The use of liquefied petroleum gas (lpg) and natural gas in gas turbine jet engines

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Koc
Author(s):  
Ram G. Narula

Tightly regulated and state-controlled utilities are rapidly changing into a competitive, market-driven industry, as private power development is being actively pursued worldwide. Accelerated economic growth in developing countries has fueled a massive growth in the power sector. Gas turbine based power plants have become an attractive option; however, many of these developing countries have limited supplies of conventional gas turbine fuels, namely natural gas or distillate oil. Therefore, power developers are seeking alternative fuels. This paper discusses the balance-of-plant (BOP) considerations and economics of using alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, and crude/heavy oils.


Author(s):  
Martin Zajadatz ◽  
Felix Güthe ◽  
Ewald Freitag ◽  
Theodoros Ferreira-Providakis ◽  
Torsten Wind ◽  
...  

The gas turbine market tends to drive development towards higher operational and fuel flexibility. In order to meet these requirements the GT13E21 combustion system with the AEV burner has been further developed to extend the range of fuels according to GE fuel capabilities. The development includes operation with diluted natural gas, gases with very high C2+ contents up to liquefied petroleum gas on the gaseous fuels side and non-standard liquid fuels such as biodiesel and light crude oil. Results of full scale high pressure single burner combustion test in the test facilities at DLR-Köln are shown to demonstrate these capabilities. With these tests at typical pressure and temperature conditions safe operation ranges with respect to flame flashback and lean blow out were identified. In addition, the recent burner mapping at the DLR in Köln results in emission behavior similar to typical fuels as natural gas and fuel oil #2. It was also possible to achieve low emission levels with liquid fuels with a high fuel bound nitrogen content. Based on these results the GT13E2 gas turbine has demonstrated capability with a high variety of gaseous and liquid fuel at power ranges of 200 MW and above. The fuels can be applied without specific engine adjustments or major hardware changes over a whole range of gas turbine operation including startup and GT acceleration.


Author(s):  
Martin Zajadatz ◽  
Felix Güthe ◽  
Ewald Freitag ◽  
Theodoros Ferreira-Providakis ◽  
Torsten Wind ◽  
...  

The gas turbine market tends to drive development toward higher operational and fuel flexibility. In order to meet these requirements, the GT13E2® combustion system (General Electric, Schenectady, NY) with the AEV® burner (General Electric) has been further developed to extend the range of fuels according to GE fuel capabilities. The development includes operation with diluted natural gas, gases with very high C2+ contents up to liquefied petroleum gas on the gaseous fuels side, and nonstandard liquid fuels such as biodiesel and light crude oil (LCO). Results of full scale high pressure single burner combustion test in the test facilities at DLR-Köln are shown to demonstrate these capabilities. With these tests at typical pressure and temperature conditions, safe operation ranges with respect to flame flashback and lean blow out (LBO) were identified. In addition, the recent burner mapping at the DLR in Köln results in emission behavior similar to typical fuels as natural gas and fuel oil #2. It was also possible to achieve low emission levels with liquid fuels with a high fuel bound nitrogen (FBN) content. Based on these results, the GT13E2 gas turbine has demonstrated capability with a high variety of gaseous and liquid fuel at power ranges of 200 MW and above. The fuels can be applied without specific engine adjustments or major hardware changes over a whole range of gas turbine operation including startup and gas turbine (GT) acceleration.


Author(s):  
Edson Batista da Silva ◽  
Marcelo Assato ◽  
Rosiane Cristina de Lima

Usually, the turbogenerators are designed to fire a specific fuel, depending on the project of these engines may be allowed the operation with other kinds of fuel compositions. However, it is necessary a careful evaluation of the operational behavior and performance of them due to conversion, for example, from natural gas to different low heating value fuels. Thus, this work describes strategies used to simulate the performance of a single shaft industrial gas turbine designed to operate with natural gas when firing low heating value fuel, such as biomass fuel from gasification process or blast furnace gas (BFG). Air bled from the compressor and variable compressor geometry have been used as key strategies by this paper. Off-design performance simulations at a variety of ambient temperature conditions are described. It was observed the necessity for recovering the surge margin; both techniques showed good solutions to achieve the same level of safe operation in relation to the original engine. Finally, a flammability limit analysis in terms of the equivalence ratio was done. This analysis has the objective of verifying if the combustor will operate using the low heating value fuel. For the most engine operation cases investigated, the values were inside from minimum and maximum equivalence ratio range.


Author(s):  
Tim Lieuwen ◽  
Vince McDonell ◽  
Eric Petersen ◽  
Domenic Santavicca

This paper addresses the impact of fuel composition on the operability of lean premixed gas turbine combustors. This is an issue of current importance due to variability in the composition of natural gas fuel supplies and interest in the use of syngas fuels. Of particular concern is the effect of fuel composition on combustor blowout, flashback, dynamic stability, and autoignition. This paper reviews available results and current understanding of the effects of fuel composition on the operability of lean premixed combustors. It summarizes the underlying processes that must be considered when evaluating how a given combustor’s operability will be affected as fuel composition is varied.


Author(s):  
Elliot Sullivan-Lewis ◽  
Vincent McDonell

Lean-premixed gas turbines are now common devices for low emissions stationary power generation. By creating a homogeneous mixture of fuel and air upstream of the combustion chamber, temperature variations are reduced within the combustor, which reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides. However, by premixing fuel and air, a potentially flammable mixture is established in a part of the engine not designed to contain a flame. If the flame propagates upstream from the combustor (flashback), significant engine damage can result. While significant effort has been put into developing flashback resistant combustors, these combustors are only capable of preventing flashback during steady operation of the engine. Transient events (e.g., auto-ignition within the premixer and pressure spikes during ignition) can trigger flashback that cannot be prevented with even the best combustor design. In these cases, preventing engine damage requires designing premixers that will not allow a flame to be sustained. Experimental studies were conducted to determine under what conditions premixed flames of hydrogen and natural gas can be anchored in a simulated gas turbine premixer. Tests have been conducted at pressures up to 9 atm, temperatures up to 750 K, and freestream velocities between 20 and 100 m/s. Flames were anchored in the wakes of features typical of premixer passageways, including cylinders, steps, and airfoils. The results of this study have been used to develop an engineering tool that predicts under what conditions a flame will anchor, and can be used for development of flame anchoring resistant gas turbine premixers.


2000 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Lozza ◽  
P. Chiesa

This paper discusses novel schemes of combined cycle, where natural gas is chemically treated to remove carbon, rather than being directly used as fuel. Carbon conversion to CO2 is achieved before gas turbine combustion. The first part of the paper discussed plant configurations based on natural gas partial oxidation to produce carbon monoxide, converted to carbon dioxide by shift reaction and therefore separated from the fuel gas. The second part will address methane reforming as a starting reaction to achieve the same goal. Plant configuration and performance differs from the previous case because reforming is endothermic and requires high temperature heat and low operating pressure to obtain an elevated carbon conversion. The performance estimation shows that the reformer configuration has a lower efficiency and power output than the systems addressed in Part I. To improve the results, a reheat gas turbine can be used, with different characteristics from commercial machines. The thermodynamic efficiency of the systems of the two papers is compared by an exergetic analysis. The economic performance of natural gas fired power plants including CO2 sequestration is therefore addressed, finding a superiority of the partial oxidation system with chemical absorption. The additional cost of the kWh, due to the ability of CO2 capturing, can be estimated at about 13–14 mill$/kWh.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document