Study of Thermophysical Processes in the Thermopressor for Contact Cooling Systems

One promising approach to enhance the efficiency of the air compression process between compressor stages involves the application of contact intercooling technologies. The proposed solution includes using a thermopressor in the air intercooling system between compressor stages. A computational model based on the finite volume technique was used to examine the complex thermophysical phenomena occurring within the thermopressor. The discrete phase models enabled the simulation of water evaporation. The simulation results obtained the output parameters representing the primary characteristics of the two-phase flow (air-water) at the exit of the thermopressor. The findings indicate that the thermopressor facilitates the effective fine-dispersed atomization of water, resulting in an isothermal compression process in the compressor. Therefore, applying the thermopressor can be an alternative to traditional air-cooling methods and reduces work and, consequently, the compressor’s power by approximately 10% while simultaneously increasing the quantity of operating fluid in the cycle. This enhancement contributes to improved gas turbine effectiveness.