Effect of Compressor Inlet Swirl on Solar Gas Turbine Performance

An investigation of the effect of various compressor inlet guide vane (IGV) setting angles on the thermodynamic performance of a simple single shaft solar-hybrid gas turbine power generation system (SHGT) is presented. The formulation of models for the individual system components is described, with emphasis on the generation of compressor characteristics for various IGV setting angles. Matching of the components in the integrated system model is shown, for the standard single shaft turboshaft configuration as well as several variable rotor speed turboshaft configurations. The estimated fuel consumption, solar receiver effectiveness, and thermal efficiency are compared for the reference system, SHGTs with IGVs, and variable rotor speed SHGT configurations. The results of the performance calculations for a 40 kWe gas turbine engine indicate that a 4.3 % reduction in full-load fuel consumption is attainable with compressor IGVs set at 9° in the direction of the rotor blade rotation, and a reduction of 25.3 % is attainable with independent and distinct compressor and turbine rotor speeds.