Turbine Off-Line Water Wash Optimization Approach for Power Generation Available to Purchase

Utility Gas turbine users are keen to use crude and heavy fuel oil as their prime operating fuels if they meet environmental regulations and are economically feasible. Fouling, or ash deposition, is one of the associated technical problems with burning such fuels. This paper intended to present new off-line water washing optimization approach for simple cycle gas turbines. In this approach, increased costs due to power loss and increased fuel consumption due to turbine fouling are analyzed. Gains and losses resulting from shutdown due to turbine washing and the cost of cleaning materials are estimated. These losses are compared with that of a clean engine to find the optimal turbine off-line water washing interval. A model gas turbine similar to the GE MS7001 EA has been built for the current study. Turbine fouling simulation and fouling detection have been determined by Cranfield University TURBOMATCH/PYTHIA software. The optimum washing interval for the datum engine is found to be once every fifteen continuous operating days. The effect of changing the washing frequency is shown on financial terms.