Exergy Evaluation of Two Current Advanced Power Plants: Supercritical Steam Turbine and Combined Cycle

Two operating advanced power plants, a supercritical steam plant and a gas-steam turbine combined cycle, have been analyzed using a methodology of graphical exergy analysis (EUDs). The comparison of two plants, which may provide the detailed information on internal phenomena, points out several inefficient segments in the combined cycle plant: higher exergy loss caused by mixing in the combustor, higher exergy waste from the heat recovery steam generator, and higher exergy loss by inefficiency in the power section, especially in the steam turbine. On the basis of these fundamental features of each plant, we recommend several schemes for improving the thermal efficiency of current advanced power plants.