Stationary gas turbine
Contents
Introduction
Gas turbines, also called “combustion turbines”, are used in a broad scope of applications including electric power generation, cogeneration, natural gas transmission, and various process applications. Gas turbines are available with power outputs ranging in size from 300 horsepower (Stationary gas turbine) (hp) to over 268,000 hp, with an average size of 40,200 hp.2 The primary fuels used in gas turbines are natural gas and distillate (No. 2) fuel oil.
Process description
A gas turbine is an internal combustion engine that operates with rotary rather than reciprocating motion. Gas turbines are essentially composed of three major components: compressor, combustor, and power turbine. In the compressor section, ambient air is drawn in and compressed up to 30 times ambient pressure and directed to the combustor section where fuel is introduced, ignited, and burned. Combustors can either be annular, can-annular, or silo. An annular combustor is a doughnut-shaped, single, continuous chamber that encircles the turbine in a plane perpendicular to the air flow. Can-annular combustors are similar to the annular; however, they incorporate several can-shaped combustion chambers rather than a single continuous chamber. Annular and can-annular combustors are based on aircraft turbine technology and are typically used for smaller scale applications. A silo (frame-type) combustor has one or more combustion chambers mounted external to the gas turbine body. Silo combustors are typically larger than annular or can-annular combustors and are used for larger scale applications.
The combustion process in a gas turbine can be classified as diffusion flame combustion, or leanpremix staged combustion. In the diffusion flame combustion, the fuel/air mixing and combustion take place simultaneously in the primary combustion zone. This generates regions of near-stoichiometric fuel/air mixtures where the temperatures are very high. For lean-premix combustors, fuel and air are thoroughly mixed in an initial stage resulting in a uniform, lean, unburned fuel/air mixture which is delivered to a secondary stage where the combustion reaction takes place. Manufacturers use different types of fuel/air staging, including fuel staging, air staging, or both; however, the same staged, lean-premix principle is applied. Gas turbines using staged combustion are also referred to as Dry Low NOX combustors. The majority of gas turbines currently manufactured are lean-premix staged combustion turbines.
Hot gases from the combustion section are diluted with additional air from the compressor section and directed to the power turbine section at temperatures up to 2600° F. Energy from the hot exhaust gases, which expand in the power turbine section, are recovered in the form of shaft horsepower. More than 50 percent of the shaft horsepower is needed to drive the internal compressor and the balance of recovered shaft horsepower is available to drive an external load. Gas turbines may have one, two, or three shafts to transmit power between the inlet air compression turbine, the power turbine, and the exhaust turbine. The heat content of the exhaust gases exiting the turbine can either be discarded without heat recovery (simple cycle); recovered with a heat exchanger to preheat combustion air entering the combustor (regenerative cycle); recovered in a heat recovery steam generator to raise process steam, with or without supplementary firing (cogeneration); or recovered, with or without supplementary firing, to raise steam for a steam turbine Rankine cycle (combined cycle or repowering).
The simple cycle is the most basic operating cycle of gas turbines with a thermal efficiency ranging from 15 to 42 percent. The cycle thermal efficiency is defined as the ratio of useful shaft energy to fuel energy input. Simple cycle gas turbines are typically used for shaft horsepower applications without recovery of exhaust heat. For example, simple cycle gas turbines are used by electric utilities for generation of electricity during emergencies or during peak demand periods.
A regenerative cycle is a simple cycle gas turbine with an added heat exchanger. The heat exchanger uses the turbine exhaust gases to heat the combustion air which reduces the amount of fuel required to reach combustor temperatures. The thermal efficiency of a regenerative cycle is approximately 35 percent. However, the amount of fuel efficiency and saving may not be sufficient to justify the capital cost of the heat exchanger, rendering the process unattractive.
A cogeneration cycle consists of a simple cycle gas turbine with a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The cycle thermal efficiency can be as high as 84 percent. In a cogeneration cycle, the steam generated by the HRSG can be delivered at a variety of pressures and temperatures to other thermal processes at the site. For situations where additional steam is required, a supplementary burner, or duct burner, can be placed in the exhaust duct stream of the HRSG to meet the site’s steam requirements.
A combined cycle gas turbine is a gas turbine with a HRSG applied at electric utility sites. The gas turbine drives an electric generator, and the steam from the HRSG drives a steam turbine which also drives an electric generator. A supplementary-fired boiler can be used to increase the steam production.
The thermal efficiency of a combined cycle gas turbine is between 38 percent and 60 percent. Gas turbine applications include gas and oil industry, emergency power generation facilities, independent electric power producers (IPP), electric utilities, and other industrial applications. The petroleum industry typically uses simple cycle gas turbines with a size range from 300 hp to 20,000 hp.
The gas turbine is used to provide shaft horsepower for oil and gas production and transmission. Emergency power generation sites also utilize simple cycle gas turbines. Here the gas turbine is used to provide backup or emergency power to critical networks or equipment. Usually, gas turbines under 5,000 hp are used at emergency power generation sites.
Independent electrical power producers generate electricity for resale to larger electric utilities. Simple, regenerative, or combined cycle gas turbines are used at IPP; however, most installations use combined cycle gas turbines. The gas turbines used at IPP can range from 1,000 hp to over 100,000 hp. The larger electric utilities use gas turbines mostly as peaking units for meeting power demand peaks imposed by large commercial and industrial users on a daily or seasonal basis. Simple cycle gas turbines ranging from 20,000 hp to over 200,000 hp are used at these installations. Other industrial applications for gas turbines include pulp and paper, chemical, and food processing. Here, combined cycle gas turbines are used for cogeneration.
Emissions
The primary pollutants from gas turbine engines are nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO), and to a lesser extent, volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Particulate matter (PM) is also a primary pollutant for gas turbines using liquid fuels. Nitrogen oxide formation is strongly dependent on the high temperatures developed in the combustor. Carbon monoxide, VOC, hazardous air pollutants (HAP), and PM are primarily the result of incomplete combustion. Trace to low amounts of HAP and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are emitted from gas turbines. Ash and metallic additives in the fuel may also contribute to PM in the exhaust. Oxides of sulfur (SOX) will only appear in a significant quantity if heavy oils are fired in the turbine. Emissions of sulfur compounds, mainly SO2, are directly related to the sulfur content of the fuel.
Available emissions data indicate that the turbine’s operating load has a considerable effect on the resulting emission levels. Gas turbines are typically operated at high loads (greater than or equal to 80 percent of rated capacity) to achieve maximum thermal efficiency and peak combustor zone flame temperatures. With reduced loads (lower than 80 percent), or during periods of frequent load changes, the combustor zone flame temperatures are expected to be lower than the high load temperatures, yielding lower thermal efficiencies and more incomplete combustion. The emission factors for this section are presented for gas turbines operating under high load conditions.
Gas turbines firing distillate oil may emit trace metals carried over from the metals content of the fuel. If the fuel analysis is known, the metals content of the fuel ash should be used for flue gas emission factors assuming all metals pass through the turbine.
If the HRSG is not supplementary fuel fired, the simple cycle input-specific emission factors (pounds per million British thermal units (lb/MMBtu)) will also apply to cogeneration/combined cycle systems. If the HRSG is supplementary fired, the emissions attributable to the supplementary firing must also be considered to estimate total stack emissions.
Emission control technologies
There are three generic types of emission controls in use for gas turbines: wet controls using steam or water injection to reduce combustion temperatures for NOX control; dry controls using advanced combustor design to suppress NOX formation and/or promote carbon monoxide (CO) burnout; and post-combustion catalytic control to selectively reduce NOX and/or oxidize CO emission from the turbine. Other recently developed technologies promise significantly lower levels of NOX and CO emissions from diffusion combustion type gas turbines. These technologies are currently being demonstrated in several installations.
Further reading
- The Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL) of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Gas turbine propulsion, Glenn Research Center, NASA.
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