The combined cycle
configuration is limited to a simple Rankine cycle bottoming plant recovering power from a gas
turbine prime mover in order to increase efficiency. Although the Rankine cycle analysis could
be used to design a steam turbine cycle whose HRSG absorbs power from the waste heat from
any prime mover, the weight analysis provided constricts the use of the tool to gas turbines.
Unlike much of the weight analysis performed in contemporary literature, this work includes fuel
weight as part of the power plant weight, and the analysis results in net weight savings as
compared to simple cycle gas turbines operating alone. The model was developed using heat
transfer and thermodynamic analysis, turbine scaling techniques, and data from commercially
available hardware to size the major power plant components. The analysis reveals that the point
of optimal weight does not always coincide with the point of optimal efficiency.