Final answer:
Gas turbines have various advantages including minimum cooling water requirement, low maintenance and operating costs, high mechanical/thermal efficiency, low installed cost, and high power to weight ratio. The correct answer must exclude the statement about limited types of fuel, leading to the correct choice being the one that does not include this incorrect statement.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks us to identify the advantages of gas turbines over other types of prime movers. Gas turbines are increasingly used for electricity generation due to the decreased cost and increased supply of natural gas, driven by advanced drilling technologies like fracking. Gas turbines have several advantages including minimum cooling water requirement, low maintenance and operating costs, high mechanical/thermal efficiency, low installed cost, and a high power to weight ratio. However, statement 5, limited types of fuel, is not correct; gas turbines can run on a variety of fuels. Therefore, the correct answer is the one that does not include this incorrect statement.
Regarding thermal efficiency, gas turbines are capable of approaching 60% efficiency, largely due to the higher operating temperatures they can achieve. This high efficiency means that less energy is lost as waste heat, leading to better energy utilization and lower heat transfer to the environment. Additionally, gas turbine power plants are small and can be quickly constructed, further emphasizing their advantages over other prime movers such as diesel engines, coal, and nuclear power plants. Co-generation can raise overall efficiency by utilizing heat for other purposes besides electricity generation.