Technical, Economic Evaluation and Determining Appropriate Method of Cooling of Inlet Air of Combined Cycle Power Plant with Multi-Criteria Techniques

Abstract

In hot seasons of year, due to increase in inlet temperature to compressor, production power of gas turbines decreases. Gas turbine inlet air cooling is a technology that improves gas turbine performance, in which gas turbine power per kilowatt is increased by spending less. In this study, three gas turbine inlet air cooling methods including fog, media and absorption chiller have been technically and economically evaluated in order to improve performance of Kashan combined cycle power plant. In this article, by using multi-criteria technique according to decision criteria, prioritization of inlet air cooling method for use in Kashan power plant has been done and prioritization of methods has been determined using TOPSIS methods. Considering technical and economic conditions and environmental conditions of Kashan region, using multi-criteria techniques, Media cooling system is selected and introduced as a suitable system to improve performance in this power plant. By using media system in Kashan power plant, net power output from power plant increases by 5.166%, energy efficiency and exergy of gas cycle increases by 2.26% and 2.25%, respectively.