Enhancement of Gas Turbine Power Plant Performance Using InletWater Atomization

In hot and dry air climates such as Iraq, Saudi Arab and other countries, which they have over shooting of ambient temperature, gas turbine engine power output is declined dramatically because of the reduction in air mass flow rate. This paper investigates effect of cooling technique on inlet ambient temperature to perform the power generation of gas turbine station. A gas turbine power plant performance has affected by anything that changes the density and mass flow of the air, which enters to the compressor because air density is a function of ambient temperature and pressure. This search deals with the enhancement the gas turbine power plant performance using air cooling technology which enters the inlet of gas turbine engine by using water atomization that it installed in front of the compressor intake at different ambient conditions in summer season to increase the air mass flow rate and obtain a reasonable rated power generation. AL-DORA gas turbine power plant 35 MW was chosen to predict these effects on its performance. Software programmer MATLAB is used to expect the thermodynamic parameters as power generation, compressor ratio, compressor work, air mass flow rate. Cooling the air to the wet bulb temperature is increased the density of the air, so that, air mass flow is increased linearly and boost compressor pressure ratio and the rated power output consequently while compressor work is decreased. Therefore, the amount of extracted gas leaving the turbine will increase the work done and rated power output will increase consequently. It is observed that air density is inversely related to the dry bulb temperature and gas turbine output is found to be a strong function of air mass flow and its effects on the power generation and the efficiency of the gas turbine power plants and hence, the cycle performance shifts towards favorable conditions.