Power augmentation of gas turbine application using biodiesel

• Main Author: Timothy Yuen Wye Ho
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Gas turbine; Biodiesel; power augmentation; performance; power output; efficiency

Global warming and climate change has become an increasingly problematic issue. The release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere has greatly contributed to the greenhouse effect. Over the last century human activities such as burning fossil fuels has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The generation of electricity extracts huge amount of energy from fossil fuels through power plants and is one of the major contributors of global warming. In recent years, the effect of global warming has propelled research and application of technology to reduce emissions in the power generation industry. However, due to the highly fluctuating and unpredictable nature of the renewable energy production traditional method of generating electricity is still required. The incorporation of renewable energy within existing technology might provide a transitioning phase toward fully utilizing renewable technology in the future. In this paper the power augmentation of gas turbine application using biodiesel is examined. The power output and efficiency of CIB0 at 280K is 193.26kW and 15.52%. When CIB0 is tested at a higher inlet air temperature of 320K, 195.05kW of output power and 15.38% overall efficiency is achieved. As a higher blend of CIB100 is used at the same inlet temperature of 280K, 186.57kW of output power and 16% overall efficiency is achieved. It can be seen that when the mass flow rate of fuel is fixed the energy output of different blends of biodiesel increases with the increase in temperature. It is also seen that when higher the blends of biodiesel are used the energy output is lower. Besides that, the overall efficiency of the micro turbine increases as the inlet air temperature decreases and when higher blends of biodiesel are used. In real life application the mass flowrate of fuel is fluctuating constantly. This is done to maintain an ideal air-fuel ratio for stoichiometric combustion to occur. In the presence of temperature drop through power augmentation tools the gas turbine will match the higher density and flowrate of air with higher amounts of fuel to produce higher output power. Therefore the application of biodiesel within a gas turbine is practical for its environmental benefits with a reduced power output as a drawback. However, with the use of power augmentation equipment energy output of the system can be increased again through better combustion performance.