Evaporative Cooling Towers

The lower the temperature of the air of combustion for a gas turbine, the higher its efficiency.

In summer months, the energy yield is therefore considerably lower than during the winter. In regions in which relative humidity is low, it is possible to apply the principle of evaporative cooling to reduce the intake-air temperature – and, in turn, to appreciably increase turbine efficiency.

There are various systems on the market – including solutions offered by the companies Munter and Mee – that Delbag integrates without difficulty into its air-intake systems.

In any case, the use of completely demineralised water and the appropriate pump skids is necessary. Spraying of the water, or its distribution over large surfaces, produces evaporation of water in appreciable quantities in dry, warm air. This process extracts the required energy of evaporation from the air, which consequently cools. Depending on geographic location and on the systems used, temperature differences of 5 … 20K are possible in this way. The relative humidity of course increases considerably.

Although the investment costs for such systems are significant, amortization typically takes place in 1 to 3 years – results that have led to increased employment of such systems.