Use of bioethanol in a gas turbine combustor

A study of a gas turbine combustor that considers two conventional fuels and one biofuel is presented. The kind of fuel supplied to the combustor can impact in the Turbine Inlet Temperature (TIT) provoking significant changes in the power output and efficiency. Moreover, it can cause some damage in the initial steps of the gas turbine due to the migration of the hot streak. Natural gas, Diesel and Bioethanol are considered in the combustor in order to compare the performance of the power plant. The use of biofuel in a gas turbine combustor presents some benefits; a) better behavior in the distribution of the TIT, b) slightly higher power output and c) less impact of NOx and CO2 emissions. The analysis was based in the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and thermodynamics. The results indicate that it is necessary to increase the mass flow rate of bioethanol to maintain the power output of the turbine, due to a significant reduction of the TIT was observed. On the other hand, the use of bioethanol permits an important reduction of NOx emissions when they are compared with the conventional fuels (natural gas or diesel). Also, a noble benefit is obtained due to the biofuel comes from biomass-derived material, resulting in a reduction of CO2 global warming. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.