GAS TURBINE INLET FILTRATION SYSTEM LIFE CYCLE COST ANALYSIS

Gas turbine inlet filtration systems play an important role in the operation and life of gas turbines. There are many factors that must be considered when selecting and installing a new filtration system or upgrading an existing system. The filter engineer must consider the efficiency of the filtration system, particles sizes to be filtered, the maintenance necessary over the life of the filtration system, acceptable pressure losses across the filtration system, required availability and reliability of the gas turbine, and how the filtration system affects this, washing schemes for the turbine, and the initial cost of any new filtration systems or upgrades. A life cycle cost analysis provides a fairly straightforward method to analyze the lifetime costs of inlet filtration systems, and it provides a method to directly compare different filter system options. This paper reviews the components of a gas turbine inlet filtration system life cycle cost analysis and discusses how each factor can be quantified as a lifetime cost. In addition, an example analysis, which is used to select a filtration system for a new gas turbine installation, is presented.