Parametric Analysis of Existing Gas Turbines With Inlet Evaporative and Overspray Fogging

With deregulation in the power generation market and the need for flexibility in terms of power augmentation during periods of high electricity demand, power plant operators all over the world are exploring means to augment power from both existing and new gas turbines. An approach becoming increasingly popular is that of high pressure fogging. In this paper, the results of a comprehensive parametric analysis on the effects of inlet fogging on a wide range of existing gas turbines have been presented. Both evaporative and overspray fogging conditions have been analyzed. The results of this study show that the performance parameters indicative of inlet fogging effects have definitive correlation with the key gas turbine design parameters. In addition, this study indicates that aeroderivative gas turbines, in comparison to the industrial machines, have higher performance improvement due to the inlet fogging effects. Plausible reasons for the observed trends are discussed in this paper. This paper represents the first systematic study on the effects of inlet fogging for a large number (a total of 67) of gas turbine engines available from major gas turbine manufacturers.