Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 2735e2739

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Applied Thermal Engineering

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Gas turbine performance at varying ambient temperature

Ashley De Sa*, Sarim Al Zubaidy 1
Heriot Watt University, Dubai Campus, PO Box 294345, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 4 November 2010 Accepted 28 April 2011 Available online 12 June 2011 Keywords: Gas turbine power Efciency Ambient temperature Empirical relationship

a b s t r a c t
The difference between the actual power generated by a gas turbine and the design rated power tagged on the gas turbine is observed whenever a gas turbine operates at site ambient conditions that vary from the stipulated ISO conditions. A detailed study and extensive logging of data has endorsed the well known existence of a direct relationship between the ambient temperature and the de-rating of gas turbine power output. The paper proposes an empirical relationship between the gas turbines ability to generate power when exposed to site ambient conditions, such as the ambient temperature, which differ from ISO conditions. For every K rise in ambient temperature above ISO conditions the Gas Turbine loses 0.1% in terms of thermal efciency and 1.47 MW of its Gross (useful) Power Output. This established relationship will assist the proper assessment of local power generation for installation planning and forecasting with special reference to Middle-eastern countries which are rapidly developing the application of Gas Turbine Inlet Air Cooling (GTIAC) technologies. This study was conducted for specic turbines SGT 94.2 and SGT 94.3 installed at the DEWA Power Station located at Al Aweer, H Phase II and III in Dubai, UAE. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Al Aweer Gas Turbine Power Plant H Phase II comprises of three SIEMENS Gas Turbines e SGT 94.2 and Phase III comprises of four SIEMENS Gas turbines e SGT 94.3. Each of these types of gas turbine has a power generation capacity of 160 MW and 265 MW respectively at 50 Hz frequency in dual fuel ring (natural gas and diesel fuel oil) at STP or ISO conditions of 1.01 bar pressure, 15 K and RH 60% [1]. The gas turbines, along with the balance of plant and the required auxiliaries are working in an open cycle mode. The ambient atmospheric condition in which the power plant operates is harsh desert condition. The site is located in Dubai, where the ambient air temperatures vary from the cold of winter e approx 11 K, to the extreme hot of summer e approx 55 K, with humidity in varying proportions throughout the year going to a maximum of 90 percent with occasional scant rain. Windy conditions bring with it severe sand storms and dust haze which at times last for a number of days. The plant was commissioned in the early 2008 and is operational with natural gas as the primary fuel. Fig. 1 shows a simple schematic of the power plant. The Gas Turbine power plant works on a Joule-Brayton cycle [2]. The use of heat sinks in the basic Joule-Brayton cycle in order to exploit its available heat sources leads to a more advanced mixed
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 971 55 4145683; fax: 971 4 4589768. E-mail addresses: ad162@hw.ac.uk (A. De Sa), S.Al-Zubaidy@hw.ac.uk (S. Al Zubaidy). 1 Tel.: 971 55 8042653; fax: 971 4 4464273. 1359-4311/$ e see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2011.04.045

(auto-combined) cycles [3]. The gas turbine is a complex machine, and its performance and reliability are governed by many standards. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) performance test codes [4] have been written to ensure that test are conducted in a manner that guarantees that all turbines are tested under the same set of rules and conditions to ensure that the test results can be compared in a judicious manner. The reliability of the turbines depends on the mechanical codes that govern the design of gas turbines [4]. The mechanical standards and codes have been written by both ASME and the American Petroleum Institute (API) amongst others. The major variables that affect the gas turbines are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Type of application Plant location and site conguration Plant size and efciency Type of fuel Enclosures Plant operation mode; base or peaking

2. Brief literature review 2.1. Effect of temperature on gas compression and turbine performance The performance of the gas turbine is reliant on the efciency achieved at the compressor of the turbine. Hot air, being less dense,

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A. De Sa, S. Al Zubaidy / Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 2735e2739

Nomenclature cp Pt Px P1 P2 P3 P4 r t T1 Specic Heat Capacity at constant pressure, kJ/kgK Gas Turbine Power at ambient temperature, MW Gas Turbine Power at ISO condition, MW Pressure at Gas Turbine Compressor Inlet, bar Pressure at Gas Turbine Compressor Outlet, bar Pressure at Gas Turbine Inlet, bar Pressure at Gas Turbine Outlet, bar Pressure ratio, Temperature difference from ISO condition of 15 K, K Temperature at Gas Turbine Compressor Inlet, K

T2 T3 T4 TA TB Tes

g h hc ht hx

Temperature at Gas Turbine Compressor Outlet, K Temperature at Gas Turbine Inlet, K Temperature at Gas Turbine Outlet, K Temperature at Gas Turbine Compressor Inlet, K Temperature at Gas Turbine Compressor Outlet, K TemperatureeEntropy, KekJ/kgK Ratio of Specic heats, Cycle Efciency, Compressor Efciency, Gas Turbine Efciency at ambient temperature, Gas Turbine Efciency at ISO condition, -

de-rates the gas turbines performance [5]. In case studies carried out previously, the effect of ambient temperature on electricity production and fuel consumption of a simple cycle plant has been documented at temperatures closer to ISO conditions in Turkey [6]. Further, the performance improvement of the gas turbine is dependent on the maximum temperature tolerance of the rst stage blades and is also reliant on inter stage cooling at the compression stage [7]. Several methods and technologies are available to augment this power loss but this entails additional plant and equipment installation as well as additional operational requirements [8]. Many of these methods such as use of air cooler [9], regenerative steam injection [10], effusive blade cooling techniques [11e13], use of desiccant-based evaporative cooling [14] or absorption chillers [15] are commonplace. The effect of relative humidity [16] on the gas turbine power plant addresses issues of the air cooling [17e19] and enhances compressor efciency. However, humidity prior to ltration system imposes a penalty on gas turbine performance. Analytical methods have been researched for evaluation of gas turbine performance when subjected to inlet air cooling in combined cycle power plant [20]. The effects, whether positive or detrimental on the gas turbine compressor and engine performance, as well as their operability to use of water cooling techniques for inlet air can be effectively assessed for their merits [21]. Also, analytical studies are performed to conrm that increasing the turbine inlet temperature no longer means an increase in cycle efciency, but increases the work. When applied with intercooled gas turbines, these studies have shown that increasing turbine inlet temperature and pressure ratio can still improve the performance of the intercooled gas turbine [22]. However, such use of additional plant is seldom encountered in desert conditions, primarily due to the high cost of such application and its maintenance as water for such application needs to be specially generated using desalination technologies, which are high cost applications. The effect of ambient temperature on gas turbine performance is known. However, the arriving at an empirical relationship between gas turbine power, efciency and ambient

temperature with special reference to middle-eastern desert conditions has not been generally undertaken. 2.2. Re-visiting the reversible simple (Joule-Brayton) cycle Here the original Joule-Brayton cycle (i.e. an internally reversible closed gas turbine cycle 1, 2, 3, 4, with a maximum temperature T3 TB and a pressure ratio r) as a standard [2] is used. The minimum temperature is taken as TA (the ambient temperature) so that, T1 TA. Refer Fig. 2. The concept of compressor polytropic efciency can be developed from considering small compression processes and by using the Gibbs equation for an ideal (or isentropic) process. Using the denition of the isentropic (or overall) compressor efciency with reference to the pressure ratio the following expression could be written:

hc

P2 P1

g1
g

1 (1) 1

  P2 P1

g1
ghpc

The same thermodynamic principles can be applied to the gas turbine expansion process to produce the following:

ht

P3 1 P4 1

 hPt g1 g ! g1
g

(2)

P3 P4

Fig. 3 shows the relationships given between the isentropic efciencies of the compressor and the turbine (for a constant

Fig. 1. Simple schematic showing an open cycle power plant.

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Fig. 4. Behavior of gas turbine SGT 94.2 thermal efciency under various operating loads at varying ambient temperature during the performance tests.

3. Gas turbine performance test results Fig. 4 shows the input data associated with the performance test on the Gas Turbine SGT 94.2. The gure portrays the actual variation of the thermal efciency during the operation and performance test conducted on the Gas Turbine when the ambient air temperature undergoes changes at three specic loads (60%, 80% and 100%). It can be observed that at higher loads the deviation is less pronounced while at lower loads it is much sharper. The probable reason is that when the Gas Turbine operates at design base loads with inlet guide vanes in open position, the Gas Turbine internal polytropic losses are at its minimum. On the other hand the Gas Turbine internal polytropic losses increase when the Gas Turbine operates at part loads with inlet guide vanes partially open. Therefore, it is interesting to note this difference in variance of Gas Turbine efciency response in varying ambient temperatures while the Gas Turbine is made to operate at part loads and base loads. Fig. 5 highlights the actual variation of the Gas Turbine SGT 94.3 thermal efciency and the useful power output it undergoes versus the ambient air temperature at base loads during annual monitoring exercise conducted on the Gas Turbine. A set of sixteen readings has been selected from the data to give a continuous visual perspective of results as the ambient temperature varies from approximately 42 K to approximately 20 K. With Gas Turbine at base load (inlet guide vanes open) it is demonstrated that the useful Power Output varies from approximately 226 MW to 257 MW with Ambient Temperature dips. Fig. 6 shows the actual variation of the Gas Turbine SGT 94.3 thermal efciency with the ambient air temperature and relative humidity at base loads and at approximately sixty percent of base loads, during annual monitoring exercise conducted on the Gas Turbine. Once again it is interesting to observe that at base loads, the deviation in thermal efciency and power output is less pronounced. The variation in thermal efciency and useful power

Fig. 2. Tes Diagram for reversible closed simple cycle.

polytropic efciency of 0.85) against the pressure ratio. For the compressor, it can be observed that as the pressure ratio increases (the compressor is bigger), the overall compressor efciency is penalized. For the turbine it can be observed that the isentropic efciency is higher than the polytropic (or small-stage) efciency. The cycle efciency could be expressed as:

cp T3 T4 cp T2 T1 cp T3 T2

(3)

Making use of the isentropic relationship between the pressure and temperature,

T2 P P T 2 r 3 3 T1 P1 P4 T4
The simple cycle efciency is readily shown as:

(4)

  1 h 1 r

g1
g

(5)

0.95
Polytropic efficiency for compressor and turbine = 0.85

0.90

Turbine

Isentropic efficiency

0.85

0.80

Compressor

0.75 1.00

6.00

11.00

16.00

Pressure ratio
Fig. 3. Turbine and compressor isentropic efciency variance with pressure ratio at constant polytropic efciency. Fig. 5. The behavior of gas turbine SGT 94.3 thermal efciency and power variance when at base load at varying ambient temperature during the annual continuous monitored period.

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A. De Sa, S. Al Zubaidy / Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 2735e2739 Table 1 Gas turbine power and efciency at ambient temperatures different from ISO condition. Model GT Inlet Temp (Ambient) GT Power Output GT Thermal Efciency Decrease in Power Output with respect to ISO GT Inlet temperature (15 K) Decrease in Thermal Efciency with respect to ISO GT Inlet temperature (15 K) SGT 94.3 K 15 21.59 26.26 35.44 40.84 46.72 MW 265a 257.39a 247.96a 235.8a 227.7a 220.35a % 37 33.96 33.72 32.58 32.38 32.26 % 0 2.87 6.43 11.02 14.08 16.85

8.21

8.86

11.94

12.48

12.81

Fig. 6. Behavior of gas turbine SGT 94.3 thermal efciency and power variance at xed %IGV openings (Base Loads and % of Base load) at varying ambient temperature during the annual continuous monitored period.

Operation of Gas Turbine with Hydraulic Clearance Optimization (HCO) active.

4.1. Empirical relationship between gas turbine efciency, gas turbine power output and ambient temperature Using available data a direct relationship between the variation of ambient temperature and the effect it has on both (a) The gas turbine efciency and (b) Its power output is established. Ignoring all other effects of polytropic nature including the ambient humidity, for Gas Turbine SGT 94.3, it is found that for every degree rise in ambient temperature there will occur a fall in gas turbine efciency and power output to the equivalent of 0.07% and 1.47 MW. The empirical relationship is therefore established and practically conrmed over repeated tabulation of data and is as stated below: For every K rise in ambient temperature above ISO condition the Gas Turbine looses 0.1% in terms of thermal efciency and 1.47 MW of its Gross (useful) Power Output. 1. For Gas Turbine efciency hx at ISO condition then, For predicted Gas Turbine efciency at ambient temperature differing from ISO condition by t (or t when less than ISO) shall be:

output reacts much more sharply when Gas Turbine is operating at part loads and is exposed to variance in ambient temperatures. The probable reasons for such a variation may be assigned to polytropic losses. Fig. 7 illustrates the actual variation of the Gas Turbine SGT 94.3 thermal efciency as it undergoes variation in the ambient air temperature and relative humidity values at base loads and at approximately eighty percent of base loads. Examination of the gures illustrates how at base loads the deviation is smaller while at eighty percent of base loads it is much sharper. The plausible reasons for such a variation are as explained above. 4. Comparison of actual gas turbine efciency and useful power at varying ambient temperature and relative humidity The effect of ambient temperature on gas turbine efciency and power is well noticed, however the effect of humidity on the gas turbine efciency and power proved to be difcult to quantify within the existing set-up and instrumentation capabilities. Therefore, the trend encompassing this needs further investigation in order for a relationship to be established. An attempt has been made to project the established trends to gauge the upward limits at which the useful power and actual efciency will reach, as the ambient temperature dips to ISO conditions of 15 K. It is clear that when the Gas Turbine operates at an ambient temperature of approximately 30 K higher than the ISO condition, it loses around 44 MW of useful power generation to the grid and its thermal efciency decreases by approximately 2.1 percent. The comparison of the deviation of power and efciency as observed at ambient temperatures in Dubai is tabulated at Table 1. This considerable loss in power generation occurs due to the intricate role the Gas compressor plays in the balance of internal power consumption from the gas in order to compress the hot ambient air. Also, Fig. 8 shows the Gas Turbine Efciency and Power Output when the ambient temperature varies between the maximum and minimum values as prevalent at Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

Fig. 7. Behavior of gas turbine SGT 94.3 thermal efciency under various operating loads at varying ambient temperature during the Performance tests.

Fig. 8. SGT 94.3 gas turbine thermal efciency and power output variance at base load at varying ambient temperature and varying humidity during annual monitoring.

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ht hx 0:1t

(6)

References
[1] SIEMENS POWERGEN, Gas Turbine Erection Testing and Commissioning Handbook. SAG, Dubai UAE, 2006. [2] W. Zhang, O. Lingen, S. Fengrui, Power and efciency optimization for combined Brayton and inverse Brayton cycles, Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (14e15) (2009) 2885e2894. [3] A. Lazzaretto, G. Manete, Analysis of superimposed elementary thermodynamic cycles: from the Brayton-Joule to advanced mixed (Auto-Combined) cycles, International Journal of Thermodynamics. ISSN: 1301-9724 12 (3) (2009). ISSN: 1301-9724 123e130. [4] American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Performance Test Code on Test Uncertainty: Instruments and Apparatus PTC 10, 19.1, 22, 46. ASME, New York, 2005. [5] F. Basrawi, T. Yomada, K. Nakanishi, S. Naing, Effect of ambient temperature on the performance of micro gas turbine with cogeneration system in cold region, Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (6e7) (2011) 1058e1067. [6] H.H. Erden, S.H. Sevelgen, Case study: effect of ambient temperature on the electricity production and fuel consumption of a simple cycle gas turbine in Turkey, Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2e3) (2006) 320e326. [7] H. Carniere, A. Willocx, E. Dick, M De. Paepe, Raising cycle efciency by inter cooling in air cooled gas turbine, Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (16) (2006) 1780e1787. [8] T.K. Ibrahim, M.M. Rahman, A.N. Abdalla, Study on the effective parameter of gas turbine model with intercooled compression processes, Academic Journals e Scientic Research and Essays. ISSN: 1992-2248 5 (Suppl. 23) (2010). ISSN: 1992-2248 3760e3770. [9] M.M. AlHazmy, Y.S.H. Najjar, Augmentation of gas turbine performance using air coolers, Applied Thermal Engineering 24 (2e3) (2004) 415e429. [10] K. Nishada, T. Takagi, S. Kinoshita, Regenerative steam injection gas turbine system, Applied Energy 81 (2005) 231e246. [11] G. Cerri, A. Giovannelli, L. Battisti, R. Fedrizzi, Advances in effusive cooling techniques of gas turbines, Applied Thermal Engineering 27 (4) (2007) 1529e1533. [12] A. Rahman, Al-Ibrahim, V. Abdulhadi, A review of inlet air cooling technologies for enhancing its performance of combustion turbines in Saudi Arabia, Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (14e15) (2010) 1879e1888. [13] S. Xiaojun, A. Brian, C. Defu, G. Jiamin, Performance enhancement of conventional combined cycle power plant by inlet air cooling, inter cooling and LNG cold energy utilization, Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (14e15) (2010) 2003e2010. [14] A.A. Zadpoor, A.H. Golshan, Performance improvement of a gas turbine cycle by using a desiccant-based evaporative cooling system, Energy 31 (2006) 2652e2664. [15] M. Ameri, S.H. Hejazi, The study of capacity enhancement of the chabahar gas turbine installation using an absorption chiller, Applied Thermal Engineering 24 (1) (2004) 59e68. [16] K. Mathioudakis, A.T. Salavoutas, Uncertainty Reduction of Gas Turbine Performance Diagnostics by Accounting for Humidity Effects, in: ASME Turbo EXPO 2001 e Land, Sea & Air, the 46th ASME International Gas Turbine & Aero Engine Technical Congress; Jun 4e7; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (2001). [17] A.A. Amell, F.J. Cadaies, Inuence of the relative humidity on the air cooling thermal load in gas turbine power plant, Applied Thermal Engineering 22 (13) (2002) 1529e1533. [18] S. Sephehr, T. Majtaba, Analysis of gas turbine operating parameters with inlet fogging and wet compression processes, Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2e3) (2010) 257e262. [19] P.B. Jean, S. Francoise, Gas turbine performance increase using an air cooler with phase change energy storage, Applied Thermal Engineering 29 (5e6) (2009) 1166e1172. [20] C. Yang, Z. Yang, R. Cai, Analytical method for evaluation of gas turbine inlet air cooling in combined cycle power plant, Applied Energy 86 (6) (2009) 848e856. [21] I. Roumeliotis, K. Mathioudakis, Evaluation of water injection effect on compressor and engine performance and operability, Applied Energy 87 (4) (2010) 1207e1216. [22] T.K. Ibrahim, M.M. Rahman, A.N. Abdalla, Study on the effective parameter of gas turbine model with intercooled compression process, Scientic Research and Essays. ISSN: 1992-2248 5 (23) (2010). ISSN: 1992-2248 3760e3770. [23] E. Kakaras, A. Doukelis, S. Karellas, Compressor intake air cooling in gas turbine plants, Energy 29 (12e15) (2004) 325e333. [24] A. DeSa, Critical Analysis of Gas Turbine Power Plant e Al Aweer H Phase II and III [dissertation], Heriot Watt University, Dubai UAE, 2010.

2. For Gas Turbine Useful Power Px at ISO condition then, For predicted Gas Turbine power at ambient temperature differing from ISO condition by t (or t when less than ISO) shall be:

Pt Px 1:47t

(7)

The empirical constants thus obtained are a direct result of the difference in calculated values of Gas Turbine power output of 44 MW and thermal efciency of 2.1% when measured over a change of ambient temperature of 30 K. 5. Conclusion The graphical representation of data as seen in Figs. 4e8, demonstrate that the gas turbine thermal efciency and its useful power output varies with the ambient temperature. At higher ambient temperatures (than ISO conditions) the thermal efciency and useful power output tend to be lower. The gas turbine inlet temperature being a limiting factor as dictated by the turbine blade metallurgy and mass ow of air being reduced at higher temperatures, hence we observe a turbine thermal efciency derating upon rise in ambient temperature. As a direct consequence of this, the power generated by the gas turbine and supplied to the grid has a signicant drop and therefore is a matter of concern. For gas turbine power plants operating in the Middle-East, there is a tremendous de-rating factor due to higher ambient temperatures. Coupled with this, these gas turbines are made to operate without the application of gas turbine inlet air cooling equipment and technology applications [23] primarily due to the costs as well as logistics associated with the generation and sourcing of this additional requirement of cooling water. The main source of cooling water is from desalination processes which can only be carried out primarily at coastal regions. A direct comparison between the Gas Turbine useful power output, its thermal efciency and the operational ambient temperature has been established with data readings in excess of 8000 for Gas Turbine operations over 280 days covering summer and winter periods [24]. The next stage of the work is to develop an empirical relationship between ambient humidity and the system performance when the turbines are tested for their performance during the end of warranty inspection; currently scheduled to take place mid of year 2011.

Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge their gratitude to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, SIEMENS and colleagues within these organizations for the necessary access to Gas Turbine data [24].