Proceedings of the ASME 2012 6th International Conference on Energy Sustainability

ES2012
July 23-26, 2012, San Diego, CA, USA

ES2012-91148
MODELING OF GAS TURBINE-BASED COGENERATION SYSTEM

Farshid Zabihian Alan S. Fung

West Virginia University Institute of Technology Ryerson University
Montgomery, West Virginia, United States Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Fabio Schuler
Whitby Cogeneration Power Plant
Whitby, Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
Gas turbine-based power plants generate a significant Gas turbines (GT) have been used in the power generation
portion of world’s electricity. This paper presents the modeling industry for more than a century due to their low capital cost,
of a gas turbine-based cogeneration cycle. One of the reasons short installation time, and compact size. Also, the short start-up
for the relatively low efficiency of a single gas turbine cycle is and shut down time of gas turbines make them a suitable option
the waste of high-grade energy at its exhaust stream. In order to for peak load operation. Due to their widespread utilization,
recover this wasted energy, steam and/or hot water can be their technology is mature and very well developed.
cogenerated to improve the cycle efficiency. In this work, a
Despite their widespread applications, there are three main
cogeneration power plant is introduced to use this wasted
disadvantages associated with using simple gas turbines for
energy to produce superheated steam for industrial processes.
power generation. First, the exhaust temperature of GTs is
The cogeneration system model was developed based on the
relatively high, which means high-grade energy is wasted and
data from the Whitby cogeneration power plant in ASPEN
results in low system efficiency. Application of gas turbines in
PLUS®. The model was validated against the operational data of
cogeneration plants and combined cycle power plants can help
the existing power plant. The electrical and total (both electrical
to recover some of the wasted thermal energy from the GT
and thermal) efficiencies were around 40% and 70% (LHV),
exhaust stream to produce further electricity and/or useful
respectively. It is shown that cogenerating electricity and steam
thermal energy. Second, the output power and efficiency of GTs
not only significantly improve the general efficiency of the cycle
and other cycles based on gas turbines strongly depend on
but it can also recover the output and efficiency losses of the gas
ambient conditions, especially ambient temperature, and are
turbine as a result of high ambient temperature by generating
reduced with a higher ambient temperature. This problem can be
more superheated steam. Furthermore, this work shows that the
partly remedied by using compressor inlet air cooling systems.
model could capture the operation of the systems with an
Finally, gas turbines cannot be fuelled with solid fuels. This issue
acceptable accuracy.
can be addressed by using integrated gasification combined
cycles. The first issue and an approach to deal with it is the topic
of this paper.

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 COGENERATION
Cogeneration, also known as combined heat and power
(CHP), is a concept to utilize otherwise wasted thermal energy
of the thermal engine exhaust stream (such as gas turbine, steam
cycle, and internal combustion engine) for some useful
applications, such as space heating, generating process steam
and/or hot water [1, 2]. In general, when an energy source is
used to produce more than one form of useful energy, it is called
cogeneration. This usually means a cascade of energy from high
quality energy, i.e. high temperature, to low grade energy at low
temperature [3]. This multiple usage of energy resources
reduces fuel consumption and thus improves total efficiency of
power and heat production [4]. Because of higher efficiency,
cogeneration systems can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions significantly [5]. The GHG reduction of up to 50%
has been reported in the literature [3]. Several studies reported
the performance of cogeneration systems through energy and
exergy analyses [6-11]. Najjar [12] studied various gas turbine-
based cogeneration power plants and reported that these
systems can boost the thermal efficiency even at part load.
Khaliq and Khan [l3] studies a gas turbine cogeneration cycle by
the first (energy) and second (exergy) laws of thermodynamics.
Ust et al. [14] studied the optimization of the GT cogeneration
system through exergy analysis and concluded that the system
efficiency can be improved significantly.

WHITBY COGENERATION POWER PLANT

The Whitby cogeneration power plant, located in Whitby,
Ontario, is a gas turbine-based plant (Figure 1) where the Figure 1: General overview of the Whitby cogeneration
exhaust stream of the gas turbine is used to produce superheated power plant
steam in a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to provide
required steam for a paper manufacturing factory next to the
power plant. This plant’s configuration and specifications were MODEL DESCRIPTION
used to develop a cogeneration plant model, and the operational Figure 2 illustrates the model of the cogeneration plant
data from this power plant were used to validate the model. developed for this work in ASPEN PLUS®. Tables 1 and 2 list
The Whitby cogeneration power plant is equipped with a natural gas composition and model constants for the equipment
gas turbine with rated capacity of 58 MW (at the site’s standard of the gas turbine cogeneration plant.
conditions), and makes use of a once through HRSG to produce It should be noted that the isentropic and mechanical
superheated steam. It is owned and operated privately and has efficiencies of turbomachinery are proprietary of the equipment
been operating since 1997. This type of GT was originally manufactures and are not publicly available. In order to
designed for aviation applications, and when it was adapted for determine these constants, the inlet and output stream
stationary power generation applications, two types of NOx conditions of compressors and turbines were used to estimate
control systems were added: dry system and wet system. In the these values by the trial and error process. For instance, to
dry system, the flame temperature is controlled by the flow rate determine the isentropic efficiency of the compressors, it was
of excess air. But in the wet system, demineralized water is known that at an ambient temperature of 10°C, the outlet
injected to the combustion chamber to control the flame temperature of the high pressure compressor was 587°C. It was
temperature. The gas turbine in this plant was originally found that for an isentropic efficiency of 85%, the temperature
equipped with a dry NOx control system. But due to the high of the compressor outlet stream from the model matched the
maintenance cost of this system, it was replaced with a wet actual temperature from the system operation (587.3°C vs.
control system in February 2010. 587°C, respectively). This value was used for the entire range of
system operation. The same approach was used to determine the
mechanical efficiencies by matching total output power of the

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 system in a particular condition. These values were considered compressed air stream then mixes with the pressurized natural
applicable for other conditions as well, and, as will be shown gas and NOx control water streams before being fed to the
later, these approximations were reasonably accurate. combustor. The natural gas stream is provided by the gas
distribution company at a temperature between 5°C and 15°C
In this model, which resembles the Whitby cogeneration
(in the model this temperature was fixed at 10°C) and pressure
power plant, the air inlet stream is compressed in three steps
of 28.4 bar. The pressure of the natural gas stream is increased
through three compressors, with pressure ratio of 1.7, 4.5, and
to 55.8 bar at NGCOMP. The composition of the inlet natural
4.4, respectively, from the low pressure compressor to the high
gas is presented in Table 1, and its LHV and HHV are 48,832
pressure one. The ambient pressure of the site is 1.00232 bar.
and 54,168 kJ/kg, respectively. The mass flow rate of natural
The pressure of the discharge of the high pressure compressor
gas depends on the plant load and operational conditions.
varies with ambient conditions, but it is about 33 bar. The

Figure 2: Schematic of gas turbine cogeneration plant model studied in this paper

Table 1: Natural gas composition delivered to Whitby cogeneration power plant (mass-based)

Methane Ethane Propane Nitrogen Carbon LHV HHV

Component
(CH4) (C2H6) (C3H8) (N2) dioxide (CO2) (MJ/kg) (MJ/kg)
Mass fraction 95.537% 2.064% 0.117% 1.942% 0.34% 48.8 54.2

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 The NOx control water inlet stream is provided from the
Table 2: Constants for the gas turbine cogeneration plant
water treatment plant at a temperature between 5°C and 15°C
model (in the model this temperature was fixed at 10°C) and pressure
around 6.1 bar. The NOx control water pump discharge pressure
Air compressor 1 (AIRCOMP1) is about 3.4 bar above the discharge of the third compressor.
The combustion chamber was assumed fully insulated, and there
Pressure ratio 1.7 was no heat loss. After the combustion process in the
Isentropic efficiency (%) 85 combustion chamber, the combustion products expand through
three gas turbines with pressure ratios of 2.7, 2.2, and 5.4,
Mechanical efficiency (%) 98.6 respectively, from the high pressure turbine to the low pressure
one. The combustion chamber temperature is not measured in
Air compressor 2 (AIRCOMP2) the plant. The GT3 outlet stream is then guided to the HRSG,
Pressure ratio 4.5 where the thermal energy of the stream is utilized to produce
superheated steam. The water stream enters the HRSG at the
Isentropic efficiency (%) 85 temperature of the deaerator, 108°C, from the discharge of the
Mechanical efficiency (%) 98.6 feedwater pumps at a pressure of about 35 bar with the
maximum mass flow rate of 60,330 kg/h at full load
Air compressor 3 (AIRCOMP3) cogeneration. The GT exhaust stream cools down in the HRSG
to a temperature of about 180°C. The superheated steam
Pressure ratio 4.4
produced in the HRSG is then desuperheated in the
Isentropic efficiency (%) 85 desuperheater to bring the steam temperature to about 10°C
above the saturation temperature of the steam. The mass flow
Mechanical efficiency (%) 98.6 rate of the water inlet stream to the desuperheater at full load
Natural gas compressor (NGCOMP) cogeneration is about 18,145 kg/h, and the water is at the same
conditions as the inlet stream to the HRSG. It should be noted
Discharge pressure (bar) 56 that the operation of the process steam generation system and
its load are independent of the power generation system, and
Isentropic efficiency (%) 85
depend on the demand from the paper manufacturing factory. In
Mechanical efficiency (%) 98 fact, the HRSG of the Whitby cogeneration power plant can be
in service in dry conditions even if there is no demand for steam
NOx water pump (NOXWPUMP) from the factory. Table 3 shows the important thermodynamic
Discharge pressure (bar) 38 properties of the major streams in the cycle at an ambient
temperature of 10°C.
Isentropic efficiency (%) 80
Mechanical efficiency (%) 98
MODEL VALIDATION AND MODELING RESULTS
Gas turbine 1 (GT1)
The results of the developed model were compared against
Pressure ratio 2.7 the operational data of the Whitby cogeneration power plant. It
should be noted that the mass flow rate of air, fuel, and NOx
Isentropic efficiency (%) 90 control water were inputs for the model, and the system output
Mechanical efficiency (%) 98.6 power and low pressure gas turbine outlet temperature were the
output parameters to compare. The results presented in Table 4
Gas turbine 2 (GT2) show that the model can accurately capture the operation of the
system with a reasonable accuracy (error of lower than 0.25%
Pressure ratio 2.2
for gas turbine outlet power and lower than 1% for gas turbine
Isentropic efficiency (%) 90 exhaust temperature). It should be noted that in order to
determine the net output power, the internal power required to
Mechanical efficiency (%) 98.6 run the natural gas compressor and all other auxiliary
Gas turbine 3 (GT3) equipment, about 1 MW all together, should be deducted from
the output power.
Pressure ratio 5.4
Isentropic efficiency (%) 90
Mechanical efficiency (%) 98.6

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 Table 3: Important thermodynamic properties of the major streams in gas turbine cogeneration system
COMBPRO COMBPRO COMBPRO COMBPRO COMBPRO
Streams AIRHP AIRIN AIRIP AIRLP AIRNG
1 2 3 4 5
Temperature (°C) 587.3 10.0 274.1 64.5 496.1 1,209.6 937.4 751.4 435.0 180.0
Pressure (bar) 33.7 1.0 7.7 1.7 33.7 33.7 12.5 5.7 1.0 1.0
Mass flow (kg/h) 569,520 569,520 569,520 569,520 592,490 592,490 592,490 592,490 592,490 592,490
H2 O 0 0 0 0 12,177 35,756 35,756 35,756 35,756 35,756
N2 430,272 430,272 430,272 430,272 430,482 430,482 430,482 430,482 430,482 430,482
Mass flow rate (kg/h)

O2 131,901 131,901 131,901 131,901 131,901 89,892 89,892 89,892 89,892 89,892
CO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CO2 285 285 285 285 321 29,298 29,298 29,298 29,298 29,298
Argon 7,062 7,062 7,062 7,062 7,062 7,062 7,062 7,062 7,062 7,062
Methane 0 0 0 0 10,311 0 0 0 0 0
Ethane 0 0 0 0 223 0 0 0 0 0
Propane 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 0

Table 3: Important thermodynamic properties of the major streams in gas turbine cogeneration system (cont.)
Streams DESHWAT HRSGWIN NGHP NGIN NOXWATER NOXWATIN STEAM STEAMOUT
Temperature (°C) 108.0 108.0 68.3 10.0 10.3 10.0 381.0 242.7
Pressure (bar) 35.5 35.5 56.2 28.6 38.0 6.2 35.5 35.5
Mass flow (kg/h) 18,144 60,328 10,793 10,793 12,177 12,177 60,328 78,471
H2 O 18,144 60,328 0 0 12,177 12,177 60,328 78,471
N2 0 0 210 210 0 0 0 0
Mass flow rate (kg/h)

O2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CO2 0 0 37 37 0 0 0 0
Argon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Methane 0 0 10,311 10,311 0 0 0 0
Ethane 0 0 223 223 0 0 0 0
Propane 0 0 13 13 0 0 0 0

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 Table 4: Comparison of modeling results with operational data from Whitby cogeneration power plant

Parameters Whitby Model Error

Ambient temperature (°C) -10
Output power (MW) 58 57.99 -0.02%
Temperature of GT3 exhaust (°C) 389.6 391.6 +0.51%
Air mass flow rate (kg/s) 167.4
Natural gas mass flow rate (kg/h) 10,621
NOx control water mass flow rate (kg/h) 10,881
Electrical efficiency (LHV) 40.25%
Electrical efficiency (HHV) 36.29%
Total (electrical + thermal) efficiency (LHV) 68.25%
Total (electrical + thermal) efficiency (HHV) 61.53%
Ambient temperature (°C) 0
Output power (MW) 58 57.87 -0.22%
Temperature of GT3 exhaust (°C) 409.8°C 411.4 +0.39%
Air mass flow rate (kg/s) 163.7
Natural gas mass flow rate (kg/h) 11,584
NOx water mass flow rate (kg/h) 10,711
Electrical efficiency (LHV) 39.83%
Electrical efficiency (HHV) 35.91%
Total (electrical + thermal) efficiency (LHV) 69.72%
Total (electrical + thermal) efficiency (HHV) 62.85%
Ambient temperature (°C) 10
Output power (MW) 58 57.91 -0.16%
Temperature of GT3 exhaust (°C) 431.2 434.9 +0.86%
Air mass flow rate (kg/s) 158.2
Natural gas mass flow rate (kg/h) 11,793
NOx water mass flow rate (kg/h) 12,177
Electrical efficiency (LHV) 39.56%
Electrical efficiency (HHV) 35.66%
Total (electrical + thermal) efficiency (LHV) 71.39%
Total (electrical + thermal) efficiency (HHV) 64.36%

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 the efficiency and output power reduction of the gas turbine in
The turbine inlet temperature is an important parameter for
hot summer days by generating more superheated steam.
GT design and operation, because it is the highest temperature
throughout a specific gas turbine. The turbine inlet temperature
(TIT) is limited by turbine blade material and the maximum
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
permitted NOx emission. In this power plant, the TIT is around
1200°C, and its exact value depends on the ambient conditions The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support
and the plant load. provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC) through Discovery Grants (DG)
The modeling results are presented for 3 ambient
and Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS).
temperatures, -10°C, 0°C, and 10°C. Gas turbine-based power
plants are very sensitive to ambient conditions and their output
power and efficiency can be decreased significantly with increase
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