Ammonia as fuel for Gas Turbine

Abstract

Ammonia has recently gained attention as a potential alternative fuel for gas turbines due to its relatively high energy density and mainly its low environmental impact since there is no CO2 production during the combustion. In this study, we evaluate the integration of a Power to Ammonia to Power process(P2A2P) with a system for power generation and investigate the impact of the use of ammonia in gas turbines from technical, energetic, and environmental points of view. First, the P2A2P system layout is defined and then the scale-up of the process is evaluated to be integrated with a commercial medium-size Gas Turbine. The optimization of the size and Balance Of Plant (BOP) of the P2A2P process and the integration with the GT system are evaluated also considering the impact on the GT system. Moreover, a generic radial-tangential swirler representing a first design attempt to study the retrofittability of a natural gas-designed combustion chamber to operate with an NH3-H2 fuel blend is investigated. The results from dedicated experimental tests and the corresponding CFD simulations are discussed with a strong focus on the NOx pollutant emission representing one of the main limiting factors for ammonia as fuel.