Update – March 1, 2023: AxCYCLE is our legacy software depreciated by AxSTREAM System Simulation. System Simulation was born out of the union of the legacy AxCYCLE and AxSTREAM NET software packages.
Combined Cycle Power Plants are among the most common type of power generation cycle. Demand of CCP application has risen across board due to the rising energy demand (and consumption) as well as growing environmental awareness. Combined cycle is a matured energy that has been proven to generate much lower CO2 (and other environmental footprints) compared to a traditional fossil fuel steam or gas turbine power generation cycle Consequently, this application is often looked as a “better” substitute compared to other a fossil fuel technologies. That being said, CCP is still a temporary alternative to substitute SPP since although CCP generally is more environmentally friendly, CCP process still requires the combustion of fossil fuel (though at a significantly lower degree compared to SPP) for initial heat/energy source.
The application takes two kinds of thermodynamic cycle in assembly to work together from the same heat source. Fluid Air and fuel enters a gas turbine cycle (Joule or Brayton) to generate electricity, waste heat/energy from working fluid will then be extracted then go through a Heat Recovery Steam Generator and towards steam turbine cycle (Rankine) to generate extra electricity. The main advantage of this cycle combination is the improvement of overall net efficiency (around 50-60% higher compared to each cycle alone), thus, lower fuel expenses. With that being said, net efficiency of a CCP is often inflated especially on systems which use a low-temperature waste heat.