International Journal of Applied Engineering Research

The power output from a gas turbine decreases significantly during hot summer months, just when more power is needed. One of the best methods to tackle this situation is to cool the inlet air of the gas turbine, augmenting maximum power output. An actual climatic condition of a selected site in India was examined thoroughly to identify the different governing weather patterns. The main performance characteristics of both evaporative and refrigerate cooling systems were explored by examining the effect of inlet air temperature and evaporative degree hours. A computational model of the Combined Cycle gas turbine plant was developed and applied to a typical combined cycle power plant, operational at Kayamkulam, Kerala, India. The model is based on thermodynamics, heat transfer and psychrometric principles.

A parametric analysis was conducted for the combined cycle power plant with inlet air cooling for various climatic conditions on an hourly basis and findings plotted. The impact of inlet air temperature was presented against the annual gross energy increase, average heat rate reduction, cooling load requirements and net power increase.

A comparative study was then conducted with the climatic conditions of a similar plant operational at Surat, India to analyze the cooling system capacity for different climatic conditions.