Development of a Low NOx Medium sized Industrial Gas Turbine Operating on Hydrogen-Rich Renewable and Opportunity Fuels
This report presents the accomplishments at the completion of the DOE sponsored project (Contract # DE-FC26-09NT05873) undertaken by Solar Turbines Incorporated. The objective of this 54-month project was to develop a low NOx combustion system for a medium sized industrial gas turbine engine operating on Hydrogen-rich renewable and opportunity Fuels. The work in this project was focused on development of a combustion system sized for 15MW Titan 130 gas turbine engine based on design analysis and rig test results. Although detailed engine evaluation of the complete system is required prior to commercial application, those tasks were beyond the scope of this DOE sponsored project. The project tasks were organized in three stages, Stages 2 through 4. In Stage 2 of this project, Solar Turbines Incorporated characterized the low emission capability of current Titan 130 SoLoNOx fuel injector while operating on a matrix of fuel blends with varying Hydrogen concentration. The mapping in this phase was performed on a fuel injector designed for natural gas operation. Favorable test results were obtained in this phase on emissions and operability. However, the resulting fuel supply pressure needed to operate the engine with the lower Wobbe Index opportunity fuels would require additional gas compression, resulting in parasitic load and reduced thermal efficiency. In Stage 3, Solar characterized the pressure loss in the fuel injector and developed modifications to the fuel injection system through detailed network analysis. In this modification, only the fuel delivery flowpath was modified and the air-side of the injector and the premixing passages were not altered. The modified injector was fabricated and tested and verified to produce similar operability and emissions as the Stage 2 results. In parallel, Solar also fabricated a dual fuel capable injector with the same air-side flowpath to improve commercialization potential. This injector was also test verified to produce 15-ppm NOx capability on high Hydrogen fuels. In Stage 4, Solar fabricated a complete set of injectors and a combustor liner to test the system capability in a full-scale atmospheric rig. Extensive high-pressure single injector rig test results show that 15-ppm NOx guarantee is achievable from 50% to 100% Load with fuel blends containing up to 65% Hydrogen. Because of safety limitations in Solar Test Facility, the atmospheric rig tests were limited to methane-based fuel blends. Further work to validate the durability and installed engine capability would require long-term engine field test.
- Research Organization:
- Solar Turbines Incorporated
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC26-09NT05873
- OSTI ID:
- 1133114
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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