AN INNOVATIVE CLEAN HIGH TEMPERATURE AIR HEATER (HTAH) FOR COAL-FIRED GAS TURBINES

AN APPROACH TO SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCING THE EFFICIENCY, ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL CAPABILITIES OF A COMBINED-CYCLE, COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT IS TO APPLY PRESENTLY AVAILABLE PULSE COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGY TO A SYSTEM THAT CAN USE STATE-OF-ART MATERIALS, COMPONENTS, AND SUB-SYSTEMS. THE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A HIGH-TEMPERATURE AIR HEATER FOR RAISING GAS TURBINE COMPRESSOR AIR TEMPERATURES TO NEAR TURBINE INLET REQUIREMENTS FOLLOWED BY SUPPLEMENTARY TURBINE DUCT FIRING WITH NATURAL GAS TO MATCH TURBINE INLET AIR REQUIREMENTS. EMISSIONS OF NITROGEN OXIDES, SULFUR OXIDES, AND PARTICULATES ARE REDUCED TO LOWER LEVELS THAN CAN BE EXPECTED FROM SOLELY INCREASING POWER GENERATION EFFICIENCY. PHASE I WILL EXPERIMENTALLY DEMONSTRATE THE HIGH FLUE-GAS TO COMPRESSOR AIR HEAT TRANSFER RATES AVAILABLE FROM THE PULSE COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGY. IT WILL ALSO ESTABLISH A MATRIX DATA BASE FOR MASS FLOW RATES, PRESSURE, AND TEMPERATURE THAT CAN BE USED IN DESIGNING THE HIGH-TEMPERATURE AIR HEATER SECTION. IN PHASE II A REFERENCE INTEGRATED COMBINED-CYCLE SYSTEM CAN THEN BE DESIGNED FOR FEASIBILITY SYSTEMS STUDIES OF PERFORMQNCE AND ECONOMICS AS WELL AS FOR A SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS, OFF-DESIGN ANALYSIS, AND TRANSIENT PERFORMANCE (START-UP, SHUTDOWN, AND UPSET CONDITIONS).