Maximising Efficiency and Minimising Cost: Gas Turbine Power Generation and Cogeneration using ‘alternative’ fuels

摘要

Pipeline quality natural gas is usually the preferred fuel of choice for power generation on plants varying in scale from a few kilowatts to hundreds of Megawatts: it’s clean-burning, with low CO2 and emissions of pollutants, and economical. But what are the alternatives when natural gas is not available, or its supply cannot be guaranteed? In some instances, a town or factory, or remote oilfield, may rely heavily on a local power plant for its energy supply because of a weak grid system or lack of central generating capacity. So if the gas is not yet available, gas supply volumes are reduced, or the gas is redirected because of prevailing policy decisions, what happens? Many power plants adopt dual or even tri-fuel, capability with liquid fuel considered as a back-up fuel. On modern gas turbines, this is usually a premium liquid fuel, such as aviation grade kerosene or No. 2 diesel. These are expensive fuels and, if prolonged natural gas outages occur, have an adverse impact on plant economics.