8/8/2019 Low_Fuel_Costs_Beat_Higer_Output_Power-Engineering_Feb_2004

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~PD~TEcould reduce operaring costs by $2.8 millionannually (figure). "The analysis,operaring n asimple-{:ycleconfiguration,shows t is possibleto genen:ltehe same amount of power that thegas mbine nonnally produces,but take advan-tage of the heat rate improvements o reducenatural gas consumption by about 90MMBtu/hr over he full operating angeof 25 Fto95F:"

Blades notes that in addition to being afuel savings strategy, users and power mar-keters are looking at HAl as a physicalhedging strategy. While financial hedgingstrategies are well known within the powerindustry, physical hedging strategies otherthan gas storage are seldom deployed.

"A savvy power plant owner or powermarketer can take advantage of HAl'sperformance-based improvements," saysBlades. "When power prices are high, HAlcan be used to provide additional power atincremental heat rates better than today'sbest combined-cycle plants."

Using HAl, a GE7EA could provide anadditional 27 MW at an incremental heatrate of only 5574 Btu/kWh when ambient airtemperatures are 95 F: When power pricesare low, the same technology with simplechanges n set points could continue to meetpower output obligations, but reduce fuel by90 MMBtu/hr. That would result in what, ineffect, s excessnatural gas hat could be soldon the spot market for additional gains. ~

With rising and volatile natural gascosts mpacting he penonnanceand eco-nomicsof what were once ow-costgenerat-ing facilities, many gas urbine ownersandoperatorsare more interested n reducingfuel costs han incre8$ingpower output ofexistingassets.One way to do it is throughhumid airinjection (HAl) technology usednot ustas a way o augment oweroutput,but alsoas a strategy o take advantage f improvedheat ate o reduce uel costs.

"Power augmentation methods havelong been used to enable gas urbine ownersto recover some of the power that is lost asambient air temperatures rise," notes Rus-sell Blades, vice president of Hill Energy, alicense holder that markets HAl technology."However, in today's market, many assetowners are more focused on reducing oper-ating costs than producing more power."

HAl is one technology that can helpreduce operating costs by improving heatrates, thus reducing natural gas consump-tion. Because nat-

ural gas representsthe largest singlecost of running a gas-fired power plant, anincrease of 1% effi-ciency - improve-ment in the fuel-to-power ratio - canreduce operatingcosts by $15-20 mil-lion over the typicallife of a power plant.Blades cites hiscompany's analysison a baseloadedGE7EA with gascon-tracts at $4IMMBtushowing that HAl