Impact of Ceramic Components in Gas Turbines for Industrial Cogeneration

Abstract

A development thrust for the adoption of ceramic components in industrial gas turbines, now being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, may have a considerable impact on the growth rate and ultimate capacity of the cogeneration sector. The economic justification for cogeneration rests on the ability to undercut the cost of purchased power after taking credit for the useful heat recovery, and it is frequently marginal after consideration of fuel, maintenance, and pollution control devices. After reviewing briefly the factors contributing to the economic viability of cogeneration systems, this paper presents arguments to show how the use of ceramics in industrial gas turbine can be instrumental in reducing installation and operating costs. Improved gas turbines based on ceramic materials technology also will provides means for meeting environmental protection requirements without the use of back end flue gas treatment, and will be able to utilize byproduct industrial gaseous and liquid fuels more effectively. These improvements can increase substantially the economic return from cogeneration systems, and are expected to result in increased cogeneration capacity and a sustained market for industrial gas turbines. Predictions are made of the size of the U.S. industrial gas turbine cogeneration market. The annual fuel savings resulting from displacement of utility generation capacity could amount to 2 × 1017 joules (2 × 1014 Btu’s) by the year 2010.