Environmental analysis of present and future fuels in 2D simple model marine gas tubines

Abstract

Increased worldwide concerns about fossil fuel costs and effects on the environment lead many governments and scientific societies to consider the hydrogen as the fuel of the future. Many researches have been made to assess the suitability of using the hydrogen gas as fuel for internal combustion engines and gas turbines; this suitability was assessed from several viewpoints including the combustion characteristics, the fuel production and storage and also the thermodynamic cycle changes with the application of hydrogen instead of ordinary fossil fuels. This paper introduces the basic environmental differences happening when changing the fuel of a marine gas turbine from marine diesel fuel to gaseous hydrogen for the same power output. Environmentally, the hydrogen is the best when the CO2 emissions are considered, zero carbon dioxide emissions can be theoretically attained. But when the NOx emissions are considered, the hydrogen is not the best based on the unit heat input. The hydrogen produces 270% more NOx than the diesel case without any control measures. This is primarily due to the increased air flow rate bringing more nitrogen into the combustion chamber and the increased combustion temperature (10% more than the diesel case). Efficient and of course expensive NOx control measures are a must to control these emissions levels.

Keywords

• Hydrogen
• Natural gas
• Alternative fuels
• gas turbine