Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

A review of inlet air-cooling technologies for enhancing the performance of

combustion turbines in Saudi Arabia
Abdulrahman M. Al-Ibrahim*, Abdulhadi Varnham
Energy Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Peak demand for electric power in Saudi Arabia occurs during the middle of the day in summer and is
Received 27 July 2009 almost double the off-peak demand. The demand prole is ill-matched to the performance prole of
Accepted 21 April 2010 combustion turbines as their power output decreases with increased inlet-air temperature. Approxi-
Available online 11 June 2010
mately 42% of the Saudi Electric Companys (SEC) annual energy sales are generated by combustion
turbines, yet the turbines experience a 24% decrease in system capacity during the summer due to
Keywords:
ambient air temperatures up to 50
C. Methods of increasing the energy contribution of existing plant by
Combustion turbine
changing their performance proles through inlet air cooling could make a substantial contribution to
Inlet air cooling
Thermal energy storage
the additional 35 GW in peak demand capacity required by 2023. An extensive review of the various
combustion turbine inlet cooling technology (CTIAC) options open to SEC has been made, and their key
benets and drawbacks in relation to the environmental conditions and generational requirements of
Saudi Arabia have been identied.
2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is located in the south west of the
content of Asia along with its neighboring countries of Jordan, Iraq,
Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Emirates, Oman and Yemen. Saudi Arabia
has land and costal boundaries of 4431 km and 2640 km respec-
tively, and covers an area of more than 2 million square kilometers;
little is utilized for urban or agricultural needs, vast areas are
uninhabited desert, and the climate is harsh and dry with great
temperature extremes. As a result, Saudi Arabia faces multiple
environmental concerns, including desertication and the deple-
tion of underground water resources. Statistical rainfall data
available from the Ministry of Water and Electricity [1], show that
on average, urban areas of Saudi Arabia receive just 10 mm of rain
per month. The lack of perennial rivers or permanent water sources
has prompted the development of extensive seawater desalination
facilities for domestic use. In 2007, demand for water in Saudi
Arabia was more than 2 billion cubic meters; 54% of which was met
from seawater desalination plants [1]. The limited supply of water
has led to industry minimizing its use of water to less than 3% of
total annual consumption, and to search for alternatives, such as
the wide-spread use of less efcient air-cooled condensers instead
of water-cooled condensers.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 966 1 481 3500; fax: 966 1 481 3880.
E-mail address: aibrahim@kacst.edu.sa (A.M. Al-Ibrahim).
Having a desert climate, Saudi Arabia is faced with large daily
and seasonal ambient temperature variations. As a consequence,
electricity demand varies considerably from summer to winter, and
from day to night. The peak demand period for electric power
occurs during the middle of the day in the summer, mainly due to
the cooling loads required by air conditioning equipment [2]. The
measured electric power consumption for a large facility in Riyadh
during a summers day is shown in Fig. 1. For this facility, electric
power consumption during peak times reaches almost 9 MW,
which is twice as much as the consumption during off-peak times.
Over the decade from 1999 to 2009, the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia underwent a rapid expansion of its industrial base along
with an equally rapid increase in population. These trends, along
with low fuel costs and low electricity tariffs, increased demand
on the electric power generating utilities between 5% and 7% per
annum. The number of electricity customers rose by 64% to 5.7
million, energy sales by 70% to 193 TWh, and peak demand by
82% to 40 GW [3]. To meet expected future demand, the Ministry
of Water and Electricity of Saudi Arabia is planning an additional
35 GW peak demand capacity by 2023 at an estimated cost of
$120 billion [4]. In addition to the increasing demand for energy,
the Kingdom is also facing a rapid increase in demand for desa-
linated water, much of which is produced in cogeneration plants
that export excess power to the electricity grid. To meet this
demand, the Saline Water Conversion Company is planning
integrated power and water projects worth an estimated $50
billion by 2020 [4]. These huge increases in demand will be met

1359-4311/$ e see front matter 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2010.04.025
1880 A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888
Fig. 1. Electric power consumption for the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Tech-
nology complex for Aug 22nd, 1998 [5].
by investments in new power plants as well in upgrading exist-
ing power infrastructures.
In 2008, the electric utility company in Saudi Arabia (SEC)
produced 178 430 GWh of energy, of which 79 130 GWh (44.3%)
was produced by simple cycle combustion turbines, 15 131 GWh
(8.5%) was produced by combined cycle combustion turbines, 81
770 GWh (45.8%) was produced by steam turbines, and 2399 GWh
(1.3%) was produced by diesel engines [1]. The efciency of
combustion turbines (CT) decreases with increased inlet-air
temperature, which means that as air-conditioning demand
increases, the ability of the turbines to meet the demand decreases.
Experience with simple cycle CT in the central Qaseem region of
Saudi Arabia showed that high midday ambient temperatures
during the summer can cause a 24% decrease in system capacity [5].
To overcome this problem, SEC has two major options; they may
either continue along the expensive route of installing new CT that
are only used during peak periods, or they may take an alternative
route and cool the air prior to entering the CT. Through an extensive
review of relevant literature, this paper examines the various
combustion turbine inlet air cooling technology (CTIAC) options
open to SEC, and identies their key benets and drawbacks in
relation to the environmental conditions and generational require-
ments of Saudi Arabia.
2. Combustion turbine technologies
Combustion turbines used for electric power production are
manufactured in two basic sizes: industrial turbines and aero-
derivative turbines. Industrial CT, usually referred to as single-shaft
heavy-duty CT, have typical generating capacities ranging from 20
MW to at least 130 MW, and operate with dual-fuel units using
natural gas or distillate oil. A schematic of an industrial CT is shown
in Fig. 2. Aero-derivative turbines (sometimes referred to as
medium CT) are modied aircraft engine turbines, typically ranging
from 500 kW to at least 40 MW, normally operate with natural gas
fuel only, and serve the needs of pipelines and industrial markets
[6]. Production capacities of both types of turbines are rated by the
International Standards Organization (ISO), who specify the
following air inlet conditions: air temperature 15
C (59
F), relative
humidity 60%, and absolute pressure (sea-level) 101.325 kPa (14.7
psia) at a power factor of 0.9. However, conditions such as these are
rarely experienced in Saudi Arabia, especially during the summer.
Combustion turbines operate in the open Brayton thermody-
namic cycle [6]. As the ambient fresh air enters the CT chamber, it
Fig. 2. Schematic drawing of an industrial combustion turbine and its major compo-
nents [5].
passes through a compressor which causes its pressure to increase
rapidly. Fuel is then injected into the high-pressure air and ignited.
The combustion products ow into the turbine and produce the
work that is used to drive the generator shaft and so generate
electricity. Part of the generated work is also used to drive the initial
stage compressor. Usually, as the hot mixture (w500
C) leaves the
turbine, it passes through a heat-recovery generator to recover part
of its wasted heat; it is then released to the atmosphere.
Combustion turbines are constant-volume engines for which
shaft power output is nearly proportional to the combustion air
mass ow at base load.
At base load, the magnitude of mass ow rate of air entering the
CT determines its production capacity. Higher combustion air mass
ow rates increase the capacity of the turbines while also
increasing the fuel mass ow rate. However, the increase in fuel
mass ow rate is smaller than the increase in power output, and
heat rates (the ratio of fuel input rate to power produced) decrease
at the higher air mass ow rates. Newly designed CT operate at
lower airow rates per unit of power produced. The lower ow
rates decrease the cooling requirement for CTIAC systems and
therefore increase the net benet. Capacity increases, however,
may be restricted by the maximum capacity of the CT, the
maximum generator kVA rating, or lube oil cooling limitations.
Fig. 3 depicts the theoretical relation between the temperature
of the inlet air, and CT power, heat rate and exhaust temperature.
The difference between the ISO standard conditions of 15
C and
the hot summer peak periods of w40
C, may result in a 20% drop in
CT output power, whereas, if the inlet air to the CT was cooled to 4

C during these peak periods, a 27% increase may be observed.
A decrease in air temperature entering the CT, may lead not only to
a capacity enhancement, but an improvement in heat rate, an
extension in turbine life, an increase in combustion turbine ef-
ciency, and a delay in requiring additional generation capacity.
3. Review of combustion turbine inlet air-cooling
technologies
The rst application of combustion turbine inlet air cooling
(CTIAC) was a direct air conditioning system for a plant in Battle
Creek, Michigan (USA) in 1987e88, and the second was an off-peak
ice harvester system in Lincoln, Nebraska (USA) in 1992 [7].
Although it is theoretically possible for gas turbines to reach ef-
ciencies as high as 65%, open-cycle, most simple open-cycle
turbines are about 40% efcient. Increases in efciency can be
achieved in a number ways including reducing internal losses,
increasing inlet temperatures, recycling waste heat from gas
 A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888
Fig. 3. Relation between the temperature of the inlet air, and CT power, heat rate and
exhaust temperature [5].
turbine exhausts, and the subject of this work, by decreasing
ambient temperatures.
Ambient temperatures are typically decreased using the
following techniques:
B Wetted media evaporative cooling
B High-pressure fogging
B Absorption chiller cooling
B Refrigerative cooling
B Thermal energy storage
These techniques have been studied extensively, and increasingly,
are being applied to gas turbines throughout the world. Kitchen et al.
[8], for example, assessed the potential capacity increase of various
gas turbines with inlet cooling; Giourof [9], De Lucia et al. [10], ASH-
RAE [11], and Andrepont [12] gave detailed discussions of cooling
techniques; and Stewart [13] has produced a comprehensive design
guide. The results of practical experience, singly or in hybrid combi-
nations; comparative studies; hybrid techniques; and economic
studies; have all appeared in recent literature.
3.1. Wetted media evaporative cooling
Wetted media evaporative cooling (Fig. 4) is most suited to hot
dry areas as it uses the latent heat of vaporisation to cool ambient
temperature from the dry-bulb to the wet-bulb temperature.
Cortes [14] found the technique is able to increase power output
up to 14% and that annual O&M costs are about 3e5% of installation
costs. Nabati et al. [15] found parasitic power consumption to be
less than 0.5% of the increased production, and in addition, that it
reduced emissions of NOx by 0.8e1.5% per
C of cooling. Punwani
et al. [16] estimated additional costs to be about $50 per kW
additional capacity; however, Nabati et al. [15] reported that
installation can take as much as 10 days, which is much longer than
an equivalent fogging system, and that it has limited potential in
regions of high summer humidity. The media evaporative cooling
system installed in the gas turbines of the Fars (Iran) combined
cycle power plant was modelled and evaluated by Hosseini et al.
[17]. At an ambient temperature of 38
C and a relative humidity of
8%, a temperature drop of 19
C was achieved resulting in an output
1881
Fig. 4. CTIAC using evaporative cooling over wetted media.
increase of 11 MW. The annual power gain was 5280 MWh and the
payback at current tariffs was four years.
Meher-Homji and Mee III [18] highlighted the fact that the
amount of water required for evaporative cooling in CT depends on
the degree of cooling required, ambient conditions, and the turbine
mass-ow rate. In their analysis, indicative gures for the amount
of water were given as a function of degrees of cooling and mass-
ow rates; an average of 300 l/h is required for every degree of
cooling per 200 kg/s of mass-ow rate. No information was given to
link this indicative gure to the humidity levels of the intake
ambient air. However, they reported the eld results of an inlet
fogging system for a GE Frame 7FA CT in the state of Oregon (US):
the results show an increase 16 MW was achieved; however, for
each CT, 13.6 cubic meter of fresh water was required for fogging for
every hour of operations.
Dawoud et al. [19] made a thermodynamic assessment of
several inlet air-cooling systems for a GE Frame 6B CT in Oman
(south east of Saudi Arabia) at an ambient summer temperature of
48.8
C and a nominal power output at base load of 40 MW. With
evaporative cooling a gain of 9.4% was achieved and with fogging
the gain was 11%. However, annual water requirements for the 40
MW CT were 12 655 tons for evaporative and 14 085 tons for
fogging; amounts equivalent to the annual water needs of a 1200
inhabitant urban area in Saudi Arabia near the Oman border [1].
Hariri and Aghanaja [20] used a mathematical model to assess
the use of an indirect evaporative cooler to boost the power output of
a simple cycle gas turbine having a rated efciency of 27.06%. They
showed that the indirect evaporative cooler may result in a reduc-
tion in the efciency of the turbine under investigation to 26.32%
because the increase in fuel consumption outweighs the gain
attained from the reduction of the compression process work,
causing a reduction in turbine efciency.
3.2. High-pressure fogging
High-pressure fogging (Fig. 5) is the spraying of droplets of
demineralised water, 5e20 microns in diameter, into air inlet ducts
at 1000e3000 psia [21]. As the fog droplets evaporate, 100% relative
humidity is produced and the air is cooled to the wet-bulb
temperature: the lowest possible temperature obtainable without
refrigeration.
Excess fogging can be applied so that the droplets evaporate in
the compressor thereby reducing gas turbine compressor work and
further boosting turbine power. Technically, fog droplets are less
than 40 microns in diameter and remain airborne due to Brownian
motion. In still air, a 10-micron droplet takes 5 min to fall 1 m. This
1882 A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888
Fig. 5. CTIAC using high-pressure fogging.
is in contrast to mist droplets that are 40e100 microns in diameter
that take 3 s to fall 1 m in still air. Bhargava and Meher-Homji [22]
conducted a detailed parametric study of inlet high-pressure
fogging in the context of gas turbine design parameters, and
practical aspects of high-pressure fogging including the location of
nozzles, water quality, and Meher-Homji and Mee III [18] discussed
operation and maintenance. A typical fog system will require
15e20 h maintenance per year. They recommend installing the
high-pressure fogging nozzles downstream from the air lter to
reduce water usage, and if the primary purpose of the fogging is
evaporative cooling, to install them upstream from the silencers to
allow more time for the fog droplets to evaporate, but if inter-
cooling is required, to install them just before the trash screens.
They also recommend the use of water metering to avoid excess
water use, installing drainage systems for silencer and duct oors,
and the use of sub-micron lters in the water treatment plants as
demineralised water can still contain colloidal silica which may
lead to fouling. Hill [23] showed that droplets of water >20 microns
in diameter may strike the turbine blades and cause erosion;
however, Sexton et al. [24] showed that the fogging droplets used in
high pressure inlet air fogging and fog intercooling do not cause
erosion of turbine blades. Utamura et al. [25] conrmed this and
showed through CFD studies that fog droplets 10e20 microns in
diameter follow the air path and do not strike the turbine blades.
Chaker et al. [26e28] present a comprehensive analysis of nozzle
design, droplet thermodynamics, and heat transfer in the inlet
fogging of gas turbine engines. They modelled the transient
behaviour of droplets in terms of the droplet diameter, changes in
relative humidity and temperature, and time to attain saturation,
and demonstrated the importance of uniformly small droplets.
Because a 10-micron droplet has 13% the mass of a 20-micron
droplet and equivalently 4 times its surface area, it will evaporate
much faster and be less likely to impact on the turbine. Each nozzle
can create over three billion droplets per second and a large gas
turbine may have as many as one thousand fog nozzles. Although
high-pressure fog contains trillions of droplets, each has less than 2
s total residence time in the turbine. In fog with varying sized
droplets, smaller droplets will evaporate rst; the resultant
increased relative humidity will slow the rate of evaporation of
larger droplets, and raise the risk of turbine blade erosion and duct
oor wetting. White et al. [29] determined the cooling capability of
direct spray fogging along with droplet size and water require-
ments. A 4.9% power gain at design conditions of 32.2
C and 60%
relative humidity was expected, but difculties in producing the
required 5e10 micron droplets size at high ow rates meant that
only a 3.8% power gain was obtained.
Perez-Blanco and Kim [30] examined the technique of contin-
uous cooling (also known as high fogging), which uses water
injection rates from 2 to 10% of the air mass ow, as opposed to the
1e2% used in conventional inlet cooling. Because residence time in
the compressor is very short, in the order of a few hundredth of
a second, for the evaporation process to provide effective cooling
and to maintain pressure, compressor redesign may be required:
Cataldi et al. [31] and Horlock [32] reached the same conclusions.
Utamura et al. [33] discussed intercooling by direct injection of
water into the compressor, and through simulation of a 150 MW
turbine with a 14.5:1 pressure ratio, showed how direct spray
intercooling could boost turbine output by 23% with a spray rate of
2.3%. Sexton et al. [24] boosted power output of a LM-2500 engine
by 34% with a spray rate of 24 g/m into the compressor inlet.
Jonsson and Yan [34], however, concluded that intercooling tech-
nologies are still at the experimental stage.
3.3. Absorption chiller cooling
Absorption chiller cooling (Fig. 6) recovers heat from turbine
exhaust gases, which it uses to produce chilled water in a double-
effect lithiumebromide absorption chiller. The chilled water is passed
through a heat exchanger to cool the ambient air temperature.
Nasser and El-Kalay [35] proposed the use of a simple LieBr
heat-recovery absorption system to cool the air intake of a gas
turbine compressor in Bahrain to compensate for the 30
C summer
to winter variation in ambient temperature. They calculated that
heat from the exhaust gases can decrease a 40
C ambient inlet air
temperature by 10
C, giving a power increase of 10%. Bies et al. [36]
studied the use of a lithiumebromide double-effect absorption
chiller to cool warm ambient air entering a gas turbine compressor.
Mohanty and Paloso [37] studied a similar system for a 100 MW gas
turbine in Bankok, taking the inlet temperature down to 15
C. They
achieved instantaneous power output increases of between 8 and
13%, with an overall increase of 11%. Kakaras et al. [38] developed
a computer simulation a simple cycle gas turbine and a combined
cycle plant. They examined the effect of ambient air temperature on
output and efciency, showed how the 40e45
C ambient
temperatures common in Southern Europe cause losses in excess of
20%, and demonstrated the potential gains from integrating evap-
orative media and absorption chillers. Evaporative cooling changes
physical state along the adiabatic line and limits before 100%
relative humidity is achieved. The advantage of the proposed
absorption system is that, independent of ambient air conditions, it
can cool intake air to a specic constant temperature and consis-
tently increase plant output. Ameri and Hejazi [39] report that
there are more than 170 gas turbine units in Iran with a combined
capacity of 9500 MW, but hot weather during the summer results
in 1900 MW losses. They conducted an economic analysis of a gas
turbine intake air-cooling system in the Iranian Chabahar power
Fig. 6. CTIAC using lithiumebromide absorption chiller.
 A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888
plant. The system described uses a steam-absorption chiller and
output power was increased by 11.3%. Economic studies based on
increased revenue as a result of the additional 14 000 MWh per
year electricity production, gave a rate of return of 23.4% with
a payback period of 4.2 years. Al-Bortmany [40] discussed the use of
aqua-amonia absorption chillers powered by heat extracted from
gas-turbine exhaust gases. The inlet air of two gas turbines in Oman
was cooled to 7
C resulting in power gains of 20% and 14%.
Boonnasa et al. [41] evaluate methods of enhancing the capacity of
an existing combined cycle power plant in Bangkok, Thailand.
A steam-absorption chiller is proposed to cool the ambient gas
turbine inlet air to 15
C. The power gain is expected to be about
10.6% with a payback time of 3.8 years. Dawoud et al. [19] calcu-
lated an expected gain of 19.7% in the power output of a GE Frame
6B CT located in Oman if an absorption chiller was used to cool the
inlet air to the CT.
Hariri and Aghanaja [20] used mathematical simulation tools
to assess several techniques to boost the power output of a simple
cycle gas turbine having a rated efciency of 27.06%. They showed
that if an absorption cooling system was used to cool the inlet air,
the turbine efciency could be boosted to 28.22%. Comparing this
to other turbine technology enhancement methods, Hariri and
Aghanaja showed that the 27.06% turbine efciency can increase
to 28.63% if steam injection technology was used in the combustion
chamber, and an increase to 34.98% if a regenerator was employed
between the compressor and the combustion chamber.
3.4. Refrigerative cooling and thermal energy storage
Refrigerative cooling uses mechanical or electrical vapor
compression refrigeration equipment (Fig. 7). Equipment and O&M
costs are less than absorption chillers, but capital costs are higher
and parasitic power requirements can be 30% of the power gain.
Thermal energy storage stores cooling energy using either the
sensible heat capacity of chilled water, or the latent heat capacity of
ice. Typically, chillers run during off-peak times, and the cooled
media is used to cool ambient air during peak load times.
Hall et al. [42] documented the performance of a 36 MW CT
plant in which a chilled water-based storage refrigeration system is
used to cool the inlet air. The cooling system was able to reduce the
air from an ambient temperature of 35
C to 7
C, thus enhancing
plant performance by 10%. They also showed that the size, and
hence cost, of cooling systems is directly proportional to the
number of hours of cooling required, and that direct cooling and
thermal energy storage systems cost about the same, despite the
Fig. 7. CTIAC using mechanical cooling with thermal energy storage.
1883
greater capacity of direct cooling, due to the cost of the thermal
storage facilities. Andrepont and Steinmann [43] recommended the
selection of chilled water as the storage medium for inlet air-
cooling as it requires a relatively low refrigeration capital cost
compared to ice storage-based systems. However, due to its limited
air-cooled temperature delivery of about 7
C, depending upon
ambient site temperatures, chilled water systems may not yield
enhancements in CT performance comparable to ice storage-based
systems. This is because ice has a higher thermal energy density
than water. Cross et al. [44] developed and validated a detailed
model for a CTIAC system including the CT, ice harvester, chiller,
and storage system. The model was used to predict the perfor-
mance of a complete system using different power plant loads, and
the storage system size was determined for each load prole. As an
alternative to the Andrepont and Steinmann [43] recommendation,
Cross et al. [44] recommended the use of a hybrid ice-chilled-water
thermal storage system by using a chilled water system to meet the
larger share of the inlet air-cooling load, and a smaller ice storage
system to meet the 4
C requirements. They concluded that ice
storage-based systems and hybrid systems could yield an 11%
greater increase in plant capacity compared to chilled water-based
systems. Comparing the ice storage-based system to the hybrid
system, Cross et al. [44] showed that the hybrid system could give
the same performance benets as the ice storage-based system, but
with a 6e36% cost saving. However, they emphasized that these
results are dependant upon the CT load prole, and may need to be
recalculated for different load proles. Ameri et al. [45] discuss the
economic design criteria behind the choice of chilled water and ice
storage thermal energy storage systems for CTIAC for the Kish
power plant. The plant is located in an area of Iran with humidity
high enough to rule out the use of evaporative techniques. Chilled
water storage was found to be economically preferable to ice
storage. The proposed system was able to lower the ambient
temperature from a high of 45
C to 7.2
C. The system uses off-peak
power for 17 h to chill the system to provide 7 h of cooling. It has
a power gain of 13.6% and an internal rate of return of 27.3%. Amell
and Cadavid [46] examine the inuence of relative humidity on the
thermal load of vapor compression and ice storage systems for
CTIAC systems in coastal areas of Colombia. Because thermal load is
a function of air mass ow, relative humidity, ambient temperature,
and cooling temperature; changes in relative humidity from the
regions average design criterion of 34%, to the average value at the
power plant locations of 80%, result in a 94% increase in thermal
load. Installed vapor compression and ice storage cooling systems
are often under-designed and have higher than expected energy
requirements. Yokoyama and Ito [47] investigated how unit size
and cost of gas turbine cogeneration plants are affected by inlet air-
cooling with ice storage. They examined capacity with and without
air cooling and determined annual costs. Behafarid and Bahadori
[48] used and an aquifer to store thermal energy for a CTIAC system.
The aquifer water was extracted and re-injected into the aquifer
throughout the year: in winter the ambient temperature cooled the
water, in summer the cooled water was used to cool the turbine
inlet air. The system was used for cooling for 6 h a day during the
summer and increased efciency from 31.8% to 34.2%. Zurigat et al.
[49] evaluated the potential of ice and chilled thermal energy
storage to cool gas turbine inlet air in Oman. They found the cost of
chilled water and ice storage tanks to be uneconomical. They also
investigated the option of partial thermal energy storage and found
that reduced storage capacity does not result in a reduction of
chiller size. They concluded that without a time-of-use utility rate
structure the system would not be viable. Zamzam and Al-Amiri
[50] examined the potential use of employing refrigerative CTIAC
systems in the United Arab Emirates. They used wet-bulb and dry-
bulb weather data to determine characteristic design conditions of
1884 A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888
three Emirates: Al-Ain, inland arid, very hot and relatively dry; Abu
Dhabi, coastal Arabian Gulf, very hot and humid; and Fujairah,
coastal Oman Gulf, hot and very humid. For given inlet air
temperatures they determined annual gross energy increase,
average heat-rate reduction, cooling load requirement, and net
power increase. For viability, they recommended an inlet air
temperature of 15e25
C. Al-Amiri and Zamzam [51] extended the
analysis to include evaporative cooling. They recommended evap-
orative cooling be used where a peak-power increase between 8%
and 15% is required at high temperatures, and refrigerative cooling
where a sustainable increase of 10e25% is required. They noted that
although a time-of-use tariff would increase viability, the xed rate
tariff means that inlet cooling would be to utilities benet.
Andrepont [52] analysed the role of thermal energy storage in
demand-side and supply-side management of peak power. Several
case studies presented illustrated the relative merits of chilled
water, ice, and low temperature uids. Ice storage is found to be the
most modular system; chilled water gives the best energy ef-
ciency, economies of scale, and ease of retrot; and low tempera-
ture uids can achieve the lowest temperatures. Estimated unit
capital costs for a peak discharge of 4e5 h/day were $200/kW, and
for 8e10 h/day were $300/kW. Jolly et al. [53] discuss the thermal
energy storage based inlet air chilling systems of simple-cycle CT in
Wisconsin. The inlet air is cooled for 4 h/day 5 days/week. Each
system has a 3400-ton refrigeration plant, 4.5 million gallons of
storage, and an ice making capacity of 2600 tons; recharge is at
night and at weekends. The systems can provide instantaneous
cooling loads of 16,200 tons for each set of 4 turbines, and were
designed to cool the ambient air from 23
C to 5.5
C. A 17% increase
in power was achieved, boosting the CT power to 112 MW. Lie-
bendorfer and Andrepont [54], present a case study of the 678.6
MWh thermal energy storage system retrotted to gas turbines in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The system has a 38.7 MW thermal capacity
chilled water plant operating for 6 h on and 18 h off that can
provide 10.5 MW simultaneous thermal cooling to each of 10 gas
turbines; i.e., 105 MW total. The system increased net power by 30%
and reduced capital costs by $10 million.
Al-Ansary [55] developed a simplied thermodynamic model to
predict the performance of an ejector refrigeration system for the use
in a CTIAC system and compared its performance against the expected
performance of a vapor compression system. Al-Ansary described
ejector refrigeration systems to be low-maintenance, uid driven,
heat-operated devices that can utilize the turbine exhaust as the heat
source for running the cooling cycle, hence, they are characterized by
low power requirements making them superior to vapor compression
systems. On the other hand, Al-Ansary considered the large
condensers associated with ejector refrigeration systems to be
a major deciency. Al-Ansary used his model to predict the increase in
turbine power when using an ejector refrigeration system for a range
of ambient air temperature from 31 to 44
C, and found that the
turbine power can increase from 6.8 to 7.3% inversely proportional to
ambient temperature. Using his model, Al-Ansary predicted that the
ejector refrigeration system requires 0.2e0.6% (proportional to
ambient temperature) of the power gain to run the refrigeration
system, whereas if a vapor compression refrigeration system was
used, the power requirement can range from 0.6 to 0.9%. Al-Ansarys
simplied model has not been validated experimentally.
Chen et al. [56] developed a thermodynamic model to predict
the performance of a CTIAC system employing a vapor compression
refrigeration system with pressure drop irreversibilities. In their
model, the combustion uid was determined to encounter several
ow resistances; including the friction through the blades,
compressor vanes and the turbines, and the cross sectional areas of
the various components of the CTAIC systems encountered by the
combustion uid. Zhang et al. [57] used the model developed by
Chen et al. [56] to identify the system operating condition that
yields the optimum performance of the CTIAC system. Zhang et al.
varied the inlet air mass ow rate to the CTIAC system, and found
that an optimum air mass ow rate exists that yields the maximum
system performance. Several examples were illustrated by Zhang
et al. to demonstrate the effect of the design parameters of the
CTIAC system components on the turbine power output.
3.5. Comparative studies
Meher-Homji and Mee III [21] compare evaporative cooling and
high-pressure fogging cooling of turbine inlets. Although they state
that neither technology is inherently better than the other and that
the choice depends on external factors such as site and economics,
they identify a number of potential issues with traditional evapo-
rative cooling such as the need for re-circulating evaporative
coolers to have a blow-down system to prevent a build up of
minerals on the wetted media and the need for a mist eliminator on
the downstream side to remove unevaporated water droplets from
the air before they enter the compressor. They also highlight the
need for careful adjustment of water ow rates to prevent dry spots
and water carryover; and show that wetted media introduces
a greater differential pressure drop at the turbine inlet, than does
a fogging system, resulting in greater reductions in mass ow rates.
Meher-Homji and Mee III [21] also compared installations costs.
High-pressure fogging installation costs are low compared to other
techniques, including evaporative cooling and refrigeration tech-
nologies. They are about 25% that of an equivalent evaporative
cooling system and can be installed 2e3 days as opposed to an
extended period of downtime. Their footprint is also smaller than
evaporative systems and they induce a much lower incremental
inlet pressure drop. Ondryas et al. [58] examined the use of
absorption chillers powered by steam recovered from turbine
exhaust, electric powered mechanical chillers, and thermal energy
storage to cool the gas turbine air intake. System costs were found
to be less than the economic gain derived from additional peak-
power production. Guinn [59] showed how an evaporative cooler
could increase the output power of a 2.8 MW gas turbine by up to
3%, and that a chilled water system could a 7.7% increase. Alhazmy
and Najjar [60] compared spray coolers and cooling coils and
analysed their performance against operational and design
parameters including ambient temperature, relative humidity,
turbine inlet temperature, and pressure ratio. Spray coolers were
found to be the less expensive option but were strongly affected by
ambient temperature and relative humidity. They could lower the
ambient air temperature by 3e15
C, give a 1e7% power
enhancement, and improve efciency by 3%. Cooling coils give full
control over inlet conditions but have large parasitic power
requirements. They were found to increase output power by 10%
during cold humid conditions and 18% during hot humid condi-
tions; the lack of energy storage, however, caused net power to fall
by 6.1% and 37.6%, respectively. Andrepont [12] presented several
available technologies for cooling the air entering a CT, and high-
lighted the major benets and drawbacks of each technology, the
main points of which are included in Table 1. Although he showed
that the feasibility of each application is primarily location
dependent, he proposed using technologies characterized by
decoupling the operation of the refrigeration unit from the actual
peak times of CTIAC. Decoupled technologies minimize the use of
electric power during peak times. In his conclusions, Andrepont
highlighted the potential usage of ice thermal energy storage
systems for effectively cooling inlet air for 4 to 6 h per day. In earlier
analyses, Andrepont and Steinmann [43] and Cross et al. [44] found
that the capital cost of ice thermal energy storage for CTIAC systems
ranged from $260 to $360 per kW of net incremental power,
 A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888 1885

Table 1
Key benets and drawbacks of various technologies for CTIAC. Adapted from Andrepont [12], Omidvar [74], and others.

Technology Benets Drawbacks

Evaporative Cooling
The injection of water into the inlet
air stream, thereby cooling the inlet
air from its dry-bulb temperature to
a point near to its wet-bulb
temperature
 Very low unit capital cost
 Simple and reliable design and operation
 No limitation on time or duration of inlet air-cooling
operation
 Low parasitic power consumption
 Low operational costs
 Quick delivery and installation
 Limited power gain due to the ambient wet-bulb
limitation on inlet air temperature
 High consumption of large amounts of puried water
 High maintenance costs due to scaling and water
treatment
 Limited capacity improvement

High-Pressure Fogging
Cooling to wet-bulb temperature at
100% humidity by high-pressure
spraying of water droplets into
air-inlet ducts
 Low capital cost
 Excess fogging evaporates in compressor reducing
turbine compressor work and increasing turbine
power
 No limitation on time or duration of inlet air-cooling
operation
 Low annual maintenance time
 Low parasitic power consumption
 Quick delivery and installation
 Limited power gain due to the ambient wet-bulb
limitation on inlet air temperature
 Higher water consumption than evaporative cooling
 Requires demineralised water
 Additional lters and drainage systems required
 Limited capacity improvement

Absorption Cooling
Utilizing the waste heat from the CT
to drive the heat-driven refrigeration
system for cooling the inlet air
 Not sensitive to ambient-air wet-bulb temperature
 Potential use of recovered energy from the CT
 No limitation on time or duration of inlet air-cooling
operation
 Minimum parasitic electric power losses
 Greater performance increase than evaporative or
fogging
 High capital cost
 High O&M costs
 Limited inlet air temperature by CT manufacturer
(w9
C)
 Complex system requiring expertise to operate and
maintain
 Not suitable for open-cycle turbines
 Requires larger heat rejection (and cooling tower
water) than other reference systems
 Longer delivery and installation time

Mechanical Refrigeration
The use of vapor compression
refrigeration equipment to cool the
inlet air
 Not sensitive to ambient-air wet-bulb temperature
 No practical limitation on achievable inlet air
temperature
 No limitation on time or duration of inlet air-cooling
operation
 Relatively simple and reliable design and operation
 Greater performance increase than evaporative or
fogging
 High capital cost
 Very large electric power demand during peak times
 High O&M costs
 Higher level of O&M expertise required
 Long delivery and installation time
 Requires additional chilled-water cooling circuit
 Higher parasitic load than evaporative or fogging

Ice Thermal Energy Storage
Decouple the operation of the
reference system from the actual
peak times of the CTIAC, using ice as
a storage medium to store energy
during off-peak times
 Inlet air temperature can be brought down to 4
C
 Requires low electric power during peak times
 Can utilize low night-time tariff to produce and store
ice for peak hours operation
 Greater performance increase than evaporative or
fogging
 Relatively high unit cost
 Complexity of the system
 Requires a large storage volume
 Limited hours of inlet air-cooling per day
 High level of O&M expertise required
 Long delivery and installation time

Chilled Water Thermal Energy Storage
Replacement of ice as a storage
medium in the thermal storage
system with chilled water
 Low capital cost
 Requires low electric power during peak times
 Relatively simple and reliable design and operation
 Greater performance increase than evaporative or
fogging
 Limitation of inlet air temperature (w7
C)
 Requires a very large storage volume (physical space
as well as water requirement)
 Limited hours of inlet air-cooling per day

Low Temperature Stratied Fluid Thermal  Inlet air temperature can be brought to 2 to 4
C  Requires a very large storage volume
Energy Storage  Requires low electric power during peak times  Limited hours of inlet air-cooling per day
Replacement of ice or water as  Relatively simple and reliable design and operation
a storage medium in the thermal
storage system, with one of aqueous
uids

compared to $400 to $500 per kW for chilled water thermal energy
storage.
3.6. Hybrid systems
Meher-Homji and Mee III [21] describe how hybrid fogging
systems can be retrotted to cooling systems that are not able to
reduce the inlet air temperature to the wet-bulb temperature. They
can be applied in front of a chiller to provide a colder inlet temper-
ature, and can be used in conjunction with an evaporative cooler to
lower the inlet air to its wet-bulb temperature as the evaporative
cooler cannot do so on its own. In the case of the evaporative-fogging
hybrid, excess fogging can be applied so that fog droplets evaporate
inside the compressor and so provide intercooling. Meher-Homji
and Mee III [18] described a Las Vegas peaking power plant that
started up 560 times per year. The turbine (LM 6000) had a 1040-ton
capacity absorption chiller that took time to come online and was
unable to cool to ambient dew point. A high-pressure inlet fogging
system was tted to increase the cooling capability as well as to
provide instant cooling during generator startup. Wang and Chiou
[61] investigated the combination of steam injection and inlet air-
cooling to improve the capacity and efciency of gas turbines in
peak-power generation having daily oneoff usage patterns. The
system utilised the waste exhaust heat energy from the turbine and
provided a 70% power gain and a 20.4% heat rate improvement.
Zamzam and Al-Amiri [62] developed a technique utilizing a hybrid
system of an indirect evaporative (cooling tower) system and
a refrigerative cooling system; a combination of load-tower-chiller.
The proposed hybrid system utilizes the cooling tower as the prime
source of cooling to meet the cooling load of the CTIAC system. Once
1886 A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888
the maximum capability of the cooling tower has been reached, the
chiller serves to supplement the remaining cooling load. No data
(either simulated or measured) were presented.
3.7. Design criteria and standards
Chacartegui et al. [63] has given detailed cost and parasitic load
estimates for the main CTIAC systems. The determining economic
factors behind the choice of alternative inlet cooling systems have
been identied by Ondryas et al. [58], Guinn [59], and Utamura
et al. [64], as installation and O&M costs, losses due to parasitic
power and inlet pressure drops, fuel and water costs, environ-
mental and legislative costs, and tariffs and power production
agreements. Guinn [59] also stressed climatic conditions and stated
that single-point site conditions should not be used in determining
plant capacity as worst case temperature and humidity are not
coincidental, since the highest relative humidity occurs at the
lowest temperature, typically early morning, and the lowest rela-
tive humidity at the highest temperature, typically around noon.
Because relative humidity is not at its highest during the hottest
part of the day, even very humid locations at such times may be
10
C below the wet-bulb temperature; evaporative media cooling
will not work under such conditions, but fogging may still be
a viable option. The output of gas turbines is a function of inlet air
temperatures, with output power falling by 0.5e0.9% for every 1
C
rise. When ambient temperatures reach 95
F (35
C), outputs may
have decreased by 20% and heat rates increased by 5%. McNeilly
[65] and Chaker et al. [66] have emphasised the need for accurate
climatic data at the inlet cooling design stage, as there is rarely
enough suitable climatic data upon which to make design deci-
sions. What data are available, are usually averaged and not coin-
cident wet and dry-bulb temperatures; averaged data lead to the
erroneous conclusion that the cooling potential is much less than it
really is. They made a detailed climatic analysis of 122 locations in
the US and calculated the equivalent number of hours of cooling
that can be obtained by direct evaporative cooling for each month
of the year and for a range of wet-bulb temperatures. Chaker and
Meher-Homji [67] extended this to an additional 106 locations
worldwide, including Dhahran and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Sullivan and Giampetro [68] developed standards for testing the
components of the refrigerative system (cooling coil, chiller loop,
cooling tower, etc.) as part of the multiple components of the CTIAC
system.
Khaliq et al. [69] showed that the performance evaluation of
CTIAC systems based on rst law of thermodynamics (net work
output) alone is not sufcient, and a more meaningful evaluation
can be attained if the second law of thermodynamics is used to
predict the irreversibilities encountered such that the component
that wastes maximum work potential is identied. In their work,
Khaliq et al. [69] used the thermodynamic model developed by Zaki
et al. [70] to account for entropy generation due to heat transfer and
uid ow throughout the refrigeration cycle. Khaliq et al. found
that the rst law efciency and the second law efciency decrease
with an increase in the extracted mass rates. However, the
magnitude of the increase in the rst law efciency is higher than
that of the second law efciency. The second law analysis showed
that 80% of the irreversibilities encountered in the cycle are from
the turbines combustion chamber.
3.8. Case studies
Kolp et al. [71] analysed inlet air-cooling of a 40 MW gas turbine
and reported that a 28
C reduction in ambient air decreased the
heat rate by 4.5% and increased output power by 30%. Abdalla and
Adam [72] investigated technical and economic aspects of
refrigerative, wetted media, and fogging inlet cooling systems for
a CT in Khartoum. Useful inlet cooling degree hours of 103 349 and
88 902 were calculated for fogging and wetted media respectively,
and 180 275 for refrigerative cooling; the associated power gains
were 51 255 MWh, 44 028 MWh, and 77 348 MWh. They concluded
that the preferred technical option was refrigerated inlet air-cool-
ing, but that the preferred economic option was wetted evaporative
media because the refrigerative system was 4e5 times more
expensive. Payback periods were, 0.6, 0.4, and 2.2 years for, fogging,
wetted media, and refrigerative cooling respectively. Jonsson and
Yan [34] reviewed the literature on humidied gas turbines and
identied which had been commercialised. They divided the
systems into three categories: Water injection with complete
evaporation, which includes wetted media evaporation, fogging,
and intercooling; steam injection; and water injection into a cool-
ing tower, such as evaporative gas turbines and humid air turbines.
They found many commercial systems of the rst category, several
of the second, and only one of the third. In addition, they surveyed
the use of water in the humidication of gas turbines. Water
consumption increases operational costs and incorrect use has
caused erosion, corrosion, and fouling. For high-pressure fogging,
direct water injection, and steam injection, demineralised water is
required; however, in evaporative cooling, potable water may be
used. Although water in the exhaust gas can be recovered, treated,
and recycled, it adds to installation and operational costs. Ameri
et al. [73] gave a technical and economic comparison of evaporative
cooling and fogging systems for gas turbines at a number of power
plants in Iran located in hot dry areas. Mean output capacities were
increased between 8.9% and 14.5%. Payback times were 2 years
for the fogging system, and 3 years for the evaporative systems.
Finally, Al-Ibrahim et al. [5] reported a pilot scheme in the central
Qaseem region of Saudi Arabia, where six CTs with total rated
power of 450 MW were retrotted with a CTIAC system. The
cooling system has an integrated ammonia refrigeration plant with
air-cooled condensers, ice harvesting evaporators, and storage
tanks with a capacity of 8000 m3 of chilled water. The system can
provide cooling for a 5 h demand period with a peak cooling
capacity of 66.5 MW. Prior to the retrot, the CTs actual power fell
by 24%, reaching 342 MW in the summer midday ambient of 50
C.
The system cooled the inlet air to 10
C producing a 33% power
increase.
4. Conclusions
The base load power output of a combustion turbine depends on
air mass ow rate. As the temperature of air entering a combustion
turbine increases, air density decreases causing the air mass ow
rate to decrease; hence, although high ambient temperatures cause
turbine power output to decrease, cooling the turbine inlet air
causes power output to increase. In this paper, a review of the
methods by which the Saudi Electric Company can increase the
power production of its combustion turbines during summer peak
hours using inlet air-cooling has been conducted, and the key
benets and drawbacks of the various technologies highlighted.
Wetted media evaporative cooling is most suited to hot dry
areas as it uses the latent heat of vaporization to cool ambient
temperature from the dry-bulb to the wet-bulb temperature.
Experience in hot arid regions showed that ambient air tempera-
ture decreases up to 20
C are possible [17] at relatively low cost.
However, the large amount of water required [17,39] limits the use
of this technique in Saudi Arabia.
Although the cooling potential of high-pressure fogging is much
higher than that of evaporative cooling, the need for demineralised
water increases the complexity and capital cost of the system [21].
However, the high water requirements, being up to ve times that
 A.M. Al-Ibrahim, A. Varnham / Applied Thermal Engineering 30 (2010) 1879e1888
of evaporative cooling [30], effectively exclude high-pressure
fogging for use in Saudi Arabia.
Experience with absorption chiller cooling in countries with
ambient air temperatures in excess of 40
C showed that aqua-
ammonia absorption chillers can reduce inlet air temperatures to
around 10
C [37,39] with an online power increase of almost 20%
for simple-cycle CT, and a lesser value (w10%) for combined-cycle
CT [41]. Hence, absorption chiller systems can be used to boost CT
power output continuously; i.e., during both peak and off-peak
periods. However, the systems have high capital costs, and are
complex to install and maintain. The high capital costs are only
justied if the demand for CT power increase is continuous, and is
not limited to peak times.
Refrigerative cooling costs depend upon the number of cooling
hours required and the presence and type of thermal storage
employed. Middle East experience with a 17-h-chilling, 7-h-cooling
cycle, showed chilled water storage systems to be more economical
than ice storage systems [45]. However, although chilled water
thermal storage systems have lower capital costs than ice thermal
storage systems, the higher thermal density of ice leads to greater
capacity increases, giving incremental costs per kW around 70%
that of comparable chilled-water systems [43,44]. For sustainable
increases below 10%, time-of-use tariff structures are required for
economic viability [49]; however, xed rate tariffs are appropriate
for sustainable increases above 25% [51].
Reports of existing plants in Saudi Arabia show that chilled
water storage in Riyadh can increase net power by 30% [54], and in
Qaseem it can produce a 33% power increase by cooling the
summer midday ambient air from 50
C to 10
C [5].
The overall conclusion is that the high water requirements of
evaporative cooling and high-pressure fogging mean that they are
not suitable for use in the desert climate of Saudi Arabia. Absorp-
tion cooling is an expensive system with limited cooling ability
during peak hours. Mechanical refrigerative air inlet cooling is
simple and reliable, yet without thermal storage it has high para-
sitic power requirements. The preferred option, therefore, is
refrigerative cooling with chilled water or ice thermal storage. Of
the two, ice storage can produce lower inlet air temperatures and
requires a smaller storage volume.
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