Influence of the relative humidity on the air cooling thermal load in gas turbine power plant

The gas powered thermal share of the generation of electricity in Colombia has increased in a significant way in the last decade, to the extent that approximately 2800 MW have been installed throughout using gas turbines. Gas turbines have the drawback of decreasing the power output when the ambient temperature increases. To alleviate this effect the air is cooled before entering the machine using a variety of technologies. This work examines the influence of the relative humidity on the atmospheric air-cooling thermal load, for the sites where gas powered thermal station have been installed in Colombia. Results of this work show that due to high relative humidities the cooling thermal load is 1.5–1.9 times higher compared to regions in other countries that show average relative humidities of 30%. Without question, this implies higher costs in Colombia when implementing two types of cooling technique, namely: vapor compression cycle and ice storage.