Session: 06-06 Micro-Gas Turbine: Technologies and Applications

Paper Number: 128549

128549 - Humidification Impact on the Performance Improvement of a Novel Two-Shaft Micro Gas Turbine: Thermodynamic Cycle Performance Assessment 

Despite appearing as a promising technology for small-scale decentralised Combined Heat and Power (CHP), the rather low electrical efficiency of micro Gas Turbines (mGTs) prevents them from being attractive for users with a variable heat demand. Cycle humidification, achieved by transforming the cycle into a micro Humid Air Turbine (mHAT) through the addition of a saturation tower in the cycle, allows to increase the electrical efficiency of these units in moments of low heat demand. Although humidification is well studied and proven effective on the recuperated Brayton cycle mGTs, its potential towards cycle performance when applied on more advanced mGT cycles is currently unknown. Therefore, the study presented in this paper aims to assess the impact of humidification on the performance of a novel two-shaft mGT from MITIS, exploiting the Intercooled Regenerative Reheat Gas Turbine Cycle (IRRGT) concept. The benefits of water injection mostly rely on the increased heat capacity of the air-vapour mixture, the lower fuel consumption and the larger amount of heat recovered in the recuperator. Results show indeed that by implementing of a saturation tower on this double shaft turbogenerator system, waste heat is recovered, leading to increased electric efficiency (>40%) while providing a flexible heat and power output.

Presenting Author: Ali Baghernejad UMONS

Presenting Author Biography: Ali Baghenejad is a PostDoctoral researcher in the UMONS, Belgium now. He achieved his MSc. (2009) and PhD. (2015) in mechanical engineering. He has authored several research papers and contributed to the field of energy systems. His work cover topics such as thermodynamic analysis and optimization, exergoeconomic analysis of the thermal power plants and renewable energy systems.

Authors:

Ali Baghernejad UMONS
Danish Rehman MITIS
Michel Delanaye MITIS
Ward De Paepe UMONS