The evaporative inlet cooling systems do not work well in humid areas. However, desiccant wheels can be used to dehumidify the air before passing it through the evaporative cooler. A previous study of combined direct and indirect evaporative coolers showed that a single desiccant wheel does not offer much higher effectiveness compared with the multistage evaporative systems. In this paper, additional dehumidification and indirect evaporative cooling stages are added to increase the effectiveness of the desiccant-based inlet cooling. A typical gas turbine cycle along with an industrial gas turbine with actual performance curves are used to study the performance of the proposed system in three different climatic conditions. It is shown that the added stages substantially improve the effectiveness of the desiccant-based inlet cooling.

Issue Section:
Technical Briefs
Keywords:
cooling, gas turbines
Topics:
Cooling, Cooling systems, Evaporative cooling, Gas turbines, Wheels, Turbines
1.
Boyce
,
M. P.
, 2002,
Gas Turbine Engineering Handbook
, 2nd ed.,
Gulf Professional
,
Boston, MA
.
2.
Alhazmy
,
M. M.
, and
Najjar
,
Y. S. H.
, 2004, “
Augmentation of Gas Turbine Performance Using Air Coolers
,”
Appl. Therm. Eng.
1359-4311,
24
(
2–3
), pp.
415
–
429
.
3.
Zadpoor
,
A. A.
, and
Golshan
,
A. H.
, 2006, “
Performance Improvement of a Gas Turbine Cycle by Using a Desiccant-Based Evaporative Cooling System
,”
Energy
,
31
(
14
), pp.
2652
–
2664
. 0360-5442
Crossref
Search ADS
 
4.
Camargo
,
J. R.
,
Ebinuma
,
C. D.
, and
Silveira
,
J. L.
, 2003, “
Thermoeconomic Analysis of an Evaporative Desiccant Air Conditioning System
,”
Appl. Therm. Eng.
,
23
(
12
), pp.
1537
–
1549
. 1359-4311
Crossref
Search ADS
 
5.
Liu
,
W.
,
Lian
,
Z.
,
Radermacher
,
R.
, and
Yao
,
Y.
, 2007, “
Energy Consumption Analysis on a Dedicated Outdoor Air System With Rotary Desiccant Wheel
,”
Energy
,
32
(
9
), pp.
1749
–
1760
. 0360-5442
Crossref
Search ADS
 
6.
Daou
,
K.
,
Wang
,
R. Z.
, and
Xia
,
Z. Z.
, 2006, “
Desiccant Cooling Air Conditioning: A Review
,”
Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev.
1364-0321,
10
(
2
), pp.
55
–
77
.
Crossref
Search ADS
 
7.
Lefebvre
,
A. H.
, 1998,
Gas Turbine Combustion
,
Taylor & Francis
,
London
.
8.
Ameri
,
M.
,
Hejazi
,
S. H.
, and
Montaser
,
K.
, 2005, “
Performance and Economic of the Thermal Energy Storage Systems to Enhance the Peaking Capacity of the Gas Turbines
,”
Appl. Therm. Eng.
,
25
(
2–3
), pp.
241
–
251
. 1359-4311
9.
Chaker
,
M.
,
Meher-Homji
,
C. B.
,
Mee
,
T.
, and
Nicholson
,
A.
, 2003, “
Inlet Fogging of Gas Turbine Engines Detailed Climatic Analysis of Gas Turbine Evaporation Cooling Potential in the USA
,”
ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
0742-4795,
125
(
1
), pp.
300
–
309
.
Crossref
Search ADS
 
10.
Corporation
,
R. D.
, 2003,
Cooling, Heating, and Power for Industry: A Market Assessment
,
U.S. Department of Energy
,
Vienna, Austria
.
11.
Gareta
,
R.
,
Romeo
,
L. M.
, and
Gil
,
A.
, 2004, “
Methodology for the Economic Evaluation of Gas Turbine Air Cooling Systems in Combined Cycle Applications
,”
Energy
0360-5442,
29
(
11
), pp.
1805
–
1818
.
Crossref
Search ADS
 
12.
Mazzei
,
P.
,
Minichiello
,
F.
, and
Palma
,
D.
, 2002, “
Desiccant HVAC Systems for Commercial Buildings
,”
Appl. Therm. Eng.
,
22
(
5
), pp.
545
–
560
. 1359-4311
Crossref
Search ADS
 
13.
Wilson
,
A.
, 2003,
Greening Federal Facilities
,
U.S. Department of Energy
,
Brattleboro, VT
.
Copyright © 2009
 by American Society of Mechanical Engineers
You do not currently have access to this content.