TECO Wins Efficient Technology Award

Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO) received an Excellence Award from the Turbine Inlet Cooling Association (TICA) for the company’s use of turbine inlet cooling, a technology that enhances power generation capacity. The award was presented March 20, 2018, at the 2018 Western Turbine Users Conference.

TECO uses a 64,285-ton-hour chilled-water thermal energy storage (TES) tank to provide cooling inlet air to its 48 MW GE LM6000PD gas turbine. A portion of the 8.8 million-gallon tank’s 40 degree F water cools the inlet air from 92 degrees F ambient down to as low as 44 degrees F. Turbine inlet cooling has proved to increase TECO’s turbine output by up to 10.4 MW. TICA members CB&I and The Cool Solutions Company were TECO’s business partners on the project, providing the TES tank and consulting services, respectively.

TICA is a non-profit trade association that promotes the development and exchange of knowledge related to gas turbine inlet cooling (TIC) for enhancing power generation worldwide. TIC provides a cost-effective, energy-efficient and environmentally beneficial means to enhance power generation capacity and efficiency during hot weather.

March 2018