Applied Thermal Engineering 24 (2004) 16551663

www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Alternative fuels for industrial gas turbines (AFTUR)

Iskender Gkalp o
a b

a,*

, Etienne Lebas

Centre National de la Recherche Scientique, Laboratoire de Combustion et Systmes Ractifs, e e 45071 Orlans Cedex 2, France e Institut Francais de Ptrole, Division Gnie des Procds, BP 3, 69390 Vernaison Cedex, France e e e e Received 12 July 2003; accepted 31 October 2003 Available online 20 January 2004

Abstract Environmentally friendly, gas turbine driven co-generation plants can be located close to energy consumption sites, which can produce their own fuel such as waste process gas or biomass derived fuels. Since gas turbines are available in a large power range, they are well suited for this application. Current gas turbine systems that are capable of burning such fuels are normally developed for a single specic fuel (such as natural gas or domestic fuel oil) and use conventional diusion ame technology with relatively high levels of NOx and partially unburned species emissions. Recently, great progress has been made in the clean combustion of natural gas and other fossil fuels through the use of dry low emission technologies based on lean premixed combustion, particularly with respect of NOx emissions. The objective of the AFTUR project is to extend this capability to a wider range of potentially commercial fuel types, including those of lower caloric value produced by gasication of biomass (LHV < 25% natural gas in line with the European Union targets) and hydrogen enriched fuels. The paper reports preliminary progress in the selection and characterisation of potential, liquid and gas, alternative fuels for industrial gas turbines. The combustion and emission characteristics of the selected fuels will be assessed, in the later phases of the project, both in laboratory and industrial combustion chambers. European Communities, 2004. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Gas turbines; Alternative fuels; Biofuels; Hydrogenated fuels; DLE technologies

Corresponding author. Fax: +33-238-25-78-75. E-mail address: gokalp@cnrs-orleans.fr (I. Gkalp). o

1359-4311/$ - see front matter European Communities, 2004. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2003.10.035

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Nomenclature FOD domestic fuel oil FT Fuel FisherTropsh fuel MES sunower methyl ester ME5S mixture of 5% sunower methyl ester in FOD ME30S mixture of 30% sunower methyl ester in FOD MER rapeseed methyl ester ME5R mixture of 5% rapeseed methyl ester in FOD ME30R mixture of 30% rapeseed methyl ester in FOD DME di-methyl ether

1. Introduction The objective of the AFTUR project (ENK5-CT-2002-00662) is to contribute to the optimisation of alternative fuel powered gas turbines for heat and power generation as part of a sustainable energy production policy. Environmentally friendly, gas turbine driven co-generation plants can be located close to energy consumption sites, which can produce their own fuel such as waste process gas or biomass derived fuels. Since gas turbines are available in a large power range, they are well suited for this application. Current gas turbine systems that are capable of burning such fuels are normally developed for a single specic fuel (such as natural gas or domestic fuel oil, FOD) and use conventional diusion ame technology with relatively high levels of NOx and partially unburned species emissions. In contrast, great progress has already been made in the clean combustion of natural gas and other fossil fuels through the use of dry low emission technologies based on lean premixed combustion, particularly with respect of NOx emissions. The scientic and technical objective of the AFTUR project is to extend this capability to a wider range of potentially commercial fuel types, including those of lower caloric value produced by gasication of biomass (LHV < 25% natural gas in line with the European Union targets) and hydrogen enriched fuels. The use of liquid and gaseous fuels from biomass will indeed help full the Kyoto targets concerning GHG emissions. In addition, to make industrial processes more environmentally friendly, waste gases could be used as a potential gas turbine fuel. The AFTUR project, which started on February 2003 for 42 months, aims therefore to assess the combustion performances of these new fuels for clean and ecient energy production using industrial gas turbines. Table 1 lists the partners working on the project. The present paper reports the preliminary progress in the selection and characterisation of potential, liquid and gas, alternative fuels for industrial gas turbines. The combustion and emission characteristics of the selected fuels will be assessed, in the later phases of the project, both in laboratory and industrial combustion chambers.

I. Gkalp, E. Lebas / Applied Thermal Engineering 24 (2004) 16551663 o Table 1 Partners of the AFTUR project Partner no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Organisation name CNRS-LCSR Turbomeca sa Nuovo Pignone S.p.A. Alstom Power UK INSA de Rouen Universite de Rouen CNRS-Coria Institut Francais du Petrole QINETIQ Limited AEA Technology Engineering Software Ltd Consorzio Perlarea di Ricera Scientica e Technologica di Trieste Instituto di Ricerche Sulla CombustioneCNR TPS Termiska Processer AB Agricultural University of Athens University Twente Instituto Superior Tcnico e Universita Degli Studi Roma Tre Universad de Zaragoza Lunds Universitet Craneld University University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology Universidade da Beira Interior Auxitrol sa Short name CNRS.LCSR Turbomeca.de NP ABAL INSARO.Coria Urouen.Coria CNRS.Coria IFP.PE QINETIQ.CAT.FST AEA.CFX AREA.CAR.PS CNR.IRC TPS AUATH.NRMAE THT.TE IST.DEM UROM3.DIMI UZAZ.SII.AMF ULUND.LIT.DP.DCP CIT.SE UUMIST.DME UBEI.AST.AS AUXI.RD

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Country code FR FR IT UK FR FR FR FR UK UK IT IT SW GR NL PT IT ES SW UK UK PT FR

2. Selection of potential alternative fuels for industrial gas turbines As already introduced, the scientic and technical objective of the AFTUR project is to extend the gas turbine sphere of application to a wider range of potentially commercial fuel types, including biofuels and waste process gases. These fuels have typically low to medium caloric values and a wide range of other properties. The AFTUR project aims to establish the appropriate selection procedure of the liquid and gaseous fuels with the development of a Multicriteria Decision Support System, the atomisation and spray characteristics of liquid fuels, the combustion and emission characteristics of the selected alternative fuel ames, the sooting tendency and NOx emission properties of the fuels under various operation conditions, and the adaptability of existing conventionally fuelled combustors for use with the selected alternative fuels. The rst objective of the AFTUR project is to select a spectrum of alternative fuels for industrial gas turbines. The selection will be done according to availability, composition, physical properties, and costs of the fuel. As a rst step to this aim, a list of potential alternative gaseous and liquid fuels for gas turbines is established: vegetable oils esters

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ash pyrolysis oils ethanol methanol synthetic fuels (biomass to liquids) di-methyl-ether biogas of gasication biogas of waste methanisation biogas of slow pyrolysis industrial process gases rich in hydrogen

For each fuel, a detailed and representative manufacturing process is explained with the mass balances, the energy requirements, and the capital and eventually the operational expenditures. The present and future production capacities as well as the thermodynamic, physical and chemical characteristics of the fuel are presented to complete the study. Some of this information is summarized below. 2.1. Esters of vegetable oils Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) are made from renewable resources such as plant oils and animal fats. In the European Union, FAMEs are mostly vegetable oil methyl esters from rapeseed and sunower oils. Because they have similar properties to Diesel fuel, FAMEs are alternative fuels capable of being directly used in a turbine and can be blended in various proportions with Diesel fuel (generally 5% or 30% FAME in Diesel fuel). Properties of FAME may dier slightly from Diesel fuel in terms of energy content or physical properties. Two types of processes exist to produce methylester-biodiesel: the homogeneous catalysis process and the heterogeneous catalysis process. 2.2. Biogas of slow pyrolysis Pyrolysis consists in heating solid biomass (generally waste or wood) in the absence of air to produce solid, liquid or gaseous fuels. Depending on the conditions, the solid, liquid or gaseous products are maximised (slow pyrolysis produces a high yield of gas and solids). For our study, biomass used in the slow pyrolysis unit is wood and the reactor is a rotary kiln with indirect heating. 2.3. Biogas of methanisation Anaerobic digestion occurs naturally when high concentrations of wet organic matter accumulate in the absence of dissolved oxygen. Anaerobic micro-organisms digest the organic material producing carbon dioxide and methane that can be collected and used as fuel (biogas). The stabilised solid residue, which averages 4060% by weight of the feedstock, can be used as soil conditioner material (compost). Anaerobic digester systems, also called fermentation or methanisation, use closed reactors to control the anaerobic process and to collect all of the biogas fuel produced. The yield of biogas depends on the composition of the waste feedstock and the con-

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ditions within the reactor. For example, the rate of anaerobic digestion can be increased by operating in certain temperature ranges. The modern anaerobic digestion treatment processes are engineered to control the reaction conditions to optimise digestion rate and fuel production. 2.4. Industrial gases rich in hydrogen The industrial gases are rejections from reneries or chemical industries. Instead of burning o these gases in are stacks or in steam boilers, those gases rich in hydrogen could be used as fuels in industrial gas turbines. Examples of such gases are: renery are gases, steam reforming fuel gas, FisherTropsh fuel gas.

3. Comparison of the characteristics of alternative fuels The following gures present some physico-chemical characteristics of liquid and gas fuels envisaged as alternative fuels for gas turbines. They are taken from the literature [114] listed in the References section. 3.1. Comparison of liquid fuel characteristics 3.1.1. Low heating values of liquid fuels (Fig. 1) The Low Heating Values of FT (FisherTropsh) fuel, pure methyl ester (ME), ME 5%, ME 30% and oils are between 37,500 and 44,500 kJ/kg and are nearly equivalent to LHV of domestic fuel oil. Methanol and ash pyrolysis oil have the lowest LHV. 3.1.2. Viscosities of liquid fuels (Fig. 2) The viscosities of ethanol, methanol, pure ME and ME 5% are lower than the viscosity of FOD (equal to 8.0 mPa.s). These low viscosities allow to spray the fuels more easily. Unlike the other fuels, the vegetable oils and the ash pyrolysis oil have a very high viscosity which can pose a

50000 45000 40000

LHV (kJ/kg)

35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0

D ER S 0R ES 0S oi no FO E5 fu E5 M no ha et M Fl as h py E3 E3 M FT ee M ha M es Et M ro ly si s M M d D oi l el l l R E l

Liquid fuels

Fig. 1. Low heating values of liquid fuels.

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Viscosity at 20 C (mPa.s)

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120 100 80 60 40 20 0
FO D M ES M ER R l oi S l no l l oi Fl a sh py ro
oi er h py ro w ly si s oi l l d Su Fl as nf lo oi l

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Liquid fuels

Fig. 2. Viscosities at 20 C of liquid fuels.

problem to spray the oils in the combustion chamber of gas turbines; however, these fuels may be heated up to decrease their viscosity, as was shown for rapeseed pure oil in the ACREVO project of the FAIR program (FAIR-CT-95-0627). 3.1.3. Densities of liquid fuels (Fig. 3) The densities of most of the liquid fuels are ranging between 690 and 916 kg/m3, close to the density of FOD (equal to 830860 kg/m3 ). The ash pyrolysis oil has a higher density (equal to 12001240 kg/m3 ) compared to those of the other fuels. 3.1.4. Molar weight of liquid fuels (Fig. 4) The molar weights (MW) of hydrocarbon fuels are much lower than biofuels. This property also inuences the vaporisation behaviour of liquid fuels, where heavier fuels have lower vaporisation rates. However, vaporisation rates tend to similar values under high temperature conditions.
Density at 20 C (kg/m3)
1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0
l 0S no E el S l E5 fu ha E5 D ha E3 E3 M D M ER M ES 0R no R FO FT Et M et M M es ee M

Liquid fuels

Fig. 3. Densities at 20 C of liquid fuels.

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1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
M ER py ro ly si s R oi ap l es ee d Su oi l nf lo w er oi l M et ha no l Et ha no l FO D D M E M ES

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MW (g/mol)

Liquid fuels

Fig. 4. Molar weights of liquid fuels.

8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0

C/H (% w. / % w.)

Fl as h

l d oi es ee

FO

ha

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Fl

Fig. 5. C/H ratio (w./w.) of liquid fuels.

3.1.5. C/H ratio (w./w.) of liquid fuels (Fig. 5) The high C/H ratio (high carbon content) of the ash pyrolysis oil from wood, the vegetable oils and the methyl esters may pose a problem of deposits in the combustion chamber of gas turbines. 3.2. Comparison of gaseous fuel characteristics Fig. 6 shows that the LHVs of industrial gases (steam reforming gas, renery gas and FTprocess o-gas, of O2 -blown gasication, and of wood slow pyrolysis gas) are higher than the LHV of natural gas. The reason for this is the high hydrogen content of these fuels (between 19 and 45% vol.). On the contrary, the LHVs of waste methanisation gas and especially of air-blown gasication gas are very low; also they are both generated at atmospheric pressure and need to be compressed before their use in gas turbines.

as

Liquid fuels

ap

ER

no

no

oi

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60000

LHV (kJ/m3)

50000 40000 30000 20000 10000

N at ur al ga s re fo rm in g ga s W R oo ef in d er O y 2 g ga as s ifi ca tio n Sl bi ow og as py ro ly si s bi og FT as -p W ro ce as ss te m of et f-g ha as ni W sa oo tio d n ai bi rg og as as ifi ca tio n bi og as St ea m

Gaseous fuels

Fig. 6. Low heating values of gaseous fuels.

C/H (% w. / % w.)

12.0 10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0

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Gaseous fuels

Fig. 7. C/H ratio (w./w.) of gaseous fuels.

Fig. 7 shows that, except the steam reforming gas, all the gaseous fuels have a higher C/H ratio than the natural gas.

4. Conclusions and future work This paper briey presented the global objectives of the AFTUR project on the identication, selection and characterisation of various alternative fuels for industrial gas turbines. Liquid and gaseous alternative fuels have been identied and they are partly characterized by using existing data on their physico-chemical properties. In the next phase of the project, the atomisation, combustion and emission properties of these fuels will be characterized under laboratory ame conditions by using advanced laser diagnostics and computational techniques.

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Acknowledgements The nancial support of the European Commission to the AFTUR project through the contract ENK5-CT-2002-00662 is greatly acknowledged. The authors also thank Dr. Petros Pilavachi for his ecient support and scientic monitoring of the AFTUR project.

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