CESCO offers turnkey supply of combustion turbine inlet air chilling (TIAC) systems. We offer an engineering-driven approach that will define the optimal chilling solution for our clients' power plants. We offer pre-designed systems that are turbine-specific and can be applied to either new power plant projects or retrofitted on existing plants. CESCO proudly represents Stellar Energy Systems.
Click here to download a technical paper by Stellar on Turbine Inlet Air Chilling Systems


General Diagram of TIAC Plant
A chilling system for gas turbine inlet air is a beneficial option for installations where high ambient temperatures are common. With inlet air cooling, a gas turbine will have a higher mass flow rate and pressure ratio, yielding an increase in turbine output power and efficiency.

Example of an inlet air chilling
section of a combustion turbine
With a chilling system, a chilling coil is inserted in the filter house downstream of the filtering elements, in the clean air path. Downstream from the coils, a mist eliminator is installed in order to prevent condensed water droplets from entering the gas turbine inlet duct. The chiller coil cooling fluid is usually a mixture of water and glycol to avoid freezing in the coil tubes.

The economic benefit of chilling system is directly related to the potential average increase in annual output, and this in turn is dependent on average ambient conditions. A chilling system can be installed on any gas turbine. In a chilling system, heat is removed from the inlet airflow by means of heat exchangers (chilling coils). Cooling is achieved through both sensible cooling (no condensation of water) and latent cooling (with condensation of water), where the former is more energy efficient but the air is only cooled down to the dew point. For example, given a dry bulb temperature of 30°C and a relative humidity of 40%, air can be cooled down to its dew point (15°C) without water condensing and then further cooled to 8°C by removing latent heat. The cooling should be limited to 8°C due to the risk of ice formation on the inlet guide vanes. Therefore, a control valve should be installed on the adduction header in order to provide the chilling system with the required turndown capability. The following images show the approximate water condensation rate and the required refrigeration duty on the coolant side.

The coolant is usually a mixture of water and glycol with the proportions determined to avoid icing (a function of the absolute minimum temperature that the coolant could experience). The coolant supplied to the heat exchangers can be supplied by several methods, including mechanically actuated refrigeration cycles (e.g., propane cycles), absorption chillers, and ice storage systems. In the example provided, the cooling would have an effect of up to a 22% increase in power and a reduction in heat rate of as much as 6.5%, even considering the additional 1 inch of H2O pressure loss introduced by the coils and the mist eliminator. The actual power increase may be limited so as not to exceed the driver and driver equipment ratings.
The effect of 1 inch of H20 permanent inlet pressure loss has to be taken into account when the unit operates with the chiller off. The chilling coils are normally placed downstream of the filter cartridges in the clean-air path inside the filter house itself. This will result in a zero fouling factor for the chilling coils and a reduction of maintenance requirements.