Aerospace Technic and Technology

The processes of the gas turbine inlet air cooling by exhaust heat conversion chillers, which utilizing the gas turbine exhaust gas heat, converting it into cold were analyzed. The use of two-stage air cooling has been investigated: to a temperature of 15°C – in an absorption lithium-bromide chiller and below to a temperature of 10°C – in an ejector chiller as stages of a two-stage absorption-ejector chiller. To simulate air cooling processes, the program "Guentner Product Calculator", one of the leading manufacturers of heat exchangers "Guentner", was used. The possibility of using the accumulated excess refrigeration capacity of a combined absorption-ejector chiller, which is formed at reduced current heat loads on air coolers at the gas turbine inlet, to cover the refrigeration capacity deficit arising at increased heat loads due to high ambient air temperatures has been investigated. The refrigeration capacity required to the gas turbine inlet air cooling was compared to an excess refrigeration capacity which excess of the current heat load. The considered air cooling system provides pre-cooling of air at the gas turbine inlet by using the excess refrigeration capacity of the absorption-ejector chiller, accumulated in the cold accumulator, to provide the required refrigeration capacity of the air pre-cooling booster stage. The simulation results proved the expediency of the gas turbine inlet air cooling using the accumulated excess refrigeration capacity of the combined absorption-ejector chiller. The proposed solution reduces by about 50% the design refrigeration capacity and, accordingly, the cost of the installed absorption lithium-bromide chiller, which acts as a high-temperature stage for cooling the ambient air at the gas turbine inlet.

chiller; gas turbine; air cooler; refrigeration capacity excess

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