Renewable Energy Technology Assessments - Kauai Island Utility ...

Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative
Renewable Energy Technology Assessments 3.0 Renewable Energy Technology Options
3.10.2 Combustion Turbine
The first successful combustion turbine was completed in 1903. Over the next
forty years, rapid advances were made to improve the technology to make it a viable
means of aircraft propulsion. As the technology matured, combustion turbines were
adapted to land-based energy generation uses. With the deregulation of the power
industry in the 1990s, combustion turbines became the generator of choice for a vast
majority of new power projects. Combustion turbines currently have lower capital costs,
shorter construction durations and lower operation and maintenance costs than any other
large central plant available on the market. The primary constraint to their continued
prominence is the current high price of natural gas and diesel fuel.
Figure 3-22. Combustion Turbine Section (Source: Langston).
Operating Principles
Power is generated when the combustion turbine compresses ambient air to
approximately 12 to 16 atmospheres, heats the pressurized air to 2,000°F or more by
burning oil, natural gas or renewable fuels, and then expands the hot gas through a
turbine. The turbine then drives both the air compressor and an electric generator. A
typical combustion turbine would convert 30 to 35 percent of the fuel energy to electric
power, with a substantial portion of the fuel energy exhausted in the form of hot (>900°F)
gases exiting the turbine. When the combustion turbine is used to generate power and no
energy is captured from the hot exhaust gasses, the power cycle is referred to as a “simple
cycle” power plant.
21 March 2005 3-79 Black & Veatch