Munters evaporative cooling system effectives gas turbines in Hawaii

Munters evaporative cooling system effectives gas turbines in Hawaii The technique superior in simplicity, reliability and costs Munters HumiCool region Americas is pre-cooling gas turbines for the Lalaeloa Cogeneration Plant (KCP) in Kapolei, Hawaii. "We chose an evaporative system over the other types of cooling systems such as fogging and air chrillers because of simplicity, reliability and cost", says Randy Konceliik, project engineer at the KCP The KCP is a combined-cycle combustion turbine facility located at the island of Oahu. The plant converts chemical energy from fluel into electrical and heat energy. KCP generates apporximately 20 percent of the electricity for the Island of Oahu. In 1997 KCP decided to examine the plants system design to determine what capital upgrades could be implemented to increase plant output and efficiency. They found that an evaporative cooling system was one such upgrade that could do just that. Large amounts of air are required to operate gas turbines. Because of this, the power output and fluel consumption of a gas turbine gererator is highly dependent upon mass flow, quality and ambient temperature of the air drawn into the combustion chamber. "The cleaner and cooler the air taken into the turbine is, the more efficient the turbines operate, resulting in a higher power output," says Randy Koncelik. "Conversely, as the air inlet temperature rises, power output falls and efficiency decreases." In evaporative cooling, intake air is passed through one or more wet pads to simultaneously absorb humidity and cool the air. The cool, humid air is then directed to the area where it is nedded. Munters' TURBOdek system cools the inlet air, creating denser air and giving gas turbines a higher mass flow rate and pressure ratio, resulting in an increase in power output and efficiency. "Munters' TURBOdek evaporative cooling system optimizes the gas turbine combustion process by increasing oxygen levels," says Larry Klekar, sales manager for Munters Systems Division in region Americas. "It is possible to recover as much as 15 percent of the lost power just by cooling the intake air." For further information, please contact: VP Corporate Communication Per Bowallius Tel: +46 8 626 63 08, mobile: +46 70 324 03 14, e-mail: per.bowallius@munters.se ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/08/19991008BIT00470/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/08/19991008BIT00470/bit0002.pdf