ABSORPTION CHILLER APPLICATION FOR POWER GENERATION: A CASE STUDY FOR A 316 MW GAS TURBINE COGENERATION PLANT IN PASADENA,

TEXAS, USA
D. V. Punwani Avalon Consulting, Inc., USA T. Pierson Turbine Air Systems, Inc., USA J. Bagley Calpine Clear Lake Cogeneration, Inc., USA W. A. Ryan Energy Resources Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA ABSTRACT During summer and in warm climates, an increase in ambient temperature increases demand for electric power for operating electric air conditioners. Unfortunately, due to a basic characteristic of a gas turbine its power output decreases with increase in ambient temperature. Therefore, an increase in ambient temperature could result in a gap between power demand and power availability and lead to brownouts or blackouts. Cooling inlet air to a gas turbine is a low-cost option for preventing a loss of power or even increasing its power output. Turbine inlet cooling helps everyone: consumers, power producers and gas companies. This paper discusses results of the technical and economic analyses performed for turbine inlet cooling for a 316 MW cogeneration plant in Texas, USA. The turbine inlet cooling system, including absorption chillers, was retrofitted to this plant and has been operating since 1999.

INTRODUCTION The use of gas turbines for power generation is growing worldwide. Even though a gas turbine is a highly efficient machine for producing power, it has one undesirable characteristic: its power output decreases with increase in ambient temperature. All gas turbines are rated capacity at ISO conditions of 15oC, 60% relative humidity and 101.3 kPa at sea level. As the ambient temperature increases from 15oC to 40oC, a turbine's power output decreases in the range of 13% to 30% of its rated capacity, depending upon the turbines characteristics. As is well known, an increase in ambient temperature during summer and in warm climates increases demand for electric power for operating electric air conditioning systems. Generally, ambient temperatures are high during daytime (on-peak hours) when electric energy prices are higher than during off-peak hours. Therefore, an increase in ambient temperature presents an excellent opportunity for power producers to sell more power at higher profits, and for gas companies to sell more gas to power producers. However, because increased ambient temperature reduces turbine output, it not only dampens the profit potential for power producers and gas companies, it also sometime leads to a gap between power demand and power supply that results in brownouts or blackouts and causes inconvenience to consumers. Cooling inlet air to the compressor of a gas turbine system is a low-cost option for preventing the loss of power output or even increasing turbine output in hot weather, compared to its rated capacity. This paper discusses the results of some of the technical and economic analyses performed for the 316.8 MW Calpine Clear Lake Cogeneration plant in Pasadena, TX. This plant uses three Westinghouse gas turbines (Model 501D5), each with a rated capacity of 105.62 MW, and produces steam as a co-product that is sold to the adjacent chemical plant. The plant was built in 1982; a fogging system was added later for cooling inlet air to the turbine system. In August 1998, the plant management decided to consider other turbine inlet cooling (TIC) options for increasing power capacity beyond that possible with the fogging system. The TIC system identified in this paper was installed and has been in operation since 1999. DISCUSSION The following cooling technologies were evaluated for TIC for the Calpine plant: Evaporative cooling Fogging Electric centrifugal chillers Hot-water heated single-effect absorption (HWSE) chillers Direct-fired double-effect absorption (DFDE) chillers A hybrid system of HWSE and electric centrifugal chillers with chilled water storage

Since the Calpine plant sells steam as a co-product, steam-heated absorption chillers and steam turbine-driven mechanical chillers were not considered as desirable options for this plant. All costs and prices used in the analyses presented in this paper are only typical and may not represent the actual costs and prices that are confidential to the Calpine Clear Lake Cogeneration, Inc.

Power Capacity Enhancement Some of the performance characteristics of the 501D5 gas turbine are shown in Figure 1. On the basis of these characteristics, the effect of cooling technology on the net power capacity enhancement for the plant is shown in Figure 2. It shows the effect of cooling when the air is cooled from its ambient dry bulb temperature of 35oC, and the mean coincident wet bulb temperature of 26.7oC, to 10oC by all chillers, or to the lowest temperatures achieved, as discussed later, by evaporative cooling and fogging systems. The results show that the DFDE chiller provides the maximum net power capacity increase of nearly 49 MW above that possible at 35oC ambient conditions. This increase is about 33 MW more than that using evaporative cooling, 31MW more than that using fogging, and 11 MW more than that possible with electric chillers. The HWSE chiller provides the second best capacity enhancement of nearly 48 MW. TIC systems with chillers achieve greater power capacity enhancement than those using evaporative cooling and fogging because chillers can reduce the inlet temperature to 10oC, which is much lower than is possible with evaporative cooling and fogging. Evaporative cooling reduces the inlet air temperature to only 27.5oC assuming 90% approach, and fogging reduces the inlet temperature to 26.8oC possible with fogging assuming 98% approach, respectively. Both absorption chillers produce higher enhancement than the electric chiller because of their lower operating power needs as shown in Table 1. The results in Figure 2 also assume pressure drops of 38mm water column (WC) at the inlet coil for all chillers, 7.6 mm WC for evaporative cooling, and 2.5 mm WC for fogging systems. Steam Production Enhancement An increase in ambient temperature not only decreases power output of the turbine, but also decreases the mass flow rate of turbine exhaust gas. Decreased mass flow rate of turbine exhaust results in decreased steam production from the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) downstream of the gas turbine. Just as TIC enhances power output, it also enhances steam production as shown in Figure 3. It shows that cooling the inlet air to 10oC, from the same ambient conditions of 35oC dry bulb as that for Figure 2, increases steam production by over 10,000 kg/hr compared to that at 35oC. Since steam production is independent of the chiller's parasitic power needs, the results show that TIC systems using all types of chillers enhance steam production by nearly 7000 kg/hr more compared to evaporative cooling and fogging systems. The TIC systems with chillers perform better than those with evaporative cooling and fogging for the same reason as discussed earlier for power capacity enhancement. Turbine Efficiency Improvement As shown in Figure 1, increase in ambient temperature also reduces turbine fuel efficiency by increasing the heat rate. The analyses show that a TIC system using any chiller achieves a gross reduction of 505 kJ/kWh in heat rate when turbine inlet air is cooled to 10oC from 35oC ambient conditions. In comparison, evaporative cooling and fogging achieve heat rate reductions of only 1512 kJ/kWh and 165 kJ/kWh, respectively. Total Plant Capital Cost Figure 5 shows the effect of cooling technology on total plant (power generation plus TIC system) cost per MW of net power capacity for the Calpine plant, when ambient dry bulb temperature is 35oC, with 26.7oC mean coincident wet bulb temperature, and when the TIC systems are adequate to cool the turbine inlet air to 10oC with chillers, or to the temperatures discussed earlier for evaporative cooling and fogging technologies.

The estimates in Figure 5 are based on the installed costs for five types of TIC systems. These costs are based on a typical cogen plant cost (without TIC of any kind) of $750,000/MW of the turbine capacity at ISO conditions. On this basis, total plant cost of the 316.8MW Calpine cogeneration plant (without TIC) is estimated to be $237.6 million. The combined output of the three turbines at this plant decreases from about 317MW to 273MW when the ambient temperature increases to 35oC. Therefore, at this ambient temperature, the same investment of $237.6 million increases the effective capital cost per MW of the uncooled power plant from $750,000 to about $870,000. The results in Figure 5 also show that the total plant cost is lower for all systems incorporating TIC, and that the lowest total plant cost is achieved by using TIC with an HWSE chiller. The capital costs for the various TIC systems used in the analyses are as follows: Evaporative cooling Fogging Electric centrifugal chiller HWSE chiller DFDE chiller $1894/MW $1894/MW $834/ton $1239/ton $1435/ton

The above costs of TIC systems apply to the complete system with coils for cooling turbine inlet air, chiller/cooler, all pumps, de-mister, cooling towers, and additional heat recovery equipment, where needed. Generally, the differences between the costs of a TIC system with electric centrifugal chiller and the systems using steam-heated single-effect and DFDE absorption chillers are less than those shown above. The reason for the higher differences for the application in this plant result from the need to retrofit inlet air cooling coils in the available space. It required that chilled water must be cooled to at least 4.4oC. Therefore, the chiller costs include the effect of de-rating to produce chilled water at this temperature rather than the usual 6.7oC ARI standard for rating chillers. In addition, the cost for an HWSE absorption chiller also incorporates the cost of the heat recovery equipment for producing hot water using heat in the exhaust of the HRSG. Annual Net Electric Energy Production Figures 3 through 5 represent snapshot results when the ambient dry bulb temperature is o 35 C and the mean coincident wet bulb temperature is 26.7oC. Since the ambient temperature in Pasadena, TX, where the plant is located, is not always at this condition, it is premature to draw conclusions from the results discussed thus far about the preferred TIC system for the Calpine plant. Further analyses were conducted, using hourly weather data for all 8760 hours of a year to estimate the net annual production of electric energy and steam, and the net annual revenues for each alternative. Figure 6 shows the effect of cooling technology on net monthly increase in electric energy production, assuming the system operates all 8760 hours of the year. It shows that the maximum effect of TIC on electric energy production enhancement occurs in the month of July and that a DFDE chiller provides the maximum enhancement. These results are based on typical monthly weather data for Pasadena, TX. Figure 7 shows a monthly increase in natural gas consumption by gas turbines for producing increased electric energy when chillers are used for cooling inlet air to 10oC whenever ambient temperature is above this level. TIC Optimization and Economics On the basis of the typical annual hourly weather data for the plant location, the maximum cooling load is 20,830RT when ambient dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures are 33.3oC and 28.1oC, respectively. However, this condition occurs only for one hour in July. In

order to optimize the cooling capacity of the TIC, the effect of cooling capacity on net annual electric energy enhancement (AEEE) was estimated when the TIC system is operated only during the on-peak periods of 10 hours per day. On the basis of these results, a cooling capacity of 18,400RT was selected for the Calpine plant. More detailed analyses of the coil design for inlet air cooling showed that the optimum chilled water temperature should be 3.3oC. Since absorption chillers alone cannot produce chilled water at 3.3oC, it was imperative that either electric chillers be used alone or a hybrid chiller system incorporating absorption and electric chillers be used. Electric chillers alone were not considered for detailed evaluation because of their high parasitic power needs. DFDE chillers with electric chillers were also not considered for detailed evaluation because of the additional natural gas needs for DFDE chillers. Therefore, a hybrid chiller system incorporating HWSE chillers and an electric chiller was evaluated in more detail. Cooling the exhaust gases from the existing HRSG, used for producing steam by recovering heat from gas turbine exhaust gases, could produce hot water for operation of the HWSE chiller. Estimates showed that cooling the HRSG exhaust gases from 171oC to 132oC can produce enough hot water for operating an HWSE absorption chiller with a maximum capacity of 9000 TR. Because of the low electric energy rates during off-peak periods, the Calpine plant management decided that the TIC system would be used only during on-peak periods of about 10 hours per day. Since the Calpine plant did not plan to use TIC for about 14 hours of the day, a chilled water storage system was considered as a desirable option to be evaluated. In view of the above information, the definition of a preferred hybrid TIC system for this plant was modified to include 9000 tons capacity of an HWSE absorption chiller plus an electric chiller to further cool the chilled water from the HWSE chiller to 3.3oC, and a chilled water storage system. The capacity of the electric chiller was estimated to be about 1,200 tons and the capacity of the chilled water storage system was estimated to be 184,000 ton-hrs. It was further determined that the optimum temperature for the chilled water from the HWSE absorption chiller should be 6oC. A simplified process flow schematic for the Calpine power plan with the hybrid system for TIC is shown in Figure 8. Figure 9 shows the effects of cooling technology on AEEE when TIC is operated only during on-peak periods of 10 hours per day. The results show that TIC systems incorporating absorption chillers produce higher AEEE than those with electric chillers, evaporative cooling and fogging. The effect of using a TIC system on the net annual increase in revenue depends on the following factors: Cost of natural gas Market price of electricity Market values of co-produced steam Other variable O&M costs

In order to make quantitative estimates of the effect of various TIC options with chillers, the following rates were used as a basis for the above economic parameters: Average annual cost of gas: $2.37/MM kJ Average on-peak market price: $60/MWh Average market price of steam: $7.15/1000Kg Average other variable O&M costs: $3/MWh

The above costs and market prices are assumed to be only typical of such parameters and do not represent the actual cost or prices for the Calpine Clear Lake Cogeneration plant. Such information is highly confidential and is not available for presentation in this paper. Using the hourly weather data for the on-peak periods and above parameter values, Figure 10 shows the effect of cooling technology on net annual revenue. It shows that TIC with HWSE chillers results in the highest annual net revenue increase. Installed capital costs for complete TIC systems with various chiller options were estimated as follows: Electric centrifugal chillers w/o chilled water storage HWH absorption chillers w/o chilled water storage DFDE absorption chillers w/o chilled water storage Hybrid system (discussed above) $15.34 million $22.8 million $26.4 million $18.0 million

By treating the above capital costs as investments and the additional annual net revenues as return on those investments, Figure 11 shows that the TIC system with a hybrid cooling system produces the best return on investment. This system was installed and has been operating since May 1999. A picture of the Calpine power plant with HWSE absorption chillers is shown in Figure 12. CONCLUSIONS When ambient temperature increases, power output of a gas turbine decreases and its fuel efficiency decreases compared to that at the standard rating temperature of 15oC. In gas turbinebased cogeneration plants, an increase in ambient temperature also reduces steam production. TIC is technically effective and can be economically attractive for preventing the loss of gas turbine power output, or even exceeding its rated capacity, when ambient temperatures increase. TIC also improves fuel efficiency of the gas turbine. In cogeneration power plants, TIC prevents loss of steam production, or even exceeds that at 15oC. Absorption chillers are technically more attractive for turbine inlet cooling, because of their lower electric power requirement, and may also be economically more attractive, depending on the market price of electric energy. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Avalon Consulting, Inc. would like to thank the Gas Technology Institute for providing funding for the development of information and analysis presented in this paper. It is also grateful to and appreciates the help and cooperation of all the co-authors.

Figure 1. Effect of Inlet Air Temperature on Power Output and Heat Rate, Relative to those at the ISO Temperature of 15oC, for the Gas Turbine at the Calpine Plant

When Inlet Air is cooled, from 35oC Ambient Dry-Bulb Temperature (26.7oC Coincident Wet-Bulb Temperature) to 10oC by Chillers and to the Lowest Possible Temperatures with Evaporative Cooling (90% Approach) and Fogging (98% Approach)

Figure 2. Effect of Cooling Technology on Net Increase in Power Capacity

Table 1. Effect of Chiller on Operating Power Requirement

When Inlet Air is cooled, from 35oC Ambient Dry-Bulb Temperature (26.7oC Coincident Wet-Bulb Temperature) to 10oC by Chillers and to the Lowest Possible Temperatures with Evaporative Cooling (90% Approach) and Fogging (98% Approach)

Figure 3. Effect of Cooling Technology on Net Increase in Steam Production

When Inlet Air is cooled, from 35oC Ambient Dry-Bulb Temperature (26.7oC Coincident Wet-Bulb Temperature) to 10oC by Chillers and to the Lowest Possible Temperatures with Evaporative Cooling (90% Approach) and Fogging (98% Approach)

Figure 4. Effect of Cooling Technology on Decrease in Heat Rate

When Inlet Air is cooled, from 35oC Ambient Dry-Bulb Temperature (26.7oC Coincident Wet-Bulb Temperature) to 10oC by Chillers and to the Lowest Possible Temperatures with Evaporative Cooling (90% Approach) and Fogging (98% Approach)

Figure 5. Effect of Cooling Technology on Total Plant Capital Cost

When Inlet Air is cooled from its Ambient Temperature to 10oC by Chillers and to the Lowest Possible Temperatures with Evaporative Cooling (90% Approach) and Fogging (98% Approach) Assuming the System Operates all 8760 Hours of the Year

Figure 6. Effect of Cooling Technology on Monthly Net Increase in Electric Energy Production

Figure 7. Effect of Cooling Technology on Monthly Increase in Natural Gas Usage by the Turbine for the Increased Electric Energy Production
When Inlet Air is cooled from its Ambient Temperature to 10oC by Chillers Assuming the System Operates all 8760 Hours of the Year

Figure 8. Simplified Process Flow Schematic for the Calpine Power Plant with the Hybrid System for TIC

Figure 9. Effect of Cooling Technology on Net Increase in Annual Energy Production Using TIC only During On-Peak Periods (10 Hours/Day)

Figure 10. Effect of Cooling Technology on Net Increase in Annual Revenue by Using TIC Only During On-Peak Periods (10 Hours/Day)

Figure 11. Effect of Cooling Technology on Rate of Return on Investment Using TIC Only During On-Peak Periods (10 Hours/Day)

Figure 12. Photo of Five HWSE Absorption Chillers at the Calpine Plant