Feasibility of Combustion Turbine Inlet Air-Cooling in the Arabian Gulf Region

Combustion turbine inlet air-cooling systems (CTIACS) have been implemented in various regions around the globe and have displayed proven results in terms of their effectiveness and economic feasibility. Nonetheless, these systems have been rarely employed in the Arabian Gulf region with such existing installations are still undergoing continuous evaluation. The main objective of this study is to highlight the associated benefits of employing a CTIACS option in UAE. This is achieved by first exploring the weather patterns in UAE in order to propose proper weather design conditions. Moreover, the impact of a CTIACS is presented, for a prescribed inlet air temperature, on the annual gross energy increase, average heat rate reduction, cooling load requirements and net power increase. Finally, a combustion turbine unit with a relatively small mass flow rate is shown to be very much feasible economically even upon reducing inlet air temperature below the ISO rating.