Intercooled Gas Turbine Engine
Intercooled Gas Turbine Engine
Intercooled Gas Turbine Engine
Abstract
gas turbine (ICGT) engine and large two-pass reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system is
analyzed thermodynamically. The proposed model has been developed using the IPSEpro
software package and validated with manufacturers’ published data. Saline water is simulated
using the latest physical properties available in the literature and treated as a real mixture.
Combined energetic and exergetic performance criteria for the design of a cogeneration plant
is presented as being, today, the most efficient method for accurate assessment of performance
which also permits quantification of system deficiencies. The performance of the proposed
plant was investigated using different loads, ambient temperatures, pressure ratios and feed
water temperatures. The results show an intercooler system improves cogeneration plant
The ICGT engine is considered to be the best available choice to integrate with an RO unit
because of its high-pressure ratio and low power consumption in the compressors. From an
operational perspective full load, low ambient and high feed water temperatures are highly
recommended. The exergetic efficiency of the ICGT engine, RO system and cogeneration plant
are shown to be 44.3 %, 32.83 % and 47.6% respectively. From a sustainability perspective,
affected by load variation. Based upon the obtained results, numerous possibilities are
The rate of depletion of non-renewable energy and water has increased enormously over the
last century to meet the demands of increased economic activities, rapid increases in population
and changes in lifestyle which has had serious adverse effects on environmental sustainability.
Cogeneration systems to supply power and clean water from a single fuel source have a
relatively high performance, low production cost and environmental impact compared to
separate power and desalination plants. The most common technology used for electrical
generation today is the GT whereas in water technology reverse osmosis (RO) is predominant.
In the current study, these two systems are integrated as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Exergy represents the maximum obtainable work from a system under reversible conditions.
Exergy analysis is a decisive tool to assess the efficiency of energy systems especially when
the product has a different energy form and quality. It reveals the sources and magnitudes of
irreversibilities within a system. Exergy analysis is governed by the first and second laws of
In last two decades, numerous exergy studies have been performed on RO plants in standalone
mode, but only a few have focused on RO plants in cogeneration systems. Cerci (2002)
performed an exergy analysis study for a 7250 m3/d RO plant located in California and
alternative designs were explored in order to improve plant performance. The exergetic
efficiency of the plant was low, equal to 4.3%, and the proposed alternative design had an
exergetic efficiency of 4.9%, only slightly higher than the original plant. In that study, the
Wanga and Tang (2013) produced an exergetic analysis of a two-stage RO desalination plant,
which resulted in two main findings. First, increasing the number of stages raises the input
pressure, resulting in higher exergy and total exergy destruction. Second, exergetic efficiency
can be improved by heating the feed water and increasing product flow usage. Ternero, et al.
(2005) conducted an exergetic study of a 21,000 m3/d RO plant located in Spain. The main
observation was that about 80% of exergy destruction occurred in the core unit, which consisted
of high pressure pumps, membrane modules and valve regulation. Aljundi (2009) introduced
second-law analysis using actual plant data from a 1,600 m3/d RO plant located in Jordan. The
results of this study show the highest exergy destruction occurred in the membrane modules
and throttling valve, confirming the findings of Cerci (2002). Al-Zahrani et al. (2012)
configurations were introduced into the desalination unit; (i) a throttling valve in the rejection
section, (ii) an hydraulic turbine and (iii) a pressure exchanger system (PX) used as an energy
recovery device (ERD). The results showed that plant performance was significantly affected
by applied pressure, feed water salinity and temperature. El-Emam and Dincer (2014)
investigated the performance of a 7586 m3/d RO desalination plant with an integrated energy
recovery Pelton turbine, at different seawater salinity values. The exergy analysis showed that
the energy recovery device reduced exergy destruction by 35.5%, compared to expansion
valves. The recovery ratio of ERD was inversely proportional to product unit cost.
Sharqawy et al. (2011b) carried out exergetic analysis on a RO desalination plant using the
consisting purely of H2O and NaCl. The results showed a significant difference between the
results obtained using an ideal mixture and real properties, especially with regard to exergetic
Mistry et al. (2011) carried out exergetic analysis for different desalination technologies using
a new definition for useful exergy output. In their study, the exergetic efficiencies of RO, ME-
TVC, MED, and MSF were found to be 31.9 %, 8.5 %, 5.9 % and 2.9% respectively. Kempton
et al. (2010) investigated the thermodynamic efficiencies and greenhouse-gas emissions for
three alternative desalination technologies. The result show that the highest exergetic efficiency
occur with RO at 30.1% followed by 14.3% MED and 7.7% MSF. Dashtpour and Al-zubaidy
(2012) applied energy analysis to a RO plant using new a scheme to reduce electrical power
consumption per unit volume of fresh water. Farooque et al. (2008) conducted energetic
analyses of RO plant utilizing energy recovery devices. According to the study, the power
consumption of the high-pressure pump was highly dependent on ERD efficiency and seasonal
operating conditions.
In recent years, several studies have proposed environmental indicators based on an exergy
analysis. Midilli and Dincer (2009) developed new exergetic–environmental indicators for a
polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell in order to measure environmental impact and
sustainability. Some of these indicators were applied by Aydin (2013) to an aeroderivative GT.
In this context, the present authors (Almutairi et al, 2015a), have developed a new indicator,
a good indicator for measuring environmental impact resulting from energy system emissions.
The amount of carbon dioxide [CO2] was selected as a parameter to represent exhaust gases, as
be expressed as the ratio between the actual values and the stoichiometric value of CO2.
This article describes a study in which energy and exergy analyses were performed on a
cogeneration plant based on an advanced aero-derivative ICGT integrated with a two-pass large
❖ Developing a comprehensive model for a cogeneration plant based on exergy analysis using
❖ Evaluating a two-pass RO desalination plant of an industrial scale using the most recent
investigated, see Figure 1. The ICGT engine was inspired by the LMS 100 GE, a state-of-the-
art aero-derivative GT. The desalination plant was inspired by the Al Shuwaikh RO desalination
plant, see Figure 2, which is located in the state of Kuwait. The validation of the two models
The ICGT engine is distinguished by intercooling modification of the GT system, and in today’s
market it has the highest claimed power output and efficiency (for simple cycles). Intercooling
is an important technique that increases net GT power output by reducing compressor power
consumption. With the intercooling system, the power consumption of the HPC is reduced,
increasing overall efficiency. The ICGT system consists of three shafts (F’, G’ and H’), as
shown in Figure-1.
Figure 2. Schematic diagram for the Shuwaikh RO Desalination Plant (MEW, 2008).
The first shaft is connected to the low-pressure components; the second, to the high-pressure
components; and the third, to the power turbine. The cold section consists of the low-pressure
compressor (LPC), high-pressure compressor (HPC) and the intercooler situated between them.
The compressed air is delivered from the LPC to the intercooler to reduce the inlet temperature
of the HPC by extracting heat. The work required to drive the HPC is reduced and leads to an
There is one negative impact of the intercooling process, the lower temperature of the air being
delivered to the combustor, which increases the fuel consumption in the engine. The overall
pressure ratio in the LPC and HPC compressors is 42. To reduce pressure losses two scroll
casings have been introduced, one at the exit of the LPC before the intercooler, and the second
at the inlet of the HPC. The high-pressure compressed air moves forward to the annular
combustor and, mixed with fuel, results in hot, gaseous, products of combustion which are
directed into the turbine section and expand through the high-pressure turbine (HPT),
intermediate-pressure turbine (IPT), and low-pressure turbine (LPT) or power turbine (PT). The
HPT and IPT are derived the HPC and LPC whereas the LPT produces the power output. The
thermal efficiency and capacity of the ICGT engine are about 45% and 100 MW under
International Standards Organization [ISO] conditions. The stream of exhaust gases exits from
the stack at atmospheric pressure and temperature of about 685 K. ICGT performance data is
presented in Table 1.
The RO desalination plant is driven by the ICGT. A small portion of the power generated by
the ICGT is directly consumed by the RO plant, and the majority is exported to the electrical
network. The intake of the Shuwaikh RO desalination plant is on the coast of the Arabian Gulf,
which has a high salinity, reaching 45,000 ppm. The design capacity of the inlet is about
425,000 m3/d. The seawater supply pumps (SSP) draw seawater from the intake area and
deliver it into the dissolved air flotation (DAF) system. The feed water is treated physically
and chemically in the DAF system to remove or separate the colloidal solids, oils and greases.
The feed water moves forward through strainers and a static mixer via filter feed pumps (FFPs).
Next, the feed water is directed to the ultrafiltration (UF) system where large macromolecules,
colloids, bacteria and proteins are removed. The UF system has a membrane with large pore
7921.00 kJ/kWh
Compressor Pressure ratio 42 ----
Exhaust Mass flow 222 Kg/s
Exhaust Temperature 412 o
C
Number of SWRO stages 10 ----
Number of BWRO nit stages 4 ----
o
Seawater feed temperature 15 C
Seawater salinity 45000 ppm
Design mass flow rate 4921.1 Kg/s
Permeate mass flow rate 1611.1 Kg/s
Rejected mass flow rate 3342.8 Kg/s
RO Desalination Plant
mixer, then moves to the high-pressure pump (HPP). After that the high pressure feed water is
mixed with the discharge stream from the ERD booster pumps, after which it enters the first
RO unit (which consists of 10 stages). The exit stream splits into two main streams with
different salinities. The permeate exiting from the first unit is also divided into two streams, the
first is used as a feed to the second RO unit (4 stages) while the second blends with the permeate
stream exiting from the second RO unit and is moved to the product tank by the product water
pump. The product stream has a capacity of 136,000 m3/d with a salinity less than 200 ppm.
The brine water of the first RO units returns to the main stream after passing through the
pressure exchanger and booster pumps. The exiting brine water from the second RO unit is also
returned to the main stream and mixes with the feed water, but after the UF system has reduced
its salinity. The pressure exchanger system reduces the energy consumed in the first RO unit
by about 50%, especially at high feed salinity. The RO desalination plant contains a
sophisticated pretreatment process prior to the thermal processes and which requires more than
twenty different chemicals to protect the RO unit during its operation (Darwish, 2014) . The
3- Methodology
Comprehensive energetic and exergetic studies were performed for a simulated cogeneration
system inspired by real power generation and desalination units. The proposed system
performance was investigated at different loads, ambient temperatures, feed water temperatures
and pressure ratios. The following assumptions were made about the cogeneration system :-
▪ Intake air and combustion products in the ICGT could be treated as ideal gas mixtures.
▪ The pump efficiency was 75%, as published in (Kahraman and Cengel , 2005).
▪ The intake conditions were 288 K and 45000 ppm, and these were taken as the reference
state.
The modelling developments reported here and previously (Almutairi et al, 2016) , have taken
into account the thermophysical properties seawater, its composition and, particularly, chemical
exergy. This is considered important because seawater contains a strong electrolyte which
makes the ideal mixture concept inapplicable. Treating seawater as an ideal mixture produces
unrealistic negative exergetic values in the different streams which offends against the second
law of thermodynamics where the exergy must be equal to, or greater than zero. Nevertheless.
for the sake of simplicity, some researchers such as (Hou et al. , 2007) have assumed seawater
to be pure water. Ignoring the low salt percentage in seawater will have adverse effects on
desalination plant design (Sharqawy et al. , 2010). However, the present study uses the latest
calculations and results for density, specific enthalpy, specific entropy and chemical potential
Conservation of energy maintains the sum of all energies in that region is constant because
internal losses are not considered. For a generally steady state condition the energy equation
The heat transfer and work done are represented on the L.H.S. of Equation (1) while the change
in enthalpy, kinetic and potential energies are respectively represented on the R.H.S. Energy
analysis is considered a useful tool to calculate thermal efficiency, power output, heat release
and enthalpies. Detailed calculations of air to fuel ratio in the combustion chamber is shown in
Appendix-C.
can play a decisive role in improving the performance of existing plants or design of new
projects. Exergy analysis combines the principles of mass and energy conservation with the
second law of thermodynamics. Unlike energy, exergy is not conserved and is highly effected
by the quality of the energy. In the absence of nuclear reaction, surface tension, magnetism and
electricity the total exergy will consist of four components; physical, chemical, kinetic and
Kinetic, 𝐸̇𝑘𝑒 , and potential, 𝐸̇𝑝𝑒 , exergies are commonly associated with the movement and
elevation of particles, respectivly, but are omitted from the present study due to their negligibly
small contibutions. Physical exergy consists of thermal and mechanical exergy and is defined
as the maximum obtainable useful work from a unit mass of substance proceeding from a
specified state (𝑇𝑠, 𝑝𝑠) to the environmental state (𝑇𝑜, 𝑝𝑜) (Querol et al., 2012). The physical
Where the subscripts (s) refers to specified state and (o) for the corresponding environmental
state. Once the specified temperature and reference temperature are equal, then for gases
𝑃
𝐸̇𝑝ℎ = 𝑚̇𝑅𝑇𝑜 𝑙𝑛 𝑃𝑠 (4)
𝑜
When the system reaches full equilibrium (both physical and chemical) with the local
environment, it is said to be in “dead state”, and it has zero exergy. Chemical exergy is defined
as the maximum energy that can be extracted from the stream as the flow reaches its dead state
due to, for example, differences in molecular structure and concentration. The chemical exergy
of the fuel, gas mixtures and saline water can be calculated using the following equations
respectively:
𝐸̇𝑐ℎ = 𝑛̇ 𝐿𝐻𝑉
̅̅̅̅̅̅ (5)
Where the superscripts (*) refer to the dead state. The ṅ , e−ch
k and μk represents number of
mole rate, specific molar chemical exergy and chemical potential for component k in the
mixture. The specific molar chemical exergies are presented in the table for different substance
as puplished in Bejan et al. (1996), Ahrendts (1980) , Almutairi et al. (2015b) and Khaliq
(2015).
The exergetic efficiency assesses the actual performance of an energy system from a
thermodynamic view. The exergetic efficiency is defined as the ratio of product to fuel exergy
Where 𝐸̇𝑝 , 𝐸̇𝑓 , 𝐸̇𝑑 and 𝐸̇𝑙 represent rates of production of exergy, fuel exergy, exergy destruction
and exergy loss respectively. Exergy destruction is associated with irreversibilities within a
component whereas exergy loss relates to energy emitted to the environment during the process
or at the end. Inlet exergy to the component is always higher than outlet exergy by the value of
The exergy loss 𝐸̇𝑙 for a certain component is equal to zero at the adiabatic condition. In the
desalination process, the minimum work of separation represents exergy product whereas the
fuel exergy is equal to electrical energy supplied to the system. Hence, the exergetic efficiency
𝑊̇𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝜂𝑒𝑥 = (10)
𝐸̇𝑓
Exergy plays an important role in sustainable development, because it offers a common basis
of assessment for diverse energy resources, and addresses concerns about the quality and
quantity of energy. Environmental impact decreases and sustainability increases as the energy
exergy and the environment may help reveal patterns in adverse changes to the environment,
and assist researchers to better assess likely environmental damage. Rosen and Dincer (2012)
reported three relationships between exergy and the environment, as illustrated in Figure 3.
environmental impact resulting from emissions from energy systems. The amount of CO2 in
the exit gases was selected as the variable to represent emissions because it is highly affected
between actual values per MWh to the stoichiometric values of CO2, and can be written as:
𝜑𝑎𝑐
𝜉𝐶𝑜2 = (11)
𝜑𝑠𝑡
The stoichiometric value, φst, of CO2 can be calculated using molar analysis, whereas the actual
value is obtained from the HEPHAESTUS generic combustor model. A cogeneration plant
producing power and water as reported in the literature (Al-Weshahi et al. ,2013 ; Al-Sulaiman
et al. , 2011 ; and Almutairi et al., 2016) generally considers the useful energy supplied to the
desalination plant as addition energy equivalent to the amount of water produced. Thus the CO2
produced by the cogeneration of electricity and water has been expressed as:
𝑚̇
𝐶𝑂2
𝜑cogen = 𝑾̇+𝑸̇
(12)
𝑖𝑛
This approach does not reflect the real status of CO2 emission because it is based on the
assumption of utilising an amount of energy with 100% efficiency, which is far from reality.
The conflict comes from the nature of the product which is not energy and the low exergetic
efficiency of desalination plants. However, using an energy input in the CO2 generation
desalination plant using an industrial boiler, in spite of the different configurations between
them. That shows substantial reduction in CO2 intensity per MWh and augments the
cogeneration principle, but does not permit an accurate evaluation of CO2 emissions.
In this study, a new approach is proposed that is compatible with the desalination process as a
low-grade heat recovery technology. The CO2 intensity equation uses minimum work of
𝐶𝑂2𝑚̇
𝜑cogen = 𝑾̇+𝑾̇
(13)
𝑚𝑖𝑛
4- Results and discussion
This section presents the results of energetic and exergetic analyses of a cogeneration system
(ICGT-RO) under different conditions. The effect of load variations, climatic conditions,
pressure ratios, the number of stages and feed water temperatures have been investigated. The
reference and dead state for water streams subject to the intake conditions T= 288 K, P = 1.01
bar, and ws = 45,000 ppm. The streams of the topping cycle have the same reference conditions.
The topping cycle and RO unit streams are denoted by letters and number respectively as
illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The exergetic data of the proposed cogeneration system at various
locations are shown in Tables 2 and 3. The proposed model of the power and desalination plant
were validated with manufacturer’s published data and showed high compatibility. The
validation was considered a necessary step prior to examining the model or commencing the
Mass Exergy
Pressure Salinity Enthalpy Entropy
Point Location Fluid Flow Rate
(bar) (ppm) (kJ/kg) (kJ/kg. K)
(kg/s) (MW)
0 Intake – SSP Inlet pump Saline water 4934 1.01 45000 59 0.21 0.00
1 SSP Outlet Saline water 4934 2.51 45000 59 0.21 0.72
2 DAF Outlet/ FFP Inlet Saline water 4603 2.26 45000 59 0.21 0.56
2A FFP Outlet/ Strainers Inlet Saline water 4603 5.63 45000 60 0.21 2.05
3 UF Inlet Saline water 4573 5.51 45000 60 0.21 1.99
4 UF Outlet Saline water 3998 4.51 45000 59 0.21 1.35
5 Backwash Tank Inlet Saline water 575 4.01 45000 59 0.21 0.17
6 SWRO HPP Inlet Saline water 1773 4.51 43700 60 0.21 0.60
6A ERD PX Inlet Saline water 2300 4.50 43700 60 0.21 0.78
7 SWRO HPP Outlet Saline water 1773 66.72 43700 68 0.22 11.27
7A ERD BP Outlet Saline water 2314 68.00 48300 65 0.21 14.98
8 First RO Unit Inlet Saline water 4086 66.72 46300 67 0.21 25.94
9 First RO Unit Outlet Fresh water 1719 1.50 700 65 0.23 5.91
10 First RO Unit Outlet Brine water 2367 65.22 79400 63 0.19 16.14
10A ERD Outlet/ BP Inlet Saline water 2314 63.10 48300 65 0.21 13.88
11 ERD Outlet/To Outfall Brine water 2354 1.30 75100 57 0.19 1.49
12 Bypass Line Fresh water 348 1.50 700 65 0.23 1.19
13 BWRO HPP Inlet Fresh water 1371 1.49 700 65 0.23 4.71
13A BWRO HPP Outlet Fresh water 1371 13.71 700 67 0.23 6.39
14 Second RO Unit Outlet Fresh water 1232 1.50 100 65 0.23 4.38
Mass Exergy
Pressure Salinity Enthalpy Entropy
Point Location Fluid Flow Rate
(bar) (ppm) (kJ/kg) (kJ/kg. K)
(kg/s) (MW)
15 Second RO Unit Outlet Brackish 139 11.11 6100 66 0.23 0.48
16 Permeate Tank Outlet water
Fresh water 1580 1.50 200 65 0.23 5.59
16A PWP Outlet Fresh water 1580 4.50 200 66 0.23 6.06
17 Internal Consumption Fresh water 32 4.50 200 66 0.23 0.12
18 To Product Tank Fresh water 1547 1.01 200 64 0.23 5.39
19 UFP Outlet/UF Inlet Saline water 575 4.51 45000 59 0.21 0.19
20 DAF Outlet/WWP Inlet Saline water 91 1.00 45000 59 0.21 0.00
21 TO Neutralization pit Saline water 91 1.00 45000 59 0.21 0.00
22 TO Waste Water Saline water 91 1.50 45000 59 0.21 0.00
23 TO CWE Tank Fresh water 0 4.50 200 66 0.23 0.00
24 Strainer Inlet Saline water 3023 1.10 68400 58 0.19 1.21
25 TO Outfall Channel Brine water 3023 1.10 68400 58 0.19 1.21
26 UF Outlet/To Outfall Saline water 488 2.51 45000 59 0.21 0.07
Table 3. The exergetic data at various locations in ICGT engine at ISO condition
Mass Exergy
Temp. Pressure Enthalpy Entropy
Point Location Fluid Flow Rate
(K) (bar) (kJ/kg) (kJ/kg. K)
(kg/s) (MW)
A LPC Inlet Air 217.1 288 1.01 15.01 6.85 0.29
B LPC Outlet/ Cooler Inlet Air 217.1 420.84 3.44 149.85 6.88 27.53
C Cooler Outlet/ HPC Inlet Air 217.1 325.36 3.28 52.80 6.63 21.95
D HPC Outlet/CC Inlet Air 217.1 701.55 42 444.73 6.69 103.09
E CC Inlet Fuel 4.93 288 45 22.27 --- 222.89
F CC Outlet/HPT Inlet Exhaust Gases 222.03 1490 39.82 1428.67 7.81 265.63
G HPT Outlet/ IPT Inlet Exhaust Gases 222.03 1182.4 12.656 1037.66 7.85 173.17
H IPT Outlet/ LPT Inlet Exhaust Gases 222.03 1073.5 8.02 903.14 7.87 145.39
I LPT Outlet/ Stack Exhaust Gases 222.03 685 1.013 444.85 7.95 38.72
Figure 4 uses a Grossman diagram to illustrate exergy flow across a cogeneration system at
ISO conditions. Even though the ICGT contributes more useful exergy compared to the RO
desalination unit, it has more exergy destruction. The fuel exergy of the RO unit is about 9.9
%, which is low, and shows how power production dominates plant performance. The system
has a high exergy loss value that can be reduced by integrating the current system with a low-
grade heat recovery system to utilize heat contained in the gaseous products of combustion
before they are emitted to the environment. The high value of exergy destruction in the
Figure 5 shows the exergy destruction rate for each component as a percentage of total exergy
destruction for all components in the system. The highest source of irreversibilities occurs in
the combustion chamber due to turbulent mixing, chemical reactions, friction and heat loss. The
exergy destruction in the combustor is about 60%, higher than all the other components
combined. This value can be reduced by preheating the fuel or compressed air and reducing
excess air to near the stoichiometric value. Improving the mixing may also help to increase
combustion efficiency.
The RO unit constitutes the second source of irreversibilities of 14.8%, which is relatively high
compared to the exergy fuel input. This high level of waste exergy is attributed to friction,
leakage losses and the large number of components in the RO unit. The LPT was third in the
level of exergy destruction. It has a higher number of stages than either HPT or IPT; even the
blade size creates more exergy destruction due to friction. The intercooler is next at 5.5%, due
to heat losses, temperature differences and friction. The effect of friction and aerodynamic loss
predominate in the HPC component. The high fuel exergy and expansion rate are the main
causes of irreversibilities within HPT. The LPC and IPT have lowest exergy destruction
because both of them are mechanically coupled with a low rate of compression and expansion
Figure 6. Relative exergy destruction as a percentage for the main RO unit components.
Figure 6 illustrates the relative percentages of total exergy destruction for the main components
in the RO unit. The highest exergy destruction occur in the pumps (41%) followed by the first
membrane modules (30%), then the second membrane modules and Pressure Exchanger-PX
(both at 12%). The high pressure pumps in SWRO (HHP) and BWRO (HBP), represent over
76 % of pump exergy destruction. That can be reduced by using more efficient pumps. The
high exergy destruction in the membrane modules may be attributed to fouling, hydraulic
resistance and concentration polarization, thus improved membrane design could significantly
enhance RO performance. The main sources of irreversibilities in the PX are friction and
mixing. The membrane modules and PX have the same percentage of exergy destruction, but
the latter has more potential for reducing both energy consumption and cost. In the current
model the Shuwaikh RO plant used a PX, so there is a high potential for improvement using
7. The load variations are controlled mainly by electrical grid demand, which will vary during
the day and with the season. The range shown is between minimum safe load (50%) and full
load, at design conditions. These two limit may change slightly with off-design conditions. In
general, the highest exergetic efficiency is achieved at full load, but exergy destruction with
load varies according to the component being considered. The exergy destruction in the
combustion chamber decreases as the load decreases due to a reduction in the rate of fuel
consumption. The proportional reduction in heat input is lower than power output, which
The expansion rate in the power turbine (LPT) reduced with load reduction and that caused a
drop in exergy destruction level. The HPT and IPT have the same trend as HPC and IPC due
to the mechanical coupling between them. Reducing the load increases exergy destruction
because the fuel exergy relative to the expansion rate is increased. The intercooler in the ICGT
has a higher irreversibilities level because the fall in exergy destruction rate is less than the total
The relation between power to water ratio and exergetic efficiency is directly proportional. The
exergy destruction in the RO unit with respect to total exergy destruction increases at part load
In accord with the above results it is highly recommended to always operate the GT at full load,
The variation in ambient temperatures is considered a good indicator of climate change. The
effect of ambient temperature on plant performance was reduced due to the presence of
intercooling. Ambient temperature effects are confined to LPC components, due particularly to
increasing power consumption to compensate for the decrease in air density with increase in
and the relation between them is inversely proportional. The exergy destruction in the LPC
increases because of increasing fuel exergy in order to compensate for change in air density.
Figure 9 shows the effect of variation of pressure ratio on plant performance. The exergetic
efficiency of the cogeneration plant rose as the pressure ratio increased due to the increase in
temperature of the compressed air temperature entering the combustion chamber. Hence, the
amount of fuel required to meet the high-pressure turbine requirements decreased. The energy
consumed by the compressors was less than the energy saved by the reduction in fuel
consumption and that raised the exergetic efficiency as the pressure ratio increased. The ICGT
has the highest pressure ratio as well as efficiency among all aeroderivative GT engines used
for power generation today. Designing and/or operating the compressor at a high-pressure ratio
The sea water feed temperature significantly effect on RO unit performance as shown in Figure
10. It is well know that the sea water temperature in the Arabian Gulf varies from 10oC to 32oC
with seasonal changes. This fact confirms the importance of investigating feed temperature
either in the design or operational stages. The exergetic efficiency of the RO unit increased as
feed temperature increased due to reduction in fuel exergy input and increasing minimum work
of separation. Increase in feed temperature from 15oC to 28oC increased RO unit exergetic
efficiency uniformly by 2.26%, this was due largely to the increased value of minimum work
of separation. Such a result strongly supports the hybridization of RO plant with thermal
desalination or steam power plants in order to provide high temperature feed water. The
exergetic efficiency of the cogeneration plant remained almost constant because the amount of
energy saved in the RO unit was so small compared to the total energy consumed by the plant
as a whole.
Figure 11 shows the environmental impact of the proposed system at the different operating
conditions. The ICGT can be subject to part load due to variations in electrical network demand,
which are based on the end users’ requirement. The relation between load variation as a
percentage and exergetic environmental efficiency is shown in Figure 11A. Generally, as the
load reduces, the exergetic environmental efficiency reduces and the relation between them is
directly proportional. Therefore, it highly recommended to operate the system at full load to
Figure 11B shows that CO2 intensity increases with increase in ambient temperature. That may
be attributed to the level of reduction in net power output being greater than the fuel reduction.
The reduction in net power output results from the increase in the compressor’s power
consumption due to the decrease in air density. Thus, the net power output will reduce as
ambient temperature rises. The reduction in fuel consumption is mainly due to raising the
The system’s environmental impact is more sensitive to load variation than ambient
temperature change due to the intercooling effect and the cogeneration system is more
5- Conclusion
This work presents an energetic and exergetic analysis of cogeneration plant based on an ICGT
and a large RO desalination unit. The IPSEpro software was used for modelling and analyzing
the proposed system. The most recently published data were used to evaluate the
thermophysical properties of seawater treating it as a real mixture. The extracted exergetic data
shows good agreement with the manufacturer’s data and recent studies presented in Mistry et
The analysis confirmed that the combustion chamber has the highest level of irreversibilities
followed by the RO unit and LPT, representing over 82.7 % of total exergy destruction. The
high-pressure pump, membrane modules and ERD are the main causes of exergy loss in the
RO unit. The exergetic efficiency of a cogeneration plant is about 47.6 % with advantages of
high performance for separated systems and a shorter installation period than other systems for
It has been demonstrated that exergetic efficiency increased as the load and pressure ratio
increased; the relation between them is directly proportional. Rising feed water temperature,
significantly improved RO unit efficiency but, as a whole, the cogeneration plant was almost
unaffected. Enhancement of the ICGT engine performance contributes much more than
improving the desalination unit to cogeneration plant performance, a high electrical power to
water ratio always recommended. Maintaining a full load on the ICGT is important for good plant
performance. The intercooled system reduces or limits the ambient temperature effect on the
system and low values are more favourable. The cogeneration proposed system is considered
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Ministry of Electricity and Water in Kuwait for its assistance and
Reference
Greek letters
Subscripts
ac Actual
c Cold Stream
ch Chemical
cv Control volume
d Destruction
e Outlet
f Fuel
h Hot Stream
i Inlet
k Component
ke Kinetic energy
l Loss
m motive steam
o Reference state
p Product
ph Physical
pe Potentials
r Entrained vapor
S Steam
x Total
Abbreviations
AFR Air to fuel ratio
AC Air compressor
CC Combustion chamber
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
DAF Dissolved air flotation
EBP ERD booster pump
ERD Energy recovery device
FFP filter feed pump
GE General Electric
GT Gas Turbine
HBP high-pressure brackish pump
HPC High-Pressure compressor
HPP high-pressure pump
HPT High-Pressure turbine
ICGT Intercooled gas turbine
IP Intermediate-Pressure turbine
ISO International Standards Organization
LP Low-Pressure turbine
MED Multi-effect desalination
MEW Ministry of Electricity and Water
MSF Multi Stage Flash
PEM Polymer electrolyte membrane
PWP Product water pump
PX Pressure exchange
RO Reverse osmosis
SSP seawater supply pump
UF Ultrafiltration
UFP Ultrafiltration pump
WWP Waste Water pump
Appendix A - Validation of Proposed Models
In Appendix-A, the validation of the intercooled gas turbine engine LMS 100 and Al Shuwaikh
RO desalination plant models with manufacturer data as illustrated in tables A-1 and A-2.
Table A-1: LMS100 published performance data with result of equivalent proposed model.
Description GE IPSEpro Model Unit
Power output (MW) 98.70 98.80 MW
Thermal efficiency (%) 45.00 43.30 %
Heat rate (KJ/KWh) 7921.00 8307.53 KJ/KWh
Pressure ratio 42.00 42.00 ----
Exhaust Mass flow (Kg/s) 222.00 222.00 Kg/s
Exhaust Temperature (K) 685.00 689.00 K
Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) (Culkin and Ridout,1998). The
Gibbs energy in proposed model is a function of pressure, temperature and salinity and used to
calculate thermodynamic properties. The fundamental equations details shown in 2008 issued
by International Association of Properties of Water and Steam (IAPWS) (Cooper and Dooley ,
2007). Sharqawy et al. (2010) proposed some correlations to calculate specific volume, specific
enthalpy, specific entropy and chemical potential. These correlations validated with IAPSO
and IAPWS models and showed good agreement. Table B-1 shows some constants that used
The following equations give the specific volume (v), specific enthalpy (h) and specific entropy
(s) colorations:-
1
𝑣𝑠𝑤 = (B-1)
𝜌𝑠𝑤
Where the subscripts (w) and (sw) represent pure water and saline water. The salt concentration
symbolized by 𝑤𝑠 in kgs/kgsw. The temperture unit in all above equation should be in Celsius
and the outcome unit for the specific volume, specific enthalpy and specific entropy will
The chemical potentials of seawater can be calculated from the derivative of Gibbs energy
𝜕𝐺𝑠𝑤 𝜕𝑔𝑠𝑤
μ𝑤 = 𝜕𝑚𝑤
= 𝑔𝑠𝑤 − 𝑤𝑠 𝜕𝑤𝑠
(B-8)
𝜕𝐺𝑠𝑤 𝜕𝑔𝑠𝑤
μ𝑠 = = 𝑔𝑠𝑤 + (1 − 𝑤𝑠 ) (B-9)
𝜕𝑚𝑠 𝜕𝑤𝑠
𝜕ℎ𝑠𝑤
− = 𝑏1 + 2𝑏2 𝑤𝑠 + 3𝑏3 𝑤𝑠2 + 4𝑏4 𝑤𝑠3 + 𝑏5 𝑇 + 𝑏6 𝑇 2 + 𝑏7 𝑇 3
𝜕𝑤𝑠
+2𝑏8 𝑤𝑠 𝑇 + 3𝑏9 𝑤𝑠2 𝑇 + 2𝑏10 𝑤𝑠 𝑇 2 (B-12)
𝜕𝑠𝑠𝑤
− = 𝑐1 + 2𝑐2 𝑤𝑠 + 3𝑐3 𝑤𝑠2 + 4𝑐4 𝑤𝑠3 + 𝑐5 𝑇 + 𝑐6 𝑇 2 + 𝑐7 𝑇 3
𝜕𝑤𝑠
+2𝑐8 𝑤𝑠 𝑇 + 3𝑐9 𝑤𝑠2 𝑇 + 4𝑐10 𝑤𝑠 𝑇 2 ) (B-13)
The fuel mass flow rate in ICGT engine vary with a change in operating conditions. The
compressed air temperature inlet to annular combustor significantly effect on the air to fuel
ratio (AFR). The ICGT can be operated by using natural gas or liquid fuel. In the current study,
The air stream composition in the in the cold section is given in Table C-2.
The stoichiometric AFR value were determined by applying Molar analyses as explained
(Bejan et al. , 1996). The molar air to fuel is given by:
1 𝑛̇
̅ = 𝑛̇ 𝑎 (C-1)
𝜆 𝑓
Where ṅ and λ̅ refer to rate of number of mole and fuel-to-air ratio. Where ṅ and λ̅ refer to the
rate of a number of moles and fuel-to-air ratio. The subscripts (a) and (f) represent air and fuel
respectively. The rate of number of moles defined as a ratio of mass flow rate to molecular
weight and can be expressed by:
𝑚̇
𝑛̇ = M (C-2)
The combustion reaction for case study can be written in term of mole fractions (y) and takes
the following form:
The air to fuel ratio can be calculated by using energy balance equation between fuel and
difference in enthalpies due to heat addition. The reactant and product enthalpies were
determined by applying ideal gas mixture principles on combustor chamber upstream and
downstream conditions. The energy rate equation for ICGT rotating components under
adiabatic condition is given by:
̅̅̅̅̅̅ = 𝑛̇ 𝑎 (−0.02𝜆̅)𝐿𝐻𝑉
𝑄̇𝑐𝑣 = −0.02 𝑛̇ 𝑓 𝐿𝐻𝑉 ̅̅̅̅̅̅ (C-6)
The energy balance equations for the adiabatic pumps are given by: