Influence of ambient condition on thermodynamic performance of the humid air turbine cycle

The role of ambient conditions in determining the thermodynamic performance of the Humid Air Turbine (HAT) cycle is analyzed by comparing the HAT cycle's performance variations with those manifested by the simple gas turbine cycle and the combined cycle. Turbine work has been found to increase as ambient temperature increases. This is because larger amounts of water vapor can be added to the airflow in the humidifier. As this effect counteracts the increase of compressor work, the net specific work that results is held almost constant regardless of the variation in ambient temperature. It is revealed that as ambient temperature increases, the HAT cycle may have more favorable power variations than the combined cycle. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.