A strategy for power plants placement optimization for better efficiency : Kuwait as a case study

Abstract

Electricity is a fundamental requirement for human daily life. A power plant is one of the main sources to generate electricity. The main systems of such powerplants are the gas turbine cycle, steam turbine cycle, and combined cycle. A Combined cycle power plant (CCPP) is a combination between Gas turbine (Brayton cycle) and a steam turbine (Rankine cycle) to increase overall plant efficiency. This thesis is based on simulations analysis using MATLAB/Simulink. The first part of this work performed optimization and performance analysis of Sabiyah Combined Thermal Power Plant using real operating data and comparing it with actual output data from the software. The model was developed using MATLAB software. The exhaust of the Gas turbine reached up to 600oC. The main factors in the top and bottom cycles of the combined cycle are investigated and discussed. The net-power output based on the performance model using MATLAB (Simulink) is greater than the current real output in the station by 20.5% and the overall thermal efficiency of the power plant is raised also from 50.5% to 55.2%. The second part investigated performance enhancement for gas turbines using MATLAB Simulink. Intercooler-reheat gas turbine configuration system (IRGT) has been proposed to be implemented in Sabiyah Thermal Power Plant instead of the simple cycle to raise the output power and efficiency with the same fuel burnt. The results of the modeling and analysis indicated that the efficiency is higher in IRGT with 45.20% compared with simple cycle (35.5%). The power output also increases to 210MW in comparison with the current output in the station which is around 160MW only.