During hot days, gas turbine power output deteriorates significantly. Among various means to augment gas turbine output, inlet air fog cooling is considered as the simplest and most costeffective method. During fog cooling, water is atomized to micro-scaled droplets and introduced into the inlet airflow. In addition to cooling the inlet air, overspray can further enhance output power by intercooling the compressor. However, there are concerns that the water droplets might damage the compressor blades and increased mass might cause potential compressor operation instability due to reduced safety margin. Furthermore, the two-phase flow thermodynamics during wet compression in a rotating system has not been fully established, so continued research and development in wet compression theory and prediction model are required. The objective of this research is to improve existing wet compression theory and associated models to accurately predict the compressor and the entire gas turbine system performance for the application of gas turbine inlet fog cooling. The following achievements have been accomplished: (a) At the system level, a global gas turbine inlet fog cooling theory and algorithm have been developed and a system performance code, FogGT, has been written according to the developed theory. (b) At the component level, a stage-stacking wet compression theory in the compressor has been developed with known airfoil configurations. (c) Both equilibrium and non-equilibrium water droplet thermal-fluid dynamic models have been developed including droplet drag forces, evaporation rate, breakup and coalescence. A liquid erosion model has also been developed and incorporated. (d) Model for using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code has been developed to simulate multiphase wet compression in the rotating compressor stage. In addition, with the continued increase in volatility of natural gas prices as well as concerns regarding national energy security, this research has also investigated employing inlet fogging to gas turbine system fired with alternative fuels such as low calorific value synthetic gases. The key results include discovering that the saturated fogging can reduce compressor power consumption, but overspray, against conventional intuition, actually increases compressor power. Nevertheless, inlet fogging does increase overall net power output.

Ce travail porte sur l'étude de liens entre les propriétés mécaniques de comprimés modèles composés de billes de verre et les caractéristiques physico-chimiques des liants, constitués de sucres et préparés sous forme de sirops. Le procédé de fabrication consiste en une méthode modifiée de compression humide. Deux paramètres de formulation ont été testés : le taux de saturation en sirop et sa concentration massique. Nous en avons tiré une variable unique qui est la fraction massique de sucre ajoutée aux billes de verre. Ces paramètres se sont avérés essentiels dans la maîtrise de la tenue mécanique des comprimés. Il en est de même pour leurs conditions de stockage. Une corrélation linéaire a été établie entre une activité de l'eau, définie comme critique, du fructose, du galactose, du glucose, du lactose et du saccharose et l'apparition du phénomène de transition vitreuse pour chacun de ces sucres, engendrant une chute brutale dans la résistance mécanique de leurs comprimés respectifs. Le taux de cristallisation des sucres et l'absence d'anomérie sont aussi des paramètres qui semblent être à l'origine d'une meilleure tenue mécanique des comprimés / This work focuses on the study of relationships between the mechanical properties of model compacts composed by glass beads and the physicochemical characteristics of binders consisting of sugars and prepared in the form of syrups. Fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose and sucrose were used in this study. The manufacturing process consists in a modified wet compression method. Two formulation parameters were tested: the saturation ratio and the mass concentration of the syrup. We deduced from them a single variable which is the mass fraction of sugar added to the glass beads. These parameters were essential in controlling the mechanical strength of the compacts. It has been shown that storage conditions also influence tablets properties. A linear correlation was established between a specific water activity value, defined as critical, and the glass transition temperature for each of sugars, resulting in a collapse in mechanical strength of the compacts. The rate of crystallization of sugar and the absence of anomeric forms are also parameters that seem to be targeted in order to increase compacts mechanical strength