5 research outputs found
Evaluation of NOx Emissions Associated to Non-Premixed Combustion of H2/Natural Gas Blends in a 40MW Heavy-Duty Gas Turbine
No full textThe tightening in the international regulations is leading the energy production sector towards the usage of hydrogen, which is a zero-carbon energy carrier. In the field of gas turbine lifetime extension, a non-premixed approach including hydrogen blending with conventional fuels is the most promising. However, high-temperature spots might occur, thus increasing thermo-mechanical stresses and NOx emissions. Therefore, a reliable evaluation of the impact of hydrogen blends in combustors characterized by non-premixed flames is necessary. In the present work, a 40MW heavy-duty multi-can combustor belonging to EthosEnergy is investigated by means of steady, reactive simulations by using the ANSYS® FLUENT® solver. The combustor geometry is simplified by removing the casing volume, being the flow split among the holes already available. Such simplification allows for paying major attention to the chemical kinetics thanks to the use of the extended reaction mechanism for natural gas developed by NUI Galway. Simulations include the assessment of the natural gas base load configuration together with hydrogen blends up to 50% in volume, while maintaining unaltered the turbine inlet temperature. The obtained data provide some retrofitting guidelines in the field of hydrogen usage in non-premixed combustion and prove for a modified temperature field in the combustor core and close to the basket. A linear increase in NOx emission is also associated to hydrogen addition, thus suggesting the need for NOx abatement technologies (e.g., water injection)
Evaluation of Nox Emissions Associated to Non-Premixed Combustion of H2/Natural Gas Blends in a 40 MW Heavy-Duty Gas Turbine
No full textThe tightening in the international regulations is leading the energy production sector toward the usage of hydrogen, which is a zero-carbon energy carrier. In the field of gas turbine lifetime extension, a nonpremixed approach including hydrogen blending with conventional fuels is the most promising. However, high-temperature spots might occur, thus increasing thermo-mechanical stresses and NOx emissions. Therefore, a reliable evaluation of the impact of hydrogen blends in combustors characterized by nonpremixed flames is necessary. In the present work, a 40 MW heavy-duty multican combustor belonging to EthosEnergy is investigated by means of steady, reactive simulations by using the ANSYS® FLUENT® solver. The combustor geometry is simplified by removing the casing volume, being the flow split among the holes already available. Such simplification allows for paying major attention to the chemical kinetics thanks to the use of the extended reaction mechanism for natural gas developed by National University of Ireland Galway. Simulations include the assessment of the natural gas base load configuration together with hydrogen blends up to 50% in volume, while maintaining unaltered the turbine inlet temperature (TIT). The obtained data provide some retrofitting guidelines in the field of hydrogen usage in nonpremixed combustion and prove for a modified temperature field in the combustor core and close to the basket. A linear increase in NOx emission is also associated with hydrogen addition, thus suggesting the need for NOx abatement technologies (e.g., water injection)
Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis of the Aero-Thermal Impact of Different Feeding Geometries for Internal Cooling in Lifetime Extension Processes for Heavy-Duty Gas Turbines
No full textRegulations from the European Union move towards a constant reduction of pollutant emissions to match the single-digit goal by 2050. Original equipment manufacturers propose newly designed components for the lifetime extension ofgGas turbines that both reduce emissions and allow for increasing thermodynamic performance by redesigning turbine cooling geometries and optimizing secondary air systems. The optimal design of internal cooling geometries allows for reducing both blade metal temperature and coolant mass-flow rates. In the present study, four different geometries of the region upstream from the blade’s internal cooling channels are investigated by using computational fluid dynamics with a conjugate heat transfer approach. The baseline configuration is compared to solutions that include turbulators, vanes, and a diffuser-like shapes. The impact of each solution on the blade metal temperature is thoroughly analysed. The diffuser-like solution allows for a more uniform distribution of the coolant and may reduce the metal temperature by 30% in the central part of the blade. There are also regions where the metal temperature increases up to 15%, thus requiring a specific thermal fatigue analysis. Eventually, the non-negligible impact of the coolant flow purged in the tip clearance region on the generation of the tip leakage vortex is described
Combustion Characterization in a Diffusive Gas Turbine Burner for Hydrogen-Compliant Applications
No full textThe target of net-zero emissions set by the 2015 Paris Agreement has strongly commissioned the energy production sector to promote decarbonization, renewable sources exploitation, and systems efficiency. In this framework, the utilization of hydrogen as a long-term energy carrier has great potential. This paper is concerned with the combustion characterization in a non-premixed gas turbine burner, originally designed for natural gas, when it is fed with NG-H2 blends featuring hydrogen content from 0 to 50% in volume. The final aim is to retrofit a 40 MW gas turbine. Starting from the operational data of the engine, a CFD model of the steady-state combustion process has been developed, with reference to the base load NG conditions, by reducing the fuel mass-flow rate by up to 17% to target the baseline turbine inlet temperature. When the fuel is blended with hydrogen, for a given temperature at turbine inlet, an increase in the peak temperature up to 800 K is obtained, if no countermeasures are taken. Furthermore, the flame results are more intense and closer to the injector in the case of hydrogen blending. The results of this work hint at the necessity of carefully analyzing the possible NOx compensation strategies, as well as the increased thermal stresses on the injector
Unruptured Aneurysms Italian Study (UAIS) background and method
No full textTreatment of unruptured cerebral aneurysms still represents an unsettled question in neurosurgical and neuroradiological communities. Although nowadays the indication for treatment have become relatively clear, indeed uncertainity remains for what concerns the proper treatment modality (surgical or endovascular) in terms of both the risk and the mid and long-term efficacy of the two procedures. The "Unruptured Aneurysms Italian Study" is a cooperative prospective study which aims to delineate the "State of the Art" in a nation based population. It has been designed: 1) to depict the nationwide modality of treatment of Unruptured Aneurysms, 2) to assess in the most objective way the overall treatment-related mortality and morbidity as well as the surgical and endovascular risk in the respective patient populations (it is not a surgical versus endovascular study) and 3) to asses the efficacy of the different procedures in the mid and long term periods. The study started on June 2003 and to June 2006, 637 patients have been enrolled. The study will end when the 1000th patient is enrolled
