Influence of High Fogging Systems on Gas Turbine Engine Operation and Performance

High fogging is a power augmentation device where water is sprayed upstream of the compressor inlet with higher mass flow than that which would be needed to saturate the intake air. The main focus of this paper is on applications of high fogging on the ALSTOM gas turbine engines of the family GT24/GT26. Engine operation and performance are illustrated based on test results obtained from four different engines that have meanwhile accumulated more than 12,000 operating hours (OH) in commercial operation with ALSTOM’s ALFog® high fogging system. The effect of internal cooling (water evaporation inside the compressor) is investigated considering actual compressor boundaries matched within the complete engine. Changes in the secondary air system (SAS) and corresponding movement of the engine operating line have been taken into account. Power output gain as high as 7.1% was experimentally demonstrated for injected water mass fraction (f=mH2O∕mair) equal to 1% and considering internal cooling effects only. Higher figures can be obtained for operation at low ambient relative humidity and partial evaporation upstream of the compressor inlet.