E3S Web of Conferences 178, 01033 (2020) https://doi.org/10.

1051/e3sconf/202017801033
HSTED-2020

Study of the effect of fuel temperature on gas turbine

performance
George Marin1,2, Dmitrii Mendeleev1,2,*, Boris Osipov1 and Azat Akhmetshin1
1Kazan State Power Engineering University, 420034, Krasnoselskaya St., 51, Kazan, Russian Federation;
2JSC "Tatenergo" branch "Kazan CHP-2", 420036, Tatsevskaya St., 11, Kazan, Russian Federation

Abstract. The development of gas turbine technologies requires the search for new solutions to improve
the efficiency of gas turbine plants. The energy characteristics of a gas turbine depend on many external
factors the temperature and pressure of the surrounding air including the composition of the fuel gas. This
paper considers the effect of fuel gas temperature. Natural gas, synthesis gas, and aviation kerosene are
considered as fuel for a gas turbine. For research, a gas turbine of the GE 6FA model was selected and its
mathematical model was created. The results of calculations of the effect of fuel temperature on the energy
and economic characteristics of a gas turbine are presented. The dependences of the main characteristics of
the turbine were obtained. At the same time, the turbine power is assumed constant since during possible
operation as part of a combined cycle gas turbine unit it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature of
the exhaust gases after the gas turbine. The assumption was made - the costs of heating the fuel were not
considered.

1 Introduction and then is compressed in an 18-speed axial compressor.

Compressed air from the compressor enters the annular
Currently, widespread modernization of thermal power space surrounding the six combustion chambers then the
plants with gas turbine units. Gas turbines are used when air enters the space between the outer casing and the
upgrading or replacing used equipment. Nevertheless, at inner lining of the combustion chambers and enters the
the same time, a lot of research is devoted to studying combustion zone through the metering holes in the lining
the work and increasing the efficiency of gas turbine of each combustion chamber. Fuel injectors supply fuel
plants. There are many ways to increase the efficiency of to each of the six combustion chambers in which the fuel
the gas turbine cycle and reduce fuel consumption for mixes with air and inflames. The hot gases from the
electricity generation. [1-3] combustion chambers expanding enter six separate
For example, such methods include: transition compartments attached to the discharge side of
1. Cascade air-cooling in the compressor. the inner lining of the combustion chambers and then to
2. The increase in gas temperature in the combustion the section of the three-stage turbine. Each stage consists
chamber. of a series of fixed nozzle devices behind which a
3. The use of supplying an additional working fluid to number of turbine blades is located. In each row of
the flow part. nozzle devices the kinetic energy of the jet increases that
In this paper, as an alternative to the above methods, is accompanied by a corresponding pressure drop and in
fuel heating is considered before it is fed into the each subsequent row of rotating blades, part of the
combustion chamber of a gas turbine. Fuel heating can kinetic energy of the jet is spent on the useful work of
be carried out using the heat of the exhaust gases of the the turbine rotor. After the passage of the blades of the
turbine itself. If a gas turbine operates as part of a third stage, the exhaust gases are sent to the exhaust
combined cycle gas turbine unit it can be used to heat housing and the diffuser. Then the gases are sent to the
steam from steam turbine offsets. [4-6]. waste-heat recovery boiler. The resulting rotation of the
shaft leads through the reduction gear to the rotation of
the generator rotor which converts it into electrical
2 Materials and methods energy. [6-10]
The article describes an example of a gas-turbine unit
(GTU) of PG6111FA type (from “GE Energy”). The
main characteristics of the gas turbine installation are
presented in table 1.
During GTU operation, filtered atmospheric air
passes through the inlet mixing air chamber assembly

*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E3S Web of Conferences 178, 01033 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202017801033
HSTED-2020

Table 1. Technical characteristics of a GTU (PG6111FA). Hot gases formed during the combustion of fuel in
the combustion chambers pass through the transition
Meas.
No Characteristic Value compartments with forced cooling to the turbine.
unit
High-pressure air from the compressor discharge
Power at the generator
1 kW 80000 housing is guided around the transition compartments.
terminals
2 Atmospheric pressure kgf/cm2 1.013 Part of the air enters the openings in the forced cooling
Compressor inlet sleeve to cool the transition compartments and is sent to
3 ˚C 15 the flow sleeve. The remaining air enters the space
temperature
Relative humidity at the between the flow sleeve and the lining of the combustion
4 % 60
compressor inlet chamber through the holes in the far end of the flow
The pressure of the fuel sleeve in the direction of flow. This air enters the
5 kgf/cm2 25.9 – 30.8
before the gas module combustion zone through the metering holes to ensure
The number of stages in the proper combustion of the fuel and through the grooves
6 pcs 18
compressor for cooling the skin of the combustion chamber. Air
The number of steps in the enters the combustion chamber through six nozzles that
7 pcs 3
turbine
disperse the fuel and mix it with the appropriate amount
8 Air flow m3/s 166
of air supplied to the combustion chamber.
9 Compression ratio 15.8
Air temperature after the
Natural gas, synthesis gas, and aviation kerosene are
10 °C 385 considered as fuel in this study. For research, the
compressor
11 Flue gas temperature °C 603 conditional formula for each type of fuel is calculated
The temperature of the (table 2).
12 gases after the combustion °C 1325
chamber Table 2. The composition of the conditional formula for the
studied fuels.
The low NOx 2.6 (DLN 2.6) nitrogen fuel
Natural gas Gas synthesis Kerosene
combustion system controls the distribution of fuel
Enthalpy -4483.583 -2915.0 -2815.0
supplied to the multi-nozzle pre-mixers and reduces NOx
Carbon (C) 6.040 7.0726833 7.0768
levels in the exhaust without the need for water or water
Hydrogen (H) 22.99232 14.932036 14.6788
vapor to be added to the fuel gas. The distribution of fuel Nitrogen (N) 0.241048 - -
flow in each assembly unit of fuel injectors is calculated Oxygen (O) 0.05642 - -
to maintain the load of the unit and the distribution of Sulfur (S) - - 0.013595
fuel to ensure optimal turbine emissions.
The combustion system with a counter flow includes The functional diagram of the mathematical model is
six combustion chambers located on the periphery of the presented in figure 1. Selection window for elements for
compressor discharge housing. The combustion design scheme is presented in figure 2. For the study, a
chambers are numbered counterclockwise when viewed mathematical model of a gas turbine engine was created
from the top of the machine in the discharge direction. in the software package «Automated System of Gas-
This system also includes fuel injectors, a spark plug dynamic Research of Energy Turbomachines» (AS
system, flame control sensors and cross-ignition tubes. GRET).

Fig. 1. The functional diagram of the mathematical model (AFVS – an air filtering and conditioning system; EG – an electric
generator; TC–1 – a transition channel between AFVS and compressor; C – a compressor; TC-2 – a transition channel between
the compressor and the combustion chamber; CC - a combustion chamber; TC-3 - a transition channel between the combustion
chamber and the turbine; T – a turbine; TC-4 – a transition channel between the turbine and the boiler utilizer; WHRB – a waste
heat recovery boiler; TC-5 - a transition channel between the waste-heat boiler and the chimney; CH – a chimney).

2
E3S Web of Conferences 178, 01033 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202017801033
HSTED-2020

The source data in this study:

Gas turbine power: 77 MW
Air temperature: Ta = + 15 0C,
Compressor inlet pressure: Pa = 101.3 kPa,
Humidity: 65%.
To assess the effectiveness of the influence of fuel,
the following ranges of fuel heating were selected:
For fuel gas from 3 0C to 450 0C. The lower limit is
defined at 3 0C since condensation of hydrocarbons and
moisture in the fuel gas is possible at a lower
temperature which may affect the operation of the fuel
injectors. At 3 0C the absence of liquid in the feed gas is
guaranteed. The maximum gas temperature of 450 0C is
because decomposition of natural gas is possible at
higher temperatures. [3, 11-14]
Synthesis gas is supplied in the range from 3 0C to
350 0C. (The conditions for choosing this range are the
same as for fuel gas) [3]
The maximum temperature of aviation kerosene is 65
0
C. The fact that the flash point of kerosene is from +28
to +72 0C (the lowest temperature of volatile condensed
matter at which the vapor above the surface of the
substance is able to flash in the air under the influence of
an ignition source, however, is stable after removal of
the ignition source does not occur). [15-17].

Fig. 2. Selection window for elements for design scheme.

3 Results and Discussion

When modeling such complex energy systems as a gas
turbine engine, problems arise in setting parameters in

Fig. 3. The dependence of the airflow rate at the inlet and gas flow rate at the outlet of the gas turbine and the efficiency of the
gas turbine from the temperature of natural gas

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E3S Web of Conferences 178, 01033 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202017801033
HSTED-2020

Fig. 4. The dependence of the airflow rate at the inlet and gas flow rate at the outlet of the gas turbine and the efficiency of the
gas turbine from the temperature of the synthetic gas.

Fig. 5. The dependence of the airflow rate at the inlet and gas flow rate at the outlet of the gas turbine and the efficiency of the
gas turbine from the temperature of kerosene.

the zeroth approximation, since the exact value will be

determined only after the calculations are completed. To
solve this problem, in this study, the method of residual 4 Conclusion
systems is used. [18-20] In this paper, we consider how gas temperature affects
The simulation results are presented as graphical the parameters of a gas turbine plant. In particular, the
dependencies in Figures 3-6. following elements were noted:

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E3S Web of Conferences 178, 01033 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202017801033
HSTED-2020

Fig. 6. The dependence of the total hourly consumption of the studied fuels on their temperature .

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