The power output of gas turbines (GT) reduces greatly with the increase of the inlet air temperature. This is a serious problem because gas turbines have been used traditionally to provide electricity during the peak power demands, and the peak power demands in many areas occur on summer afternoons. An aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) was employed for cooling of the inlet air of the GT. Water from a confined aquifer was cooled in winter and was injected back into the aquifer. The stored chilled water was withdrawn in summer to cool the GT inlet air. The heated water was then injected back into the aquifer. A $20MW$ GT power plant with 6 and $12h$ of operation per day, along with a two-well aquifer, was considered for analysis. The purpose of this investigation was to estimate the GT performance improvement. The conventional inlet air cooling methods such as evaporative cooling, fogging and absorption refrigeration were studied and compared with the ATES system. It was shown that for $6h$ of operation per day, the power output and efficiency of the GT on the warmest day of the year could be increased from 16.5 to $19.7MW$ and from 31.8% to 34.2%, respectively. The performance of the ATES system was the best among the cooling methods considered on the warmest day of the year. The use of ATES is a viable option for the increase of gas turbines power output and efficiency, provided that suitable confined aquifers are available at their sites. Air cooling in ATES is not dependent on the wet-bulb temperature and therefore can be used in humid areas. This system can also be used in combined cycle power plants.

1.
Ministry of Energy
, 2004, “
Energy Statistics
,” Tehran, Iran, (in Farsi).
2.
,
A. A.
, 1990, “
The Impact of Atmospheric Conditions on Gas Turbine Performance
,”
Trans. ASME
0097-6822,
112
, pp.
590
596
.
3.
Malewski
,
M.
, and
Holldorff
,
G. M.
, 1984,” “
Power Increase of Gas Turbines by Inlet Air Pre-cooling With Absorption Refrigeration Utilizing Exhaust Waste Heat
,” ASME Paper No. 84-GT–55.
4.
Kohlenberger
,
C.
, 1995, “
Gas Turbine Inlet Air Cooling and the Effect on a Westinghouse 501D5 CT
,” Kohlenberger Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc., ASME Paper No. 95-GT–284.
5.
Punwani
,
D. V.
,
Pierson
,
T.
,
Bagley
,
J. W.
, and
Ryan
,
W. A.
, 2001, “
A Hybrid System for Combustion Turbine Inlet Air Cooling at a Cogeneration Plant in Pasadena
,”
ASHRAE Trans.
0001-2505,
107
, Pt. 1.
6.
Chaker
,
M.
, and
Meher-Homji
,
C. B.
, 2002, “
Inlet Fogging of Gas Turbine Engines: Climatic Analysis of Gas Turbine Evaporative Cooling Potential of International Locations
,” ASME Turbo Expo 2002, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
7.
Bhargava
,
R.
, and
Meher-Homji
,
C. B.
, 2002, “
Parametric Analysis of Existing Gas Turbines With Inlet Evaporative and Overspray Fogging
,” ASME Turbo Expo 2002, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
8.
Dincer
,
I.
, and
Rosen
,
M. A.
, 2002,
Thermal Energy Storage Systems and Applications
,
Wiley
, London.
9.
Dincer
,
I.
,
Dost
,
S.
, and
Li
,
X.
, 1997, “
Performance Analyses of Sensible Heat Storage Systems for Thermal Applications
,”
Int. J. Energy Res.
0363-907X,
21
(
10
), pp.
1157
1171
.
10.
Dincer
,
I.
,
Dost
,
S.
, and
Li
,
X.
, 1997, “
Thermal Energy Storage Applications From an Energy Saving Perspective
,”
Int. J. Global Energy Issues
,
9
(
4-6
), pp.
351
364
.
11.
Dincer
,
I.
, 1999, “
Evaluation and Selection of Thermal Energy Storage Systems for Solar Thermal Applications
,”
Int. J. Energy Res.
0363-907X,
23
(
12
), pp.
1017
1028
.
12.
Rosen
,
M. A.
,
Pedinelli
,
N.
, and
Dincer
,
I.
, 1999, “
Energy and Exergy Analyses of Cold Thermal Storage Systems
,”
Int. J. Energy Res.
0363-907X,
23
(
12
), pp.
1029
1038
.
13.
Rosen
,
M. A.
,
Dincer
,
I.
, and
Pedinelli
,
N.
, 2000, “
Thermodynamic Performance of Ice Thermal Energy Storage Systems
,”
ASHRAE Trans.
0001-2505,
106
(
2
), pp.
260
265
.
14.
Dincer
,
I.
, and
Rosen
,
M. A.
, 2001, “
Energetic, Environmental and Economic Aspects of Thermal Energy Storage Systems for Cooling Capacity
,”
Appl. Therm. Eng.
1359-4311,
21
(
11
), pp.
1105
1117
.
15.
Dincer
,
I.
, 2002, “
On Thermal Energy Storage Systems and Applications in Buildings
,”
Energy Build.
0378-7788,
34
(
4
), pp.
377
388
.
16.
,
M. N.
, and
Behafarid
,
F.
, 2006, “
Cooling of Gas Turbines Inlet Air Through Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage
,” ASME Power Conference, Atlanta, GA., No. PWR2006-88126.
17.
,
M. N.
, 1986, “
Natural Air-Conditioning Systems
,” in
,
K. W.
Boer
, ed., Am. Solar Energy Society,
Plenum Press
, NY, Vol.
3
, pp.
283
356
.
18.
Umemiya
,
H.
, and
Sasaki
,
H.
, 1989, “
The Selection of a Site Suitable for Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage
,”
JSME Int. J., Ser. II
0914-8817,
32
(
4
), pp.
652
658
.
19.
Paksoy
,
H. O.
, and
Gürbüz
,
Z.
,
Turgut
,
B.
,
Dikici
,
D.
, and
Evliya
,
H.
, 2004, “
Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) for Air-conditioning of a Supermarket in Turkey
,”
Renewable Energy
0960-1481,
29
(
12
), pp.
1991
1996
.
20.
,
M. N.
, and
Chamberlain
,
M. S.
, 1986, “
A Simplification of Weather Data to Evaluate Daily and Monthly Energy Needs of Residential Buildings
,”
Sol. Energy
0038-092X,
36
, (
6
), pp.
425
434
.
21.
Liu
,
H. H.
, 1997, “
Analysis and Performance Optimization of Commercial Chiller/Cooling Tower Systems
,” Master thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.