19. Energy Performance Assessment of Gas-Based Thermal Power Plants

Thermal power plants are energy-intensive industry, where energy auditing is required to identify the areas for energy performance improvement. The present study evaluates the energy performance assessment of a combined cycle and an open cycle gas-based thermal power plant. Assam Gas Based Power Plant, Assam, is a combined cycle power plant, and Agartala Gas Thermal Power Plant, Tripura, is an open cycle power plant which are considered for this study. The natural gas consumption, station heat rate, calorific value of fuel, energy generation, auxiliary power consumption, etc., are assessed. The energy performance of various systems and subsystems like gas turbine compressor, gas turbine, waste heat recovery boiler, steam turbine, steam condenser, cooling tower, and auxiliaries are estimated. The key finding related to various energy conservation opportunities available in the various systems are presented in this study.