Experimental Study of a 200 kW Partial Oxidation Gas Turbine (POGT) for Co-Production of Power and Hydrogen-Enriched Fuel Gas

Author(s):  
Joseph Rabovitser ◽  
Stan Wohadlo ◽  
John M. Pratapas ◽  
Serguei Nester ◽  
Mehmet Tartan ◽  
...  

Paper presents the results from development and successful testing of a 200 kW POGT prototype. There are two major design features that distinguish POGT from a conventional gas turbine: a POGT utilizes a partial oxidation reactor (POR) in place of a conventional combustor which leads to a much smaller compressor requirement versus comparably rated conventional gas turbine. From a thermodynamic perspective, the working fluid provided by the POR has higher specific heat than lean combustion products enabling the POGT expander to extract more energy per unit mass of fluid. The POGT exhaust is actually a secondary fuel gas that can be combusted in different bottoming cycles or used as synthesis gas for hydrogen or other chemicals production. Conversion steps for modifying a 200 kW radial turbine to POGT duty are described including: utilization of the existing (unmodified) expander; replacement of the combustor with a POR unit; introduction of steam for cooling of the internal turbine structure; and installation of a bypass air port for bleeding excess air from the compressor discharge because of 45% reduction in combustion air requirements. The engine controls that were re-configured for start-up and operation are reviewed including automation of POGT start-up and loading during light-off at lean condition, transition from lean to rich combustion during acceleration, speed control and stabilization under rich operation. Changes were implemented in microprocessor-based controllers. The fully-integrated POGT unit was installed and operated in a dedicated test cell at GTI equipped with extensive process instrumentation and data acquisition systems. Results from a parametric experimental study of POGT operation for co-production of power and H2-enriched synthesis gas are provided.

Author(s):  
Joseph Rabovitser ◽  
Serguei Nester ◽  
Stan Wohadlo ◽  
Kenneth Smith ◽  
Waseem Nazeer ◽  
...  

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has been advancing the POGT concept since 1995. The progress to date of a GTI-led team on the development and testing of a POGT prototype, and POGT-based systems are presented. There are two main features that distinguish a POGT from a conventional gas turbine: the design arrangement and the thermodynamic processes used in operation. One unique feature is utilization of a non-catalytic partial oxidation reactor (POR) in place of a typical combustor. An important secondary distinction is that a much smaller compressor is required, one that typically supplies less than half of the air flow required in a conventional gas turbine. From a thermodynamic point of view, the working fluid provided by the POR (a secondary fuel gas) has much higher specific heat than complete combustion products. This allows higher energy per unit mass of fluid to be extracted by the POGT expander than is the conventional case. A POR operates at fuel rich conditions, typically at equivalence ratios on the order of 2.5, and virtually any hydrocarbon fuel can be combusted. Because of these fuel rich conditions, incomplete combustion products are used as the hot section working fluid. A POGT thus produces two products: power and a secondary fuel that usually is a H2 rich gas. This characteristic can lead to high efficiencies and ultra-low emissions (single digit NOx and CO levels) when the secondary fuel is burned cleanly in a bottoming cycle. When compared to the equivalent standard gas turbine bottoming cycle combination, the POGT provides an increase of about 10 percentage points in overall system efficiency. Two areas of recent development are addressed in the paper: POGT development and experimental evaluation of a 7 MWth pressurized non-catalytic POR installed at GTI; and examples of POGT-based systems for combined generation of power, heat, syngas, hydrogen, etc. The POGT design approach to convert an existing engine into a POGT by replacing its combustor with a POR together with concomitant modifications of other engine components is discussed. Experimental results of the POR operation include descriptions of major operating conditions: start up, light off conditions, lean combustion mode, lean-to-rich transition, and operation in rich partial oxidation mode at different loads and air to fuel ratios. The overall efficiency of a POGT two-stage power system is typically high and can approach 70% depending on the POGT operating conditions and the chosen bottoming cycle. The bottoming-cycle can be either a low pressure (or vacuum) combustion turbine, or an internal combustion engine, or a solid oxide fuel cell, or any combination of them. In addition, the POGT can be used as the driver for cogeneration systems. In such cogeneration systems the bottoming cycle can be a fuel-fired boiler, an absorption chiller, or an industrial furnace. The POGT is ideally suited for the co-production of power and either hydrogen, or synthesis gas (syngas), or chemicals. Some of these important applications are discussed.


1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-433
Author(s):  
R. M. Clayton

A concept is described for using a very fuel-rich partial oxidation process as the first stage of a two-stage combustion system for onboard processing of broadened specification fuels to improve their combustion characteristics. Results of an initial step in the experimental verification of the concept are presented, where the basic benefits of H2 enrichment are shown to provide extended lean-combustion limits and permit simultaneous achievement of ultralow levels of NOx, CO, and HC emissions. The H2 required to obtain these results is within the range available from a partial oxidation precombustion stage. Operation of a catalytic partial oxidation reactor using a conventional aviation turbine fuel (JP5) and an unconventional fuel (blend of JP5/xylene) is shown to produce a “fuel gas” stream with near-theoretical equilibrium H2 content. However, a number of design considerations indicate that the precombustion stage should be incorporated as a thermal reaction.


1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Clayton

A concept is described for using a very fuel-rich partial oxidation process as the first stage of a two-stage combustion system for onboard processing of broadened specification fuels to improve their combustion characteristics. Results of an initial step in the experimental verification of the concept are presented, where the basic benefits of H2 enrichment are shown to provide extended lean-combustion limits and permit simultaneous achievement of ultralow levels of NOx, CO, and HC emissions. The H2 required to obtain these results is within the range available from a partial oxidation precombustion stage. Operation of a catalytic partial oxidation reactor using a conventional aviation turbine fuel (JP5) and an unconventional fuel (blend of JP5/xylene) is shown to produce a “fuel gas” stream with near-theoretical equilibrium H2 content. However, a number of design considerations indicate that the precombustion stage should be incorporated as a thermal reaction.


Author(s):  
Joseph Rabovitser ◽  
John M. Pratapas ◽  
James Kezerle ◽  
John Kasab

This paper reviews the technical approach and reports on the results of ASPEN Plus® modeling of two patented approaches for integrating a gas turbine with reciprocating internal combustion engine for lower emissions and higher efficiency power generation. In one approach, a partial oxidation gas turbine (POGT) is located in the 1st stage, and the H2-rich fuel gas from POGT exhaust is cooled and fed as main fuel to the second stage, ICE. In this case, the ICE operates in lean combustion mode. In the second approach, an ICE operates in partial oxidation mode (POX) in the 1st stage. The exhaust from the POX-ICE (a low BTU fuel gas) is combusted to drive a conventional GT in the 2nd stage of the integrated system. In both versions, use of staged reheat combustion leads to predictions of higher efficiency and lower emissions compared to independently providing the same amount of fuel to separate GT and ICE where both are configured for lean combustion. The POGT and GT analyzed in the integrated systems are based upon building them from commercially available turbocharger components (turbo-compressor and turbo-expander). Modeling results with assumptions predicting 50–52% LHV fuel to power system efficiency and supporting NOx < 9 ppm for gaseous fuels are presented for these GT-ICE integrated systems.


Author(s):  
Daniel Guyot ◽  
Thiemo Meeuwissen ◽  
Dieter Rebhan

Reducing gas turbine emissions and increasing their operational flexibility are key targets in today’s gas turbine market. In order to further reduce emissions and increase the operational flexibility of its GT24, Alstom has introduced an internally staged premix system into the GT24’s EV combustor. This system features a rich premix mode for GT start-up and a lean premix mode for GT loading and baseload operation. The fuel gas is injected through two premix stages, one injecting fuel into the burner air slots and one injecting fuel into the centre of the burner cone. Both premix stages are in continuous operation throughout the entire operating range, i.e. from ignition to baseload, thus eliminating the previously used pilot operation during start-up with its diffusion-type flame and high levels of NOx formation. The staged EV combustion concept is today a standard on the current GT26 and GT24. The EV burners of the GT26 are identical to the GT24 and fully retrofittable into existing GT24 engines. Furthermore, engines operating only on fuel gas (i.e. no fuel oil operation) no longer require a nitrogen purge and blocking air system so that this system can be disconnected from the GT. Only minor changes to the existing GT24 EV combustor and fuel distribution system are required. This paper presents validation results for the staged EV burner obtained in a single burner test rig at full engine pressure, and in a GT24 field engine, which had been upgraded with the staged EV burner technology in order to reduce emissions and extend the combustor’s operational behavior.


2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Bartela ◽  
Janusz Kotowicz

Abstract In the paper the results of analysis of an integrated gasification combined cycle IGCC polygeneration system, of which the task is to produce both electricity and synthesis gas, are shown. Assuming the structure of the system and the power rating of a combined cycle, the consumption of the synthesis gas for chemical production makes it necessary to supplement the lack of synthesis gas used for electricity production with the natural gas. As a result a change of the composition of the fuel gas supplied to the gas turbine occurs. In the paper the influence of the change of gas composition on the gas turbine characteristics is shown. In the calculations of the gas turbine the own computational algorithm was used. During the study the influence of the change of composition of gaseous fuel on the characteristic quantities was examined. The calculations were realized for different cases of cooling of the gas turbine expander’s blades (constant cooling air mass flow, constant cooling air index, constant temperature of blade material). Subsequently, the influence of the degree of integration of the gas turbine with the air separation unit on the main characteristics was analyzed.


Author(s):  
Raju Murugan ◽  
Dhanalakshmi Sellan ◽  
Pankaj S. Kolhe

Abstract The spatial distribution of spray plays a key role in liquid fuel combustion, which dictates the local mixture fraction and the flame temperature distribution in gas turbine engines. The swirling flow creates further decomposition of the spray droplets in liquid fuel gas turbine engine, which increases the surface area of the droplets. Turbulent mixing due to the swirling flow is essential for preheating of unburned products and flame holding in the combustor. A lab-scale swirl stabilized liquid fuel combustor was designed and fabricated with the geometric swirl number (SN) of 1. Combustor flow geometry involves internal spray from flow blurring twin-fluid atomizer, surrounded by swirling airflow which is confined with co-flow air to provide full optical access. At constant spray operating conditions, the swirl Reynolds number (Re) is increased whereas co-flow velocity was maintained constant at 0.4 m/s. An experimental study was carried out to understand the effect of Reynolds number on the aerodynamic structure of airflow, the spatial distribution of spray structure and kerosene flame structures using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and direct imaging. The experimental results show that the flow structure and spray spreads radially with the increase in swirl Reynolds number and the corresponding core spray height decreases, which were evident from flame images.


Author(s):  
Majed Sammak ◽  
Marcus Thern ◽  
Magnus Genrup

Cooling is essential in all modern high-temperature gas turbines. Turbine cooling is mainly a function of gas entry temperature, which plays the key role in overall gas turbine performance. High turbine entry temperatures can be achieved through appropriate selection of blade cooling method and blade material. The semi-closed oxy-fuel combustion combined cycle (SCOC-CC) operates at the same high entry gas temperature, hence blade cooling is necessary. The aim of this paper was to calculate the required turbine cooling in oxy-fuel gas turbines and compare it to the required turbine cooling in conventional gas turbines. The approach of the paper was to evaluate the thermodynamic and aerodynamic factors affecting turbine cooling with using the m*-model. The results presented in the paper concerned a single turbine stage at a reference diameter. The study showed greater cooling effectiveness in conventional gas turbines, but a greater total cooled area in oxy-fuel gas turbines. Consequently, the calculated total required cooling mass flow was close in the both single stage turbines. The cooling requirement and cooled area for a conventional and oxy-fuel twin-shaft gas turbine was also examined. The gas turbine was designed with five turbine stages. The analysis involved various turbine power and combustion outlet temperatures (COT). The results showed that the total required cooling mass flow was proportional to turbine power because of increasing gas turbine inlet mass flow. The required cooling mass flow was proportional to COT as the blade metal temperature is maintained at acceptable limit. The analysis revealed that required cooling for oxy-fuel gas turbines was higher than for conventional gas turbines at a specific power or specific COT. This is due to the greater cooled area in oxy-fuel gas turbines. The cooling effectiveness of conventional gas turbines was greater, which indicated higher required cooling. However, the difference in cooling effectiveness between conventional and oxy-fuel gas turbines was less in rear stages. The cooling mass flow as percentage of gas turbine inlet mass was slightly higher in conventional gas turbines than in oxy-fuel gas turbines. The required cooling per square meter of cooled area was used as a parameter to compare the required cooling for oxy-fuel and conventional gas turbines. The study showed that the required cooling per cooled area was close in both studied turbines.


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