Indirect evaporative combined inlet air cooling with gas turbines for green power technology

• Novel Inlet Air Cooling (IACS) System for gas turbine is presented (IECS).
• Different weather conditions were considered.
• Performance including power, efficiency, condensed water and SFC are evaluated.
• Thermo-economic analysis for payback period is carried out.

Different inlet air cooling systems are usually used with gas turbines. A new form of inlet air cooling called the indirect evaporative cooling system (IECS) has been investigated in this work. This system is a combination of a humidifier with a vapor compression or absorption cooling system for part of the total air i.e. the secondary air stream. The net power produced from the gas turbine on a hot day (45 °C) by using combined (IECS) with absorption chillers showed an increase in power and efficiency by 15% and 9%, respectively; its recovery period is suitable for all environmental conditions. For IECS combined with vapor compression mechanical chillers showed an increase in power and efficiency by about 7.81% and 2.24%, respectively, but its recovery period made it suitable only for hot and humid conditions. The IECS has lower chiller's capital cost by about 25% (mechanical chiller) and 40% (absorption chiller).