Session: 04-06 High Hydrogen II

Paper Number: 128007

128007 - Evaluation of a Commercial 65 kW Recuperated Gas Turbine Engine Operated on Up to 30% Hydrogen Added to Natural Gas 

A commercial natural gas 65 kW microturbine generator produced by Capstone Green Energy Corporation is used to study the impact of hydrogen addition to natural gas. Hydrogen addition in natural gas turbines can reduce carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emission as a step towards carbon neutrality. Exhaust emissions and power output are evaluated for increasing levels of hydrogen in the fuel mixture. Additionally, a chemical reactor network (CRN) is used in conjunction with injector mixing characterization to support the development. The CRN analysis predicts NOx using perfectly stirred reactors (PSR) therefore, a factor is introduced to account for NOx contributions of various fuel concentrations present at different points of the injector outlet. Experimental results show that, for full load, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions decrease as the amount of hydrogen in the fuel mixture increases while NOx emissions remain almost unchanged. This is attributed to the increased reactivity of hydrogen resulting in a jet flame stabilized closer to the injector exit as the amount of hydrogen is increased. Visual inspection of the injectors following hydrogen addition tests indicated that flashback or combustion inside the injectors did not occur. This is consistent with the modest changes in NOx with hydrogen addition. Emission levels would be higher if flashback were occurring. The results also demonstrate that added hydrogen to the fuel does not have a statistically significant impact on overall system efficiency. This indicates that addition of hydrogen is possible without any modification to this gas turbine engine which has been optimized for performance on natural gas. Parametric studies were carried out to demonstrate how modest changes in engine operating points and fuel injectors can be incorporated to decrease NOx levels with up to 30% hydrogen.

Presenting Author: Vincent Mc Donell UC Irvine

Presenting Author Biography: Professor

Authors:

Walther Villatoro University of California, Irvine
Aris Navarro University of California, Irvine
Vincent Mc Donell UC Irvine
Ray Hu Capstone Green Energy