required in isentropic compression is given by,

(3)
For the high pressure compressor, the work required in isentropic compression is given by,

(4)
Therefore, the total work required by the compressor is given by

(5)
In the present work the intercooler effectiveness is given by [22].

(6)

(7)

(8)

Note that intercooling increases the net work of the reversible cycle. Thus intercooling may
be used to reduce the work of compression between two given pressures in any application.
However, the favorable effect on compressor work reduction due to intercooling in the gas turbine
application may be offset by the obvious increase in combustor heat addition, ), and
by increased cost of compression system.

Figure 1 Schematic of Intercooling gas turbine cycle

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

Figure 2 T-s representation of intercooling between two compressors in gas turbine cycle

2.2 Gas Turbine analysis with Regeneration

Fig. 4 shows the T-S diagram for regenerative gas turbine cycle. The actual processes and
ideal processes are represented in dashed line and full line respectively. The compressor efficiency
( , the turbine efficiency and effectiveness of regenerator (heat exchanger) are considered in
this study. These parameters in terms of temperature are defined as in [13]:

(9)

(10)

(11)

The work required to run the compressor is expressed as in [13]:

(12)
The work developed by turbine is then rewritten as in (2):

(13)

where T4 is turbine inlet temperature. The net work is expressed as [13]

(14)
or

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

(15)
In the combustion chamber, the heat supplied by the fuel is equal to the heat absorbed by air, Hence,

(16)
Power output is given by:

(17)
Air to fuel ratio is given by

(18)
and Specific Fuel consumption

(19)
Fuel to air ratio is given by

FAR=1/AFR (20)
Thermal Efficiency is given by

(21)

Fig. 3 Schematic of a Regenerative gas turbine

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

Figure 4 T-s representation of Regenerative gas turbine cycle

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Intercooling Gas Turbine Cycle

In the present work, two compressors high pressure (HP) and low pressure (LP) and a single
turbine have been used for intercooling gas turbine cycle. For regenerative gas turbine cycle, one
compressor and one turbine have been used for their analysis. The cycle was modeled using the
thermodynamic analysis for the simple gas turbine, Intercooling gas turbine and regenerative gas
turbine. The pressure losses are assumed in this work in various components.
The effect of thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption, pressure ratio across the
compressor, turbine inlet temperature (TIT), ambient temperature (Tamb), effectiveness of intercooler
and effectiveness of regenerator on the first-law efficiency and power are obtained by the energy-
balance approach or the first-law analysis of the cycle programming using C++ software.
Figure 5 shows the effect of ambient temperature on the efficiency of gas turbine cycle with
intercooler effectiveness at a given value of turbine inlet temperature (TIT=1500 K) and compressor
pressure ratio (rp = 30). It is clear from the figure that decreasing the ambient temperature increases
the gain in efficiency.

0.375
EFF=0.5
EFF=0.6
0.370
EFF=0.7
EFF=0.8
Thermal Efficiency

0.365 EFF=0.9

0.360
OPR=30
LPR=2
0.355
TIT=1500K

0.350

0.345
280 290 300 310 320 330 340
Ambient Temperature (K)

Figure 5 Effect of Ambient temperature and intercooler effectiveness on thermal efficiency

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

Power output decreases on increasing the ambient temperature as shown in Figure 6.

0.58

0.56
OPR=24
LPR=2
0.54 TIT=1500K

Power(kWX10 )
5
0.52

0.50
EFF=0.5
EFF=0.6
0.48
EFF=0.7
EFF=0.8
0.46 EFF=0.9

0.44
280 290 300 310 320 330 340
Ambient Temperature (K)

Figure 6 Effect of ambient temperature and intercooler effectiveness on power output

Figure 7 shows the variation of compressor work with compressor pressure ratio for different
values of intercooler effectiveness. It is to be noted that the compressor work increases on increasing
the pressure ratio for a given value of atmospheric temperature and low pressure ratio. It also
observed that the compressor work decreases on increasing the intercooler effectiveness for a fixed
value of compressor ratio.

600

550 EFF=0.5
EFF=0.6
Total Compressor Work (kJ/kg)

500 EFF=0.7
EFF=0.8
450
EFF=0.9
400

350
LPR=2
300
Tamb=310K
250 TIT=1500K

200

150
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Compressor Pressure Ratio

Figure 7 Effect of compression ratio and compressor work on intercooler effectiveness

It is shown in the figure 8 that work ratio increases on increasing the turbine inlet temperature
for a given intercooler effectiveness, compressor pressure ratio and ambient temperature. It is also
noticed from that figure work ratio increases on increasing the intercooler effectiveness for a given
TIT, compressor ratio and ambient temperature.

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

0.65
EFF=0.5
0.60
EFF=0.6
0.55 EFF=0.7
EFF=0.8
0.50 EFF=0.9
Work Ratio
0.45

0.40
OPR=30
LPR=2
0.35
Tamb=310K
0.30

0.25

0.20
1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
Turbine Inlet Temperature (K)

Figure 8 Effect of TIT and intercooler effectiveness on work ratio

3.2 Regenerative Gas Turbine Cycle

The figure 9 to figure 12 is drawn for the regenerative gas turbine cycles. Figure 9 shows the
effect of ambient temperature and regenerative effectiveness on thermal efficiency of gas turbine
cycle. Turbine inlet temperature (TIT) and compressor ratio (rp) are of 1700 K, 20. It can be seen that
the thermal efficiency decreases with increases of ambient temperature while decreases of
regenerative effectiveness.
The variation of specific fuel consumption with ambient temperature is also shown in Figure
10. It shows that when the ambient temperature increases the specific fuel consumption increases
too. This is because, the air mass flow rate inlet to compressor increases with decrease of the ambient
temperature. So, the fuel mass flow rate will increase, since (AFR) is kept constant. The power
increase is less than that of the inlet compressor air mass flow rate therefore, the specific fuel
consumption increases with the increase of ambient temperature.

0.56
0.55 RGEFF=0.45
OPR=20 RGEFF=0.55
0.54
TIT=1700K RGEFF=0.65
0.53
RGEFF=0.75
0.52
RGEFF=0.85
0.51 RGEFF=0.95
Thermal Efficiency

0.50
0.49
0.48
0.47
0.46
0.45
0.44
0.43
0.42

280 290 300 310 320 330 340

Ambient Temperature (K)

Figure 9 Effect of thermal efficiency on ambient temperature and regenerative effectiveness

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

Figure 11 Influence of ambient temperature on SFC with various compression ratio

0.60
OPR=24
0.55
TIT=1700K
0.50

0.45
Thermal Efficiency

0.40
Tamb=280K
0.35 Tamb=290K
Tamb=300K
0.30
Tamb=310K
0.25 Tamb=320K
Tamb=330K
0.20 Tamb=340K

0.15

0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

Isentropic Turbine Efficiency

Figure 12 Effect of isentropic turbine efficiency and ambient temperature on thermal efficiency

0.55

0.50
Thermal Efficiency

0.45
Simple Gas Turbine
Regenerative Gas Turbine
0.40 Intercooled Gas Turbine OPR=20
TIT=1700K
RGEFF=0.95
0.35 EFF=0.95

0.30

280 290 300 310 320 330 340

Ambient Temperature (K)

Figure 4.30 Variation of thermal efficiency with ambient temperature for various cycles

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

Figure 11 Effect of isentropic turbine efficiency and ambient temperature on thermal

efficiency. It is found that the thermal efficiency increases on increasing the isentropic turbine
efficiency for a given value of ambient temperature. At the same time, the thermal efficiency
decreases on increasing the ambient temperature for a given value of isentropic turbine efficiency.
Figure 12 shows the variation of thermal efficiency with ambient temperature for all the three
different types of cycles which have been taken for the analysis in the present work. It is observed
from the figure that the thermal efficiency is highest with the regenerative gas turbine cycle for any
values of ambient temperature. The intercooled cycle has minimum thermal efficiency comparing
with regenerative cycle at all the values of ambient temperatures. In both the cases the effectiveness
of regenerator and intercooler has been taken as 0.95 and turbine inlet temperature is 1700K.
Thermal efficiency for simple cycle gas turbine is smaller than both of them at all the values of
ambient temperature and same turbine inlet temperature.

CONCLUSION

The present work determined the performance of a regenerative and intercooled gas turbine
power plant. A design methodology has been developed for parametric study and performance
evaluation of a regenerative and intercooled gas turbine. Parametric study showed that compression
ratio (rp), ambient temperature and turbine inlet temperature (TIT) played a very vital role on overall
performance of a regenerative and intercooled gas turbine. The simulation result from the analysis of
the influence of parameter can be summarized as follows:
1. The heat duty in the regenerator decreases with the pressure ratio but increases with the
decreases ambient temperature and increases TIT this mean increased thermal efficiency.
2. The thermal efficiency of the simple gas-turbine cycle experiences small improvements at
large pressure ratios as compared to regenerative gas turbine cycle.
3. In general, peak efficiency, power and specific fuel consumption occur at compression ratio
(rp = 5) in the regenerative gas turbine cycle.
4. The thermal efficiency increases and specific fuel consumption decreases with the
regenerator effectiveness.
5. The thermal efficiency increases and specific fuel consumption decreases with increase in the
intercooler effectiveness.
6. The thermal efficiency of the simple gas-turbine cycle experiences small improvements at
large compression ratios as compared to gas turbine cycle with intercooler.
7. The peak efficiency, power and specific fuel consumption occur when compression ratio
increases in the gas turbine cycle with intercooler.
8. Maximum power for the turbine inlet temperature is selecting an optimum value of
compression ratio and turbine inlet temperature, which will result in a higher thermal
efficiency.

NOMENCLATURE

1, 2, 3, …. are the state points

Pamb = Ambient Pressure

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International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 4, Issue 6, November - December (2013) © IAEME

EFFC = Intercooler Effectiveness

RGEFF or = Regenerator effectiveness
LPR= Low pressure ratio
OPR= Overall or compressor pressure ratio
GT = Gas turbine
IGT = Basic gas turbine with inter cooling
RGT = Basic gas turbine with regeneration

r or rp = compressor pressure ratio

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