Applications
-> Stationary Source
-> Europe
-> Gas Turbine & Boiler Industries
Gas Turbines (GT) are simply IC engines
operating with rotary - rather than reciprocating
– motion, comprising a compressor, combustor
and power turbine. GTs are used in a wide variety
of applications including electric power generation,
cogeneration, natural gas transmission and various
process applications. GTs using staged combustion
are known as Dry Low NOx (DLN) combustors. The primary
fuels used are natural gas and distillate (No.2) fuel
oil.
Simple Cycle (SC)
Here the heat content of the exhaust gases exiting
the GT is discarded without heat recovery, giving
electrical power efficiencies of up to 58%.
Combined Cycle (CC)
Here, the GT is combined with a heat recovery steam
generator (HRSG) or a steam turbine to increase the
cogeneration or electrical generation efficiency respectively.
In this case, efficiency increases to about 85%.
GTs used in simple cycle or combined cycle configuration
have become commonplace for mid-size power generation.
A popular choice of non-utility generators (NUG) and
independent power producers (IPP) for cogeneration
in the 1970s and 1980s, GT were dramatically embraced
by US electric generating utilities in the 1990s as
a more efficient, economical and practical way of
generating baseload distributed power, spurred on
by relatively low natural gas prices during that period.
This fuel switching activity, however, saw an equally
dramatic decline in the early 2000s driven by a rising
natural gas price and return to more steady power
demand.
 The
power generation industry has also had to face major
structural changes following privatisation and this
new business environment has led to significant investment
in gas-fired combined cycle plant. In the future,
lower natural gas prices and/or increased demand for
power are expected to trigger a resurgence in GT use
with more and more combined cycle plants brought into
service. As the generating companies come under increasing
competitive pressures, optimisation of plant emissions
and transient/peak-shaving efficiencies in addition
to base load duties will become paramount.
North America has lead the way in this field for
some time now, with stringent NOx controls forcing
the introduction of catalytic techniques such as CO
oxidation and the selective catalytic reduction (SCR)
of NOx.
As more stringent NOx regulations are introduced elsewhere
across the globe, Johnson Matthey is well placed to
offer unique and economical catalyst solutions to
ensure emissions compliance.
Furthermore, the advent of GTs using fuel gas generated
from coal gasification in Integrated Gasification
Combined Cycle (IGCC) systems look set to provide
a sustained market opportunity for SCR and oxidation
catalyst technologies for many years to come.
Johnson Matthey SSEC offers the following catalytic
technologies to control emissions from gas turbines:
For further information on IC Engine
emissions control, please contact
us.
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