GT2006-90719 Effects of Inlet Fogging and Wet Compression on Gas Turbine Performance

Abstract Inlet fogging has been noticed widely in recent years as a method of gas turbine air inlet cooling for increasing the power output of gas turbines and combined cycle power plants. To study the effects of inlet fogging on gas turbine performance, in the first step, the evaporation of water droplets in the compressor inlet duct was modeled, and at the end of the inlet duct, the diameter of water droplets were estimated. The results of this process were compared with the results of FLUENT software. In the second step, the droplets which were not evaporated in compressor inlet duct were studied during wet compression in the compressor and the reduction in compressor discharge air temperature was predicted. Finally, the effects of both evaporative cooling in inlet duct, and wet compression in compressor, on the power output, and turbine exhaust temperature of a gas turbine with turbine blade cooling were investigated. These results for various amounts of air bleeding, without and with inlet fogging in the range of (0-2%) overspray are reported