Inlet Cooling Boosts Power Output by 30 MW

In 2004, a power plant in Thailand needed a cost-effective way to boost output at their facility. Mee Industries installed inlet air cooling systems on two of their Alstom GT26 gas turbines. A combustion turbine’s output is dependent on the mass of the air being moved through its compressor and the air volume flow per revolution is fixed. Lowering the air temperature increases the density of the air which increases the power output. Cooler air also requires less work to compress, requiring less power and lowering the parasitic load of the compressor. Each system provides 11 stages of fogging with an 15 MW power boost resulting in a 30 MW power boost total for the plant.