Energy recovery from compressor discharge bleed air in gas turbine plants

A gas turbine system that includes a compressor (12), a turbine component (14) and a load (16), wherein fuel and compressor discharge bleed air are supplied to a combustor (20) and gaseous products of combustion are introduced into the turbine component (14) and subsequently exhausted to atmosphere. A compressor discharge bleed air circuit removes bleed air from the compressor (12) and supplies one portion of the bleed air to the combustor (20) and another portion of the compressor discharge bleed air to an exhaust stack (30) of the turbine component (14) in a single cycle system, or to a heat recovery steam generator in a combined cycle system. In both systems, the bleed air diverted from the combustor may be expanded in an air expander (68) to reduce pressure upstream of the exhaust stack (30) or heat recovery steam generator.