INTERCOOLED GAS TURBINE OPTIMIZATION

• US 20170122208A1
• Filed: 10/30/2015
• Published: 05/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Infrastructure Technology, LLC (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Kessler, Daniel Aaron, Vu, Christopher Hung, Vela, Veronica Elizabeth
• Granted Patent: US 9,739,199 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 17/085 to temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 7/143 before or between the compressor stages
• CPC Class Codes: F02C 9/18 by bleeding, bypassing or acting on variable working fluid interconnections between turbines or compressors or their stages F02C3/113 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2220/32 in gas turbines
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2220/3218 for an intermediate stage of a compressor
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2260/211 by intercooling, e.g. during a compression cycle
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2270/112 by limiting temperatures
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2270/303 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F05D 2270/54 by electronic means, e.g. electronic tubes, transistors or IC's within an electronic circuit

Abstract

A control system for a gas turbine includes a controller. The controller includes a processor configured to access an operational parameter associated with the gas turbine. The processor is configured to calculate a bias based on the operational parameter, wherein the bias indicates an amount of change in a temperature of an oxidant entering a compressor of the turbine to reach a reference temperature. The processor is further configured to control the temperature of the oxidant based on the bias to improve power output of the gas turbine.

Claims

1. A control system for a gas turbine, comprising:

a controller comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to;

access an operational parameter associated with the gas turbine;

calculate a bias based on the operational parameter, wherein the bias indicates an amount of change in a temperature of an oxidant entering a compressor of the turbine to reach a reference temperature; and

control the temperature of the oxidant based on the bias to improve power output of the gas turbine.

2. The control system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the temperature of the oxidant by adjusting a temperature of a fluid that interacts with the oxidant in an intercooler, by adjusting a quantity of the fluid that interacts with the oxidant in the intercooler, or any combination thereof.

3. The control system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to allow the temperature of the oxidant to increase based on the bias.

4. The control system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to calculate the bias based at least in part on an exhaust gas temperature (EGT) as the operational parameter.

5. The control system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the temperature of the oxidant such that an EGT is within a margin of an EGT limit.

6. The control system of claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to adjust the margin based on a received amount to account for the type or age of gas turbine.

7. The control system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the temperature of the oxidant by adjusting speed of fans in a cooling system of an intercooler.

8. The control system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the bias is based at least in part on stored values in a memory of the controller.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon, the code comprising instructions to:

access an operational parameter associated with a gas turbine;

calculate a bias based on the operational parameter, wherein the bias indicates an amount of change in a temperature of an oxidant entering a compressor of the turbine to reach a reference temperature; and

control the temperature of the oxidant based on the bias to improve power output of the gas turbine.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, comprising instructions to control the temperature of the oxidant by adjusting a temperature of a fluid that interacts with the oxidant in an intercooler, by adjusting a quantity of the fluid that interacts with the oxidant in the intercooler, or any combination thereof.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the code comprises instructions to limit the temperature to a temperature limit to protect blades of the gas turbine.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the code comprises instructions to control the temperature of the oxidant when ambient temperatures exceed a preset threshold temperature.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, comprising instructions to enable or disable temperature control of the oxidant by an operator.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions are configured to control the temperature of the oxidant based on a plant priority, wherein the plant priority allows for prioritizing water flow or water temperature of an intercooler of the gas turbine.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein control of the temperature of the oxidant is configured to reduce a quantity or a temperature of a fluid used by an intercooler.

17. The method of claim 15, comprising controlling the temperature of the oxidant by adjusting a temperature of a fluid that interacts with the oxidant in an intercooler, by adjusting a quantity of the fluid that interacts with the oxidant in the intercooler, or any combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 15, comprising limiting the temperature to a preset threshold to protect blades of the gas turbine.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the bias is capped in view of an exhaust gas temperature threshold to prevent the temperature of the oxidant from exceeding the exhaust gas temperature threshold.

20. The method of claim 15, comprising limiting a change in value of the bias to a preset threshold of degrees per second to prevent rapid fluctuations in the temperature of the oxidant.

16. A method for a gas turbine system, comprising:

accessing, via a processor, an operational parameter associated with the gas turbine;

calculating, via the processor, a bias based on the operational parameter, wherein the bias indicates an amount of change in a temperature of an oxidant entering a compressor of the turbine to reach a reference temperature; and

controlling, via the processor, the temperature of the oxidant based on the bias to improve power output of the gas turbine.