Thermo-Economic Analysis of Gas Turbine Power Plants Hybridization Using PTSC Technology

A Master of Science thesis in Mechanical Engineering by Muad Mohamed Elgriw entitled, “Thermo-Economic Analysis of Gas Turbine Power Plants Hybridization Using PTSC Technology”, submitted in July 2020. Thesis advisor is Mohamed Gadalla. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Approval Signatures, Completion Certificate, and AUS Archives Consent Form).

Abstract

The effects of environmental change due to ozone depleting waste products are amongst the critical issues facing humanity. Therefore, searching for feasible and naturally well-disposed methods for producing electricity is vital. Among the increasing alternatives available is the concentrated solar power (CSP) which includes the use of parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) technology. Nevertheless, conventional CSP plants that are based on stream-turbine cycles, which consume large amounts of water, are not preferable in the gulf region. In order to increase the efficiency of the cycle and still maintain a low water consumption, Air bottoming Hybrid gas turbine (ABHGT) is used as an alternative to the recovery of the waste heat with steam-turbines. This thesis will focus on Energy analysis of gas turbine power plants hybridization using PTSC technology. Thermo-economic and environmental analyses are done to four models to illustrate the optimum parameters and performance of power plants. The sensitivity analysis is applied to the ABHGT power plant to study its economic value and indicate the most sensitive parameters that have a dominant effect on the economic analysis. ABHGT running with LPG is analyzed at the sensitivity analysis. Although the natural gas is cheaper than LPG, it is not recommended to be used in the upcoming years due to the depletion effect. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of ABHGT at an optimal annual solar share of 22% is 58.35 (USD/MWh) whereas the LCOE of HGT at an optimal annual solar share of 22% is 65.37(USD/MWh). Reducing the CO2 emissions is one of the main objectives in the current thesis. An advanced adiabatic CAES is integrated with power plants to enhance the annual optimal solar share with reasonable LCOE. The Performance of Air bottoming Hybrid gas turbine with advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage (CAES_ABHGT) is evaluated at 1, 3 and 7.5 hours of storage capacity. Thus, it can be seen that Mode C with a 7.5 hour storage capacity is the most promising model since it has the highest optimal annual solar share of 87% with reasonable LCOE of 94.5(USD/MWh) and a reduction of CO2 emissions by 83%.