The Impact of Atmospheric

Conditions on Gas Turbine

A. A. El Hadik
Assistant Professor,
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Faculty of Technological Studies,
Kuwait
Performance
In a hot summer climate, as in Kuwait and other Arabian Gulf countries, the
performance of a gas turbine deteriorates drastically during the high-temperature
hours (up to 60°C in Kuwait). Power demand is the highest at these times. This
necessitates an increase in installed gas turbine capacities to balance this deterio-
ration. Gas turbines users are becoming aware of this problem as they depend more
on gas turbines to satisfy their power needs and proeess heat for desalination due
to the recent technical and economical development of gas turbines. This paper is
devoted to studying the impact of atmospheric conditions, such as ambient tem-
perature, pressure, and relative humidity on gas turbine performance. The reason
for considering air pressures different from standard atmospheric pressure at the
compressor inlet is the variation of this pressure with altitude. The results of this
study can be generalized to include the cases of flights at high altitudes. A fully
interactive computer program based on the derived governing equations is developed.
The effects of typical variations of atmospheric conditions on power output and
efficiency are considered. These include ambient temperature (range from —20 to
60°C), altitude (range from zero to 2000 m above sea level), and relative humidity
(range from zero to 100 percent). The thermal efficiency and specific net work of
a gas turbine were calculated at different values of maximum turbine inlet temper-
ature (TIT) and variable environmental conditions. The value of TIT is a design
factor that depends on the material specifications and the fuel/air ratio. Typical
operating values of TIT in modern gas turbines were chosen for this study: 1000,
1200, 1400, and 1600 K. Both partial and full loads were considered in the analysis.
Finally the calculated results were compared with actual gas turbine data supplied
by manufacturers.

Introduction
Over the last three decades, gas turbines have played a unique
role in the power industry. Because of their relatively low initial
cost, gas turbines are frequently used for emergency services
and handling daily peak loads on a power plant system. In
many systems gas turbines are also operated in the spinning
reserve mode.
Recent improvements in gas turbine performance have led
to increases in gas turbines efficiency. Many researchers have
worked on the evaluation of gas turbine performance. Re-
cently, Yousef et al. (1987) re-evaluated the thermophysical
properties of the combustion gases of the gas turbine engines
using the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation of state. The
properties considered in their work were density, specific heat
at constant pressure, enthalpy, entropy, viscosity, and thermal
conductivity. The SRK equation of state generally predicted
better values for thermophysical properties than those pre-
dicted by the virtual equation of state. In addition, the ther-
modynamics of compression and expansion process in
Contributed by the International Gas Turbine Institute for publication in the
JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWER. Manuscript received
at ASME Headquarters October 1989.
turbomachinery is reanalyzed by Sergio et al. (1986).
The present study is carried out on the impact of atmospheric
conditions on a gas turbine performance. It is well known that
gas turbine performance is affected by varying atmospheric
conditions, such as the temperature, pressure, and relative
humidity. A computer program is especially designed to cal-
culate overall thermal efficiency and the specific net work from
the simple-cycle gas turbine. These calculations were carried
out for various combustor discharge temperatures (TIT) and
pressure ratios. Partial loads are considered as well as full load
during these calculations.
Theoretical Analysis
Due to the simplicity in design of the simple-cycle gas tur-
bine, it is the most-used topping cycle in today's combined
plants. The arrangement illustrated schematically in Fig. 1(a)
shows the flow diagram for the cycle under consideration, and
its thermodynamic state points are illustrated on temperature-
entropy coordinates in Fig. 1(b).
The fuel is assumed to be methane. All gaseous mixtures
considered in the calculations may be treated as mixtures of

590 / Vol. 112, OCTOBER 1990 Transactions of the ASME

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 temperature, pressure, and relative humidity. Gas turbine de-
sign ratings are usually based upon standard conditions. The
standard conditions differ from country to country. One pop-
ular standard is that of the International Standards Organi-
zation (ISO). The site conditions at this standard case are: sea
level altitude (101.325 kPa, 15°C, and 60 percent relative hu-
midity).
In the present study the effect of atmospheric conditions on
the gas turbine performance was taken into consideration. A
computer program is designed especially for calculating the
overall thermal efficiency and specific output work. The gov-
erning equations are:

(a) Compression Process: For a given polytropic effi-

ciency, the pressure ratio, temperature, and thus other state
variables for each stream can be calculated. The specific en-
thalpy can be calculated from the specific heat polynomials
(•r2
h=\CPa(T)dt (1)

where
CPa = CPd+H*CPs (2)
CPd= [28.11 +0.0019677*+0.4802
b) T-S DIAGRAM

Fig. 1 Basic gas turbine engine

X lO" 5 !- 2 - 1.966x 10~9r3]/28.97 (3)
where 28.97 is the molecular weight of dry air;
varying proportions of three components. These components CPS= [32.24 + 0.001923 T+ 1.055 x W~5T2
are: air (77.44 percent N2, 20.76 percent 0 2 , 0.92 percent Ar,
0.85 percent H 2 0, 0.03 percent C0 2 ); water (100 percent H 2 0); -4.187xl0- 9 r 3 ]/18.015 (4)
and stoichiometric gases (70.16 percent N2,19.58 percent H 2 6, where 18.015 is the molecular weight of vapor.
9.43 percent C0 2 , 0.83 percent Ar). Polynomial fits for the
specific heats of each of those three components as a function Humidity ratio
of temperature are used in the calculations. The specific en- ss
thalpy is treated as the sum of chemical components and ther- H= 0.622— = 0.622 (5)
momechanical components.
The operating principle of a gas turbine is simplified as Steam mass fraction
follows. Basically ambient air is drawn into a multistage com-
pressor when it is compressed to about 10 times atmospheric H
(SMF) = (6)
pressure. The compressed air then passes through the com- \+H
bustion chamber where fuel is injected and burned. The prod-
ucts of combustion enter the turbine and expand to Air mass fraction
approximately atmospheric pressure. Part of the work devel- (AMF) = 1 - SMF (7)
oped by the turbine is used to drive the compressure, while
the remainder is delivered to equipment external to the gas Molecular weight of mixture
turbine. 1
(8)
(MMW) =
Therefore, the gas turbine performance varies significantly SMF AMF
with compressor inlet air conditions, mainly the atmospheric 18.015 28.97

R == universal gas constant,

3
CP = specific heat of working kJ/kg mol K P = density, kg/m
substances at constant RH --= relative humidity of air, * = relative humidity, percent
pressure, kJ/kg K percent
/ = theoretical fuel/air ratio, P --= pressure, N/m 2 Subscripts
kg fuel/kg air PR --= pressure ratio (compres- a = ambient air
/ = actual fuel/air ratio, kg sion or expansion) c = compressor
fuel/kg air T --= temperature, K d = dry air
H = humidity, kg moisture/kg TIT == maximum turbine inlet / = fuel
air gas temperature, K m = mixture
h = enthalpy, kJ/kg W == specific net work (net P = products
LHV = lower heating value (en- work per unit mass of s = moisture
thalpy of reactions), k J / air), kJ/kg of air ss = saturated vapor
kg 7 == specific weight of sub- t = turbine
M = molecular weight stances, N / M 3 V = vapor
MMW = mixture molecular weight V == overall thermal effi- 1,2,3,4 = cycle state points, Fig.
R = gas constant, kJ/kg K ciency, percent 1(b)

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 Gas constant of mixture Cpm-i - Cpp3 + HCps3 (20)
R 8.3143 Then, the heat transfer per unit mass into the combustion
(^mixture) = M M W M M W (9) chamber can be calculated this way
«r3
Mean specific heat at constant pressure
Cpi+ Cp2
(10)
Qin
4 [Cpm3(T)*T3-Cpm2(T)*T2]dT (21)

(CPJ = (c) Gas Turbine: The actual gas turbine work is given by
W
Mean specific heat at constant volume T.The
(22)
WT.ar =
(Cvm) = Cpm - RmixtaK 0.95 + (f/a)
(H)
Isentropic exponent where WTac is the actual work per unit mass of the combustor
product, WTThe is the theoretical work per unit mass of air
(12) inlet to the compressor, 0.95 is the ratio of the air after com-
(*) \CvJ, bustion assuming 5 percent air loss from compressor, a n d / /
a is the fuel-to-air ratio
x-i
K (13)
T^T^PR) 1 = (*)? (23)
By assuming constant isentropic efficiency rjfe for the compres- 4s V 4/
sion process, then
where (P3/P{) = PR*0.97 (0.97 is considered to account for
the duct pressure loss); P4 = 101.325/0.99 (0.99 is considered
T2=^+TJ\--\ (14) to account for the exit pressure loss); T^ is the isentropic
Vis \ Vis/
temperature at turbine exit.
where riis can be considered equal to 0.87 (see Yousef et al.,
1987). Then the required work per unit mass for the compressor
<S3 + S<)/2 (24)

is equal to ^V m.g— *-77 i Rn (25)

(Q /C ) (26)
Wc=Cp„ + r, (15) P m.g' *~*v m.grp
Vis \ Vis) Therefore

(b) Combustion Process: The specific heat of mixture at K

T4,= T3/(P3/P4) (27)
the combustion chamber entrance is defined as follows.
Hence, the turbine output work is given by
(b.l) Before Combustion:
WT.ac=Cp m.g*0.95 + (f/a) * (T3-T^)*T (28)
Cpm = Cpa2+(f/a)Cpf (16)
Then
where f/a is the fuel/air ratio, Cpa2 is the specific heat of moist
air at compressor outlet, and Cpfis the specific heat of fuel at Vlh = iWTMC-Wc)/Qin (29)
combustion chamber inlet. Finally the computer program is written in FORTRAN lan-
(b.2) After Combustion: The specific heat of gaseous guage and run at Kuwait University Computing Centre.
products after combustion may be determined by using a math- The results of equations (l)-(29) were repeated to get the
ematical model formulated using regression analysis to relate converged results. Each computer run is stored until the new
combustion temperature and fuel-to-air ratio to the specific result comes out. A check between the new and old results is
heat of gaseous products. The values of Cp for different fuel printed out. Otherwise the iteration process takes place.
air ratios given by Keenan and Kage (1984) were calculated in
the form of the following equations:
Results and Discussion
/r3-400\ The effect of atmospheric conditions (temperature, pressure,
C„ =1.01+0.32
\ 1400 / and relative humidity) on gas turbine performance has been
studied. For this purpose a full computer program is con-
/r3-400\
•0.04 ( f o r / / a = 0) (17) structed using the formulas derived from the previous section.
V 1400 ) The effect of atmospheric pressure is studied on the basis of
change of altitude from zero to 2000 m above sea level. Also
/r3-400\ the range of study for the ambient temperature and relative
C„ =1.03 + 0.32
V 1400 / humidity are considered from - 2 0 to 60°C, and zero to 100
percent, respectively. Net specific work and overall thermal
for /fl=o 0135 18
-0.02 (r^w) ( / - ) ( > efficiency are calculated for various values of maximum tur-
bine inlet temperature (TIT) and pressure ratio. The values of
maximum turbine inlet temperature are taken as 1000, 1200,
Cn =1.05 + 0.34 (Z=™\ 1400, and 1600 K, while the values of pressure ratio considered
V 1400 ) in the calculation are 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16.
Figure 1 shows the simple-cycle gas turbine arrangement
- 0 . 0 2 ( ^ = 5 j p ) ( f o r / / « = 0.027) (19) considered in this study. Natural gas is assumed to be used in
this analysis. However, the properties of any type of fuel can
Any value in between these range limits can be interpolated to be fed to the computer program to get the exact results. Also
get the exact value of Cp gas. the efficiencies of the compressor, the gas turbine, and the
Hence, the values of Cp mjXtUre> after combustion, can be combustion chamber are assumed equal to 87, 89, and 97
determined by using the following relation: percent, respectively. The values of the duct pressure loss and

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 PRESSURE RATIO
ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE. T l , K
Fig. 2 Net output power with various maximum turbine inlet temper-
atures (TIT)
PRESSURE RATIO (PR)
Fig. 3 Net specific work (tVn6l) with various atmospheric temperatures
and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1000 K)
exit pressure gain are also assumed to be 97 and 99 percent,
respectively. These assumptions have been taken from man-
ufacturer's catalogues to approach the real results.
Figure 2 shows the net work at various ambient temperatures
and different maximum inlet temperatures (TIT). The increase
of the maximum inlet temperature (TIT) increases the net work.
These net work values decrease as the atmospheric air tem-
perature increases for the same TIT. The effect of the atmos-
pheric air temperature on the thermal efficiency is also indi-
cated through Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10. Similarly, the effect of
atmospheric air temperature on the thermal efficiency is seen
to follow the same trend of the net work.
The effects of pressure ratio on both net work and thermal
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PRESSURE RATIO (PR)
Fig. 4 Net specific work (W n J with various atmospheric temperatures,
and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1200 K)
PRESSURE RATK) (PR)
Fig. 5 Net specific work (W„60, with various atmospheric temperatures
and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1400 K)
efficiency are clearly shown in Figs. 3-6 and Figs. 7-10, re-
spectively.
Figure 3 shows the change of net work with various values
of pressure ratio at a constant maximum turbine inlet tem-
perature of 1000 K, and various atmospheric temperatures. In
this figure, an increase of the pressure ratio to 5 increases the
net work for all considered atmospheric temperatures. Beyond
a pressure ratio equal to 5, an increase in the pressure ratio
decreases the net work output. However, the decreasing rate
is lowered by decreasing the atmospheric temperatures.
Figure 4 indicates how the net work varies with the pressure
ratio when the maximum turbine inlet temperature is at a
constant value of 1200 K, while the atmospheric temperature
values are varied. The net work is increased with the increase
OCTOBER 1990, Vol. 112 / 593
 PRESSURE RATIO (PR)

Fig. 8 Overall thermal efficiency with various atmospheric tempera-

PRESSURE RATIO (PR)
tures, and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1200 K)
Fig. 6 Net specific work (Wnel), with various atmospheric temperatures
and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1600 K)

PRESSURE RATIO (PR)

Fig. 9 Overall thermal efficiency with various atmospheric tempera-

PRESSURE RATH) (PR) tures, and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1400 K)
Fig. 7 Overall thermal efficiency with various atmospheric tempera-
tures, and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1000 K)
equal to 9, the increase of this pressure ratio decreases the
thermal efficiency again at all considered values of the assumed
atmospheric temperature. However, at higher values of at-
of pressure ratio when the latter is less than 8. An increase in mospheric temperature, the rate of the thermal energy increase
the pressure ratio beyond 8 decreases the net work for at- with the pressure ratio becomes smaller.
mospheric temperature of 310, 320, and 330 K. However, an Figure 8 shows the same trend of thermal efficiency with
increase in the pressure ratio beyond 8 does not affect the net the pressure ratio for maximum turbine inlet temperature of
work for atmospheric temperatures of 270 and 280 K. 1200 K. In Fig. 8 the increase of pressure ratio, in the range
The same effects on the net work were observed, as shown beyond 10 has little effect on the thermal efficiency values
in Fig. 5, with a change in pressure ratio for constant maximum when the atmospheric temperature values are equal to 250 and
turbine inlet temperature of 1400 K, and variable atmospheric 270 K, but the values of thermal efficiency decrease as the
temperatures. However, Fig. 6 shows that the increase in pres- pressure ratio increases when the atmospheric values are in the
sure ratio increases the net work values at all considered at- range of 290-330 K. The atmospheric pressure has no real
mospheric temperatures, and at constant maximum turbine effect on the efficiency and work output per unit mass. How-
inlet temperature of 1600 K. ever, the atmospheric pressure has a noticeable effect on the
Figures 9 and 10 show the thermal efficiency at various specific power output per unit volume. The importance of this
pressure ratios and atmospheric temperatures and constant point comes from the fact that the compressor sucked almost
maximum turbine inlet temperatures of 1400 and 1600 K, re- a constant volume. An increase of the specific volume (due to
spectively. The increase of pressure ratio increases the thermal lowering atmospheric pressure) decreases the mass of air intake
efficiency in all the considered cases. For a pressure ratio range and consequently the power output. This means that decreasing
less than 9, the increase of this pressure ratio causes an increase the compressor inlet pressure (by changing the altitude above
in the thermal efficiency for constant maximum inlet temper- sea level) improves the gas turbine arrangement thermal ef-
ature of 1000 K as shown in Fig. 7. Beyond a pressure ratio ficiency.

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 | T1 -25QK |

INLET AIR RELATIVE HUMIDITY (RH V.)

PRESSURE RATIO (PR)
Fig. 10 Overall thermal efficiency with various atmospheric tempera-
tures, and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1600 K)
Fig. 12 Net specific work (W„el) with various atmospheric air temper-
atures, and relative humidities, and at constant pressure ratio (PR =
10) and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1200 K)

31

30
^ TI-350K

a flTI.WK

£
A Tl*MOK
EFFICIENCY

{]
ERMAL

TI
© "3WK
£ 24

PRESSURE RATIO (Pfl)

22
Fig. 13 Net work per unit volume with various pressure ratios, and at
constant atmospheric temperature (T, = 280 K) and inlet turbine tem-
perature (TIT = 1200 K)

* V I « 1
PRESENT PREDICTION
INLET AIR RELATIVE HUWOITV (RH •/.)
BBC MANUFACTURER

Fig. 11 Overall thermal efficiency with various atmospheric air tem-

peratures, and relative humidities, and at constant pressure ratio (PR =
10) and constant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1200 K)

The effects of the relative humidity on thermal efficiency

and net work of the gas turbine arrangement are presented in
Figs. 11 and 12, respectively. In both figures no effect is noticed
for atmospheric temperatures of 250, 270, and 290 K, while
at higher atmospheric air temperatures (greater than 310 K),
the increase in relative humidity decreases the net work values
and increases the thermal efficiency values.
The effects of atmospheric temperature on thermal effi-
ciency and the net work of the gas turbine arrangement, when
partial loads are considered, are shown in Figs. 14 and 15,
ATMOSPHERIC AIR TEMP ( T l K )
respectively. The increase in atmospheric air temperature de-
Fig. 14 Overall thermal efficiency with various partial load, and at con-
creases both thermal efficiency and net work at all partial-load stant turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1200 K) and pressure ratio (PR =
values. 10)

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 Pt.L0AD = K » 7 .
ATMOSPHERIC AR TEMPERATURE (Tl.K)
Fig. 15 Net specific work (Wnel), with various partial loads, at constant
turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1200 K) and pressure ratio (PR = 10)
Figure 13 also shows the comparison results between the
new predictions along with Brown Boveri Company (BBC)
manufacture. Both results are shown clearly in good agree-
ment.
Conclusion
The performance of gas turbines is greatly affected by at-
mospheric weather conditions, such as ambient temperature,
pressure, and relative humidity. Among the three, ambient
temperature has the greatest effect on gas turbine efficiency
and net work. This effect seems to increase with increasing
turbine inlet temperature and pressure ratio. The ambient pres-
sure affects the work output per unit volume only, and has
no effect on either the net work per unit mass nor thermal
efficiency. The relative humidity also has a negligible effect
on both thermal efficiency and net work per unit mass, at low
atmospheric temperatures. However, decreases in efficiency
and increases in net work at higher values of atmospheric air
temperature and turbine inlet temperature are noted.
Finally, the effect of atmospheric air temperature and rel-
ative humidity on the net work output per unit mass and
thermal efficiency of a gas turbine arrangement are computed
and studied.
596 / Vol. 112, OCTOBER 1990
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ATMOSHERfC A » TEMPERATURE ( T D K
Fig. 16 Turbine exit temperature with various partial loads, at constant
turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1200 K) and constant pressure ratio
(PR = 10)
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