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ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ea.2026.09.012

Optimization, Thermodynamic, and Exergoenvironmental Analyses of Gas Turbines: A Critical Review

Innocent Osita Okolie1, Peter Adeniyi Alaba2,3,*

1Baker Hughes Energy Services LLC, Houston, TX 77073. USA.

2Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.

3Premium Edible Oil Product Limited, Idi-Ayunre, Ibadan 200256, Oyo State. Nigeria.

*Corresponding author: Peter Adeniyi Alaba

Published: August 03, 2026

Abstract

Gas turbines (GTs) occupy a central role in global power generation, industrial processing, and aviation, yet fundamental questions persist about how rigorously and consistently they are analyzed. This critical review examines the landscape of thermodynamic, exergy, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental studies published over the last three decades, with particular attention to work from 2015 onwards. The review identifies five persistent gaps: disciplinary fragmentation, idealized optimization assumptions, inconsistent environmental accounting, limited algorithmic critique, and the disconnect between exergy diagnostics and real operational decisions. In response, we introduce the Energy–Exergy–Economic–Environmental–Operational (E³O) framework, a unified structure that connects component-level thermodynamic rigor to system-level economic and environmental accountability and, crucially, to practical maintenance and operational planning. We critically evaluate approximately 55 representative studies, expose recurring methodological weaknesses, and propose standardized reporting guidelines for future work. The review concludes that the field’s maturity is hampered not by lack of analytical tools but by fragmented application and poor methodological transparency.

Keyword

Gas turbine; exergy analysis; exergoeconomics; exergoenvironmental analysis; multi-objective optimisation; Brayton cycle; E³O framework

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Copyright

© 2026 by the author(s).
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not modified or adapted.
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How to cite this paper

Optimization, Thermodynamic, and Exergoenvironmental Analyses of Gas Turbines: A Critical Review

How to cite this paper: Innocent Osita Okolie, Peter Adeniyi Alaba. (2026). Optimization, Thermodynamic, and Exergoenvironmental Analyses of Gas Turbines: A Critical Review. Engineering Advances6(3), 192-213.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ea.2026.09.012