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Estimating efficiency of Steam Turbine Vs. Gas Turbine?
Do any engineers here know the relative efficiency of using fuel oil to heat water to steam and then drive a steam turbine to generate electricity vs. using kerosene/jet fuel to fire a gas turbine and generate electricity. The gas turbine system is a lot simpler, but I am sure there are several reasons why the steam turbine method might be more efficient in terms of dollars per megawatt hour. I am just curious, only serious answers welcome.
2 Answers
- oil field trashLv 79 years agoFavorite Answer
In general the steam turbine system will be more efficient because so much of the heat from a gas turbine is lost in the turbine exhaust. There are plants that recover much of this heat to make steam and drive a steam turbine to provide additional power. I don't have numbers to back up my statements but I believe I am correct.
One minor point. Gas turbines used to generate power are almost always fired with natural gas which can be cheaper than jet fuel.
It is also true that much of the power generated in the US using steam is done so with coal as the fuel source.
The bottom line is that not only does efficiency enter into the equation but also the cost of the fuel and the pollution clean up costs as well.
- kasabLv 79 years ago
Gas turbines, so much compact and attractive, they tend to be fuel thirsty and inefficient as they throw away lots of heat energy through the exhaust gases. The problem is addressed to some extent by using systems where high and low pressure gas turbines are used in conjunction.
