Economic Selection of Plant Cycles and Fuels for Gas Turbines

Energy costs can be reduced in most large process plants by the use of turbines to supply power and heat. Performance characteristics of gas turbines, gas turbine exhaust heat boilers and combined gas-steam turbine cycles, plus the typical heat balance diagrams included in this paper will help the reader visualize economic applications for turbines in different industrial plants. The effect different fuels have on gas turbine maintenance (costs and downtime) and other application parameters are included. The information provided will permit the user to assess his own situation and then select the most economic fuel for a specific gas turbine application.