Fuel Flexible Rich Catalytic Lean Burn System for Low BTU Fuels

Author(s):  
Sandeep K. Alavandi ◽  
Shahrokh Etemad ◽  
Benjamin D. Baird

Limited fuel resources, increasing energy demand, and stringent emission regulations are drivers to evaluate process off-gases or process waste streams as fuels for power generation. Often these process waste streams have low energy content and their operability in gas turbines leads to issues such as unstable or incomplete combustion and changes in acoustic response. Due to above reasons, these fuels cannot be used directly without modifications or efficiency penalties in gas turbine engines. To enable the use of the wide variety of ultra-low and low Btu fuels in gas turbine engines, a rich catalytic lean burn (RCL®) combustion system was developed and tested in a subscale high pressure (10 atm.) rig. Previous work has shown promise with fuels such as blast furnace gas (BFG) with Lower Heating Value (LHV) of 3.1 MJ/Nm3 (85 Btu/scf). The current testing extends the limits of RCL® operability to other weak fuels by further modifying and improving the injector to achieve enhanced flame stability. Fuels containing low methane content such as weak natural gas with an LHV of 6.5 MJ/Nm3 (180 Btu/scf) to fuels containing higher methane content such as landfill gas with an LHV of 21.1 MJ/Nm3 (580 Btu/scf) were tested. These fuels demonstrated improved combustion stability with an extended turndown (defined as the difference between catalytic and non-catalytic lean blow out) of 140°C–170°C (280°F–340°F) with CO and NOx emissions lower than 5 ppm corrected to 15% O2.

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4214
Author(s):  
Kranthi Kumar Maniam ◽  
Shiladitya Paul

The increased demand for high performance gas turbine engines has resulted in a continuous search for new base materials and coatings. With the significant developments in nickel-based superalloys, the quest for developments related to thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems is increasing rapidly and is considered a key area of research. Of key importance are the processing routes that can provide the required coating properties when applied on engine components with complex shapes, such as turbine vanes, blades, etc. Despite significant research and development in the coating systems, the scope of electrodeposition as a potential alternative to the conventional methods of producing bond coats has only been realised to a limited extent. Additionally, their effectiveness in prolonging the alloys’ lifetime is not well understood. This review summarises the work on electrodeposition as a coating development method for application in high temperature alloys for gas turbine engines and discusses the progress in the coatings that combine electrodeposition and other processes to achieve desired bond coats. The overall aim of this review is to emphasise the role of electrodeposition as a potential cost-effective alternative to produce bond coats. Besides, the developments in the electrodeposition of aluminium from ionic liquids for potential applications in gas turbines and the nuclear sector, as well as cost considerations and future challenges, are reviewed with the crucial raw materials’ current and future savings scenarios in mind.


Author(s):  
P. A. Phillips ◽  
Peter Spear

After briefly summarizing worldwide automotive gas turbine activity, the paper analyses the power plant requirements of a wide range of vehicle applications in order to formulate the design criteria for acceptable vehicle gas turbines. Ample data are available on the thermodynamic merits of various gas turbine cycles; however, the low cost of its piston engine competitor tends to eliminate all but the simplest cycles from vehicle gas turbine considerations. In order to improve the part load fuel economy, some complexity is inevitable, but this is limited to the addition of a glass ceramic regenerator in the 150 b.h.p. engine which is described in some detail. The alternative further complications necessary to achieve satisfactory vehicle response at various power/weight ratios are examined. Further improvement in engine performance will come by increasing the maximum cycle temperature. This can be achieved at lower cost by the extension of the use of ceramics. The paper is intended to stimulate the design application of the gas turbine engine.


Author(s):  
Yoshiharu Tsujikawa ◽  
Makoto Nagaoka

This paper is devoted to the analyses and optimization of simple and sophisticated cycles, particularly for various gas turbine engines and aero-engines (including scramjet engine) to achive the maximum performance. The optimization of such criteria as thermal efficiency, specific output and total performance for gas turbine engines, and overall efficiency, non-dimensional thrust and specific impulse for aero-engines have been performed by the optimization procedure with multiplier method. The comparisons of results with analytical solutions establishes the validity of the optimization procedure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zygfryd Domachowski ◽  
Marek Dzida

Abstract The use of inlet air fogging installation to boost the power for gas turbine engines is widely applied in the power generation sector. The application of fogging to mechanical drive is rarely considered in literature [1]. This paper will cover some considerations relating to its application for gas turbines in ship drive. There is an important evaporative cooling potential throughout the world, when the dynamic data is evaluated, based on an analysis of coincident wet and dry bulb information. This data will allow ships’ gas turbine operators to make an assessment of the economics of evaporative fogging. The paper represents an introduction to the methodology and data analysis to derive the direct evaporative cooling potential to be used in marine gas turbine power output loss compensation.


Author(s):  
Mustapha Chaker ◽  
Cyrus B. Meher-Homji ◽  
Thomas Mee

The inlet fogging of gas turbine engines for power augmentation has seen increasing application over the past decade yet not a single technical paper treating the physics and engineering of the fogging process, droplet size measurement, droplet kinetics, or the duct behavior of droplets, from a gas turbine perspective, is available. This paper provides the results of extensive experimental and theoretical studies conducted over several years, coupled with practical aspects learned in the implementation of nearly 500 inlet fogging systems on gas turbines ranging in power from 5 to 250 MW. Part B of the paper treats the practical aspects of fog nozzle droplet sizing, measurement and testing presenting the information from a gas turbine fogging perspective. This paper describes the different measurement techniques available, covers design aspects of nozzles, provides experimental data on different nozzles and provides recommendations for a standardized nozzle testing method for gas turbine inlet air fogging.


Author(s):  
Cyrus B. Meher-Homji ◽  
Thomas R. Mee

Gas Turbine output is a strong function of the ambient air temperature with power output dropping by 0.3–0.5 % for every 1°F rise in ambient temperature. This loss in output presents a significant problem to utilities, cogenerators and IPPs when electric demands are high during the hot months. In the petrochemical and process industry, the reduction in output of mechanical drive gas turbines curtails plant output. One way to counter this drop in output is to cool the inlet air. The paper contrasts the traditional evaporative cooling technique with direct inlet fogging. The state of the art relating to fog generation and psychrometrics of inlet fogging are described.


Author(s):  
H. C. Eatock ◽  
M. D. Stoten

United Aircraft Corporation studied the potential costs of various possible gas turbine engines which might be used to reduce automobile exhaust emissions. As part of that study, United Aircraft of Canada undertook the preliminary design and performance analysis of high-pressure-ratio nonregenerated (simple cycle) gas turbine engines. For the first time, high levels of single-stage component efficiency are available extending from a pressure ratio less than 4 up to 10 or 12 to 1. As a result, the study showed that the simple-cycle engine may provide satisfactory running costs with significantly lower manufacturing costs and NOx emissions than a regenerated engine. In this paper some features of the preliminary design of both single-shaft and a free power turbine version of this engine are examined. The major component technology assumptions, in particular the high pressure ratio centrifugal compressor, employed for performance extrapolation are explained and compared with current technology. The potential low NOx emissions of the simple-cycle gas turbine compared to regenerative or recuperative gas turbines is discussed. Finally, some of the problems which might be encountered in using this totally different power plant for the conventional automobile are identified.


Author(s):  
James Anthony Kluka ◽  
David Gordon Wilson

One of the significant problems plaguing regenerator designs is seal leakage resulting in a reduction of thermal efficiency. This paper describes the preliminary design and analysis of a new regenerative heat-exchanger concept, called a modular regenerator, that promises to provide improved seal-leakage performance. The modular regenerator concept consists of a ceramic-honeycomb matrix discretized into rectangular blocks, called modules. Separating the matrix into modules substantially reduces the transverse sealing lengths and substantially increases the longitudinal sealing lengths as compared with typical rotary designs. Potential applications can range from small gas-turbine engines for automotive applications to large stationary gas turbines for industrial power generation. Descriptions of two types of modular regenerators are presented including sealing concepts. Results of seal leakage analysis for typical modular regenerators sized for a small gas-turbine engine (120 kW) predict leakage rates under one percent for most seal-clearance heights.


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