Introduction to Combine Cycle Power Plant

By Leelananda Pilanawithana

Power plants
Categorized by functional type
Base load Peak load and emergency  Base load
Run continuously, stop only for maintenance. Generate power most in any given year. Have lowest operating cost.
Its type High efficient combined cycle plants fueled by natural gas or liquid fuel Nuclear Power Plants Conventional steam power plants fueled primarily by coal or fernours oil Hydropower plants

Power plants
 Peak load and emergency
Run during peak load demand period or an emergency. Operating cost is high, but cheap to built. Fast start and loading.
Type Open Cycle (Simple cycle) gas turbine plant. Diesel engine plants. Hydropower plant

Definition
Combine
When several different things add together

Cycle
Process is repeated or moving around a circle. In Thermodynamic point of view,
 Rankine,  Diesel,  Otto ,  Carnot,  Brayton, are some of the thermodynamic cycles.

Definition
Those cycles are always associated with one of the two type of combustion processes.
Internal Combustion  Gas Turbines,  Diesel engines,  Gasoline engines External Combustion
 Steam Engines (Boiler and steam turbine)

Cycle Definition
Combine Cycle
Employ more than one thermodynamic cycles.
Brayton cycle, Rankine cycle.

Improve the simple Brayton cycle efficiency by capturing wasted energy in Brayton cycle and use it in Ranking Cycle. Brayton cycle,
Engine used extensively is a Gas Turbine utilize only a portion of the energy from the fuel that is being used Open cycle or Reminder if not recovered is wasted. Simple cycle
Open cycle Configuration Combine cycle Configuration

Gas Turbine and its Major components

Cycle Definition
Rankine cycle
Engine used is Heat Recovery Boiler (HRSG) plus Steam Turbine.

Basic equipment arrangement

Temperature Entropy Diagram

Drums

Heat Exchanger Modules

Flue Gas in

Heat Recovery Steam Generator

Steam Turbine

Advantages of Combine Cycle Power Plant

Low installation cost / MW High efficiency among all practical power cycles. Low auxiliary power consumption/MW (2 3%) Less manpower/MW ratio. High reliability and availability. Clean operating Condition. Less Gestation period. Fast starting characteristics. Less water requirement.

Advantages of Combine Cycle Power Plant

Less pollution problems. Flexibility in locating power plant. Fuel flexibility. Less space requirement. Gas turbine can be operated as peak load plant and Steam turbine as base load plant by supplementary firing in HRSG unit

Disadvantages of Combine Cycle Power Plant Need good quality fuel specifically low sulfur, vanadium and lead content . Fuel treatment process is costly. GT performance severely deteriorate with ambient temperature. High Nox pollutant. GT life is less due to corrosion problems. Uneconomical partial load operation.