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EP0718472A1 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Power process utilizing humidified combusted air to gas turbine

Assignee: Foster Wheeler Development Corp
•
Filing: 1995-12-08
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2015-12-08
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Abstract

Abstract A process for producing mechanical power utilizing compressed humidified hot air and a fuel, which are mixed together and combusted and the resulting hot combustion gas is expanded through a gas turbine. The air is initially compressed and intercooled (34) against a water stream, and then further compressed and passed directly to a heat recovery unit (40) where it is humidified (42) using the water from the compressed air intercooling step. The compressed humidified air is further heated and combined with a fuel in a combustor (46), and the resulting hot combustion gas is expanded through a gas turbine (48) to produce mechanical power needed for driving the air compression. The hot turbine exhaust gas is cooled (51) against the compressed humidified air stream (43) and against the water stream (41), and then discharged to the atmosphere. By eliminating a usual separate air aftercooling and saturator unit upstream of the air combined humidifying and heating step, process thermal efficiency for the present process is increased and equipment cost reduced.

Inventors

  • 👤 Zhen Fan

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-05 06:07
CPC Classifications
F; F01; F01K; F01K21/00; F01K21/04; F01K21/047; F02; F02C; F02C3/00; F02C3/20; F02C3/30; F02C3/305; F05; F05D; F05D2260/00; F05D2260/20; F05D2260/211; F05D2260/212

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim 201 words
A process for producing mechanical power by combusting a fuel together with compressed humidified air and expanding the hot combustion gas through a gas turbine, comprising: (a) compressing atmospheric air to a first pressure and cooling the compressed air with an interstage cooling step against a water stream while heating the water stream, thenfurther compressing the air from said first pressure to a second higher pressure and passing the further compressed air directly to a combined saturator and heat recovery unit; (b) contacting the further compressed air with the heated water from said interstage cooling step in said saturator and heat recovery unit by counter-current humidification to form a pressurized humidified air stream; (c) combusting a fuel in the presence of the humidified air stream in a combustor to produce a hot combustion gas; (d) expanding said hot combustion gas through a gas turbine and thereby providing a hot exhaust gas stream and producing mechanical power; and (e) rejecting heat from the gas turbine hot exhaust gas stream and thereby heating the further compressed air and the heated water in said saturator and heat recovery unit, and discharging the cooled turbine exhaust gas from said heat recovery unit to the atmosphere.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 40 words
The process of claim 1, including providing a supplemental water stream to the air saturator and heat recovery unit for mixing with the interstage cooling water stream so as to limit the humidified air temperature to the fuel combustion step.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 34 words
The process of claim 1, wherein the heated water from said interstage air cooling step is spray mixed with the further compressed air in said heat recovery unit to form an air-water mixture stream.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 33 words
The process of claim 1, wherein the mechanical power produced from the gas turbine is used to drive the first pressure and second pressure stages of air compression and an electric power generator.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 20 words
The process of claim 1, wherein the hot combustion gas temperature to the gas turbine does not exceed about 2,0̸0̸0̸°F.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 227 words
A process for producing mechanical power by combusting a fuel with compressed humidified air and expanding the resulting hot combustion gas through a gas turbine, comprising: (a) compressing atmospheric air to a first pressure and cooling the compressed air with an interstage cooling step against a water stream and thereby heating the water stream, then further compressing the air from said first pressure to a second higher pressure and passing the further compressed air directly to a combined saturator and heat recovery unit; (b) contacting the further compressed air with the heated water from said interstage cooling step and a supplemental water stream in said combined saturator and heat recovery unit by counter-current humidification to form a pressurized humidified air stream; (c) combusting a fuel in the presence of the humidified gaseous air stream in a combustor to produce a hot combustion gas having temperature not exceeding about 2,0̸0̸0̸°F; (d) expanding said hot combustion gas through a gas turbine and thereby providing a hot exhaust gas stream and producing mechanical power for driving the first and second pressure stages of air compression; and (e) rejecting heat from the gas turbine hot exhaust gas stream and thereby heating the further compressed air and the heated water in said saturator and heat recovery unit, and discharging the cooled turbine exhaust gas from said heat recovery unit to the atmosphere.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

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