Design and Development Test of a Heavy-Duty Industrial Gas Turbine Combustion System for Low-Btu Coal Gas Fuel

Abstract

A heavy-duty industrial gas turbine combustion system has been designed and developed for low-Btu coal gas fuel with heating value in the 100 to 150 Btu/scf range (4.22 to 6.33 MJ/ncm). The new design uses a unique high-swirl fuel injector to provide rapid fuel/air mixing and a stable flame front. A full-scale, full-pressure laboratory development test program has been conducted with simulated clean low-Btu coal gas fuel, and the combustion system has operated successfully with minimally cleaned raw coal gas from a fixed bed gasifier in a process evaluation test facility at the General Electric Research and Development Center. Laboratory test results are presented for important combustor operating parameters including exhaust emissions, combustion efficiency, exhaust temperature profile, dynamic pressure, and metal temperature distribution.