Inlet Fogging: Doing it Right

摘要

Since its introduction more than two decades ago, gas turbine inlet fogging has been installed on more than 1,000 turbines. As a measure of its success, original equipment manufacturers have added the technology to their product lines. The benefits are obvious: using water to cool the inlet air provides significant boosts to output, especially on hot afternoons when demand is at its peak. Hot air, after all, is less dense than cold air. Turbines move a constant volume of air, but the power generated depends on the mass of the air moved through the turbine. Therefore, higher temperatures cause a drop in turbine output.