Chemically Recuperated Gas Turbines for Offshore Platform: Energy and Environmental Performance

Currently, offshore areas have become the hotspot of global gas and oil production. They have significant reserves and production potential. Offshore platforms are energy-intensive facilities. Most of them are equipped with gas turbine engines. Many technologies are used to improve their thermal efficiency. Thermochemical recuperation is investigated in this paper. Much previous research has been restricted to analyzing of the thermodynamic potential of the chemically recuperated gas turbine cycle. However, little work has discussed the operation issues of this cycle. The analysis of actual fuel gases for the steam reforming process taking into account the actual load of gas turbines, the impact of steam reforming on the Wobbe index, and the impact of a steam-fuel reforming process on the carbon dioxide emissions is the novelty of this study. The obtained simulation results showed that gas turbine engine efficiency improved by 8.1 to 9.35% at 100% load, and carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 10% compared to a conventional cycle. A decrease in load leads to a deterioration in the energy and environmental efficiency of chemically recuperated gas turbines.

Metrological Assurance of Gas Calorimeter and Wobbe Index Analyser

The paper describes research on metrological assurance of such measuring instruments as gas calorimeters and Wobbe index analysers. The purpose of the performed research is development of reference materials for gases with certified value of net volume-basis calorific value traceable to Russian state primary standard. Input set of candidate gases is hydrogen, methane, ethane and propane, as well as the target uncertainty of lower volumetric combustion energy value equal to 0,3 % – both were selected basing on results of metrological characteristics analysis of calorimetric equipment. The certified value of lower volumetric combustion energy is traceable to the State Primary Standard of combustion energy, specific combustion energy and volumetric combustion energy units GET 16. The certified value of selected gases and the uncertainty of this value were estimated with usage of comparing calorimeters for the combustion of high- and low-calorie gases «USVG» and «USNG» included in GET 16. Results obtained during investigational study and reference materials characterisation confirmed the stated accuracy. The continuance in prospect may allow development of reference materials for gas imitating mixtures of natural and casing-head gases as well as include Wobbe index in the list of certified characteristics.

Study of the influence of temperature on the parameters of natural fuel gas

Differences in normative documents on the definition of "standard conditions" and parameters at which the heat of combustion of natural gas is determined are analyzed. When determining the energy value of natural gas in European countries, different values of the final temperature of combustion products, values of higher or lower heat of combustion are used. This causes a deviation of up to 19 % of the values of the heat of combustion of natural gas of the same composition, depending on the standard conditions established in a particular country. The dynamics of temperature change in some sections of the network and its influence on the determination of gas volumes were studied on the example of the urban-type settlement of Yampil, Khmelnytsky region. On the basis of actual values of the basic gas parameters in characteristic pointss of the settlement network, influence of ambient temperature on the basic parameters of the gas is investigated. Graphical dependences of gas density, Wobbe index, and gas volume on temperature are constructed. Based on the calculations, it was determined that when the temperature changes in the range from 0 to 40 °C, the volume of gas increases by 0.34 m3 per 1 °C. The density decreases by 0.002 kg/m3 per 1 °C. The maximum value of the Wobbe index is reached at temperatures of 10 and 25 °C. The same volume of gas can have different energy value, as it directly depends on the composition and percentage of the components of the gas mixture. There are special metters, which analyze the gas components. But they are installed only at large consumers. The presence of a corrector for temperature and pressure at the gas metering unit allows to increase the reliability of metering, but does not completely solves the problem. The amount of gas measured by the meters must be brought to standard conditions and converted into units of energy.

Impact of Grid Gas Requirements on Hydrogen Blending Levels

The aim of the article is to determine what amount of hydrogen in %mol can be transferred/stored in the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian grid gas networks, based on the limitations of chemical and physical requirements, technical requirements of the gas network, and quality requirements. The main characteristics for the analysis of mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas are the Wobbe Index, relative density, methane number, and calorific value. The calculation of the effects of hydrogen blending on the above main characteristics of a real grid gas is based on the principles described in ISO 6976:2016 and the distribution of the grid gas mole fraction components from the grid gas quality reports. The Wärtsila methane number calculator was used to illustrate the effects of hydrogen blending on the methane number of the grid gas. The calculation results show that the maximum hydrogen content in the grid gas (hydrogen and natural gas mix), depending on the grid gas quality parameters (methane number, gross heat of combustion, specific gravity, and the Wobbe Index), is in the range of 5–23 %mol H2. The minimum hydrogen content (5 %mol H2) is limited by specific gravity (>0.55). The next limitation is at 12 %mol H2 and is related to the gross heat of combustion (>9.69 kWh/m3). It is advisable to explore the readiness of gas grids and consumers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania before switching to higher hydrogen blend levels. If the applicability and safety of hydrogen blends above 5 %mol is approved, then it is necessary to analyse the possible reduction of the minimum requirements for the quality of the grid gas and evaluate the associated risks (primarily related to specific gravity).

PLOTTING A DIAGRAM OF NATURAL GAS INTERCHANGEABILITY FOR THE ENERGY MARKET OF GEORGIA

The increase in the cost of energy and the appearance of gases of various qualities led to the fact that calculations in the gas industry began to be made by measuring thermal energy. To this day, in Georgia, the calculation of the amount of natural gas when paying for the used gas is in cubic meters. As for the study of processes and parameters in the Georgian gas sector, it turned out that these processes are clearly stochastic. Therefore, the purpose of the work is to develop criteria for the interchangeability of natural gas, in particular, a diagram of the interaction between the Wobbe index in total proportions of propane and nitrogen equivalent for the Georgian gas market, based on stochastic processes. Thus, for the first time, an original methodology for plotting the Wobbe Index (calorific value) of interchangeable natural gases supplied to Georgia was developed.

Impact of Liquefied Natural Gas Composition Changes on Methane Number as a Fuel Quality Requirement

The one of main quality requirements of natural gas as an engine fuel is the methane number (MN). This parameter indicates the fuel’s capability to avoid knocking in the engine. A higher MN value indicates a better natural gas quality for gas engines. Natural gas with higher methane content tends to have higher MN value. This study presents analysis of deviation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) composition and its impact on LNG quality as an engine fuel. The analysis of higher hydrocarbons and nitrogen content impact on LNG parameters was considered for several samples of LNG compositions. Most engine manufacturers want to set a new, lower limit value for methane number at 80. This fact causes significant restrictions on the range of variability in the composition of liquefied natural gas. The goal of this study was to determine the combination of the limit content of individual components in liquefied natural gas to achieve the strict methane number criterion (MN > 80). To fulfill this criterion, the methane content in LNG would have to exceed 93.7%mol, and a significant part of the LNG available on the market does not meet these requirements. The analysis also indicated that the methane number cannot be the only qualitative criterion, as its variability depends strongly on the LNG composition. To determine the applicability of LNG as an engine fuel, the simultaneous application of the methane number and Wobbe index criteria was proposed.

Firing Trials of the Siemens SGT-300 Dry Low Emissions Combustion System Using High Calorific Value Fuels

The current paper presents an extension of the fuel flexibility of the Siemens SGT-300 Dry Low Emissions combustion system to include High Calorific Value fuels, achieved using the engine’s current standard combustion hardware. Results from high pressure rig tests show that the standard SGT-300 DLE combustor can reliably operate on High Calorific Value fuels with temperature corrected Wobbe Index up to 63MJ/m3, which corresponds to Grade A LPG (60%vol. C3H8, 40%vol. C4H10). Metal temperatures of the combustion hardware when operating on High Calorific Value fuels are within life acceptance criteria for the Siemens SGT-300 industrial gas turbine. NOx emissions throughout the load range of the engine comply with the EU Industrial Emissions Directive. At part load, a reduced requirement for piloting compared to Natural Gas yields relatively low temperatures at the burner face and low NOx emissions. NOx emissions at full load, which tend to increase with increasing heating value, are higher than for Natural Gas but lower than for diesel and heavy fuel oils.

Study on the Fuel Flexibility of a Microgas Turbine Combustor Burning Different Mixtures of H2, CH4, and CO2

The aim of this work is to analyze the behavior of the fuel flexible Ansaldo ARI100 T2 microgas turbine (MGT) combustor operated with mixtures having different H2, CH4, and CO2 concentrations. This combustor is going to be installed on an in-house modified Turbec T100 P MGT, which is originally equipped with a methane fired combustor. In a previous study, the combustor was simulated with a H2 enriched syngas, whose Wobbe index was within the limits imposed by the syngas supply system of an Ansaldo test bench. In this study, this constraint has been removed to gain a deeper understanding on how the fuel mixture properties (composition, heating value, and laminar flame speed) affect combustor performance. To this end, a series of Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations have been carried out on the full-scale 3D geometry of the combustion chamber, at full and partial load (50%), evaluating for each case combustion efficiency as well as NOx and CO emissions.

Lifting and yellow tip characteristics of small-scale partially premixed combustor burning pipeline natural gas and liquefied natural gas

In this article, a small-scale partially premixed combustor was designed with 1.5 kW heat input rate. Through altering premixing ratio of gas and air, the lifting and yellow tip characteristics were experimentally tested with the burner head material of cast-iron and copper–aluminum respectively. Combined with burner head temperature influences, the lifting and yellow tip characteristics of small-scale partially premixed combustor are discussed when natural gas is substituted. It is found that when lifting and yellow tip occur, the cast-iron burner shows a slow tendency of temperature change, but the temperature of copper–aluminum burner fluctuates sharply. Yellow tip is related to gas properties and burner structure, and is more likely to appear with the increase of the Wobbe index and heavy hydrocarbon fraction, while lifting is very likely to appear when temperature fluctuates. Yellow tip characteristic can be predicted by Wobbe index, but this method is unsuitable for lifting prediction.