OPTIMAL GAS TURBINE POWER PLANT OPERATION REGARDING FUEL AND MAINTENANCE COST

摘要

This paper describes a method that optimizes the commercial benefit by modifying gas turbine control parameters like turbine inlet temperature and variable inlet guide vane position for any dispatched power plant load. The method is a trade-off between best efficiency in the component characteristic together with higher efficiency due to increased turbine inlet temperature and lifetime. With commercial data, both effects are transferred into costs and an optimization routine identifies controller settings for minimum power plant operation cost. Test cases demonstrate the advantage of the operational cost optimization. Costs are calculated based on historic plant data with the original and the optimized operation concept. Although savings per operating hour are small, the accumulated savings over years or major inspection intervals are significant. It could be demonstrated that in regions with high fuel prices the commercial benefit of the optimized gas turbine operating concept sums up to "several million dollars" of savings. Parametric and sensitivity studies show the effect of the main parameters. Dispatch power optimization is not subject of the presented model, but can be implemented on top of the proposed concept. All in all, this work demonstrates and quantifies the commercial benefits when todays and future digital industrial capabilities are applied to gas turbine operation concepts and strategies. The proposed digital approach has the advantage of minimum investment and is attractive for gas turbine operators to generate electricity at lower costs and fuel consumption, increasing revenues and minimizing environmental impact.