Towards optimizing the efficiency of electrical power generation

The thermal efficiency of a gas turbine engine, which ranges between 28% to 33%, may be raised by recovering some of the low grade thermal energy from the exhaust gas to heat the high pressure air leaving the compressor. The overall thermal efficiency of a combined power and power (CCP) cogeneration plant can be raised to about 60%. This is twice the value that may be reached by a modern gas turbine and nearly one and a half times the value that may be reached by a modern steam turbine. The work presented in this paper is an initial and preliminary study of a sponsored project that examines the effect of design parameters on overall performance of the power cycle with the view of producing a code that enables researchers to produce a complete computer simulation of the CCP for the purpose of developing control strategies