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US 9,850,816 B2Granted
Gas turbine inlet system and related method for cooling gas turbine inlet air
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJIanmin Zhang, Brad Aaron Kippel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inlet air conditioning system for a gas turbine includes an inlet duct for the with an air flow path to provide inlet air to the gas turbine; evaporative cooling media disposed in the air flow path; a water chiller; and a circulation pump that circulates water through the water chiller and the evaporative media in series. The chiller is configured to chill the water to below ambient wet-bulb temperature before the water is circulated to the evaporative cooling media. A power plant includes a gas turbine including a compressor, a combustion system, and a turbine section; a load; and the inlet air conditioning system.
Claims14
An inlet air conditioning system for a gas turbine, the system comprising:
- an inlet duct for the gas turbine, the inlet duct comprising an air flow path to provide inlet air to the gas turbine;
- a plurality of vertically distinct sections of evaporative cooling media that are stacked on top of one another to extend across the height of the inlet duct at a common axial point;
- a water inlet located at the top of each of the plurality vertically distinct sections of the evaporative cooling media,
- wherein each water inlet is in parallel to one another;
- a water chiller;
- a circulation pump that circulates water through the water chiller and the evaporative cooling media in series;
- a plurality of valves positioned in parallel with one another,
- wherein one of the plurality of valves is located in each of the water inlets between the vertically distinct sections of the evaporative cooling media and the water chiller;
- and
- wherein the water chiller is configured to chill the water to below an ambient wet-bulb temperature before the water is circulated to the evaporative cooling media, and
- wherein the circulation pump is configured to control the flow rate of the water circulated through the evaporative cooling media to concurrently provide a section of predominantly evaporative cooling and a section of predominantly sensitive cooling within the height of the evaporative cooling media.
8 more elements
A power plant comprising:
- a gas turbine, the gas turbine including a compressor, a combustion system, and a turbine section;
- a mechanical or electrical load;
- and
- an inlet system for the gas turbine, the inlet system comprising:
- an inlet duct comprising an air flow path to provide inlet air to the gas turbine;
- a plurality of vertically distinct sections of evaporative cooling media that are stacked on top of one another to extend across the height of the inlet duct at a common axial point;
- a water inlet located at the top of each of the plurality of vertically distinct sections of the evaporative cooling media, wherein each water inlet is in parallel to one another;
- a water chiller;
- a circulation pump that circulates water through the water chiller and the evaporative cooling media in series;
- and
- a plurality of valves positioned in parallel with one another, wherein one of the plurality of valves is located in each of the water inlets between the vertically distinct sections of evaporative media and the water chiller;
- wherein the water chiller is configured to chill the water to below an ambient wet-bulb temperature before the water is circulated to the evaporative cooling media, and
- wherein the circulation pump is configured to control the flow rate of the water circulated through the evaporative cooling media to simultaneously provide a section of predominantly evaporative cooling and a section of predominantly sensitive cooling within the height of the evaporative cooling media.
10 more elements
A power plant comprising:
- a gas turbine, the gas turbine including a compressor, a combustion system, and a turbine section;
- a mechanical or electrical load;
- and
- an inlet system for the gas turbine, the inlet system comprising:
- an inlet duct comprising an air flow path to provide inlet air to the gas turbine;
- a plurality of vertically distinct sections of evaporative cooling media that are stacked on top of one another to extend across the height of the inlet duct at a common axial point;
- a water inlet located at the top of each of the plurality of vertically distinct sections of the evaporative cooling media, wherein each water inlet is in parallel to one another;
- a water chiller;
- and
- a plurality of valves positioned in parallel with one another, wherein one of the plurality of valves is located in each of the water inlets between the vertically distinct sections of evaporative media and the water chiller;
- and
- a circulation pump that circulates water through the water chiller and the evaporative media in series,
- wherein the chiller is configured to chill the water to below an ambient wet-bulb temperature before the water is circulated to the evaporative cooling media, and
- wherein the inlet system is configured so that all water that is delivered to the evaporative cooling media for conditioning the inlet air is chilled in every cooling mode.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.