EVAPORATIVE COOLER

INTRODUCTION An evaporative cooling system for turbine inlet air is an useful option for installations where high ambient temperatures and low relative humidities are common. With an evaporative cooler, water is added to the inlet air of a gas turbine. Part of the water evaporates absorbing latent heat from the air. As a result, the air, which gives up sensible heat, cools and increases in density. This gives the machine a higher mass flow rate and pressure ratio resulting in an increase in turbine output and efficiency. For example, considering a dry-bulb temperature of 40C with 20% relative humidity, the output power can be increased by about 12% if an 80% effective evaporative cooler is used. Correspondingly, the heat rate decreases by about 4%. The benefit of an evaporative cooler system from an economic point of view is strictly related to the potential average annual increase in output. APPLICATION All Heavy Duty gas turbines. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION The amount of water required for evaporative cooling depends upon the inlet airflow, the temperature, pressure and humidity of the ambient air and the hardness of the water. The increase in power available from a turbine with an evaporative cooler depends upon the turbine model and ambient conditions (pressure, temperature and humidity). As previously mentioned, the greatest advantages are obtained in hot, dry climates. Obviously, the temperature drop realized by the cooler is not only a function of atmospheric conditions, but is also related to the cooler design, Cooler effectiveness =

CM&

Us

T1DB - T2DB T1DB - T2WB

Subscript 1 refers to entering conditions and 2 to the exit. DB means Dry Bulb and WB means Wet Bulb. The effectiveness of coolers available on the market is generally 80% or higher. Evaporative cooling has the advantage that it can be installed with no modification to the gas turbine. The required components and the control system are also easy to install. Cooler operation Water is pumped from a tank at the bottom of a module to a header above the heat exchanging media. A spray system wets the top of the medium. The water flows in the channels in the medium, which are made of corrugated layers of fibrous material. The layers of channels in the medium alternately contain water and air. The water flows down by gravity through the channels, wetting the material of the walls. The air absorbs the water which evaporates from the walls. Excess water collects in the tank below together with makeup water. The level is maintained by a valve which admits makeup water when the water drops below a certain level. Water System The amount of water which must be provided as makeup is the sum of evaporation, carryover and blowdown.
16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
RH 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Output increase (%)

15

20 25 30 35 Ambient air dry bulb temperature (C)

40

Figure 1 - Effect of an evaporative cooler on available output (80% effective)

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
RH 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Output increase (%)

15

20 25 30 35 Ambient air dry bulb temperature (C)

40

Figure 2 - Effect of an evaporative cooler on Heat Rate (80% effective)

GE Power Systems Oil & Gas

CM&Us

TU/GA06-1/2003

GAS GAS TURBINES TURBINES

and particularly to the effectiveness of the cooler, which is defined a follows:

EVAPORATIVE COOLER
The rate at which the water is evaporated into the air stream depends upon ambient temperature, humidity and pressure, cooler effectiveness and turbine airflow. A certain amount of water is entrained in the form of droplets by the airstream entering the turbine. It may either have escaped from the channels or have dripped from the medium retainers. To reduce carryover, mist eliminators are installed on the downstream side of the medium. By impinging the airflow, these capture the droplets and drain them to the cooler tank. Since the cooling water recirculates, part of it must be drained periodically (termed blowdown) and made up with new water. This makes it possible to control the concentration of substances present in the water supply which could cause scaling and corrosion if excessive. The total amount of water required is the sum of the evaporated and the blowdown water (make-up water). Figure 3 shows the make-up water request for different turbine models, referring to an 80% effective evaporative cooler operating at 35C, 20% RH. The amount of make up is calculated considering a blend of 50% treated water (low CaCO3 hardness) and 50% raw water (high CaCO3 hardness), resulting in a 140 PPM of CaCO3 water hardness. SCOPE OF SUPPLY This uprate is very customer/site specific and must be engineered on an individual basis. The scope of supply consists of: Header Medium retainers Mist eliminator Instrumentation Evaporative cooler arrangement Control system Modification & installation drawings Demineralized water supply system can be supplied upon request.
UNFILTERED,WARM AIR FLOW

BENEFITS Increase in gas turbine output Increase in efficiency / Decrease in Heat Rate No modifications to the gas turbine NOTES The evaporative cooler system installation depend on the plant where it is installed. It should be noted that adding an evaporative cooler introduces an additional pressure drop in the inlet ducting. This increase is limited however, being approximately 15 mm H2O. This system requires a supply of suitably treated water; therefore a water treating system must be installed if not available. At low temperatures the system must be de-activated and drained to avoid the risk of icing.

1000 MS7001 MS9001 MS5001/2 100 PGT10 MS3002 PGT5 10 MS6001

Inlet air flow rate (kg/s)

0,7

1,2

1,5 3,6 4,1 Water flow rate (m3/h)

8,7

11,9

Figure 4 - Evaporative cooler make up water flow rate

water flow regulator

CONDUCTIVITY PROBE

water distribution pad

FILTERED AIR FLOW

evaporative cooling medium demister

water flow meter float valve gate valve centrifugal pump

water supply drain

gate valve
BLOW DOWN

INLET FILTER

ADDITIONAL EVAPORATIVE COOLER SECTION

DUCT ADAPTER

INLET FILTER CHAMBER WITH EVAPORATIVE COOLERS

Figure 3 - Evaporative cooler schematic

Nuovo Pignone S.p.A. via F. Matteucci, 2 - 50127 Florence (Italy) Tel. +39-055-423-211- Fax +39-055-423-2800 E-mail: info.service@np.ge.com www.gepower.com/geoilandgas

COMK/MARK668/I I- Studio Tre Fasi -1-2003 2003 Nuovo Pignone S.p.A. all rights reserved

water distribution manifold

FILTERED AND COOLED AIR FLOW

CONDUCTIVITY CONTROLLER