FlameSheet™ Combustor Engine and Rig Validation for Operational and Fuel Flexibility With Low Emissions

Abstract

Flexibility is key to the future success of natural gas fired power generation. As renewable energy becomes more widely used, the need for reliable, flexible generation will increase. As such, gas turbines capable of operating efficiently and in emissions compliance from extended low load to full load will have a significant advantage. A wider range of gas fuels, including shale gas and refinery/industrial byproduct gas, is becoming increasingly available, with the opportunity to further reduce the cost of electricity. A combustion system capable of operating with wider ranges of heavy hydrocarbons, hydrogen and inerts will have an advantage to accommodate the future fuel gas trends and provide value to gas turbine operators. The FlameSheet™ combustor incorporates a novel dual zone burn system to address operational and fuel flexibility. It provides low emissions, extended turndown and fuel flexibility. FlameSheetTM is simply retrofittable into existing installed E/F-class heavy duty gas turbines and is designed to meet the energy market drivers set forth above. The operating principle of the new combustor is described, and details of a full scale high pressure rig test and engine validation program are discussed, providing insight on rig and engine emissions, as well as combustion dynamics performance. The FlameSheetTM implementation and validation results on a General Electric 7FA heavy duty gas turbine operating in a combined cycle power plant is discussed with emphasis on operational profile optimization to accommodate the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), while substantially increasing the gas turbine normal operating load range.

Fuel flexibility, stability and emissions in premixed hydrogen-rich gas turbine combustion: Technology, fundamentals, and numerical simulations

“…A major example is the FlameSheet combustor concept developed and patented by Power Systems Mfg (PSM) [41,42]. This dry low NO x fully premixed combustor was shown to operate with a wide range of fuel blends containing up to 60% H 2 with variations of 30% in Wobbe Index, while limiting NO x and CO emissions below 9 ppm (@15% O 2 ) [43].…”

Gas Turbine Combustion Technologies for Hydrogen Blends

“…Figure 8 reports the evolution of the TVC during years [75]. A recent premixed combustion technology, which belongs to the aerodynamically stabilized burner category, is the FlameSheet TM by THOMASSEN Energy [76,77]. It has considerable similarities with the TVC, but in this case, the vortex which guarantees flame anchoring and stability is "trapped" aerodynamically and not geometrically.…”