EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF A 200 kW PARTIAL OXIDATION GAS TURBINE (POGT) FOR CO-PRODUCTION OF POWER AND HYDROGEN-ENRICHED FUEL GAS

Paper presents the results from development and successful testing of a 200 kW POGT prototype. There are two major design features that distinguish POGT from a conventional gas turbine: a POGT utilizes a partial oxidation reactor (POR) in place of a conventional combustor which leads to a much smaller compressor requirement versus comparably rated conventional gas turbine. From a thermodynamic perspective, the working fluid provided by the POR has higher specific heat than lean combustion products enabling the POGT expander to extract more energy per unit mass of fluid. The POGT exhaust is actually a secondary fuel gas that can be combusted in different bottoming cycles or used as synthesis gas for hydrogen or other chemicals production. Conversion steps for modifying a 200 kW radial turbine to POGT duty are described including: utilization of the existing (unmodified) expander; replacement of the combustor with a POR unit; introduction of steam for cooling of the internal turbine structure; and installation of a bypass air port for bleeding excess air from the compressor discharge because of 45% reduction in combustion air requirements. The engine controls that were re-configured for start-up and operation are reviewed including automation of POGT start-up and loading during light-off at lean condition, transition from lean to rich combustion during acceleration, speed control and stabilization under rich operation. Changes were implemented in microprocessor-based controllers. The fully-integrated POGT unit was installed and operated in a dedicated test cell at GTI equipped with extensive process instrumentation and data acquisition systems. Results from a parametric experimental study of POGT operation for co-production of power and H(2)-enriched synthesis gas are provided.