Repowering strategies: Analysis of gas turbine integration with steam cycle for enhanced power plant performance

Abstract

In this paper, various repowering methods commonly employed in practice today are discussed. A particular emphasis is put on the hot wind-box repowering method, which is examined in greater detail. This method stands out for its simpler solution and lower investment costs compared to other repowering methods. Most research and analyses on repowering, taking into account the ecological problems and the possibilities of repowering existing old steam cycle power plants, have focused on the effect of repowering on thermodynamic parameters and emission reduction․ However, there are still many important questions that remain open and unexplored when it comes to analyze the selection of the right technology of the repowering and the right gas turbine for such a combined cycle power plant. For that purpose, based on the oxygen fraction in the gas turbine exhaust gases, nine different gas turbine models were tested for a 200 MW steam cycle power plant model. Calculations were carried out using the GateCycle modelling program. As a result of investigations, a GE Energy Oil & Gas MS9001E SC (GTW 2009 ‒ with 123 MW power) gas turbine was selected as the best one for such a combina-tion, in which case the increase of total net power output by 97.69% and the improvement of efficiency by 6.67% were registered, compared to the results before repowering, while carbon dioxide emissions were decreased by 0.29% per meg-awatt electrical power generated. The conducted research underscores the importance of selecting the right gas turbine for such a gas-steam system.