Temperature Distribution Analysis on Syngas Combustion in Microgas Turbine

Gas turbines are capable to utlize variety of fuel including natural gas, fuel oils and synthetic gas. It has environmental advantages and thus gas turbines are favourable in the power generating industries. The use of synthetic gas or syngas may reduce the CO2 and NOx emissions. The efficiency of syngas is comparable with natural gas. With the current constrain on the environmental issues, the use of syngas in gas turbines has been increasing. Despite its many advantages, the study on the combustion characteristics still remains a challenge, due to its variety fuel components. This paper aims to discuss the CFD analysis on the flame and flue gas temperature distribution in a full scale microgas turbine operating on syngas. Three cases were simulated with variety of natural gas concentration. A base case firing natural gas (100% methane) was first established using actual operation. Validation on the combustion model is made by comparing the flame temperature distribution of methane with reasonable accuracy. Simulation results with syngas show similar flame temperature distribution as natural gas combustion. The average temperature is much dependent on the composition of methane in syngas. The highest temperature given by syngas is made from the highest methane composiotion.