Patent ID: 7406828

Claim:
A combustion turbine power generation system comprising: a combustion turbine assembly including a main compressor constructed and arranged to receive ambient inlet air, a main expansion turbine operatively associated with the main compressor, combustors constructed and arranged to receive compressed air from the main compressor and to feed the main expansion turbine, and an electric generator associated with the main expansion turbine for generating electric power, a compressed air storage storing compressed air; a heat exchanger constructed and arranged to receive a source of heat and to receive compressed air from the storage so as to heat compressed air received from the storage, and an air expander associated with the heat exchanger and constructed and arranged to expand the heated compressed air for producing additional electric power, wherein airflow of the expander is extracted from the expander and is injected into the combustion turbine assembly upstream of the combustors, and wherein the airflow extracted and injected is an airflow from a first stage of the expander, with injection flow parameters being consistent with flow parameters of the main compressor at an injection point, with a remaining portion of the it airflow of the expander being expanded through at least one second stage of the expander to atmospheric pressure.