Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Gas turbine efciency enhancement using waste heat powered absorption chillers in the oil and gas industry
Sahil Popli, Peter Rodgers*, Valerie Eveloy
The Petroleum Institute, PO Box 2533, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

h i g h l i g h t s
< Efciency enhancement of oil/gas plant utilizing gas turbines for power generation. < Gas turbine inlet air cooling scheme for high ambient temperature and RH conditions. < Proposed scheme uses absorption chillers powered by GT exhaust gases waste heat. < Scheme performance superior to evaporative coolers and vapor compression chillers. < Favorable scheme economic payback period and signicant reduction in NG consumption.

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 22 June 2011 Accepted 10 June 2012 Available online 26 June 2012 Keywords: Absorption chiller Compressor inlet air cooling Evaporative cooling Gas turbine Waste heat

a b s t r a c t
In hot climates, the efciency of energy-intensive industrial facilities utilizing gas turbines for power generation, such as oil reneries and natural gas processing plants (NGPPs), can be enhanced by reducing gas turbine compressor inlet air temperature. This is typically achieved using either evaporative media coolers or electrically-driven mechanical vapor-compression chillers. However, the performance of evaporative media coolers is constrained in high relative humidity (RH) conditions, such as encountered in the Middle East and tropical regions, and such coolers require demineralized water supply, while electricallydriven mechanical vapor-compression chillers consume a signicant amount of electric power. In this study, the use of gas turbine exhaust gas waste-heat powered, single-effect waterelithium bromide (H2O eLiBr) absorption chillers is thermo-economically evaluated for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling scheme, with particular applicability to Middle East NGPPs. The thermodynamic performance of the proposed scheme, integrated in a NGPP, is compared with that of conventional evaporative coolers and mechanical vapor-compression chillers, in terms of key operating parameters, and either demineralized water or electricity consumption, respectively. The results show that in extreme ambient conditions representative of summer in the Persian Gulf (i.e., 55  C, 80% RH), three steam-red, single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers utilizing 17 MW of gas turbine exhaust heat, could provide 12.3 MW of cooling to cool compressor inlet air to 10  C. In the same ambient conditions, evaporative coolers would only provide 2.3 MW cooling capacity, and necessitate consumption of approximately 0.8 kg/s of demineralized water to be vaporized. In addition, mechanical vapor-compression chillers would require an additional 2.7 MW of electric energy to provide the same amount of cooling as H2OeLiBr absorption chillers. The additional electricity generated through gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling using the waste heat powered absorption refrigeration scheme is of approximately 5264 MWh per year, compared to 1774 MWh for evaporative cooling. When integrated with other plant process cooling applications, the proposed scheme would not only permit to both meet gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling loads throughout the year, including peak summer loads, but also provide other process cooling during off-peaks time periods. The economic paypack period of the waste heat recovery scheme is estimated to range from 1.3 to 3.4 years for a three-chiller system based on present and project utility prices for NGPPs in the United Arab Emirates. This study suggests that waste heat absorption refrigeration is an attractive solution to enhance electrical power generation in Middle East NGPPs through gas turbine inlet air cooling, both in terms of thermodynamic and economic feasibility. This strategy would also reduce plant natural gas consumption for power generation, hence production costs and emissions. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: prodgers@pi.ac.ae (P. Rodgers). 1359-4311/$ e see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2012.06.018

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

919

Nomenclature COP h K _ m P Q t _ v W x coefcient of performance () enthalpy (J/kg) superheating and sub-cooling correction factor () mass ow rate (kg/s) pressure (kPa) heat exchanger capacity (kW) temperature ( C) specic volume (m3/kg) work done (kW) concentration of LiBr (%) dryness fraction of steam ()

Subscripts abs absorber amb ambient comp compressor evap, cooling evaporative cooling cond condenser cycle cycle des desorber dp dew point evap evaporator exh exhaust isen isentropic net net turb turbine wb wet bulb

1. Introduction It is estimated that the Middle East holds over 60% and 40% of the Worlds oil and gas reserves, respectively [1]. Considering that both liquid hydrocarbons and NG production in the Middle East are expected to increase by 9 million barrels per day and 16 trillion cubic feet respectively from 2007 to 2035 [2], any prospective enhancement in the overall energy efciency of oil and gas processing facilities is likely to play an important role in determining future energy prices. The oil and gas industry in the Middle East utilizes natural gas (NG) turbines for both on-site electric and mechanical power generation [2]. At International Standard Organization (ISO) ambient conditions, NG turbine energy efciencies are typically on order of 30% [3]. However, turbine energy efciency is adversely affected by high ambient temperature and relative humidity (RH), which signicantly deviate from standard conditions in the Middle East. Ambient air temperatures in the Persian Gulf average 29  C yearly, with typical daily maximum and monthly average temperatures of 51  C and 36  C, respectively [4]. Relative humidity averages 52% yearly, with daily maximum and monthly average RH levels peaking at 90% and 57%, respectively [5]. Since gas turbines are constant volume machines, power output reduces when air density, hence air mass ow rate, decreases at elevated ambient temperature [6e8]. In addition, high humidity conditions increase the heat consumption of the gas turbine combustion chamber due to the high specic heat of water. Typically, for every  C rise in ambient temperature, gas turbine output power reduces by approximately 0.5e0.9% [8]. Consequently, either evaporative media coolers or mechanical vapor-compression chillers are generally employed to provide gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling. However, evaporative cooling is constrained in high RH conditions, and requires demineralized water supply to avoid corrosion due to dissolved salts typically present in water. On the other hand, electrically-driven compression chillers consume a signicant amount of electric power [3,9]. In addition, a major part of the NG energy fed to the turbine is dissipated to the environment in the form of high-temperature exhaust gases. In this context, an attractive approach to boost NG turbine performance and enhance overall plant energy efciency would be to provide refrigeration using a waste heat-driven absorption refrigeration system (ARS). This approach is investigated in this study. Absorption chillers require a tenth of the energy consumed by vapor compression chillers, are environmentally-friendly, noisefree [10], and can be easily integrated within existing natural gas processing facilities. The working principle of absorption chillers is similar to that of vapor compression refrigeration, with the main difference being the form of input energy. Compression chillers

require mechanical work, while absorption chillers use heat [11]. In the approach proposed here, the necessary heat is supplied by waste heat recuperated from NG turbine exhaust gases, to provide not only gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling, but also additional process cooling capacity to the plant during off-peak compressor inlet air cooling load periods. Until recently, waste heat recovery has not played a signicant role in improving the efciency of Middle East NG plants, where its application has generally been limited to a fraction of the available waste heat within the plant. This may be attributable to i) a lack of nancial incentives to reduce the energy consumption of plants in the region, and ii) the fact that licensed process technologies often effectively prevent integration of energy efciency enhancements into existing facilities, which results in recovery applications being conned to utilities (i.e., enhancement of process cooling/heating, electrical/mechanical power generation, and steam production), rather than main plant process operations, and iii) perceived safety issues associated with recovery of certain waste heat sources. However, growing environmental concerns and global energy shortages may place increasing pressure on plants to integrate waste heat recovery technologies. Furthermore, most NG plants have already achieved a high level of process heat integration, with the result that further energy efciency improvements can essentially only be improved through waste heat utilization. An objective of this study is therefore to highlight the potential of such technologies, in particular waste heat powered absorption chillers, to enhance the energy efciency of natural gas processing plants (NGPPs), with emphasis placed on facilities located in the Persian Gulf or exposed to hot climates. Absorption chillers have been successfully applied in the chemical processing industry [12]. In addition, their effectiveness to provide additional cooling capacity to NGPPs, oil reneries and petrochemical facilities, has been well-established [13e18]. For example, Erickson and co-workers [13e15] analyzed the performance of a waste-heat powered NH3eH2O ARS in an oil renery. The absorption chiller recovered waste energy from a reformer reactor efuent (146  C) and delivered 298 kW of refrigeration (35  C) for cooling the desulphurized, hydrogen rich reformer gas used for desulphurizing naphtha. This permitted to recover 64,000 barrels per year of liquid hydrocarbon product. An additional 630 kW of refrigeration was produced (3.5  C) for other cooling applications. Mortazavi et al. [16] investigated the application of absorption chillers for chilled water production at an Air Products and Chemicals (APCI) liqueed natural gas (LNG) plant, where such chillers were used either for sub-cooling the propane after the condenser, or reducing the propane cycle condenser pressure by pre-cooling the cooling water. Using a process simulation model of

920

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

the APCI LNG plant, Mortazavi et al. [16] found that the coefcient of performance (COP) and cooling capacity of the propane cycle at the sub-cooler could be enhanced by 13% and 23%, respectively. In addition, by reducing the temperature of the condenser and desuperheater cooling water, condenser pressure decreased, which reduced compressor work and the corresponding compressor steam requirement by 27% and 35 ton/hr, respectively. With both options combined, propane cooling capacity and cycle efciency increased by approximately 23% and 68%, respectively. In a subsequent study, Kalinowski et al. [17] found that 5.2 MW of waste heat could be recovered from a 9 MW electricity generation process, thereby producing additional cooling and saving 1.9 MW of electricity consumption for the LNG plant. Using the APCI LNG plant model developed in Ref. [16], Mortazavi et al. [18] recently reported that by replacing the plants 22  C and 9  C evaporators, cooling the condenser of the propane cycle at 14  C, and inter-cooling the compressor of the mixed refrigerant cycle with a waste heat powered ARS, both compressor power and fuel consumption could be reduced by 21%. The above efforts highlight the potential of waste heat powered absorption refrigeration to improve the efciency of petrochemical facilities, with several candidate applications presented. However, the application of this technology to gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling in NG plants has not yet been thermodynamically and economically evaluated, and is the focus of the present study. Before describing the proposed waste heat utilization strategy, gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling technologies are reviewed. 2. Gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling technologies Several gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling technologies have been investigated analytically and/or numerically in the literature [19e22], for application in both power and chemical processing plants. These technologies are compiled in Fig. 1, and their pros and cons are discussed in this section. Oil and gas processing plants operating in hot climates such as South America, Africa, and the Middle East, typically utilize evaporative coolers because of low initial investment and operating costs, and short economic payback periods. Evaporative cooling utilizes either media coolers or a high-pressure fogging system to humidify compressor inlet air up to the corresponding web bulb

temperature at the ambient conditions considered. Sanaye and Tahani [19] investigated inlet air cooling for 16 NG turbines having capacities ranging from 20 to 180 MW, using turbine compressor inlet air duct fogging, supplemented by an additional 2% overspray above saturation conditions in the turbine compressor at ambient temperatures and RH up to 43  C and 40%, respectively. Hosseini [20] showed that gas turbine compressor inlet air temperature could be reduced by 19  C using evaporative coolers, which resulted in a power output enhancement of approximately 5280 MWh in a combined cycle power plant in Iran. Utamura et al. [21] obtained 10% electric power enhancement if conventional evaporative coolers are replaced by humidied air turbines to increase inlet air density for ambient air at 35  C and 53% RH. Their analytical predictions were validated using experiments conducted for a 15 MW axial ow compressor. Although evaporative coolers enhance gas turbine power output in hot and dry ambient conditions, their cooling capacity is however constrained if both temperature and RH are high. Although a desiccant-based evaporative cooling system could also be considered for reducing compressor inlet air temperature, such systems increase initial investment costs [22]. Mechanical chillers typically utilize a propane vaporcompression refrigeration system to cool the gas turbine compressor inlet air. The operational reliability and low maintenance cost of propane chillers in the oil and gas industry has been demonstrated in the published literature [9]. However, their application to gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling may not be economically justied due to high capital cost and large electric power demand during peak loads. Absorption chillers have been successfully applied to gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling in power plants [12]. In addition, several studies have highlighted their advantages over evaporative coolers in waste heat powered cogeneration schemes [23e28]. For example, based on analytical predictions, Dawoud et al. [23] reported approximately 20% enhancement in power production if absorption chillers are used for inlet air cooling instead of evaporative coolers for a GE gas turbine in Oman, but did not discuss the effect of RH on cooling system performance. Kakaras et al. [24] also highlighted numerically the advantage of H2OeLiBr absorption chillers over evaporative coolers for both simple and combined NG turbine cycles.

Fig. 1. Gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling technologies and working uids investigated in the literature for application in power and chemical processing plants.

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

921

Yang et al. [25] analytically compared gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling using a H2OeLiBr absorption chiller and evaporative inlet fogging for a generic gas and steam combined power cycle. They concluded that absorption cooling is preferable over inlet fogging when ambient temperature and RH are higher than 25  C and 40%, respectively. Boonnasa [26] proposed a waste heatpowered steam ARS for cooling the inlet air of a combined cycle gas turbine to 15  C, and analytically predicted approximately 11% and 6% increase in turbine and combined cycle power output, respectively, with a payback time of 3.8 years. Ameri and Hejazi [27] estimated that approximately 1900 MW energy losses are incurred due to high temperature in summer in Iran, for 170 NG turbine units having a combined capacity of 9500 MW. Furthermore, an economic analysis of the use of waste heat powered absorption chillers for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling at the Iranian Chabahar power plant showed that 14,000 MWh per annum of additional electric power production could be generated at a return rate of 23% with a payback period of 4.2 years. Mohanty and Paloso [28] considered a waste heat powered double-effect H2OeLiBr ARS for reducing compressor inlet air temperature to 15  C, which increased NG turbine power output from 8 to 13%, and generated approximately 11 MW of additional electric power from the same turbine. Al-Ibrahim and Varnham [9] reviewed various combustion turbine compressor inlet air cooling technology options, and compared their key benets and drawbacks in relation to the environmental conditions and energy requirements of Saudi Electric Company in Saudi Arabia. They found that the high water consumption associated with both evaporative cooling and highpressure fogging limits their application in the desert climate. In addition, vapor compression refrigeration using chilled water or ice thermal storage media was found to be more economical than absorption chillers for power generation plants, which experience peak loads in the middle of the day in summer. With peak load being almost double off-peak demand, the power generation load is not uniformly distributed during the day. In such conditions, the high capital cost of absorption chillers is justied if NG turbine power generation load is not limited to peak times, as found in typical NGPPs. In addition to the above approaches, other NG turbine compressor inlet air cooling schemes have also been investigated. Sanjay et al. [29] investigated the performance of a General Electric (GE) MS9001 gas turbine-based cogeneration cycle with different blade cooling options, utilizing waste heat recovered from NG turbine exhaust gases. It was found that steam-internal convection cooling offered the highest enhancement in fuel utilization efciency and power-to-heat ratio at a given compressor inlet air temperature. Blanco et al. [30] suggested spraying higher vapor pressure refrigerants, such as ammonia, instead of water, in the compressor inlet air duct. Although evaporation time was reduced with ammonia, no signicant energy savings were achieved. Chacartegui et al. [31] compared the performance of different gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling methods. They recommended mechanical vapor compression chillers with thermal energy storage as the most economical option for NG turbine compressor inlet air cooling at a combined cycle power plant in Spain. Shi et al. [32] proposed the use of LNG cold energy for compressor inlet air cooling, and inter-cooling of a conventional combined cycle power plant. They reported overall power output and electric efciency enhancements of approximately 76 MW and 3%, respectively. Based on the above studies, absorption cooling is a more promising approach of gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling than either evaporative cooling or mechanical chillers, particularly

in tropical ambient conditions. Mechanical chillers consume a high amount of electric power, while evaporative cooling is sensitive to the wet-bulb temperature of the inlet air to the compressor. From the combined literature review presented in this paper, limited use of waste heat utilization has been made in Middle East NG plants to date. Although waste heat recovery, in particular cogeneration, has been adopted in certain NG facilities elsewhere, the use of waste heat-powered absorption refrigeration for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling has not yet been investigated in NGPPs. Most thermodynamic analyzes of gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling [19e28] have either been industry-generic or for facilities other than NGPPs, and did not consider the full range of environmental conditions encountered in the Persian Gulf, which holds a signicant share of the Worlds gas reserves [1]. In addition, few studies have evaluated economic feasibility, particularly for absorption cooling. With the objectives to reduce NG plant energy consumption, improve overall plant efciency and increase hydrocarbon product recovery, the objectives of the present study are to i) highlight the potential of waste heat powered absorption refrigeration specically for the oil and gas industry, ii) provide a generic thermodynamic model for both waste heat-powered H2OeLiBr absorption chillers and evaporative coolers, applicable to any oil and gas plant, and iii) investigate the thermodynamic performance and economic feasibility of waste heat powered absorption refrigeration for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling in a Persian Gulf NGPP, relative to evaporative coolers and mechanical vapor compression chillers. The amount of waste heat recovered from a 9 MW NG turbine to power single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers, operating characteristics of the gas turbine with compressor inlet air cooling, and performance of both the ARS and evaporative coolers are analyzed using Engineering Equation Solver (EES) [33]. 3. Proposed gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling strategy Fig. 2 schematically illustrates the proposed NG turbine compressor inlet air cooling strategy, generically applicable to oil and gas plants. Waste heat recovered from gas turbine exhaust gases is utilized to generate steam in a waste heat recovery steam generator (WHRSG) and power a single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS. Although in general it is possible to utilize gas turbine exhaust gases directly to power an absorption chiller, in the present study a WHRSG is employed to isolate the power generation and cooling systems, so as to prevent any leakage of corrosive acids formed due to condensation of NOx or SOx present in gas turbine exhaust gases. Almost all of the steam generated by the WHRSG is utilized to power the ARS, while the remaining steam could be used for plant process cooling applications. The thermally driven ARS utilizes the heat content of steam to achieve refrigerant phase transformation and to provide refrigeration to the plant. As this study focuses on gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling, almost all of the refrigeration provided is for this application at 10  C. The residual cooling capacity could however serve for other process cooling applications at e.g. 5  C (i.e., chilled water ARS evaporator outlet temperature). The number of chillers required in the ARS is to be determined from the steam mass ow rate generated by the WHRSG and the amount of gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling to be provided. While the proposed energy recovery system would have applicability to a variety of enhanced cooling capacity applications, such as air-conditioning, steam turbine condenser cooling, and sub-cooling of the refrigerant at the condenser outlet of vapor compression chillers, the present work focuses on NG turbine compressor inlet air cooling. The waste heat recovery analysis presented is based on both an initial heat source temperature and ow rate that are characteristic of a heavy-duty single shaft gas turbine having an ISO rated capacity

922

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

Fig. 2. Schematic layout of evaporative cooler and single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chiller for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling in a typical oil and gas processing plant. Numbers 1e24 refer to the system state points.

of approximately 9 MW. The initial temperature of the heat source can be assumed to be equal to the average gas turbine exhaust gas temperature (i.e., 350e550  C) [11]. Table 1 summarizes the specications of the gas turbine, along with other initial turbine simulation parameters, which are based on manufacturer specications at ISO conditions [34]. 3.1. Absorption refrigeration system Commercially-available single and double-effect NH3eH2O absorption chillers typically have coefcients of performance

Table 1 Gas turbine design parameters at ISO conditions [34]. Parameter and unit Compressor pressure ratio (e) Compressor isentropic efciency (%) GT expander efciency (%) Exhaust gas mass ow rate (kg/s) GT ISO rated power (MW) GT exhaust gas temperature ( C) Pump isentropic efciency (%) Note: ISO conditions are: 101.3 kPa ambient pressure, 15 temperature, and 60% relative humidity.


Value 10.0 83.0 87.0 45.0 8.96 508.0 85.0 C ambient

(COPs) of 0.3e0.5, and 1.2, respectively, while single and doubleeffect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers have COPs of approximately 0.7, and 1.2e1.4, respectively [35]. Although a double-effect ARS uses the heat input at the generator twice within the same cycle, and therefore has a higher COP than a single-effect system, the complexity and cost of a second effect system may not be justied unless signicant other cooling requirements exist within the plant. Therefore, as a single-effect absorption chiller would meet the compressor inlet air cooling demand at a lower initial nancial investment than a second-effect system, the former type of chiller was selected for the purpose of this study, which focuses on gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling [31]. Although approximately 40 refrigerant and 200 absorbent compounds have been cited in the literature [36], the majority of absorption chillers use H2OeLiBr and NH3eH2O as absorbent erefrigerant working uid pairs. H2OeLiBr is selected in this study on the basis of the non-toxicity of LiBr and H2O, low volatility of LiBr, absence of requirement for an extra component (i.e., rectier), as well as lower installation, maintenance and operating costs relative to NH3eH2O systems. As depicted in Fig. 2, in the proposed scheme, a single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS is powered by steam generated in a WHRSG from the waste heat of gas turbine exhaust gases. The ARS incorporates several single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers to meet gas

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

923

turbine compressor inlet air cooling requirement (i.e., 10  C). The steam generated is utilized to evaporate the H2OeLiBr mixture in the desorber of the ARS. Superheated water vapor is then cooled in the high temperature condenser. As shown in Fig. 2, saturated liquid at state point 8 is expanded through expansion valves to produce a two-phase refrigerant. The refrigerant is then vaporized in the evaporator, and provides cooling to the gas turbine compressor inlet air at 5  C (i.e., chilled water ARS evaporator outlet temperature). The concentrated aqueous LiBr mixture enters the desorber, where it evaporates the H2OeLiBr mixture. The water vapor thus released from the aqueous LiBr solution enters the condenser, while the concentrated aqueous LiBr solution generated in the desorber expands through the expansion valve and enters the absorber. The refrigerant vapor from the evaporator mixes with the concentrated aqueous LiBr solution in the absorber. The above cycle is repeated at two pressure levels, namely 0.7 kPa in the absorber and evaporator, and 7.6 kPa in the desorber and condenser. In terms of ARS operation, the refrigerant (i.e., water) operates between state points 11e13 and 17e20, while the concentrated aqueous LiBr solution operates between state points 11e16 (Fig. 2). Absorption cooling is limited by condenser cooling capacity in high ambient air temperature conditions [9,16]. Consequently, the applicability of air-cooled condensers to the full range of environmental conditions considered in this study may be questionable. The highest ambient air temperature considered here (i.e., 55  C) is however extreme, and representative of worst case conditions in summer in the Middle East. In Abu Dhabi (24.43 N, 54.45 E), UAE, the daily maximum and monthly average temperatures typically recorded in summer are of 51  C and 36  C, while monthly average daily temperatures vary from 20  C to 36  C throughout the year [4]. However for eight months of the year, monthly averages of daily maximum temperatures typically range from 25 to 37  C [37]. As proposed by Mortazavi et al. [16,18], condenser sea water cooling is a potential solution that would permit condenser operating temperatures to be maintained below 35  C in summer conditions. Thus, surface sea-water temperatures in the Persian Gulf typically range from 15  C to 32  C throughout the year [38]. Many plants in the Persian Gulf have access to and already make use of sea or fresh water for applications such as heat exchanger cooling. As an existing sea or fresh water pumping system already used for other water cooling applications could be employed for ARS condenser cooling, the additional capital and operating expenses associated with water supply would be minimal and would not signicantly impact the economic payback period of the gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling scheme, particularly considering that ARS condenser cooling would only be required in summer months. The use of such a condenser cooling approach is therefore assumed in this study, to permit the application of single-effect LiBreH2O absorption chillers to gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling at ambient air temperatures exceeding 35  C.

schemes consisting of ARS and gas turbine cycles [10,39], are made for both the present single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS and gas turbine: i. Each component of both the ARS and gas turbine is analyzed as a control volume assumed to be at steady state, with its pressure drop neglected. Heat losses to the environment are neglected. ii. Kinetic and potential energy effects are negligible. iii. Combustion is considered as a constant pressure heat addition process. iv. All uid thermo-physical properties are modeled as temperature- and pressure-dependent. In addition for the ARS, the following assumptions are also made: v. The expansion valve is considered as a throttling valve, with the ow across the valve assumed to be isenthalpic. vi. The condenser outlet state is saturated liquid. vii. The working uid at the evaporator outlet is saturated vapor. Evaporator pressure is determined by evaporator temperature. viii. The absorbenterefrigerant solution concentration is determined by the absorber outlet temperature and pressure. ix. The isentropic efciency of the pump is 85%. The modeling assumptions made for the ARS at state points 11e24 are listed in Table 2. The energy and mass balance equations used to model the gas turbine and waste heat powered ARS are presented in Tables 3 and 4, respectively. These equations are typical of the analysis of energy systems, and are used in Sections 3.2.1e3.2.5 to determine the amount of recoverable waste heat available in the NG plant, the steam ow rate generated by the WHRSG, as well as gas turbine, evaporative cooler and ARS performance. 3.2.1. Maximum and recoverable waste heat The total amount of recoverable waste heat that could be utilized for waste heat recovery applications, QRWH, is estimated as:

_ QRWH m5 Cp; turb; exh t5 tamb

(1)

The amount of waste heat that could be recovered using the WHRSG and absorption chillers, QWHRSG, is calculated as [11]:

_ QWHRSG m5 Cp; turb; exh t5 tsteam; ARS

(2)

where tsteam, ARS is the mean temperature of saturated steam supplied to the absorption chiller desorber (i.e., generator). The use
Table 2 Single effect H2OeLiBr ARS state point modeling assumptions. State point Assumption Saturated liquid solution, c 0 Sub cooled liquid solution Sub cooled liquid solution Saturated liquid solution, c 0 Sub cooled liquid solution Two-phase solution state Superheated water vapor Saturated liquid water, c 0 Two-phase water state Saturated water vapor, c 1 Saturated steam Two-phase water vapor Refrigerant liquid Two-phase refrigerant solution

3.2. Thermodynamic model The thermodynamic performance of both the evaporative coolers and waste-heat powered single-effect ARS shown in Fig. 2 is analyzed using EES [33]. EES is a numerical solver that provides built-in mathematical and thermodynamic property functions to solve algebraic equations, with an extensive database of uid thermodynamic properties. This modeling software has been widely used for the analysis of energy systems, particularly for waste energy recovery. The following modeling assumptions, which are typically employed for the thermodynamic analysis of energy recovery

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Note: State points 11e24 are dened in Fig. 2.

924 Table 3 Mass and energy balances for the gas turbine cycle. Cycle component Compressor

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

Mass and energy balance _ _ m2 m3 _ _ Wcomp m3 h3 m2 h2 _ _ Wcomp; isen m3 hs3 m2 h2 _ _ _ m3 m7 m4 _ _ _ Qcomb m4 h4 m3 h3 m7 h7 _ _ m4 m5 _ _ Wgas; turb m4 h4 m5 h5 _ _ Wgas; turb; isen m4 hs4 m5 h5 _ _ _ _ m5 m22 m6 m21 _ _ _ _ m5 h5 m22 h22 m6 h6 m21 h21

Combustor

desirable so that the condensate does not ash to steam in the return lines. The K factor value (i.e., 1.1) was taken from Dorgan et al. [11], where it is specied based on the number of effects and cooling capacity of the chiller. It is important to ensure that the exhaust gas at the outlet of the WHRSG is not reduced to a temperature below the dew point of NOx or SOx. The exhaust gas temperature at the WHRSG outlet, t6, is calculated as [11]:

Gas turbine

t6 t5 

Qdes _ m5 Cp; turb; exh

(5)

WHRSG

Note: Subscripts 1e10 for mass ow rate, heat load, and enthalpy refer to the state points dened in Fig. 2.

In this analysis, the calculated temperature of the exhaust gas dissipated to the atmosphere, t6, was found to be 151  C. 3.2.3. Gas turbine performance Standard mass and energy balance equations [39,40] typically employed for the analysis of GT cycles are presented in Table 3. The isentropic efciencies of the compressor, hcomp, and gas turbine, hturb, are calculated as:

of a mean steam temperature serves to account for heat losses between the outlet of the WHRSG and the inlet of the absorption refrigeration unit desorber. The mean pressure and temperature of saturated steam in the WHRSG are assumed to be 180 kPa and 122  C, respectively [11]. 3.2.2. Steam mass ow rate at WHRSG outlet As illustrated in Fig. 2, the ARS is indirectly powered by steam generated in the WHRSG from gas turbine exhaust gases. The amount of waste heat recuperated by the WHRSG is calculated using Equation (2). As the absorption chiller pressure increases, the corresponding temperature of saturated steam also increases. Since the waste heat recovered by the steam generator is provided to the ARS hightemperature desorber (i.e., generator),

hcomp hturb

Wcomp; isen Wcomp

(6)

Wturb Wturb; isen

(7)

The net work done by the gas turbine cycle, Wnet, and the net gas turbine efciency, hcycle, are estimated as:

Wnet Wturb Wcomp

(8) (9)

QWHRSG Qdes

(3)

hcycle

The energy recovered in the WHRSG, can be converted into _ a steam ow rate, m21 :

Wnet Qcomb

_ m21

Qdes h21 h22 K

(4)

The correction factor K in Equation (4) takes into account the superheating and sub-cooling effect of the steam, and must be taken into consideration [11]. Superheating of the steam ensures that it does not condense as its temperature is lowered when passing through the piping system. Sub-cooling of the system is

When compressor inlet air cooling using either waste heat powered absorption refrigeration or vapor compression refrigeration is employed, compressor inlet air is cooled to 10  C regardless of ambient temperature and RH conditions. Evaporative cooling reduces the compressor inlet air temperature to the wet bulb temperature of air at the ambient air dry bulb temperature and RH considered, which will be calculated by the thermodynamic model as outlined in Section 3.2.4. 3.2.4. Evaporative cooler performance Evaporative coolers work on the principle of an adiabatic saturation process and provide cooling by absorbing heat which is equivalent to the latent heat of vaporization for water from hot streams such as air [40]. Therefore, air at the evaporative cooler outlet or the NG turbine compressor inlet, t9, is saturated vapor (RH 100%), and its temperature corresponds the wet bulb temperature of air at 328 K, Twb:

Table 4 Mass and energy balances for the single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS. ARS component Evaporator Mass and energy balance _ _ m19 m20 _ _ Qevap m20 h20 m19 h19 _ _ _ m20 m16 m11 _ _ m16 x16 m11 x11 _ _ _ Qabs m20 h20 m16 h16 m11 h11 _ _ _ _ m12 m14 m13 m15 _ _ _ _ QSHX m12 h12 m14 h14 m13 h13 m15 h15 _ _ m15 m16 _ _ m15 h15 m16 h16 _ _ _ _ _ m17 m14 m22 m13 m21 _ _ _ _ _ Qdes m17 h17 m14 h14 m22 h22 m13 h13 m21 h21 _ _ m19 m18 _ _ m19 h19 m18 h18 _ _ m17 m18 _ _ Qcond m18 h18 m17 h17

Absorber

t9 Twb

(10)

SHX Solution valve Desorber H2O valve Condenser

The amount of water added to the compressor inlet, Wwater, is calculated as:

_ Wwater m8 wwb w8

(11)

_ where m8 is the compressor inlet air ow rate, and wwb and w9 are the humidity ratio of air at temperatures t9 and t8, respectively. The amount of compressor inlet air cooling provided by evaporative cooling, Qevap, cooling, is calculated as:

Note: Subscripts 11e22 for mass ow rate, heat load, and enthalpy refer to the state points dened in Fig. 2.

_ Qevap; cooling m8 h8 hwb

(12)

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

925

The efciency of evaporative coolers is measured using their cooling effectiveness, which is dened as the ratio of the actual cooling provided by the evaporative cooler to the maximum cooling that could be provided by the evaporative cooler if the compressor inlet air temperature was reduced to its dew point [19]. The cooling efciency of an evaporative cooler, hevap, cooling, is calculated as:

2% of corresponding experimental measurements. In addition, detailed sensitivity analyzes of the effects of chilled water outlet temperature, condenser temperature, and LiBr concentration difference between the generator and absorber, on both ARS COP and cooling capacity, were performed, which provided further condence in the model [43]. 5. Thermodynamic modeling results The validated thermodynamic model presented in Section 3 is employed to analyze performance parameters of the gas turbine, single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS and evaporative cooling system, in environmental conditions (55  C, 80% RH) representative of worstcase operating conditions in summer in the Middle East, in terms of GT efciency and power output [27]. In addition, their performance is also analyzed for a complete year using monthly-representative daily hour-by-hour ambient air temperature and RH prole histories in Abu Dhabi, UAE, taken for year 2011 [5]. It should be noted that the ofcial hour-by-hour climatic data employed for this analysis, which were recorded in Abu Dhabi international airport, are conservative, i.e. do not include the extreme typically encountered in UAE gas plants in summer. For example, the highest ambient air temperature ofcially recorded at Abu Dhabi international airport in summer 2011 was of 47  C [5], whereas eld temperatures can reach 55  C. The worst case environmental conditions considered (55  C, 80% RH) were taken from NGPP climatic data. Unfortunately, on-site monitoring of climatic data was not sufciently comprehensive to permit a hour-by-hour yearly analysis in this study, which was therefore performed based on Abu Dhabi international airport data. 5.1. Summer peak compressor inlet air cooling loads The predicted gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling loads over the range of ambient air temperature and RH conditions encountered in the UAE are presented in Fig. 3. In worst-case summer operating conditions (55  C, 80% RH), the cooling load reaches 11.6 MW. In such conditions, the model predicts that evaporative coolers spraying approximately 1 kg/s of water in the compressor inlet air duct, only provide 2.3 MW cooling capacity. Compressor inlet air temperature is reduced by only 5  C, to 50  C. The predicted pressure, temperature, and LiBr concentration, for the single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS at each state point in Fig. 2, are plotted on a pressureetemperature plot (i.e., Duhring state plot) in Fig. 4. These results show that the waste heat powered ARS operates at two pressure levels (i.e., 0.7 kPa and 7.6 kPa) between the

hevap; cooling  8

t Twb  t8 Tdp

(13)

3.2.5. ARS performance The standard mass and energy balance equations listed in Table 4 are used to model the single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS. ARS performance can be assessed using a coefcient of performance, COPARS, calculated as:

COPARS

Qevap Qdes

(14)

The total pumping work required, Wpump, is the pumping work _ _ required, m11 v11 p11 p12 , divided by the isentropic efciency of the pump:

Wpump

_ _ m11 v11 p11 p12

hpump

(15)

Subscripts 11 and 12 in Equation (15) refer to the corresponding state points in Fig. 2. Finally, the amount of compressor inlet air cooling provided by absorption cooling, QARS, cooling, is calculated as [39,40]:

_ QARS; cooling m1 h1 h2

(16)

In Equation (16), the aireH2O uid mixture mass ow rate to the compressor inlet and its temperature-, RH- and pressuredependent thermodynamic properties from EES database are used to calculate the amount of cooling provided by the ARS to the GT compressor air inlet. In all cases, the ARS is assumed to reduce compressor inlet air temperature to 10  C. 4. Model validation The gas turbine and ARS models developed in Sections 3.2.1e3.2.5 were validated using manufacturer specications [34] and the experimental data of Gommed and Grossman [41], respectively. The gas turbine model was validated in ISO conditions. Table 5 presents a comparison of predicted and measured performance parameters obtained for the gas turbine. Prediction discrepancies are within 2%, thereby demonstrating good agreement. The single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS model was validated in previous work [42], with the predicted heat transfer rates found to be within

12 10 Cooling Load (MW) 8 6 4 2 0 288

10% RH 30% RH 60% RH 80% RH

Table 5 Comparison of measured and predicted performance parameters for gas turbine at ISO conditions. Performance parameter Measureda [34] Predicted Discrepancyb (%) 9.09 27.5 975.0 508.0 1.4 1.8 0 0

GT power output (MW) 8.96 GT efciency (%) 27.0 Turbine inlet temperature ( C) 975.0 Turbine outlet temperature ( C) 508.0

293

298

303 308 313 Temperature (K)

318

323

328

a Measured values are at ISO conditions: 101.3 kPa ambient pressure, 15  C ambient temperature, and 60% RH. b Discrepancy (%) (Measured Predicted) 100/Measured.

Fig. 3. Predicted compressor inlet air cooling loads over the range of ambient air temperature and RH conditions typically encountered in the Persian Gulf.

926

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

Fig. 4. Dhring state plot for single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chiller. State points are dened in Fig. 2. Fig. 5. Effect of compressor inlet air temperature on both gas turbine power output and efciency.

LiBr crystallization line on the right and the pure water line on the left. Table 6 summarizes the predicted operating characteristics obtained for the single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS. The total recoverable waste heat from gas turbine exhaust gases estimated using Equation (1) is of 17.3 MW. This waste heat is utilized to generate steam in a waste heat recovery boiler at a pressure of 180 kPa and ow rate of 7.8 kg/s. The mass ow rate of steam required per 4.1 MW absorption chiller is of 2.5 kg/s [11], while the peak compressor inlet air cooling capacity required (i.e., at 55  C, 80% RH) is of 11.6 MW. Using both these constraints, the required number of 4.1 MW ARS units can be calculated by dividing the available steam ow rate generated from waste heat, by the steam ow rate required per 4.1 MW ARS. Approximately 17 MW of recovered energy in the form of steam is therefore fed to the desorbers of three single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers. In worst-case operating conditions (i.e., ambient air temperature of 55  C, 80% RH), almost all of the total cooling capacity produced by the three absorption chillers (i.e., 12.3 MW) would be used for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling, to meet the peak cooling load of 11.6 MW. In less extreme conditions, part of the total ARS cooling capacity would be employed for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling, and the excess cooling capacity could be used for other plant process cooling applications (e.g., chilled water production). The modeling predictions in Figs. 5 and 6 highlight how gas turbine performance is affected both by local and seasonal

variations in ambient temperature and RH. An increase in either temperature or RH results in reduced output power and efciency. These results are in line with previously published analyzes [7,8,20,23e28]. Table 7 compares gas turbine performance parameters for the proposed compressor inlet air cooling scheme, with the base case in which ambient air at 55  C and 80% RH is fed to the compressor inlet, in absence of gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling. In such conditions, turbine power output and energy efciency decrease by 22% and 8%, respectively (Table 7), relative to ISO ratings (Table 5). This is in line with the ndings of, for example, Meher-Homji et al. [8] and Ameri and Hejazi [27]. In the same ambient conditions, evaporative cooling only reduces compressor inlet air temperature to 50  C and provides 2.3 MW cooling capacity, which enhances gas turbine power output and energy efciency by 4.2% and 1.6%, respectively. At high ambient temperature the performance of evaporative coolers can be increased by spraying a large amount of water above the dew point at the compressor inlet. However, if the excess water is not completely vaporized before entering the compressor, liquid droplets can erode compressor components and reduce turbine performance [44]. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, evaporative coolers require demineralized water supply. The ARS modeling predictions in Table 7 show that three, 4.1 MW single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers, could utilize

Table 6 Predicted operating characteristics for the single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS in peak cooling load conditions in summer (55  C, 80% RH). Variable and unit Waste heat available to ARS (MW) Absorption chiller cooling capacity (MW) Number of 4.1 MW absorption chillers required to utilize the recoverable waste heat (e) Total mass ow rate of steam (kg/s) Flue gas temperature vented to the environment ( C) Total waste heat utilized by absorption chiller (MW) Maximum cooling capacity required (MW) Total cooling capacity provided (MW) Mass ow rate of steam required per 4.1 MW absorption chiller (kg/s) Heat transfer rate in absorber (MW) Heat transfer rate in condenser (MW) Heat transfer rate in desorber (MW) ARS pump work required (kW) ARS coefcient of performance (e) Value 17.3 4.1 3.0 7.8 151 17.0 11.6 12.3 2.5 5.0 4.4 5.3 0.1 0.77

Fig. 6. Effect of compressor inlet air RH on gas turbine power output and efciency. Ambient air temperature T 328 K.

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931 Table 7 Comparison of predicted gas turbine performance parameters using the proposed waste heat powered ARS based compressor inlet air cooling scheme and evaporative cooling in peak cooling load conditions in summer (55  C, 80% RH). Gas turbine parameter Base case (No inlet air cooling) 55.0 565 39.5 7.0 24.8 16.7 11.6 0.0 Inlet air cooling technology Evaporative cooler 50.0 548 40.1 7.3 25.2 16.5 11.6 2.3 Absorption chiller 10.0 490 45.8 9.0 28.5 14.5 11.6 12.3

927

5.2. Yearly compressor inlet air cooling loads The performance of the single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS and evaporative cooling system were also analyzed for a complete year using monthly-representative daily hour-by-hour ambient air temperature (Fig. 9a) and RH (Fig. 9b) prole histories for Abu Dhabi, UAE, in 2011 [5]. The monthly-representative hour-by-hour gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling load proles obtained from the climatic data in Fig. 9, are presented in Fig. 10. The cooling loads range from approximately 0.45 MW in December to 3.4 MW in August. As previously noted, this maximum cooling load, which is based on 2011 ofcial climatic records at the site of measurement, are below the extreme encountered in oil and gas plants, which are estimated at 11.6 MW for 55  C and 80% RH (Fig. 3). Although based on the data in Fig. 10, a single absorption chiller with a rated capacity of 4.1 MW could meet compressor inlet air loads throughout the year, peak summer loads, which can reach 11.6 MW, would not be met. The predicted additional gas turbine electricity generated by a single gas turbine over a complete year using compressor inlet air cooling relative to the base case (i.e., no compressor inlet air cooling) is compared in Fig. 11 for single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption refrigeration and evaporative cooling. The predictions for absorption refrigeration are valid for an ARS incorporating either one or three 4.1 MW chillers, since the maximum cooling load encountered in Fig. 10 does not exceed 3.5 MW. From December to March, absorption refrigeration offers marginal improvements over evaporative cooling. However, from April to November, monthly electrical power generation is approximately two to four times higher for absorption chillers than evaporative cooling. The additional electrical power produced over the complete year is of 5264 MWh and 1774 MWh using absorption refrigeration and evaporative cooling, respectively. This data demonstrates the technical feasibility and advantages of waste heat powered absorption refrigeration for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling in the Middle East, not only based on peak summer cooling loads, but also throughout the year. 6. Economic evaluation The economic payback period of the waste heat powered gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling scheme, which incorporates a single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS and WHRSG, was evaluated for two

Compressor inlet air temperature ( C) Turbine outlet temperature ( C) Compressor inlet air ow rate (kg/s) Net power output (MW) Energy Efciency (%) Compressor work (MW) Total cooling required (MW) Total cooling provided (MW)

17 MW of gas turbine exhaust gas waste heat, that would otherwise be dissipated to the environment. This waste heat could be employed to provide 12.3 MW of gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling, at a COP of 0.77 and refrigeration temperature of 5  C (i.e., chilled water ARS evaporator outlet temperature). In addition, absorption chillers provide compressor inlet air cooling at a constant temperature of 10  C, which enhances gas turbine power output and energy efciency by 23.2% and 13%, respectively. These improvements are in line with [27,41]. To further demonstrate the advantage of using waste heat powered absorption chillers for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling, the following parametric sensitivity analysis was performed. The predicted compressor inlet air temperature and amount of inlet air cooling provided by evaporative coolers and absorption chillers were compared for RH values ranging from 45% to 95% in Fig. 7. As RH increases, evaporative cooling capacity decreases, due to an increase in the wet bulb temperature of the compressor inlet air. This is also evident from Fig. 8, which presents the amount of cooling provided by evaporative coolers for a range of ambient air temperature and RH conditions. Therefore, absorption chillers offer a distinct advantage by providing higher cooling capacity at a xed compressor inlet air temperature. If a vapor compression chiller was used to provide the same amount of cooling, approximately 2.7e4.5 MW of electric power would be required depending on the COP of the compression chiller (i.e., 3e5).

Absorption Cooling Evaporative Cooling

330 14 12 320 10 310 8 6 4 290 2 280 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 0

300

Relative Humidity (% )
Fig. 7. Comparison of compressor inlet air temperature and cooling provided by absorption chillers and conventional evaporative coolers, as a function of ambient RH. Ambient air temperature T 328 K.

Inlet air cooling provided (MW)

Inlet air temperature (K)

Fig. 8. Psychometric plot of evaporative cooling as a function of ambient temperature and RH.

928

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

Additional Power Generation (MW-hr)

a 50
Temperature (C) 40 30 20 10

Jan July

Feb Aug

March Sept

April Oct

May Nov

June Dec

900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 J F M A M J J Month A S O N D Absorption cooling Evaporative cooling

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Hour of the Day

b
Relative Humidity (% ) 100 80 60 40 20 0

Ambient air temperature

Jan July Feb Aug March Sept April Oct May Nov June Dec

Fig. 11. Comparison of predicted additional gas turbine electrical power generation over a complete year for waste heat powered single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption refrigeration and evaporative cooling, Ambient air temperature T 328 K. Relative to base case (i.e., no compressor inlet air cooling). Analysis based on climatic data presented in Fig. 9.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Hour of the Day

Relative humidity (RH)

Fig. 9. Typical hour-by-hour climatic data for each calendar month in 2011 in Abu Dhabi, UAE [5].

candidate options of implementation, and compared with that of a typical evaporative cooling system. In the rst and second waste heat recovery option, the ARS consists of one and three single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers, respectively, having total cooling capacities of 4.1 MW and 12.3 MW, respectively. The rst option represents lower initial capital investment than the second, and permits to meet hour-by-hour compressor inlet air cooling loads throughout the year (Fig. 10), with the exception of extreme cooling loads, which can reach 11.6 MW (Fig. 3). Considering that i) the excess cooling capacity generated by one-chiller system is limited in summer (i.e., approximately 0.6 MW, Fig. 10), particularly considering the absence of true extreme in the climatic data presented in Fig. 9, and ii) for the purpose of preserving an operating margin, it is assumed that this excess capacity is not utilized for other plant process cooling applications. Thus, the rst system is only employed for compressor inlet air cooling. The three-chiller system permits to meet hourly compressor inlet air cooling loads at any time of the year, including extreme peak loads (i.e., 11.6 MW), while during off-peaks periods, the excess ARS cooling capacity is utilized for other plant process cooling applications that would

otherwise typically be driven by conventional mechanical vapor compression chillers. The economic payback period of both waste heat recovery options and evaporative cooler were assessed based on the ofcial hour-by-hour ambient air temperature and RH prole data for 2011 recorded in Ref. [5]. Since ambient air temperatures in the UAE exceed the desired compressor inlet air temperature (i.e., 10  C) throughout the year, the economic feasibility of each system was estimated by assuming that it operates continuously, i.e. for 7200 h/ year. The estimated equipment capital expenditure (CAPEX) for the rst and second waste heat recovery options, and evaporative cooler, are presented in Table 8. Based on the data of Zabala [45], the equipment CAPEX for every kW of cooling provided was taken as approximately US$ 95 for the single-effect H2OeLiBr ARS, US$ 30 for cooling-towers, US$ 1 for process heat exchangers, and US$ 11 for other installation costs such as piping. The WHRSG CAPEX was assumed to be approximately 55 US$/kg/s steam at 800 kPa [11]. The CAPEX of evaporative cooling was taken as 50 US$/kW cooling [46]. The estimated CAPEX of the rst and second waste heat recovery options in Table 8 are approximately ve and fteen time higher than for evaporative cooling. Table 9 presents the annual operating cost expenditures (OPEX) and payback periods of the rst and second waste heat recovery options, as well as that of a typical evaporative cooler. In addition, the OPEX of the second waste heat recovery option for providing electrical power to plant process cooling during off-peak
Table 8 Equipment CAPEX for the proposed waste heat recovery (WHR) options and evaporative cooler. Process equipment Cost [millions US$] WHR Option 1 Absorption chillera Cooling towera Process heat exchangera Other installation costa WHRSG generatorb Total WHR system CAPEX Evaporative cooler CAPEXc 0.39 0.12 0.01 0.05 0.45 1.01 0.20 WHR Option 2 1.17 0.37 0.01 0.14 1.35 3.04 0.20

Jan July

Feb Aug

March Sept

April Oct

May Nov

June Dec

3.5 Cooling Load (MW) 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Hour of the Day
Fig. 10. Typical hour-by-hour compressor inlet air cooling load proles for each calendar month in 2011 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, based on the climatic data presented in Fig. 9.

Note: Option 1 and 2 include one and three single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers, respectively. a Single-effect ARS CAPEX 95 US$/kW cooling [45]. b WHRSG CAPEX 55 US$/kg/s steam at 800 kPa [11]. c Evaporative cooler CAPEX 50 US$/kW cooling [46].

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

929

compressor inlet air cooling loads, is compared with that of a vapor compression chiller, which would otherwise typically be used to provide the same amount of process cooling. The OPEX of each waste heat recovery option is the sum the annual cost of both electricity and water required by the absorption chiller, and water required by the WHRSG. Electric power is required by the ARS solution pumps, chilled water pumps and cooling water pumps, while process water is required by the cooling towers for ARS condenser cooling, and by the WHRSG in the form of make-up water. The annual electricity and water related OPEX for the waste heat powered ARSs were estimated based on the costs of [45,47], i.e. 4.1 US$/kW and 2.0 US$/kW of cooling provided, respectively, adjusted based on the costs of electric power and process water for large industrial consumers (e.g., NGPPs) in the UAE. These costs range from 0.04085 US$/kWh and 0.6 US$/ton, respectively, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi [48], to 0.1035 US$/kWh and 12.5 US$/ton in the Emirate of Dubai, respectively [49]. Although most UAE oil and gas plants are located in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, where utilities are low-cost, it is anticipated that with the on-going rise in electricity and water prices in Abu Dhabis Emirate [50,51], present utility prices in Dubai may be considered a realistic projection of those in Abu Dhabi region in the near future. Therefore, all economic payback periods are estimated based on present and projected utility prices for NGPPs in Abu Dhabi region. The annual OPEX of the vapor compression chiller consists of electrical power, and was assumed to be approximately 188.86 US$/ kW of cooling provided [47]. This cost was adjusted based on present and projected costs of electric power in the UAE as described above. The evaporative cooler OPEX consists of water,

with an annual water consumption estimated as 20,575,101 kg/year using Equation (11) and the hour-by-hour climatic data in Fig. 9. The equivalent yearly-average water consumption rate, 0.79 kg/s, is in line with the rate of 1.1 kg/s quoted by Ref. [52] in Saudi Arabia. The payback periods (in years) of each waste heat recovery option and evaporative cooler were estimated as the corresponding system CAPEX, divided by the net annual OPEX savings realized [53]:

Payback period

Equipment CAPEX Net annual OPEX savings

(17)

Table 9 Annual OPEX and payback periods of the proposed waste heat recovery (WHR) options and evaporative cooler. Process equipment and utility Cost [millions US$/year] WHR Option 1 Present Absorption chiller, electricityc Absorption chiller and WHRSG, waterc Total WHR OPEX Vapor compression chiller OPEX, electricityd Annual cost of additional GT electric power Net annual savings achieved with WHR system WHR system payback period (years) 0.008 0.004 0.011 N/A 0.215 0.204 5.0
a

WHR Option 2
b

Projected 0.019 0.010 0.029 N/A 0.545 0.516 2.0

Presenta 0.023 0.011 0.034 0.711 0.215 0.891 3.4

Projectedb 0.058 0.029 0.087 1.801 0.545 2.259 1.3

Evaporative cooler OPEX, watere Net annual savings achieved with evaporative cooler Evaporative cooler payback period (years)

Evaporative cooler Presenta 0.012 0.060

Projectedb 0.057 0.127

3.500

1.654

Note: WHR Options 1 and 2 are based on one and three single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers, respectively. All systems operate continuously, i.e. 7200 h/year. a Present estimates are based on utility prices in Abu Dhabi Emirate: Electric power 0.0408 US$/kWh, water 0.6 $/ton [48]. b Projected estimates are based on utility prices in Dubai Emirate: Electric power 0.1035 US$/kWh, water 12.5 $/ton, respectively [49]. c Single-effect ARS OPEX: electricity 4.1 US$/year/kW cooling, water 2.0 US$/ year/kW cooling [45,47], adjusted based on local utility prices.a,b d Vapor compression chiller OPEX 188.6 US$/year/kW cooling [47], adjusted based on local utility prices.a,b e Evaporative cooler water consumption 20,575,101 kg/year.

The net OPEX savings realized with either Option 1 or evaporative cooling consist of electricity savings achieved with compressor inlet air cooling relative to uncooled inlet air, minus the total OPEX of the inlet air cooling system considered. For waste heat recovery Option 2, the net OPEX savings also consist of electricity savings achieved with compressor inlet air cooling, as well as electricity savings associated with additional process cooling relative to the use of vapor compression refrigeration, minus the total OPEX of Option 2. The total capital and operating costs of Option 1 are found to be approximately 1.012 million US$ and 0.011e0.029 million US$, respectively, with a payback period ranging from 2 to 5 years based on present and projected local costs of electric power and water for UAE NGPPs, respectively. Such payback periods are signicantly shorter than the operating lives of gas plants, which are of several decades. Furthermore, considering the on-going rise in utility prices in the UAE, the two year payback period may be considered a more realistic gure for Option 1 in the near future. The total capital and operating costs of Option 2 are found to be approximately 3.045 million US$ and 0.034e0.087 million US$, respectively, with a payback period ranging from 1.3 to 3.4 years based on present and projected local costs of electric power and water, respectively. Again, the 1.3 years payback period may be considered a more realistic gure in the near future considering the local rise in utility prices. Therefore, despite higher initial capital investment for Option 2, the above analysis shows that the payback period of the waste heat recovery scheme can be reduced by integrating it with other plant process cooling applications that are to be enhanced during off-peak compressor inlet air cooling load periods. It should be noted that the payback period estimates for Option 2 are conservative, as they do not account for the additional electrical lower generated during extreme compressor inlet air cooling load periods (e.g., at 55  C, 80% RH). This additional power could not be accounted for in the present yearly analysis, as the ofcial climatic data recorded [5] does not include the ambient air temperature and RH extreme that occur at UAE NGPP sites. However, based on conservative climatic data, this study indicates that the implementation of either waste heat recovery Option 1 or 2 in an actual NGPP would be clearly justied on the basis of both thermodynamic performance and economic feasibility. The additional electric power generated by the GT cycle with compressor inlet air cooling would permit annual savings of approximately 0.204e0.516 million US$ to be realized for Option 1, and 0.891e2.259 million US$ for Option 2, based on present and projected local utility prices, respectively. Despite low initial capital investment, the payback period of a typical GT compressor inlet air evaporative cooling system (i.e., 1.7e3.5 years, based on present and projected local water prices, respectively) is of the same order of magnitude as that of the proposed waste heat-powered absorption refrigeration system (particularly, Option 2). This is attributable to the limited yearly GT additional electric power generated by evaporative cooling in the Persian Gulf climate. As previously noted, the cooling capacity of evaporative coolers is signicantly limited in high RH conditions,

930

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

and would be two to four times less than that of either waste heat recovery option for approximately eight months of the year (Fig. 11). Over a period longer than their respective payback times, either waste heat recovery option would offer undisputed GT performance and economic benets for the plant over evaporative cooling. These economic benets would translate into reduced primary energy consumption, hence environmental emissions. GT operation in compressor inlet air conditions closer to ISO conditions is also likely to result in improved GT reliability and life, hence further economic benets. The proposed absorption refrigeration-based scheme may also be compared with a vapor compression refrigeration system. Although vapor compression systems have COPs (i.e., 2e6.75 [44]) higher than those of absorption refrigeration systems, the former cannot utilize waste heat, and require a higher grade of energy to power them, i.e. a higher amount of electricity. Thus, there is a signicant difference between the energy required by an absorption cycle and a vapor compression cycle. For example, in order to provide 12.3 MW of cooling in peak compressor inlet air cooling load periods, a vapor compression cycle working at a COP of 6 would require an additional 2 MW of electric energy relative to an absorption cycle (i.e., Option 2). This translates to equivalent primary fuel savings of approximately 114 million standard cubic meters (MSCM) of NG, that is $16276, based on a NG sale price of $4.02/MMBtu [2], for the proposed waste heat powered ARS (i.e., Option 2), relative to a vapor compression cycle. If it is assumed that the cost of electricity is approximately ve times the net value of heat recovered from GT exhaust gases [11], on a kW/$ basis, the absorption chiller would have an operating cost advantage. With the availability of waste heat and low-cost absorption refrigeration technology, a range of applications could now become feasible in the oil and gas industry. Apart from GT compressor inlet air cooling, the waste heat powered ARS shown in Fig. 2 could be integrated with a range of other on-site candidate applications. Examples include replacement or enhancement of either vapor compression chillers (as in the case of Option 2) or propane chillers in NG processing plants, enhancement of light end recovery in oil reneries, sea water desalination, space cooling, air liquefaction, and CO2 sequestration. Economic savings of a similar order of magnitude as those predicted in the present analysis could be anticipated for such applications. Although in general, economic payback period is an important consideration for the potential adoption of efciency enhancement schemes in oil and gas plants, at present the need to reduce environmental impact and the reliance on licensed process technologies may be of higher priority for many Middle East facilities. The former consideration would favor implementation of waste heat recovery, while the second would be prohibitive. However, with rising energy prices, economics may become a more important motivating factor for Middle East plants in the future to adopt waste heat recovery technologies, such as that proposed in this study. 7. Conclusions The use of waste heat powered absorption refrigeration for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling was thermodynamically and economically evaluated for application in natural gas processing plants (NGPPs) operated in hot and humid conditions representative of the Persian Gulf climate. In the proposed scheme, the waste heat is recovered from gas turbine exhaust gases to generate steam in a waste heat recovery steam generator, and drive a single-effect lithium-bromide (LiBr) absorption refrigeration system (ARS). The thermodynamic performance of this scheme was compared with that of conventional evaporative coolers and mechanical vaporcompression chillers, in terms of key operating parameters, and

either demineralized water or electricity consumption. Economic feasibility was assessed for two candidate options of implementation, that were based on the use of either one or three absorption chillers. The former option solely provides gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling, while the second option also provides plant process cooling during off-peak compressor inlet air cooling periods. In worst-case summer conditions (55  C, 80% RH), evaporative coolers were found to provide 2.3 MW cooling capacity by vaporizing approximately 0.8 kg/s of water in the compressor inlet air duct for cooling ambient air to the corresponding wet bulb temperature. However in such ambient conditions, additional humidication does not produce the desired cooling effect due to the high wet-bulb temperature of the compressor inlet air. Alternatively, using three waste heat powered single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chillers, 17 MW of waste heat can be recovered from gas turbine exhaust gases and utilized to provide 12.3 MW of cooling at a coefcient of performance of 0.77. Since absorption cooling is not affected by RH, gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling can be provided at a constant temperature of 10  C. Consequently, in the same ambient conditions, evaporative cooling enhances gas turbine power output and energy efciency by 4.2% and 1.6%, respectively, whereas absorption cooling enhances these parameters by 23.2% and 13%, respectively. The additional electric power generated over a complete year by the waste heat powered ARS and evaporative cooler is of 5264 MWh and 1774 MWh, respectively. This demonstrates the technical feasibility and advantages of waste heat powered absorption refrigeration for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling in the Middle East, not only based on peak summer cooling loads, but also throughout the year. When compared to a vapor compression chiller that would provide the same amount of cooling as the ARS, the proposed scheme would permit to save approximately 2 MW of electric power, assuming a COP of 6 for the vapor compression chiller. The additional electric power generated by the GT cycle with compressor inlet air cooling would permit annual savings of approximately 0.204e0.516 million US$ to be realized for the rst waste heat recovery option (i.e., one absorption chiller), and 0.891e2.259 million US$ for the second option (i.e., three absorption chillers). The payback period of Option 1 is estimated to range from 2 to 5.1 years depending upon on local variations in the cost of electric power and water consumed in the UAE. Despite higher initial capital investment for Option 2, the payback period of the waste heat recovery scheme is reduced to 1.3e3.4 years by integrating the waste heat powered ARS with other plant process cooling applications to be enhanced during offpeak compressor inlet air cooling load periods. Such payback periods are a fraction of the operating lives of NGPPs, which are on the order of decades. Furthermore, considering the on-going rise in electricity and water prices in the Middle East, the estimated payback periods are likely to decrease in the near future. Despite low initial capital investment, the payback period of a typical GT compressor inlet air evaporative cooling system would be comparable to that of Option 2, i.e., 1.7e3.5 years. This is attributable to the limited additional GT electric power generated by evaporative cooling in the Persian Gulf climate. This nding should be contrasted with the industrys typical perception that evaporative coolers are the most economically justiable solution for GT compressor inlet air cooling. This study indicates that the implementation of waste heat powered absorption refrigeration for gas turbine compressor inlet air cooling in NGPPs would be clearly justied on the basis of thermo-economic feasibility. The proposed waste heat utilization scheme would have applicability to a range of other potential waste heat powered absorption

S. Popli et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 918e931

931

refrigeration applications in oil and gas plants, such as replacement or enhancement of propane chillers in NGPPs, enhancement of light end recovery in oil reneries, sea water desalination, space cooling, air liquefaction, and CO2 sequestration. Future work could also consider analysis of gas turbine part load operation, as well as exergy, environmental impact, and the design and analysis of an ARS condenser water-cooling system for application in the Middle East climate.

References
[1] US Energy Information Administration, World Proved Reserves of Oil and Natural Gas (2009) [cited 2012 February 10]. Available from: http://www.eia. doe.gov/emeu/international/reserves.html. [2] U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2010 with Projections to 2035 (2010) [cited 2010 October 5]. Available from: http:// www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/pdf/0383%282010%29.pdf. [3] H. Cohen, G. Rogers, H. Saravanamuttoo, Gas Turbine Theory, third ed. Longman Scientic and Technical, Singapore, 1987. [4] M.D. Islam, I. Kubo, M. Ohadi, A.A. Alili, Measurement of solar energy radiation in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Applied Energy 86 (2009) 511e515. [5] Freemeteo: Hourly weather history for Abu Dhabi. [cited 2012 February 4]. Available from: http://freemeteo.com/default.asp? pid20&gid292968&sid412160&la1&lc1&nDate15/7/2011. [6] A.A. El-Hadik, The impact of atmospheric conditions on gas turbine performance, Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power 112 (1993) 590e596. [7] H. Canire, A. Willockx, E. Dick, M. De Paepe, Raising cycle efciency by intercooling in air-cooled gas turbines, Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 1780e1787. [8] C.B. Meher-Homji, D. Messersmith, T. Hattenbach, J. Rockwell, H.P. Weyermann, K. Masani, S. Thatcher, M. Maher, Aeroderivative Gas Turbines for LNG Liquefaction Plants-part 1: The Importance of Thermal Efciency, ASME Turboexpo, Berlin, Germany, 2008 June 9e13, p. 8. [9] A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham, A review of inlet air-cooling technologies for enhancing the performance of combustion turbines in Saudi Arabia, Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888. [10] T.H. Kuehn, J.W. Ramsey, J.L. Threlkeld, Thermal Environmental Engineering, third ed. Prentice Hall, NJ, USA, 1998. [11] C.B. Dorgan, S.P. Leight, C.E. Dorgan, Application Guide for Absorption Cooling/ Refrigeration Using Recovered Heat, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, (ASHRAE), Atlanta, GA, USA, 1995. [12] J.C. Bruno, J. Miquel, F. Castells, Modeling of ammonia absorption chillers integration in energy systems of process plants, Applied Thermal Engineering 19 (12) (1995) 1297e1328. [13] B. Brant, S. Brueske, D. Erickson, R. Papar, New waste-heat refrigeration unit cuts aring, reduces pollution, Oil and Gas Journal 96 (20) (1998) 61e64. [14] D. Erickson, Waste Wonder: Ammonia-absorption Refrigeration Unit Powered by Waste Heat Nets Renery Environmentally Friendly Prots, Energy Concept Company, Annapolis, MD, USA, 1999. [15] D. Erickson, E. Lauber, Waste-heat Powered Ammonia Refrigeration Unit for LPG Recovery, US-Department of Energy, 2008, Report No.: DE-FG03GO13128; p. 16. [16] A. Mortazavi, Y. Hwang, R. Radermacher, S. Hashimi, P. Rodgers, Enhancement of LNG propane cycle through waste heat powered absorption cooling. Proceedings of The Second International Energy 2030 Conference, 2008 Nov 4e5. Abu Dhabi, UAE. p. 104e115. [17] P. Kalinowski, Y. Hwang, R. Radermacher, S. Al Hashimi, P. Rodgers, Application of waste heat powered absorption refrigeration system to the LNG recovery process, International Journal of Refrigeration 32 (4) (2009) 687e694. [18] A. Mortazavi, C. Somers, A. Alabdulkarem, Y. Hwang, R. Radermacher, Enhancement of APCI cycle efciency with absorption chillers, Energy 35 (9) (2010) 3877e3882. [19] S. Sanaye, M. Tahani, Analysis of gas turbine operating parameters with inlet fogging and wet compression processes, Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 234e244. [20] R. Hosseini, A. Beshkani, M. Soltani, Performance improvement of gas turbines of Fars (Iran) combined cycle power plant by intake air cooling using a media evaporative cooler, Energy Conversion and Management 48 (2007) 1055e1064. [21] M. Utamura, I. Takehara, H. Karasawa, MAT, a novel, open cycle gas turbine for power augmentation, Energy Conversion and Management 39 (16e18) (1998) 1631e1642. [22] A.A. Zadpoor, A.H. Golshan, Performance improvement of a gas turbine cycle by using a desiccant-based evaporative cooling system, Energy 31 (2006) 2652e2664. [23] B. Dawoud, Y.H. Zurigat, J. Bortmany, Thermodynamic assessment of power requirements and impact of different gas-turbine inlet air cooling techniques at two different locations in Oman, Applied Thermal Engineering 25 (11e12) (2005) 1579e1598.

[24] E. Kakaras, A. Doukelis, S. Karellas, Compressor intake-air cooling in gas turbine plants, Energy 29 (2004) 2347e2358. [25] C. Yang, Z. Yang, R. Cai, Analytical method for evaluation of gas turbine inlet air cooling in combined cycle power plant, Applied Energy 86 (2009) 848e856. [26] S. Boonnasa, P. Namprakai, T. Muangnapoh, Performance improvement of the combined cycle power plant by intake air cooling using an absorption chiller, Energy 31 (2006) 2036e2046. [27] M. Ameri, S.H. Hejazi, The study of capacity enhancement of the Chabahar gas turbine installation using an absorption chiller, Applied Thermal Engineering 24 (1) (2004) 59e68. [28] B. Mohanty, G. Paloso, Enhancing gas turbine performance by intake air cooling using an absorption chiller, Heat Recovery Systems and CHP 15 (1995) 41e50. [29] O.S. Sanjay, B.N. Prasad, Comparative performance analysis of cogeneration gas turbine cycle for different blade cooling means, International Journal of Thermal Sciences 48 (7) (2009) 1432e1440. [30] H. Perez-Blanco, K.H. Kim, S. Ream, Evaporatively-cooled compression using a high-pressure refrigerant, Applied Energy 84 (2007) 1028e1043. [31] R. Chacartegui, F. Jimnez-Espadafor, D. Snchez, T. Snchez, Analysis of combustion turbine inlet air cooling systems applied to an operating cogeneration power plant, Energy Conversion and Management 49 (2008) 2130e2141. [32] X. Shi, B. Agnew, D. Che, Gao, Performance enhancement of conventional combined cycle power plant by inlet air cooling, inter-cooling and LNG cold energy utilization, Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 2003e2010. [33] F-Chart Software, Engineering Equation Solver. Madison, WI, USA (2008). [34] G.E. Energy, GE Gas Turbine Technical Comparison Catalog (2004) [cited 2011 June 12]. Available from: http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/gas_ turbines _cc/en/downloads/gt_tech_sheet.pdf. [35] K.E. Herold, R. Radermacher, S.A. Klein, Absorption Chiller and Heat Pumps, CRC Press Inc., FL, USA, 1996. [36] P. Srikhirin, S. Aphornratana, S. Chungpaibulpatana, A review of absorption refrigeration technologies, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 5 (4) (2001) 343e372. [37] P.A. Davies, A solar cooling system for greenhouse food production in hot climates, Solar Energy 79 (6) (2005) 661e668. [38] J. Kampf, M. Sadrinasab, The circulation of the Persian Gulf: a numerical study, Ocean Science 2 (2006) 27e41. Available from: http://www.ocean-sci.net/2/ 27/2006 (last accessed September 2011). [39] Y. Cengel, M. Boles, Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, seventh ed. McGraw-Hill Publication, Inc., NY, USA, 2010. [40] M.J. Moran, H.N. Shapiro, Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics, sixth ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., NY, USA, 2008. [41] K. Gommed, G. Grossman, Performance analysis of staged absorption heatpumps: water-lithium bromide systems, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineer (ASHRAE) Transactions 96 (1) (1990) 1590e1598. [42] S. Popli, P. Rodgers, V. Eveloy, S. AlHashimi, R. Radermacher, Y. Hwang, Opportunities for energy efciency enhancements in the oil and gas industry using waste heat powered absorption chillers. Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC); 2010, Nov 1e4; Abu Dhabi, UAE. Paper No. SPE 138724. [43] S. Popli, An assessment of waste heat powered absorption cooling in the oil and gas industry, Masters of Science thesis, Department of Chemical Engineering, The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2011. [44] American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), ASHRAE Refrigeration Handbook. Atlanta, GA, USA (2002). [45] E.S. Zabala, Technological and Economic Evaluation of District Cooling with Absorption Cooling Systems in Galve (Sweden), University of Gavle, Sweden, 2009. [46] M. Farzaneh-Gord, M. Deymi-Dashtebayaz, Effect of various inlet air cooling methods on gas turbine performance, Energy 36 (2) (2011) 1196e1205. [47] T. Jaruwongwittaya, G. Chen, A review: renewable energy with absorption chillers in Thailand, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 14 (2010) 1437e1444. [48] Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA). Regulation and Supervision Bureau, Information Tariffs, Electricity Tariffs for Large Users in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. p. 3. [cited 2012 February 4]. Available from: http:// www.rsb.gov.ae/uploads/InfoElecTariffsLargeUsersNov09.pdf. [49] Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. [cited 2012 February 4]. Available from: http://www.dewa.gov.ae/tariff/newtariff.aspx. [50] Arabian Business.com, 2010, Abu Dhabi Considers Electricity Price Rise (September 27, 2010).http://www.arabianbusiness.com/abu-dhabi-considerselectricity-price-rise-351520.html. [51] The National, 2010, Electricity Charges to Rise in Abu Dhabi (October 24, 2010).http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/electricity-charges-to-risein-abu-dhabi. [52] B.A. Qureshi, S.M. Zubair, Prediction of evaporation losses in evaporative uid coolers, Applied Thermal Engineering 27 (2e3) (2007) 520e527. [53] M.V. Biezma, J.R.S. Cristbal, Investment criteria for the selection of cogeneration plants-a state of the art review, Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (5e6) (2006) 583e588.