International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056

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ANALYSIS OF INLET AIR TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON GAS TURBINE

COMPRESSOR PERFORNANCE
Hari Ganesh Arangi1, P.Sivaram2, Dr. N.HariBabu3.

1,2.M.Tech Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aditya Institute of Technology and

Management, Tekkali, Srikakulam Dist.,-532201.
3. Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aditya Institute of Technology and Management,

Tekkali, Srikakulam Dist.,-532201

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Abstract- The air compressor in Gas turbine plant plays same way as the high pressure steam drives a steam
an important role as it supplies the air under desired turbine.
pressure to combustion chamber of the plant. The inlet air
temperature also effects on the performance of the plant
and power output. Normally cooling effects are provided
better performance in the gas turbine plant. This task must
be carried out with the possible minimum of pressure leaks
and with the maximum possible release of heat respect the
limited space available.
The air entering into the compressor will have higher
temperatures which intern effects the efficiency of the
compressor hence the temperature should be lowered by
coolers and then allowed into compressor the effects are
measured practically in the gas turbine power plant and the
conditions are considered for the analysis. Fig.1.1.Gas turbine working priciple
In this present work a 3D model of the compressor outer
case done in Unigraphics-Nx software. The generated 3-D One major difference however is that the gas turbine
model imported into ANSYS using the parasolid format and has a second turbine acting as an air compressor mounted
flow analysis done on the compressor outer case at different on the same shaft. The air turbine (compressor) draws in
temperatures which are obtained in the actual plant at a air, compresses it and feeds it at high pressure into the
time duration of 10 hours. Present analysis the temperatures combustion chamber increasing the intensity of the
considered are 300K, 295K and 290K the compressor burning flame. It is a positive feedback mechanism. As the
efficiencies are approximately equal in both the cases ie gas turbine speeds up, it also causes the compressor to
actual plant measured values and values obtained in the speed up forcing more air through the combustion
analysis. Cooling effect the efficiency and lower temperature chamber which in turn increases the burn rate of the fuel
of inlet air to the compressor shows the maximum efficiency sending more high pressure hot gases into the gas turbine
and maximum power output. increasing its speed even more. Uncontrolled runaway is
Keyword- Air Compressor, Inlet air temperature, prevented by controls on the fuel supply line which limit
Unigraphics-Nx, Ansys.etc.. the amount of fuel fed to the turbine thus limiting its
speed.
1. INTRODUCTION
The thermodynamic process used by the gas turbine is
known as the Brayton cycle. Analogous to the Carnot
1.1. INTRODUCTION TO GAS TURBINE PLANT
cycle in which the efficiency is maximised by increasing
Gas turbine engines derive their power from
the temperature difference of the working fluid between
burning fuel in a combustion chamber and using the fast
the input and output of the machine, the Brayton cycle
flowing combustion gases to drive a turbine in much the

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efficiency is maximised by increasing the pressure Specific heat at constant pressure Cpc 1.005
difference across the machine. The gas turbine is kJ/kg◦K
comprised of three main components: a compressor, a Ambient pressure 1.0 bar
combustor, and a turbine. The working fluid, air, is Turbine
compressed in the compressor (adiabatic compression - no Pressure ratio of the turbine rpt , nominal 11.0
heat gain or loss), then mixed with fuel and burned by the Turbine efficiency ηt 0.87
combustor under constant pressure conditions in the Combustion pressure drop _P23/P23 0.04
combustion chamber (constant pressure heat addition). Ratio of specific heats for expansion γt 1.33
The resulting hot gas expands through the turbine to Specific heat at constant pressure Cpt 1.147
perform work (adiabatic expansion). Much of the power kJ/kg◦K
produced in the turbine is used to run the compressor and Heat rate 15.750 MJ/kWh
the rest is available to run auxiliary equipment and do There are various definitions of efficiency when it comes to
useful work. The system is an open system because the air compressors and turbines. Any efficiency is going to a
is not reused so that the fourth step in the cycle, cooling function of what you put in divided by what "get out". A
the working fluid, is omitted. common definition is something like

1.2. AIR COMPRESSOR

An air/gas compressor is a mechanical device that
increases the pressure of a air/gas by reducing its volume. Or basically, the ratio of the work we're inputting divided
An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. by the enthalpy rise in the stage. it can write as
Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the
pressure on a fluid and both can transport the fluid
through a pipe. As gases are compressible, the compressor
also reduces the volume of a gas. Liquids are relatively Where T is the input torque and  is the rotational
incompressible; while some can be compressed, the main speed, combined they are the work per unit time (power)
action of a pump is to pressurize and transport liquids. of the motor. On the bottom we have total enthalpy.
Certainly one doesn't measure enthalpy, so typically I've
seen the enthalpy term written out in terms of total
temperature and change in total pressure, which you
should be able to measure with what you have. So, we can
use isotropic definitions for pressure and temperature to
convert the previous equation to

Where the total pressure is defined as:

Fig.1.2. Air compressor inlet
2. FLOW CALCULATIONS FOR GAS
TURBINECOMPRESSOR EFFICIENCY
2.1. Gas turbine industrial data and calculations: And the total temperature defined as:
A 12 MW gas turbine generator is required to operate at
sea level with an ambient temperature T1 of 200C and a
combustion temperature T3 of 9500C. The following data
apply. So, it will need to use the temperature at the inlet and
Compressor: outlet planes to compute a gamma (ratio of specific heats).
Pressure ratio of the compressor rpc 1.5 It will also need to compute density. This can be done from
Compressor efficiency ηc 0.85 tabular lookup or from an empirical relation. From density,
Ratio of specific heats for compression γc 1.4 area, and the measured airflow you can compute velocity.

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From velocity and measure pressure/temperature you can 2.3.3. Analysis consideration values:
compute total properties (you'll also need to look up For validation and comparison from the above conditions
specific heat at constant pressure cp similar to gamma). it considered as given below
Once total pressure and temperature at both inlet and Inlet Comp Powe Condi
Tim
outlet planes, you can compute an efficiency given your air ressor r tion
S.N e(h
mass flow and input from your motor. Note that it will temper efficie outpu of
o. our
need a few conversion factors depending on the units of ature ncy t inlet
s)
power from the motor. (K) ηc (MW) air
2.2. Compressor efficiency Witho
The efficiency on a compressor map, which are called 61.05 ut
isentropic (or adiabatic) efficiencies. They are calculated 1 10 300 7.5
coolin
this way: g
With
2 10 295 62.11 9.5 coolin
g
With
3 10 290 63.32 11 coolin
Where: g
c is Compressor efficiency
Tin is Inlet temperature Table.2.3. Inlet air temperature, compressor
Tout is Outlet temperature .
Tout th is Theoretical outlet temperature 3. 3D MODELING OF GAS TURBINE COMPRESSOR
2.3. Industrial Data (Calculated & Measured) OUTER CASE
2.3.1. Without cooling effect In the present study NX_CAD software is used for
Power 3Dmodeling of gas turbine compressor outer case, ANSYS
Time Inlet air CFD package software’s shall be used for the flow
S.No. output
(hours) temperature(K) simulation. Perform flow analysis of gas turbine
(MW)
1 10 297 8.5 compressor outer case for different inlet air flow
2 10 298 7.8 temperatures using ANSYS Fluent software to determine
the outlet temperatures, pressure and compressor
3 10 300 7.5
efficiency.
Table.2.1. Inlet air temperature and power output without
The methodology followed :
cooling
 Create a 3D model of the gas turbine compressor outer
2.3.2. With cooling effect
case using NX-CAD software.
Power
Time Inlet air  Create finite volume mesh for 3D model of gas turbine
S.No. output
(hours) temperature(K) compressor outer case by using ANSYS ICEM CFD software
(MW)
and import into ANSYS FLUENT software.
1 10 295 9.5
 Perform flow analysis of gas turbine compressor outer
2 10 290 11 case for different inlet air flow temperatures by using
3 10 288 11.8 ANSYS Fluent software to determine the outlet
Table.2.2. Inlet air temperature and power output with temperature, pressure, velocity variations and compressor
cooling efficiency from inlet to outlet.
 The 3D model of the gas turbine compressor outer case is
created using NX-CAD software from the 2D drawings. NX-
CAD is the world’s leading 3D product development
solution. This software enables designers and engineers to
bring better products to the market faster. It takes care of
the entire product definition to serviceability.

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3.1. 2D drawing of Present gas turbine compressor

outer case:

Fig.3.3. The Geometry of gas turbine compressor outer

case
3.4. CONSTRUCTING THE DOMAIN AND MESHING
CFD allows virtual experimentation with and
consequently optimization of the design parameters. It is
Fig.3.1.Compressor outer case 2D drawing. very attractive to industry as it saves both time and effort
during the design process when compared alongside
3.2. Isometric view of gas turbine compressor outer traditional experimental methods. However, the degree of
case: confidence in the results is dependent on many factors and
as a result. For the flow analysis of the gas turbine
compressor outer case are generated in NX-cad and mesh
is created in the ICEM CFD software.
The domain was meshed using tetrahedral meshing
technique. The geometry and meshing of the gas turbine
compressor outer case is as below.

Fig.3.2. 3D model of gas turbine compressor outer case

3.3. THE MODELING PROCESS: Fig.3.4. Gas turbine compressor outer case with volume
The modeling process consists of first taking the real Mesh and section view
world fluid geometry and replicating this in the virtual
environment. From here, a mesh can be created to divide 3.4.1. THE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
the fluid up into discrete sections. Boundary conditions The CFX software comes with different boundary
must then be entered into the model to designate types which synchronize with the physical conditions. The
parameters Conventional geometries, with their CFX boundary model has been incorporated which uses
characteristics and applications of fluids to be modeled or the 'VELOCITY INLET’ boundary types for hot air inlet.
the details of any solid edges or flow inlets/outlets. The Temperature and flow velocity parameters are given to
simulation is then ready to be run and when a converged inlet boundary conditions. For the outlet, 'OUTLET VENT’
solution is found, it must be carefully analyzed to establish boundary condition is used with atmospheric pressure.
whether the mesh is appropriately modeling the flow WALL boundary condition is used for the outer surface
conditions. area.
3D model of Gas Turbine compressor outer case is
developed by using NX-CAD software to perform the gas
flow simulation through compressor by taking industrial
data.

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Compressor:
Wall Thickness (m) 0.005
Heat Generation Rate
(w/m3) 0
Material Name aluminum
Thermal BC Type 3
Temperature (k) 300
Heat Flux (w/m2) 0
Convective Heat Transfer
Fig.3.5. Inlet and outlet Boundary conditions of the gas Coefficient (w/m2-k) 0
turbine compressor outer case Free Stream Temperature
3.5. THE SIMULATION APPROACH (k) 300
After the meshing has been completed the model Enable shell conduction? no
is then imported into ANSYS FLUENT pre- processor and
suitable boundary types defined. The finite volume Wall Motion 0
approach which is used in ANSYS FLUENT is used to create Shear Boundary Condition 0
the solver. The governing equations are then integrated Define wall motion relative
over the whole control volume. to adjacent cell zone? yes
FLUENT Apply a rotational velocity to
Version: 3d, pbns, ske (3d, pressure-based, laminar) this wall? no
Release: 13.0.0 Velocity Magnitude (m/s) 0
Title: MODELS:
X-Component of Wall
model settings Translation 1
Space 3D Y-Component of Wall
Time Steady Translation 0
Z-Component of Wall
Standard k-
Translation 0
epsilon
Viscous Define wall velocity
turbulence
components? no
model
Heat Transfer Enabled External Emissivity 1
External Radiation
Temperature (k) 300
MATERIAL PROPERTIES:
Material: air (fluid): Wall Roughness Height (m) 0
PROPERTY UNITS VALUES Wall Roughness Constant 0.5
Density kg/m3 1.225
Wall :
Cp (Specific Heat) j/kg-k 1006.43
Wall Thickness (m) 0.005
Thermal
w/m-k 0.024 Heat Generation Rate (w/m3) 00
Conductivity
Viscosity kg/m-s 1.78e-05 Material Name aluminum
Molecular Weight kg/kgmol 28.9 Thermal BC Type 2
Thermal Temperature (k) 300
Expansion 1/k 0
Heat Flux (w/m2) 0
Coefficient
Convective Heat Transfer
Speed of Sound m/s 340 Coefficient (w/m2-k) 1
Free Stream Temperature (k) 300

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Enable shell conduction? no Fig.4.2. Vector temperature occurred on gas turbine

compressor fluid demine
Wall Motion 0
Shear Boundary Condition 0
Define wall motion relative to
adjacent cell zone? yes
Apply a rotational velocity to
this wall? no 4.2. VECTOR TURBULENCE:
Velocity Magnitude (m/s) 0
X-Component of Wall
Translation 1
Y-Component of Wall
Translation 0
Z-Component of Wall
Translation 0
External Emissivity 1
External Radiation
Temperature (k) 300
Wall Roughness Height (m) 0
Wall Roughness Constant 0.5
Fig. 4.3. Vector turbulence occurred on gas turbine
4. RESULTS DISCUSSION
compressor outer shell
4.1. VECTOR TEMPERATURE:

Fig.4.1. Vector temperature occurred on gas turbine Fig.4.4. Vector turbulence occurred on gas turbine
compressor outer shell compressor fluid demine
From the above flow analysis results, it can observe that
the average temperatures are 300K, 377K, 396K, and
360.4K respectively occurred on the inlet, wall,
compressor and outlet surface areas of gas turbine
compressor system. In this case we observed that the
compressor efficiency by the average temperature
calculations.

4.3. Compressor efficiency

It can calculate the compressor efficiency by putting into
the above formula.

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c = 0.615*100 =61.5%

4.4. CASE-2 by changing the Inlet air temperature 295

K

4.4.1. VECTOR TEMPERATURE:

Fig.4.8. Vector turbulence occurred on gas turbine

compressor fluid demine
From the above flow analysis results, we can observe that
the average temperatures are 295K, 371K, 392K, and
353.6K respectively occurred on the inlet, wall,
compressor and outlet surface areas of gas turbine
compressor system. In this case we observed that the
Fig.4.5. Vector temperature occurred on gas turbine compressor efficiency by the average temperature
compressor outer shell 295 k calculations.

4.4.3. Compressor efficiency

Compressor efficiency calculated as previous calculations
in case -1 at temperature 300 K
c = 0.6196*100 =61.9%

4.5. CASE-3 by changing the Inlet air temperature 290

K

4.5.1. VECTOR TEMPERATURE:

Fig.4.6. Vector temperature occurred on gas turbine

compressor fluid demine 295 k
4.4.2. VECTOR TURBULENCE:

Fig.4.9. Vector temperature occurred on gas turbine

compressor outer shell at 290K

Fig.4.7. Vector turbulence occurred on gas turbine

compressor outer shell

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Fig. 4.10. Vector temperature occurred on gas turbine be facilitated which improves the efficiency and power
compressor fluid demine at 290K output.
4.5.2. VECTOR TURBULENCE: REFERENCES

[1] Amir Abbas Zadpoor, Ali Hamedani Golshan,

Performance improvement of a gas turbine
cycle by using a desiccantbased evaporative
cooling system, Energy 31 (2006) 2652–2664
[2] F. Haglind, A review on the use of gas and
steam turbinecombined cycles as prime
movers for large ships, Part III: Fuels and
emissions, Energy Convers. Manage. 49 (12)
(2008)3476-3482.
Fig.4.11. Vector turbulence occurred on gas turbine [3] Kakaras, E. (2006) , Inlet Air Cooling Methods
compressor outer shell at 290K for GasTurbine Based Power Plant, ASME
vol.128, pp. 312-317.
[4] Lamfon, J.N .(1998) , Modeling and Simulation
of CombinedGas Turbine Engine and heat Pipe
System for Waste Heat Recovery and
Utilization, ENERGY CONVERS vol.39, pp.81-86.
[5] Mohanty, B. (1995) , Enhancing Gas Turbine
Performance By Intake Air Cooling Using an
Absorption Chiller, HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEMS
& CHP vol.15, pp. 41-50.
[6] Ameri, M. (2004) , The Study of Capacity
Fig.4.12. Vector turbulence occurred on gas turbine Enhancement of The Chabahar Gas Turbine
compressor fluid demine 290K Installation Using an Absorption Chiller,
4.11. Compressor efficiency APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING vol.24, pp.
From the above results, 59-68.
We can calculate the compressor efficiency by putting into [7] Dawaud, B. (2005) , Thermodynamic
the above formula. Assessment of Power Requirements and
Iimpact of Different Gas-Turbine Inlet Air
c = 0.625*100 =62.5%
Cooling Techniques at Two Locations in Oman,
APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING vol.25, pp.
5. CONCLUSION
1579-1598.
[8] Alhazmy, M.M. (2004), Augmentation of Gas
 The Max Compressor efficiency obtained in the analysis
Turbine Performance Using Air Coolers,
without cooling is 61.5 % which is approximately equal to
APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING vol.24, PP
that of measured value of 61.05% at gas turbine plant.
.415-429.
 The Max Compressor efficiency obtained in the analysis
[9] Boonnasa, S. (2006) , Performance
with cooling at temperature 295 K is 61.9 % which is
Improvement of The Combined Cycle Power
approximately equal to that of measured value of 62.11%
Plant By Intake Air Cooling Using an
at gas turbine plant.
Absorption Chiller, ENERGY vol.31, pp. 2036-
 The Max Compressor efficiency obtained in the analysis 2046.
with cooling at temperature 290 K is 62.5 % which is [10] Power plant daily reports, 2007.
approximately equal to that of measured value of 62.32 % [11] Wafaa E, effect of air temperature on the
at gas turbine plant. efficiency of gas turbines in Gerri power plant,
 Hence it is concluded that the Inlet air temperature of 2010.
compressor in Gas turbine power generation plant effects
the efficiency and also power output, hence the inlet air
temperature should be low for which cooling effect should

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BIOGRAPHIES

Hari Ganesh Played different roles from

Site Engineer to Assistant General
Manager level in Power plants( Coal &
Gas plants) and visited Japan,
Singapore, Chain (Twice), Malaysia.
Uganda, South africa for various works
like Inspections, Design review and commissioning
activities of Power plant and its sub equipments.

Dr. N. Haribabu Professor of Mechanical

Engineering obtained Ph.D in
Engineering from Andhra University.
Presently guiding M.Tech students
under various projects.

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