Authors: John Gulen, Mark Boulden
This paper discusses a new power generation cycle based on the fundamental thermodynamic concepts of constant volume combustion and reheat. The turbocompound reheat gas turbine combined cycle (TC-RHT GTCC) comprises three pieces of rotating equipment: A turbo-compressor and two prime movers, i.e., a reciprocating gas engine and an industrial (heavy duty) gas turbine. Ideally, the cycle is proposed as the foundation of a customized power plant design of a given size and performance by combining different prime movers with new "from the blank sheet" designs. Nevertheless, a compact power plant based on the TC-RHT cycle can also be constructed by combining off-the-shelf equipment with modifications for immediate implementation.
The paper describes the underlying thermodynamic principles, representative cycle calculations and value proposition as well as requisite modifications to the existing hardware. The operational philosophy governing plant start-up, shut-down and loading is described in detail. Also included in the paper is a 110 MW reference power block concept with 57+% net efficiency. The concept has been developed using a pre-engineered standard block approach and is amenable to simple “module-by-module” construction including easy shipment of individual components.
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