Optimization and the effect of steam turbine outlet quality on the output power of a combined cycle power plant

A narrow path exists to a sustainable solution which passes through careful steps of efficiency improvement (resource management) and provides environmental friendly energies. Thermal power plants are more common in many power production sites around the world. Therefore, in this current research study a comprehensive thermodynamic modeling of a combined cycle power plant with dual pressure heat recovery steam generator is presented. Since the steam turbine outlet quality is a restrictive parameter, optimization of three cases with different steam quality are conducted and discussed. In other hand, energy and exergy analysis of each components for these three different cases estimated and compared. Obtained results show that it is really important to keep the quality of the vapor at turbine outlet constant in 88% for the results to be more realistic and also optimization and data are more technically feasible and applicable. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.