Energy and Environmental Analyses of a Solar–Gas Turbine Combined Cycle with Inlet Air Cooling

Ahmad M. Abubaker (), Adnan Darwish Ahmad, Binit B. Singh, Yaman M. Manaserh, Loiy Al-Ghussain (), Nelson K. Akafuah and Kozo Saito
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Ahmad M. Abubaker: Institute of Research for Technology Development (IR4TD), University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
Adnan Darwish Ahmad: Institute of Research for Technology Development (IR4TD), University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
Binit B. Singh: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA
Yaman M. Manaserh: Department of Mechanical Engineering, ES2 Center, Binghamton University-SUNY, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
Loiy Al-Ghussain: Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
Nelson K. Akafuah: Institute of Research for Technology Development (IR4TD), University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
Kozo Saito: Institute of Research for Technology Development (IR4TD), University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-31

Abstract: Sensitivity to ambient air temperatures, consuming a large amount of fuel, and wasting a significant amount of heat dumped into the ambient atmosphere are three major challenges facing gas turbine power plants. This study was conducted to simultaneously solve all three aforementioned GT problems using solar energy and introducing a new configuration that consists of solar preheating and inlet-air-cooling systems. In this study, air was preheated at a combustion chamber inlet using parabolic trough collectors. Then, inlet air to the compressor was cooled by these collectors by operating an absorption cooling cycle. At the design point conditions, this novel proposed integration resulted in a 6.87% relative increase in generated power and a 10.53% relative decrement in fuel consumption, achieving a 19.45% relative increment in the plant’s thermal efficiency. This was accompanied by a reduction of 0.026 kg/s, 4.2 kg/s, and 0.278 kg/s in CO 2 , CO, and NOx emissions, respectively. Finally, spider diagrams were employed to assess the impact of the operating parameters on the overall system’s performance and its associated environmental implications.

Keywords: combined-cycle power plants; solar power; parabolic trough collector; absorption cooling unit; decarbonization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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