Front.
Energy 2015, 9(1): 54–67
DOI 10.1007/s11708-014-0342-6
RESEARCH ARTICLE
S. NIKBAKHT NASERABAD, K. MOBINI, A. MEHRPANAHI, M. R. ALIGOODARZ
Exergy-energy analysis of full repowering of a steam power
plant
© Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Abstract A 320 MW old steam power plant has been
chosen for repowering in this paper. Considering the
technical conditions and working life of the power plant,
the full repowering method has been selected from
different repowering methods. The power plant repower-
ing has been analyzed for three different feed water flow
rates: a flow rate equal to the flow rate at the condenser exit
in the original plant when it works at nominal load, a flow
rate at maximum load, and a flow rate when all the
extractions are blocked. For each flow rates, two types of
gas turbines have been examined: V94.2 and V94.3A. The
effect of a duct burner has then been investigated in each of
the above six cases. Steam is produced by a double-
pressure heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) with
reheat which obtains its required heat from the exhaust
gases coming from the gas turbines. The results obtained
from modeling and analyzing the energy-exergy of the
original steam power plant and the repowered power plant
indicate that the maximum efficiency of the repowered
power plant is 52.04%. This maximum efficiency occurs
when utilizing two V94.3A gas turbines without duct
burner in the steam flow rate of the nominal load.
Keywords full repowering, exergy analysis, V94.2 and
V94.3A gas turbines, double-pressure HRSG, duct burner,
Bandarabbas steam power plant, efficiency
1 Introduction
World development in the recent decades has been
significantly depended on electrical energy. Approximately
1/3 of energy resources is consumed for producing electric
Received February 20, 2014; accepted June 15, 2014
✉
S. NIKBAKHT NASERABAD, K. MOBINI ( ), A. MEHRPANAHI,
M. R. ALIGOODARZ
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training
University, Tehran 7591618439, Iran
E-mail: kmobini@srttu.edu
energy [1]. Reduction of fossil fuels as the largest resource
of energy and increase of environmental pollution have
forced human beings to utilize new methods for optimal
use of energy. Since removing fossil fuels from the cycle of
energy is almost impossible, new methods have to be
found to optimize the use of these fuels. Repowering of the
old steam power plants is an appropriate method to reduce
thermal wastes and increase the efficiency in power plants.
It decreases the expenses of energy production and
minimizes environmental pollutions. It also increases the
capacity of power plants to a great extent. Therefore,
electricity generating companies are paying more attention
to this issue [1–3].
Reduction of environmental effects and investment
expenses are the most important advantages of repowering
a steam power plant [4, 5]. Meanwhile, this technique has
some restrictions [1]. First, repowered power plant is more
complicated than the primary unit and it has a lower
potential reliability. Next, due to the use of old units with
working life of over 20 years, availability (net annual
working hour) of the repowered power plant is decreased.
Finally, the repowered power plant may have lower
performance flexibility.
Repowering of a steam power plant may increase the net
output power by 200% and may enhance the efficiency of
the power plant by 30% [6]. In addition, repowering
reduces heat rate by 30%–40% and significantly decreases
production of NOx [7].
Generally, repowering is categorized into partial repow-
ering and full repowering. Partial repowering is utilized to
enhance the function of newer steam power plants. It
enhances the efficiency of the power plant after some
modifications [8, 9]. The most popular methods of partial
repowering are the feed water heating method, hot wind
box method, and supplemental boiler method [5, 10].
Full repowering which is the most common method is
mostly applied to repowered steam power plants with a life
of over 25 years [5, 8, 11]. Full repowering includes
mounting a number of gas turbines to the heat recovery
steam generator (HRSG) and deletion of the main boiler of
 S. NIKBAKHT NASERABAD et al. Exergy-energy analysis of full repowering of a steam power plant
the power plant in a way that the HRSG is used to feed the
steam turbines of the main power plant [3, 5–7]. It is the
best way of maximizing the efficiency of a power
plant [3, 6]. This converts the power plant to a combined
cycle. Full repowering of a steam power plant requires less
investment than constructing a new combined cycle power
plant [3, 7].
Despite the importance of repowering of steam power
plants, there are few published researches. Brander and
Chase explained the general techniques for conversion of
steam cycles to combined cycles by full recovery and
described a few practical cases [2]. Heyena and Kalit-
ventze technically evaluated the integration of gas turbines
into steam cycles by one of the partial repowering methods
and compared it with the combined cycle [12]. They found
out that the partial repowering methods could improve the
quality of power production and reduce emissions in steam
power plants. Bracco and Siri used a mathematical model
to optimize a single pressure heat recovery boiler for a
combined cycle using the first and second laws of
thermodynamics [13]. Evaluation of the repowering
methods and application of these methods in different
regions of the world are also mentioned. Cardu studied the
benefits of improvement and reconstruction of the
Romanian power plants using various methods including
the repowering methods [14]. In Italy, Melli et al.
examined the improvement of steam cycles using different
gas turbine combination methods in power plants with less
than 180 MW power in that country and reported the
results of application of these methods in some plants [1].
The result of repowering is a combined cycle. The
technical quality of these systems is measured by exergy
and thermal efficiencies. There are many published papers
in which the combined cycles are techno-economically
analyzed or optimized. Some of these studies examine the
effect of each of the main components of the cycle on the
economic and technical characteristics of the system.
Bassily studied the influence of parameters on the quality
of power generation in a three-pressure combined plant
based on the cycle efficiency [15]. Srinivas et al. also
analyzed the sensitivity of a two-pressure combined cycle
based on the exergy efficiency [16]. Franco studied the
reciprocal thermodynamic effects of gas turbine and heat
recovery boiler in a small scale combined cycle [17].
Variation of combined cycles is not limited to the pressure
levels of heat recovery boilers and the structural properties
can be affected by the type of turbine(s) used in the cycle.
To study the effects of the operational parameters on a
combined cycle with gas unit cooling, Sanjay performed a
sensitivity analysis of changes in these parameters on the
cycle exergy efficiency [18].
The works presented on repowering are almost focused
on the effects of different methods of full and partial
repowering on target functions. The present study analyzes
the full repowering of an old steam plant, which is
recommended as the best repowering method for these
55
plants. In a further step, the effect of two common types of
gas turbines in repowering is examined. Then, due to the
importance of productivity and the direct relationship
between power production and generated steam, the
performance of the repowering plant has been studied in
three different feed water flow rates: a flow rate of feed
water which equals the condenser outlet flow of the
original power plant when it works at nominal load, a flow
rate of feed water at maximum load, and a flow rate of feed
water when all extractions are blocked.
Steam power plants play a key role in Iran. Approxi-
mately 30% of the required electricity in the country is
generated by these power plants [19]. Bandarabbas steam
power plant in southern Iran is an old working steam unit.
The efficiency of the power plant has been reduced by
16.7% due to its long working life, technical conditions,
and the humid corrosive atmosphere. This fact alone is a
convincing reason for its repowering. This paper studies
the repowering of Bandarabbas steam power plant with
two different gas turbines (V94.2 & V94.3A), compares
the modeling results, and chooses the best method for the
repowering of this power plant.
2 Specifications of Bandarabbas power
plant
Bandarabbas steam power plant with a working life of over
28 years is located at 12 km west of the city of
Bandarabbas near the seashore. Consisting of four units
of 320 MW with a nominal efficiency of 38.7%, it provides
a large part of the required electricity of southern Iran and
approximately 1.8% of the total electricity of the whole
country. Sea water temperature used by the power plant is
27°C (Fig. 1).
3 Repowering of steam power plant
The long working life and the high importance of
Bandarabbas steam power plant are the factors that justify
the investment on its repowering. Since this power plant is
very important for the country’s electricity network, it
cannot be kept offline for a long time, thus the time for its
repowering is limited. This is another reason for choosing
full repowering of this power plant. In full repowering, the
boiler is completely deleted and a HRSG is utilized
instead. Preheating of the feed water is also conducted by
HRSG. Hence, feed water heaters would be omitted. As the
result of this deletion, no steam turbine extraction is
required. Extractions would be closed and steam flow
becomes a fixed value along all sections of the steam
turbine. The heat required by HRSG is supplied by the
exhaust gases of one or a group of gas turbines. The result
of this combination is a repowered power plant which has
similar functions to a combined cycle (Fig. 2).
56 Front. Energy 2015, 9(1): 54–67

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of Bandarabbas steam power plant

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of repowered cycle

3.1 HRSG problems: it causes corrosion of the pumps and the

The HRSG is made in Iran by Mapna Company according
to the structure and specifications of Bandarabbas steam
power plant. It is a reheating double-pressure HRSG. This
boiler consists of three sections with different pressures:
preheating and deaerating, low pressure (LP), and high
pressure (HP). The preheating section heats the feed water
until it gets saturated at the output pressure of the
condenser pump. This section is located at the end of the
HRSG and uses the remaining heat of the gases in that
location. The oxygen in the feed water causes two
pipes, and along with the CO2, it acidizes the water which
causes corrosion of all metal parts. Hence, the deaerator
installed in this section separates the air from the feed
water [20]. The LP and HP sections of the HRSG provide
the dry steam with the pressure required by the LP and HP
sections of the turbine. There is another reheater in the HP
section which receives the exiting steam from the HP
section of the turbine and sends it to the turbine
intermediate pressure (IP) section after reheating. A duct
burner is located at the inlet of the HRSG to provide the
extra heat required in different conditions.
 S. NIKBAKHT NASERABAD et al. Exergy-energy analysis of full repowering of a steam power plant 57

3.2 Gas turbine 5.1 Steam turbine

Approximately 95% of the power plants in Iran use V94.2 All the steam turbine extractions would be closed in the
gas turbines and the rest utilize V94.3A gas turbines. Both full repowering method. Hence, specifications of the fluid
of these turbines are made in Iran. Hence, the repowering passing through the steam turbine blades would differ from
has been conducted based on these turbines. Natural gas is the original condition. This is due to the change of the
the primary fuel for these turbines. Table 1 shows the steam flow rate at different stages. This change would
analysis of this gas [20, 21]. make the steam turbine work under its design condition. In
this case, the Stodola empirical equation is used to
Table 1 Analysis of natural gas calculate the ratio of the steam flow rate after closure of
Components Volume fraction/% the extractions to the steam flow rate of the original
Methane (CH4) 98.57 plant [22].
Ethane (C2H6) 0.63 sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
m_ real pout,real Tin,first 1 – ðpin,real =pout,real Þ2
Propane (C3H8) 0.10 ¼ : : : (1)
Butane (Iso-C4H10) 0.05
m_ first pout,first Tin,real 1 – ðpin,first =pout,first Þ2
Pentane (Iso-C5H12) 0.04 Using the above mentioned ratio, the isentropic
Nitrogen (N2) 0.60 efficiency of the steam turbine after changing the mass
Carbon dioxide (CO2) 0.01 flow rate is calculated using Eq. (2) [22].
 
ηise,st,real m_ real 4
¼ – 1:0176  þ 2:4443
ηise,st,first m_ first
4 Modeling the original steam power plant
   
m_ real 3 m_ real 2
Repowering of a power plant is affected by the thermo-  – 2:1812 
m_ first m_ first
dynamic properties of the original power plant. As a result,
the thermodynamic properties at all parts of the original  
m_ real
plant should be defined first. The original steam power þ 1:0535  þ 0:701: (2)
m_ first
plant is modeled and its properties at all points are
calculated and applied to the repowered cycle as input data. The isentropic efficiency is defined by
The most important condition is that, at the steam turbine
entrance, the state of steam should be exactly the same, hin,st – hout,st
ηise,st,real ¼ : (3)
before and after repowering. Table 2 presents the data hin,st – hout,st,ise
obtained from modeling the steam power plant by EES
The power produced by the steam turbine is calculated
software at nominal load. For the dead state, a temperature
by
of 27°C and a pressure of 1 atm are used, with
consideration of Bandarabbas climate and elevation. W_ st ¼ m_ st ðhin,st – hout,st Þ: (4)
Table 3 is a comparison of the modeling results with the
steam power plant data, which shows that the computed
results are in good agreement with the data of the power 5.2 Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG)
plant.
This section is based on the heat exchange between two
fluids: the water coming from the condenser and the
5 Modeling the repowered cycle exhaust gases of the gas turbine(s) combined with the
gases produced in the duct burner.
The repowered cycle has been modeled point to point by The thermodynamic properties at different sections of a
EES software. The natural gas as described in Table 1 is double pressure reheating HRSG is obtained by
taken as the fuel for the gas turbine and duct burner. Since
m_ water=steam ðhout,water=steam – hin,water=steam Þ
the best efficiency of a gas turbine happens at its design
condition, meeting the design condition for the HRSG ¼ m_ g Cp,g ðTout,g – Tin,g Þð1 – El Þ, (5)
outlet steam is the basis of modeling the repowered cycle.
In other words, the HRSG should be designed in such a where El is the percentage of heat loss in each section,
way that its dry steam output provides the same which is taken as 5%.
temperature, enthalpy and pressure as the steam turbine Having properties of the cold fluid at each section of the
design condition. HRSG, the heat transfer at that section can be found using
58 Front. Energy 2015, 9(1): 54–67

Table 2 Results of modeling of the steam power plant showing the properties of water/steam at different points (Fig. 1)
Point Temperature/K Pressure/bar Mass flow rate/(kg$s–1) Enthalpy /(kJ$kg–1) Entropy/(kJ$kg–1$K–1) Exergy/(kJ$kg–1)
1 564.10 177.27 288.740 1287.3 3.1315 352.76
2 811.00 170.00 285.590 3392.9 6.4000 1477.3
3 599.30 38.780 246.010 3034.1 6.4998 1088.6
4 598.85 38.540 222.295 3033.6 6.5015 1087.6
5 811.00 34.920 221.184 3536.9 7.2669 1361.2
6 596.00 7.230 207.434 3105.9 7.3634 901.23
7 341.00 0.100 178.608 2401.1 8.1760 112.14
8 315.54 0.086 207.940 177.50 0.6041 1.6010
9 339.21 7.658 207.940 277.12 0.9062 10.550
10 362.11 7.480 207.940 373.09 1.1800 24.330
11 398.51 7.330 207.940 526.95 1.5849 56.667
12 437.90 7.130 288.740 696.35 1.9902 104.40
13 440.05 178.04 288.740 715.43 1.9910 123.25
14 475.37 177.74 288.740 869.16 2.3268 176.19
15 517.83 177.49 288.740 1061.1 2.7135 252.07
16 702.10 79.530 30.390 3217.9 6.4816 1277.8
17 598.85 38.540 22.850 3033.6 6.5015 1087.6
18 707.50 17.170 13.820 3327.1 7.3111 1138.1
19 593.90 7.350 13.730 3101.3 7.3480 901.15
20 486.30 2.540 12.820 2857.5 7.3703 650.72
21 373.30 0.770 7.343 2679.1 7.4885 436.84
22 353.00 0.300 8.311 2545.3 7.5312 289.42
23 522.83 77.150 39.393 1083.8 2.7807 254.54
24 480.37 37.140 53.239 885.72 2.3954 172.15
25 445.05 16.660 67.051 728.06 2.0596 115.28
26 367.11 2.560 12.821 393.74 1.2380 27.560
27 344.20 0.750 20.164 297.44 0.9677 12.401
28 341.21 0.290 8.311 284.89 0.9312 10.801

Table 3 Comparison of the result obtained from modeling and data of the power plant
Modeling parameter Modeling result Power plant data Error/%
Total power/MW 325 320 1.72
Efficiency/% 38.18 38.70 1.34

Q_ ¼ m_ in,part ðhout,part – hin,part Þ:
The temperature differences of the pinch and the
approach are two important parameters in the HRSG.
The pinch temperature difference is the difference between
the temperature of feed water and the temperature of hot
gases at the point inside the evaporator at which
evaporation starts (Fig. 3). Approach temperature differ-
ence is the difference between the temperatures of feed
water at the point at which evaporation starts and at the
economizer output (Fig. 3).
(6) The pinch and the approach temperature differences for
the HRSG are described by Eqs. (7) and (8) [15].
ΔT p,ðDEA,LP , HPÞeva ¼ T g,out,ðDEA,LP , HPÞeva – T st,ðDEA,LP , HPÞeva , (7)
ΔT app,ðDEA,LP , HPÞeva ¼ T st,ðDEA,LP , HPÞeva – T st,out,ðDEA,LP , HPÞeco : (8)
Two effective parameters in the HRSG are k and y. The
former is the ratio of the HRSG input feed water flow rate
in the repowered cycle to the steam flow rate passing
through the condenser in the original cycle working at the
 S. NIKBAKHT NASERABAD et al. Exergy-energy analysis of full repowering of a steam power plant 59

Fig. 3 Definition of pinch and approach temperature differences

nominal load. The latter is the proportion of the steam flow are separately analyzed in the modeling of the gas turbine
which passes through the HRSG HP to the HRSG input (s), and the results are compared with the data obtained
feed water flow. from the control room of the two gas stations of
Roodeshoor and Sabalan having V94.2 and V94.3A gas
m_ in,HRSG
k¼ , (9) turbines respectively (Table 4). The empirical data are
m_ in,cond,first taken from two internal reports available in Persian in the
above mentioned power stations. The comparison shows
m_ HP that the computational results are accurate.
y¼ : (10)
m_ in,HRSG The data presented in Table 4 is for model validation. In
this paper, the net power outputs of V94.2 and V94.3A gas
turbines are taken to be 160 MW and 293 MW respectively.
5.3 Gas turbine The environmental properties are chosen according to the
geographical location of Bandarabbas. The gas turbine
The compressor, the combustion chamber, and the turbine consists of three major sections: compressor, combustion

Table 4 Comparison of the results obtained from modeling and the existing data from two available gas turbines
V94.2 V94.3A Ambient specification
Error/% Sabalanpp, Iran Modeling Error/% Roodsarpp, Iran Modeling (* Input data)

– 15 15 – 21.7 21.7 *Air inlet temperature/°C

1.15 1040 1028 1.16 1206 1192 Turbine inlet temperature/°C
– 30 30 – 26 26 * Fuel temperature/°C
2.73 337.9 347.15 2.13 423.5 432.5 AC outlet temperature/°C
0.90 545 539.85 0.50 576 578.9 Exhaust temperature/°C
– 0.86 0.86 – 0.884 0.884 * Air inlet pressure/bar
– 20.5 20.5 – 24.4 24.4 * Fuel pressure/bar
3.09 514 498.1 3.21 556.42 574.3 Exhaust flow/(kg$s–1)
3.26 504.25 487.8 3.06 543.94 560.6 Air flow/(kg$s–1)
– 49434 49434 – 46503 46503 * LHV/(kJ$kg–1)
– 159 159 – 217.6 217.6 *Shaft net power/MW
– 87 87 – 88.2 88.2 *Compressor efficiency/%
– 88 88 – 87.5 87.5 * Turbine efficiency/%
1.6 33 32.47 1.46 34.87 35.38 Thermal efficiency/%
– 11.37 11.37 – 16.58 16.58 * rpc/%
– 0.975 0.975 – 0.97 0.97 * rpcch/%
60 Front. Energy 2015, 9(1): 54–67

chamber and turbine (Fig. 2). fraction of the total input exergy that is converted to net
The governing equations for the compressor (Fig. 2) are work. It is expressed by Eq. (21) [21].
W_ comp ¼ m_ a Cp,a ðT2 – T1 Þ, (11) X
n
W_ i
  i¼1
ηexergy,RC ¼ X : (21)
1 ðga – 1Þ=ga n
T2 ¼ T1 1 þ ½ðrpc Þ – 1 , (12) E_ f i
ηcomp
i¼1
where rpc is the compressor pressure ratio.
In this relation, the numerator is the sum of the work
The governing equations for combustion chamber
produced by both the steam turbine and the gas turbine(s)
(Fig. 2) are
as shown by
m_ a Cp,a T2 þ m_ f LHV þ m_ f Cp,f Tf X
n
W_ i ¼ W_ tot,net,gt þ W_ tot,net,st : (22)
¼ m_ g Cp,g T3 þ ð1 – ηcch Þm_ f LHV, (13) i¼1

The denominator is the exergy which enters the total

m_ f
FA ¼ , (14) repowered power plant. It equals to the sum of exergy of
m_ a the fuel that enters the combustion chamber of the gas
turbines and the fuel that enters the duct burner. It is
W_ net,gt defined by
m_ a ¼ , (15)
ð1 – FAÞCp,g ðT3 – T4 Þ – Cp,g ðT2 – T1 Þ X
n
E_ f i ¼ E_ f ,g þ E_ f ,db ¼ m_ f ,g ef þ m_ f ,db ef : (23)
m_ g ¼ m_ f þ m_ a : (16) i¼1

For turbine (Fig. 2): The fuel exergy exf consist of four parts: physical,
chemical, kinetic, and potential exergies [4, 23, 24]:
W_ t ¼ m_ g Cp,g ðT3 – T4 Þ, (17)
exf ¼ exPH
f þ exf þ exf þ exf :
CH KN PT
(24)

T4 ¼ T3 f1 – ηt ½1 – ðrpt Þð1 – gg Þ=gg g, (18)
rpt ¼ rpc rpcch , (19)
where rpcch and rpt are the compression ratios of
combustion chamber and turbine, respectively.
5.4 Duct burner
The duct burner produces the required extra gas flow and
heat according to Eq. (20) (Fig. 2).
N m_ g Cp,g,out,gt Tg,out,gt þ ηcombustion m_ f ,db LHV
¼ m_ g,in,HRSG Cp,g,in,HRSG Tg,in,HRSG : (20)
6 Exergy analysis
Exergy is the maximum work a system can do to reach a
dead state through a reversible process. Dead state is the
state at the surrounding environment. When the system
pressure and temperature is balanced with the environment
without any kinetic and potential energy and it is
chemically neutral, the system has reached a dead state.
The exergy efficiency of a repowered power plant is the
The kinetic and potential exergies are usually neglected
due to relatively low speed and height [24, 25]. The others
are defined as
f ¼ ðhf – h0 Þ – T0 ðsf – s0 Þ:
exPH (25)
The second part of exergy is the chemical exergy, which
is related to the difference between the partial pressure of
gases and the environment pressure. For a mixture of gases
at temperature T0 and total pressure of P0, all the
components are at temperature T0, but their partial
pressures are different from P0. Therefore, they are not in
mechanical equilibrium with the environment. The chemi-
cal exergy of a mixture of k gases is obtained using
Eq. (26) [25].
X
k
xe
eCH ¼ – RT 0 xi ln i : (26)
i¼1
xi
In this equation, xi and xie are the mole fractions of the
component i relative to the gas mixture and the environ-
ment respectively.
For air and the exhaust gases (combustion products), the
chemical exergy is negligible relative to physical exergy,
while for a gaseous fuel, the chemical exergy has a high
value. The chemical exergy of a fuel which is a mixture of
k gases is calculated by Eq. (27) [26].
 S. NIKBAKHT NASERABAD et al. Exergy-energy analysis of full repowering of a steam power plant 61

X
k X
k the condenser in the original power plant (before
eCH ¼ xi eCH
i þ RT0 xi ln xi : (27) repowering), when it works at nominal load;
i¼1 i¼1 2) The boiler feed water flow rate passing through the
heat recovery boiler equals the water flow rate passing
In this equation, the term eCH
i is the standard chemical
through the condenser in the original power plant (before
exergy of the component i [25].
repowering), when it works at maximum load. In this case,
The specific exergy loss coefficient is defined by
the water flow rate is approximately 20% more than its
Eq. (28). It relates the fuel lower heating value to its
amount at nominal load;
chemical exergy. Its value for natural gas is approximately
3) The feed water flow rate passing through the heat
1.0308 [21, 23].
recovery boiler equals the water flow passing through the
exCH condenser in the original power plant (before repowering),
ξ¼ f
: (28) when all of the extractions of the steam turbine(s) are
LHVf
closed.
An empirical relation derived by Ameri [21] and Moran The effect of the duct burner is also studied for each
[27] to calculate specific exergy lose coefficient for case. Table 5 shows the results of this study.
hydrocarbons with chemical formula CxHy is As seen in Table 5, the maximum efficiency of the
 y  0:0698 repowered cycle is 52.04%. It occurs when two V94.3A
 ¼ 1:033 þ 0:0169 – : (29) gas turbines are utilized, no duct burner is used and feed
x x water flow equals the steam flow at nominal load of the
main power plant. The minimum repowering efficiency is
40.21% when five V94.2 gas turbines are utilized with duct
7 Results and analysis burner and feed water flow equals the steam flow at
nominal load.
Due to the results obtained from modeling, the minimum The duct burner is used for regulation of the power
numbers of gas turbines which can provide appropriate output which may change with the change of climate. It is
steam conditions for steam turbines and in the framework used to compensate the power reduction due to reduction
of HRSG restrictions are 1.75 for V94.3A and 3.45 for of ambient air temperature or other reasons. As shown in
V94.2. Hence, two gas turbines of V94.3A and four gas Table 5, the use of duct burner increases the total power
turbines of V94.2 are required for repowering. In this output, but decreases the plant efficiency.
paper, the repowered cycle is modeled once for utilizing Figure 4 demonstrates that the highest net power
two and three V94.3A gas turbines and another time for produced by the repowered cycle is 1262 MW. It occurs
utilizing four and five V94.2 gas turbines. Three different when three V94.3A gas turbines are utilized and extrac-
steam flow rates were considered in this paper: tions are deleted. This case has smaller exhaust loss when
1) The feed water flow rate passing through the heat no duct burner is used. The minimum exhaust loss for
recovery boiler equals the water flow rate passing through V94.3A turbines happens when two gas turbines are

Fig. 4 Comparison of exhaust loss and total power for different repowering scenario
 62

Table 5 Results obtained from modeling of the repowered power plant at different conditions
Type of gas Situation of Numbers of CH New ST Total power/
Duct burner k y ΔTp,hp /K ΔTp,lp/K ΔTp,Dea/K Tgt,out,HRSG/K E_ PH
g;out;HRSG E_ g;out;HRSG ηexergy =%
turbine repowering gas turbine power/MW MW
V94.3A Nominal 2 Exists 1.0 0.88 15.58 55.56 72.54 420.6 23.3713 14.1825 51.04 289.2 875.2
Deleted 1.0 0.83 5.230 35.54 51.48 399.3 16.3331 14.1403 52.04 280.0 866.0
3 Exists 1.0 0.88 98.78 192.5 219.4 583.3 158.823 21.2526 45.87 289.2 1168
Deleted 1.0 0.88 82.02 175.3 202.1 565.9 142.398 21.2104 46.81 289.2 1168
Overload 2 Exists 1.2 – – – – – – – – – –
Deleted 1.2 – – – – – – – – – –
3 Exists 1.2 0.88 64.93 133.4 160.2 517.8 100.831 21.2526 47.94 342.0 1221
Deleted 1.2 0.88 48.01 116.0 142.6 500.1 86.8514 21.2104 48.92 342.0 1221
Extraction 2 Exists 1.37 – – – – – – – – – –
deletion
Deleted 1.37 – – – – – – – – – –
3 Exists 1.37 0.88 36.24 83.98 109.1 461.3 59.2849 21.2526 49.56 383.3 1262
Deleted 1.37 0.88 19.20 66.32 91.34 443.3 47.9138 21.2104 50.57 383.3 1262
V94.2 Nominal 4 Exists 1.00 0.83 5.100 95.02 120.9 486.1 88.4272 18.7023 42.19 269.4 929.4
Deleted 1.00 0.72 5.031 84.63 107.0 472.3 77.0860 18.6747 42.28 249.9 909.9
5 Exists 1.00 0.88 27.48 142.4 173.3 544.3 177.918 23.3910 40.21 277.2 1102
Deleted 1.00 0.88 10.80 125.4 156.2 527.1 156.677 23.3434 40.97 277.2 1102
Front. Energy 2015, 9(1): 54–67

Overload 4 Exists 1.20 0.69 5.260 52.85 75.15 434.6 49.4961 18.7023 43.19 291.5 951.5
Deleted 1.20 0.60 5.153 41.98 61.36 420.7 40.5653 18.6747 43.27 271.2 931.2
5 Exists 1.20 0.86 5.149 96.88 128.8 495.1 120.140 23.3910 41.93 324.4 1149
Deleted 1.20 0.77 5.103 88.60 117.5 483.8 108.063 23.3434 42.06 306.3 1131
Extraction 4 Exists 1.37 0.57 13.64 20.56 38.76 393.1 25.1567 18.7023 43.65 301.6 961.6
deletion
Deleted 1.37 – – – – – – – – – –
5 Exists 1.37 0.75 5.062 68.08 97.03 459.4 83.8888 23.3910 42.65 344.0 1169
Deleted 1.37 0.67 5.177 59.61 85.83 448.1 73.4947 23.3434 42.76 325.2 1150
 S. NIKBAKHT NASERABAD et al. Exergy-energy analysis of full repowering of a steam power plant
utilized and the plant works at overload condition and a
duct burner is used. In addition, when the V94.2 gas
turbines are utilized, the highest net output power is
1169 MW when five gas turbines are used and extractions
are deleted and a duct burner is used. When the V94.2
turbines are used, the lowest exhaust loss occurs when four
gas turbines are used and the plant works without duct
burner and the extractions are deleted.
Since power plant efficiency is the main parameter in
repowering, the conditions in which the highest efficiency
occurs will be used in the rest of the analyses. As a result,
two V94.3A gas turbines are used, the steam flow at
nominal load is considered and no duct burner is utilized.
Table 5 indicates that all the restrictions required for
repowering have been observed. These restrictions are
mostly related to the HRSG and are applied to pinch and
approach temperature differences at different sections of
the HRSG and temperature of exhaust gases. The
restrictions are defined below:
1) Pinch temperature difference of each evaporator
cannot be less than 5K [28–30];
2) Approach temperature difference of each evaporator
cannot be less than 5K [29, 30];
3) The temperature of gases which exits the HRSG
should not be less than 120°C to prevent dew formation at
the end of the stack [6, 30].
The HRSG modeling performed by Kumar et al.
illustrates the trend of feed water and gas temperature
variation along HRSG. The pinch and approach tempera-
ture differences at different sections of HRSG can be found
from this analysis [31]. The results of the point to point
modeling of the HRSG are presented in Fig. 5, which
shows the temperature variation of feed water and hot
gases inside the HRSG.
The heat absorption by feed water in each section of the
HRSG has a significant effect on the HRSG thermo-
Fig. 5 Diagram of temperature versus total heat absorbed by steam along HRSG
63
dynamic specifications and the power plant efficiency. The
values of heat absorption at different sections are compared
in Fig. 6. It can be seen that a large part of the heat is lost in
the stack. To reduce this loss, the HRSG pressure should be
increased [26]. Heat absorption depends on some para-
meters like the feed water working pressure, its mass flow
rate and its inlet and outlet temperatures (Eq. (6)). The
comparison of the HP and LP evaporators in Fig. 6 shows
that increase of pressure enhances heat absorption in a
section. In addition, feed water enthalpy does not change a
lot in passing through the deaerator.
The increase of power and efficiency of a power plant is
always an important issue in repowering. Many factors are
effective in this regard, including the ratio of the HRSG
inlet feed water flow to condenser inlet steam flow at
nominal load (k), the ratio of the steam flow at the HP
section to total input feed water flow (y), the flow rate and
temperature of the HRSG input gases, the temperature of
the HRSG output gases, and the flow rate of duct burner
input fuel.
The heat required for the repowered plant is provided by
gas turbines and duct burner. The ideal amount of this heat
depends on the feed water flow rate which enters the
HRSG. For a constant steam flow, if the provided heat is
more than the required value, the thermal efficiency
decreases, since a part of the heat exits without being
used. If the provided heat is less than the required value, it
enters the HRSG restrictions, something which should not
occur. As seen in Fig. 6, for a constant feed water flow, the
increase of duct burner heat decreases the cycle efficiency,
but it does not affect the power plant output power. The
reason for this is that the output power depends on the
value of inlet feed water flow and the proportion of flow
division between the HP and the LP sections, and all these
values are constant (Fig. 7).
The increase of feed water flow entering the HRSG
64 Front. Energy 2015, 9(1): 54–67
Fig. 6 Absorption at different HRSG components
Fig. 7 Effect of fuel consumption in duct burner on total power
and exergy efficiency
(increase of k) leads to an increase of the heat absorbed by
steam. As a result, heat loss is reduced and the exhaust gas
temperature decreases (Fig. 8).
Fig. 8 Effect of y and k parameters on exhaust gas temperature
Similarly, if the steam flow rate passing through the HP
section is increased (increase of y), the heat transfer from
hot gases to steam will be enhanced. Hence, the heat loss
and exhaust gas temperature are reduced, as depicted in
Fig. 8. The direct result of the reduction of heat loss is the
increase of exergy efficiency. As a result, by increasing k
and y, the boiler efficiency and the plant thermal efficiency
are increased, as shown in Fig. 9.
Fig. 9 Effect of y and k parameters on exergy efficiency
In fact the increase of the feed water flow entering the
HRSG (k) and the steam flow passing through HP section
(y) has two effects:
1) The steam flow into the turbines (especially HP
turbine) increases which leads to the increase in power
production and efficiency of the plant.
2) More heat is absorbed from the gases in the HRSG
and hence the heat loss in the boiler decreases and the
efficiency of the plant is increased.
The increase of HRSG feed water flow increases the
steam flow passing through the steam turbine. According
to Eq. (4), the turbine output power is directly proportional
to the steam flow passing through it. Hence, the steam
turbine power and the net power of the whole power plant
are increased as the result of increase in flow of HRSG feed
water (Fig. 10).
Another effective parameter in the power plant net
power output is the steam flow passing through the HP
section of the HRSG, which is represented by y. This flow
is sent to the HP section of the turbine and then goes
through the IP section after reheating. According to
Eq. (4), the power plant net power output is directly
proportional to the HP steam flow rate. Therefore, the
power plant output power increases by increase of y. This
fact is also shown in Fig. 10.
A major part of energy loss is related to the heat released
by exhaust gases. A part of this heat is irreversible and is a
power plant requirement. For example, a temperature of
 S. NIKBAKHT NASERABAD et al. Exergy-energy analysis of full repowering of a steam power plant 65

each case. The results indicated that exergy efficiency due

to repowering was increased by 34.5% when the V94.3A
gas turbines were used and it was increased by 12.8%
when the V94.2 gas turbines were used. The lowest
exhaust heat loss happened when two V94.3A gas turbines
were utilized with a duct burner at the steam flow rate of
overload condition (135.5 MW). The highest rate of
exhaust heat loss occurred when five V94.2 gas turbines
were utilized with a duct burner and at the steam flow of
nominal load (767.5 MW).

Notations
Fig. 10 Effect of y and k parameters on repowered power plant
net work

120°C is required to prevent dew formation and to provide Cpa Specific heat/(kJ$kg–1$K–1)
the buoyancy force required for the flow of exhaust gases. ΔT Temperature difference/K
However, higher temperatures increase heat loss and η Efficiency/%
E_ Exergy rate/kW
ex,e Specific exergy/(kJ$kg–1)
FA Ratio of fuel to air
ga Air specific heat rate
gf Fuel exergy grade function/%
gg Gas specific heat rate
h Enthalpy/(kJ$kg–1)
HP High pressure
IP Intermediate pressure
LHV lower heating value/(kJ$kg–1)
LP Low pressure
m_ Mass flow rate/(kg$s–1)
Fig. 11 Effect of exhaust temperature on total power and exergy N Numbers of gas turbine
efficiency
P Pressure/bar

decrease system efficiency and power output. These facts Q_ Heat transfer rate/kW
are illustrated in Fig. 11. R Universal constant of gases
rp Pressure ratio
s Entropy
8 Conclusions
T Temperature/K

Due to Iran economic conditions after cutting the W_ Power/kW

subsidies, optimal utilization of fossil fuels is the major Subscripts
priority in saving energy. The current paper attempted to a Air
enhance the performance of Bandarabbas steam power
app Approach
plant which played a key role in Iran electricity production.
To do so, the full repowering method was selected on comp Compressor
account of the long working life of the power plant. cch Combustion chamber
Because of the structure of Bandarabbas steam power plant cond Condensor
and availability of the HRSGs in Iran, double-pressure db Duct burner
HRSG with reheat was selected for repowering. The
DEA Deaerator
repowered plant was investigated for three different values
of steam flow rate and for two gas turbines of V94.2 and eco Economizer
V94.3A. The effect of duct burner was also investigated in eva Evaporator
66 Front. Energy 2015, 9(1): 54–67

f Fuel 10. Mobini K, Mehrpanahi A, Hosseinalipour S M. Thermo-economic

g Gas analysis of the existing options for feed water heating repowering
using a stepwise method. Journal of Mechanical Aerospace, 2012, 8
gt Gas turbine
(2): 13–29 (propulsion and heat transfer)
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l Loss of steam power plant repowering by using gas turbine. In:
p Pinch Proceedings of the 20th International Power System Conference,
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