Monte Carlo Simulation of a Combined-Cycle Power Plant Considering Ambient Temperature Fluctuations

A combined-cycle power plant (CCPP) is broadly utilized in many countries to cover energy demand due to its higher efficiency than other conventional power plants. The performance of a CCPP is highly sensitive to ambient air temperature (AAT) and the generated power varies widely during the year with temperature fluctuations. To have an accurate estimation of power generation, it is necessary to develop a model to predict the average monthly power of a CCPP considering ambient temperature changes. In the present work, the Monte Carlo (MC) method was used to obtain the average generated power of a CCPP. The case study was a combined-cycle power plant in Tehran, Iran. The region’s existing meteorological data shows significant fluctuations in the annual ambient temperature, which severely impact the performance of the mentioned plant, causing a stochastic behavior of the output power. To cope with this stochastic nature, the probability distribution of monthly outdoor temperature for 2020 was determined using the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method to specify the range of feasible inputs. Furthermore, the plant was accurately simulated in THERMOFLEX to capture the generated power at different temperatures. The MC method was used to couple the ambient temperature fluctuations to the output power of the plant, modeled by THERMOFLEX. Finally, the mean value of net power for each month and the average output power of the system were obtained. The results indicated that each unit of the system generates 436.3 MW in full load operation. The average deviation of the modeling results from the actual data provided by the power plant was an estimated 3.02%. Thus, it can be concluded that this method helps achieve an estimation of the monthly and annual power of a combined-cycle power plant, which are effective indexes in the economic analysis of the system.

Hybrid component and configuration model for combined-cycle units in unit commitment problem

This letter proposes a novel hybrid component and configuration model for combined-cycle gas turbines(CCGTs) participating in independent system operator(ISO) markets. The proposed model overcomes the inaccuracy issues in the current configuration-based model while retaining its simple and flexible bidding framework of configuration-based models. The physical limitations—such as minimum online/offline time and ramping rates—are modeled for each component separately, and the cost is calculated with the bidding curves from the configuration modes. This hybrid mode can represent the current dominant bidding model in the unit commitment problem of ISOs while treating the individual components in CCGTs accurately. The commitment status of the individual components is mapped to the unique configuration mode of the CCGTs. The transitions from one configuration mode to another are also modeled. No additional binary variables are added, and numerical case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of this model for CCGT units in the unit commitment problem.

A practical approach to improve alarm system performance: Application to power plant

Process safety in chemical industries is considered to be one of the important goals towards sustainable development. This is due to the fact that, major accidents still occur and continue to exert significant reputational and financial impacts on process industries. Alarm systems constitute an indispensable component of automation as they draw the attention of process operators to any abnormal conditi on in the plant. Therefore, if deployed properly, alarm systems can play a critical role in helping plant operators ensure process safety and profitability. How-ever, in practice, many process plants suffer from poor alarm system configuration which leads to nuisance alarms and alarm floods that compromise safety. A vast amount of research has primarily focused on developing sophisticated alarm management algorithms to address specific issues. In this article, we provide a simple, practical, systematic approach that can be applied by plant engineers (i.e., non-experts) to improve industrial alarm system performance. The proposed approach is demonstrated using an industrial power plant case study.

Comparative performance analysis of combinedcycle pulse detonation turbofan engines (PDTEs)

Combined-cycle pulse detonation engines are promising contenders for hypersonic propulsion systems.In the present study,design and propulsive performance analysis of combined-cycle pulse detonation turbofan engines(PDTEs)is presented.Analysis is done with respect to Mach number at two consecutive modes of operation:(1)Combined-cycle PDTE using a pulse detonation afterburner mode(PDA-mode)and(2)combined-cycle PDTE in pulse detonation ramjet engine mode(PDRE-mode).The performance of combined-cycle PDTEs is compared with baseline afterbuming turbofan and ramjet engines.The comparison of afterburning modes is done for Mach numbers from 0 to 3 at 15.24 km altitude conditions,while that of pulse detonation ramjet engine(PDRE)is done for Mach 1.5 to Mach 6 at 18.3 km altitude conditions.The analysis shows that the propulsive performance of a tubine engine can be greatly improved by replacing the conventional afterbumer with a pulse detonation afterburner(PDA).The PDRE also outperforms its ramjet counterpart at all flight conditions considered herein.The gains obtained are outstanding for both the combined-cycle PDTE modes compared to baseline turbofan and ramjet engines.