Interstage cooling in compressors [for gas turbines]

Interstage cooling in air compressors presents pros and cons according to the purposes for which air is compressed and the systems up to now applied are very different among them. In this paper, cases in which intercooling is made by usual exchangers are firstly considered. In these cases, either only the final pressure is useful, or both final pressure and temperature are useful. Subsequently, injection of alcohols in open-cycle gas turbines during the compression process is considered, putting in evidence theoretical and actually possible advantages, as higher efficiency and specific work. In the various cases examined, several thermodynamic parameters should be suitably chosen in order to examine the most convenient solution.