The Effect of Rising Seawater Temperature and Flow Loss Due to Fouling on A Combined Cycle Condenser Performance : A CFD Software-Based Case Study in Indonesia

Abstract

In combined cycle power plants, the condenser has a significant impact on thermal efficiency. The impact of rising seawater temperatures and flow loss due to fouling on condenser performance is investigated in this paper, which uses a case study from an Indonesian coastal power plant with a 230.3 MW Heat Recovery Steam Generator. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based simulation was used to assess condenser heat duty, pressure, and cooling water (CW) characteristics at different seawater input temperatures (30°C, 31°C, 32°C) and flow rates (100%, 90%, and 80% of nominal flow). With higher CW temperature and lower flow, condenser heat absorption and generator output decrease consistently, but condenser pressure rises significantly. At 32°C input temperature and 80% CW flow, condenser pressure rose to 0.098 bara, but output fell to 229.41 MW. The CFD model successfully incorporates real-time plant data to represent dynamic interactions between temperature, fouling, and system performance, resulting in an adaptive evaluation framework appropriate for tropical regions with highly changeable marine conditions. This study emphasises the need of real-time monitoring and predictive modelling in mitigating performance degradation owing to environmental and operational stressors.