Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2005 Power for Land, Sea and Air June 6-9, 2005, Reno,

USA

GT2005-68799
THE GT24/26 COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGY AND HIGH HYDROCARBON (C2+) FUELS
Oliver Riccius Richard Smith Felix Gthe Peter Flohr1

ALSTOM (Switzerland) Ltd Segelhof CH-5405 Baden-Dttwil (Switzerland)

ABSTRACT In 1998 ALSTOM launched a development program to burn fuels containing high hydrocarbons in the GT24/26 gas turbines. These fuels are found in different parts of the world as for example in Brazil, Algeria or in the gulf of Bengal and Thailand. After validation in the GT26 gas turbine in the ALSTOM power plant in Birr (Switzerland) the combustion of fuel gases with up to 16 Vol% of high hydrocarbons was released in 2001. First field engines started to operate in 2001 and today 18 units are running commercially successful burning high hydrocarbon fuel gases. The engines operate without any hardware modifications compared against standard natural gas fuel, however with an advanced engine control system based on a fast gas composition monitoring system. This achievement is particularly remarkable in view of the sequential combustion system with a high pressure (30bar) first combustor stage, and a high inlet temperature (1000C) second combustor stage. The paper discusses fundamental aspects of burning high hydrocarbon fuels and in particular its impact on the ignition process. It outlines the careful development and validation procedure which has been applied at ALSTOM. Finally, evidence is given of todays reliable engine operation with 200000 operating hours on high hydrocarbon fuel supplies at remarkably low emission levels.

1. INTRODUCTION Market requirement for fuel flexibility The range of natural gases for gas turbine combustion has become wider in recent years in terms of species composition, Wobbe index (WI) and heating value (LHV). The gas composition may include large fractions of rich gases or higher hydrocarbons, which vary. Those higher hydrocarbons are summarized as C2+, which is the sum of all mole fractions of hydrocarbons with more than one C-atom. At the same time todays gas supplies may carry a large and varying content of inert gases, mainly CO2 and some N2. The variation of both, C2+ and inerts is wider than anticipated and the changes occur faster than previously known, and it is likely that this trend will continue to rise in the future, see figure 1. For a customer in Bowin/Thailand, table 1 gives a more detailed analysis of typical fuel compositions. It contains inert gases of up to 19% and higher hydrocarbons up to 16% while the Methane content is as low as 65%. The rich fuels as Ethane, Propane and Butane are combusted in fractions of 7 to 9%, 1.4 to 4.5% and 0.5 to 2% respectively. The gas composition for a power plant may in fact change rapidly in time which asks for robust solutions where gasdependent hardware modifications may severely limit the operational flexibility for an engine. In figure 2, a time-record of a gas chromatograph illustrates this issue where variations of C2+ between 7 and 14Vol% have been observed.

peter.flohr@power.alstom.com

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52 48 44 LHV [MJ/kg] 40 36 32 28 24 0%

GT26 Field Engines with Standard Fuel Gas GT26 Field Engines with Standard Fuel Gas

GT26 Field Engines with Non-std Fuel Gas GT26 Field Engines with Non-std Fuel Gas

ALSTOM GT26 Test Center Birr ALSTOM GT26 Test Center Birr

2%

4%

6%

8% 10% C2+ [%]

12%

14%

16%

18%

The reheat combustion system ALSTOMs large power gas turbines, the GT24/26 family, use a sequential combustion system (figure 3). The compressed air is heated up in a first annular combustion system, after which it expands in a 1-stage high pressure turbine. The exhaust air, containing residual oxygen from the lean premix combustion, is then heated up again to maximal turbine inlet temperature after which it expands in the low pressure turbine stages. This unique gas turbine cycle allows to achieve higher part load efficiency, as well as very low emission levels because emissions are decoupled from the firing temperature in the first combustor stage.
SEV-Burner

Figure 1: Lower Heating Value versus higher hydrocarbon content with a snap-shot of todays market. The grey symbols indicate typical gas compositions which are seen today in the operating fleet, the red symbols indicate an additional focus for fuel gases with high inert and low C2+ content.
CH4 C2H6 C3H8 iC4H10 nC4H10 iC5H12 nC5H12 C6+ CO2 N2 sum C2+ inerts LHV [MJ/kg] LHV [MJ/m3] density [kg/m3] WI [MJ/m3] Gas 1 Gas 2 Gas 3 Gas 4 Gas 5 65.32% 68.21% 71.50% 74.66% 70.02% 8.68% 8.19% 7.33% 6.90% 8.94% 4.47% 2.95% 2.35% 1.42% 2.98% 0.97% 0.61% 0.48% 0.25% 0.56% 0.99% 0.63% 0.51% 0.27% 0.56% 0.15% 0.11% 0.09% 0.05% 0.09% 0.19% 0.14% 0.12% 0.06% 0.12% 0.20% 0.14% 0.13% 0.05% 0.11% 17.52% 17.42% 15.81% 14.62% 15.01% 1.50% 1.63% 1.69% 1.74% 1.63% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 15.66% 19.02% 32.7 32.9 1.01 37.2 12.75% 19.05% 32.3 31.3 0.97 36 10.99% 17.50% 33.2 31 0.93 36.4 8.98% 16.36% 33.8 30.3 0.9 36.3 13.35% 16.64% 34.1 32.1 0.94 37.5

Figure 3: cross-sectional view of the GT24/26 sequential combustion system with two annular combustion chambers, separated by a single-stage high pressure turbine. For variations in gas fuel composition, the development engineer faces a number of challenges, related to 1. mixing quality and emission levels High inert contents require higher fuel flow for a given power output. Fuel distribution systems must be able to cope with increased mass flows and pressures. Changes of the fuel injection must be considered as well. The momentum of fuel jets rises which impacts the mixing field. That in turn may affect flame position and stability as well as the low NOx characteristics of the engines. 2. flammability limits and flame flashback The higher hydrocarbons typically increase the reactivity of the fuel-air mixture which lead to increased flammability limits (often advantageous) and higher flame propagation speed. The second issue may result in a change in flame locality (usually observed in terms of increased emission values), but in extreme cases lead to flame flashback and combustor hardware damage. 3. auto-ignition Spontaneous or auto-ignition of the fuel-air mixture is enhanced by addition of C2+ species. While this issue is generally of concern to all gas turbine manufacturers (and for example reflected in a growing number of ASME papers in this field), it becomes crucial to the design of a robust reheat combustor because flame stabilization in the sequential combustor fully relies on spontaneous ignition.

Table 1: 5 typical gas compositions in pipeline gas in Thailand.

Figure 2: Changes of C2+ content over time in a typical gas turbine supply line measured with gas chromatographs.

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Outline of paper This paper highlights the fuel flexibility development project for the GT24/26 gas turbines with the scope of theory, rig tests, engine test, fleet implementation, and fleet experience. The theoretical part should firstly characterize the customer fuel gases and define model gases for rig and engine tests. These model gases were required because it was not possible to transport the customer fuels to our test rigs in sufficient quantities. At the same time these mixtures must be designed from components, which are readily available in Europe. This work is summarized in section 2. Component tests encompass combustion tests at atmospheric and high pressure conditions as well as mixing studies in water channels. The goal is to provide a first feedback regarding combustor characteristics and operation concept at the single burner level. Flame position and shape is monitored and combustor hardware temperatures are being recorded while the gas composition is varied. Finally, the engine tests provide the completest validation about the engine combustion characteristics with the new fuel gases, ahead of fleet implementation. Combustion stability, pulsations, emissions, performance as well as flame position and shape are to be recorded while the gas composition must be variable. In order to achieve that we have employed the GT26B test engine in Birr, and installed a gas mixing plant to supply high C2+ and high inert gases. Special equipment was to be prepared to supervise the gas composition and monitor flame position and metal temperatures at the combustor hardware. Based on the test results the final operation concept had to be defined. Combustor back-up hardware was to be evaluated as well. In section 3 we summarize the effort and experience of the rig and engine tests and also give a specific example of transferring rig results to the engine. The fleet implementation, achieved in 2001 and described in section 4, must ensure safe and swift transfer of the test results into the customer engines. In fact that scope could be reduced to a revised operation concept and fast gas sensors. The starting phase contained an extended commissioning, which includes mappings through the operating window and monitoring of temperatures and flame position. Combustor back-up hardware has been verified as well. The implementation is accompanied with a number of additional inspections during the first release phase. Those inspections have confirmed the revised operating concept and have now been reduced to the standard inspection scope and intervals. 2. AUTO-IGNITION ANALYSIS Background The presence of minor hydrocarbon species has a profound influence on the auto ignition behavior of fuel-air mixture. Hydrocarbon species typically found in natural gas along with methane include ethane, propane, butane and pentane and very few higher alkanes as well as small contributions of partially unsaturated alkenes. Especially the next higher members of the

homologous series of the alkanes ethane and propane are important since they are relatively abundant. The sum of all higher alkanes is usually referred to as C2+, without differentiating between the different species. Their effect on auto ignition time is however not equal. This has to be understood in the evaluation of the burning properties of natural gases as well as model fuels. In this paper we study exemplarily the relative difference between ethane and propane additions to a methane fuel. Theoretical analysis of auto-ignition can be performed by the SENKIN module of the program package like CHEMKIN, based on a detailed reaction mechanism. We compare here a number of mechanisms from published work and indicate relative changes between them. As standard reference we use the mechanism of the gas research institute (GRI3.0), which seems to be a good compromise for all applications and is usually not very far from experimental results. However higher alkanes are apparently better modelled by Wang et al., due to their more detailed C3 chemistry. Additionally, for low temperatures it is important to account for peroxides to capture low temperature chemistry. To estimate the effect of ethane and propane under SEV conditions it has been shown that combinations of these mechanisms seem to yield more reliable results. A and B are two different kinetic schemes derived from connecting the C3 chemistry and the low temperature C1 chemistry of several literature mechanisms. In figure 4 the predicted ignition times for high temperature conditions as in the SEV combustor are presented. The gas mixture is standard Swiss gas; the difference between the reaction mechanisms is moderate, however with a noticeable trend for too short ignition times at high preheat temperatures for GRI3.0. The difference of the mechanisms becomes more significant for changes in gas composition as discussed below.

1.E-01

GRI3.0 A

1.E-02

ignition /s

1.E-03

1.E-04 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400

T(air) / K

Figure 4: predicted ignition times at reheat conditions for Swiss gas with low C2+ content. Comparison of 3 different reaction mechanisms. A and B are two different kinetic schemes derived from connecting the C3 chemistry and the low temperature C1 chemistry of several literature mechanisms.

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A reactor model of the reheat combustor A chemical reactor network for the GT24/26 has been developed which is fed directly from engine performance data sheets. Pre-studies have shown that the ignition times depend not only on temperature and pressure but also on the fuel type, the inlet conditions and the composition of the exhaust gas (~ combustion air). That includes the concentrations O2 and H2O as well as a number of other intermediates and radicals (like OH, CH2O, etc..). Using this approach it is possible to obtain the composition of the SEV mixture as precisely as possible. A change in fuel composition or cooling air is automatically accounted for. In this network, the EV-flame is modeled by a PREMIX module followed by a SENKIN reactor (PFR) as post flame zone. The number of parallel reactors can be chosen as a compromise between computational time and precision. For emissions prediction the degree of mixing is very important and needs to be calibrated from engine data. However if the ignition time in the SEV is in the focus a smaller number of reactors can be chosen. After the EV-flame region the gas is mixed with more cooling air and enters the high pressure turbine (HPT) which reduces the temperature according to the pressure ratio and turbine efficiency. After the HPT cooling is added and the gas enters a PFR for 2 ms (approximate time between HPT and SEV fuel gas nozzle) to relax its radical concentrations towards their equilibrium at the temperature and pressure after the HPT. Then the gas stream (of EV exhaust and cooling air) is mixed with fuel to enter the SEV combustor, which is simulated with another PFR. For a given mass flow of fuel the flame temperatures are calculated. But the program can also be used to calculate the needed fuel mass flow for a given flame temperature or turbine inlet temperature. This option is used to model the engine operation concept when changing fuels to compensate for differences in heating value. The output of the module is a gas composition and an auto ignition time. Other derived quantities, such as effective flame position and thickness, are computed from the tool, as well, to help the designer in optimizing the combustor flow distribution. Effect of higher hydrocarbons Results are presented to address three issues: 1.effect of changing ethane to propane ratio for fixed C2+ 2.effect of changing C2+ for fixed propane to ethane ratio 3.design of a model fuel for testing purposes We discuss only relative changes of fuel composition with different C2+ content. The absolute errors in ignition time for different reaction schemes are still considered to be too large for gas turbine design purposes and subject to fundamental research. (Goy et al. 2001). At ALSTOM, this issue has been looked at in a co-operative research with DLR Stuttgart where we have used shocktube experiments to calibrate and benchmark different reaction schemes. The relative difference between different reaction schemes gives an indication of the uncertainty associated with such

calculations even if calibrated against a reference operating point. 1. To study the effect of increasing C2+ for a given ethane to propane ratio (1:1) five different fuel mixtures were tested, based on a reference natural gas with C2+ = 3% (Swiss gas) and then increasing values of ethane / propane additive such that heating value was kept constant.
1.2

GRI
1

6% C2+

A B

Ignition_C2+/Swiss

0.8

0.6

25% in Ignition

0.4

0.2

10

15

20 C2+ content

25

30

35

40

Figure 5: Ignition times for variation in C2+ content. Comparison of 3 different reaction mechanisms GRI, A and B. As shown in figure 5, propane and ethane addition to Swiss Gas shortens auto ignition time for all mechanisms. The relative decrease in ignition time is lower at high concentrations of C2+. The mechanism differ by up to by 6% C2+ for the same effect on ignition time or by up to 25% in ignition time for constant C2+. This compares to a change of up 25 K in operating conditions of the engine if the right kinetical scheme is used. 2. To study the effect of the ethane to propane ratio for a constant C2+value eight different fuel mixtures were tested: 92 % Swiss Gas + 0-8 % ethane + 8-0 % propane (C2+ = 10.71 % ) The graphs in figure 6 show that in mechanisms containing the GRI chemistry ethane seems to react faster than propane while the effect for the Wang chemistry is almost negligible at this temperature. This difference is significant and has an impact for example in the design of a model fuel where predicted ignition properties can vary by up to 30%, depending on the choice of the mechanism.

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1.3

GRI3.0
1.2 relative igntion time 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0 0.1 0.2

natural gases

Birr Test gases

Finally, it is mentioned that such chemical-kinetic analysis does not consider any effects which are specific to the combustor design and which are related to turbulence-chemistry interaction. The ignition process is strongly affected by the heat-up process of the fuel as it is injected into the highly turbulent vitiated air stream. An appropriate model to describe this process has been described in Brandt et al (2003) and validated in Ivancic et al. (2004). 3. RIG & ENGINE TESTING Atmospheric & high pressure rig tests Mixing & combustion performance are initially tested in waterchannel and atmospheric combustion labs. Due to the strong pressure dependence of the combustion behavior these rigs have been mainly used for generic testing and to calibrate numerical design tools, and their use has been described for example in Ivancic et al (2004). Full engine pressure tests with the model gases as described in the previous section have been performed in ALSTOMs combustor test rig at DLR, Cologne, Germany. The test rig contains both EV and SEV combustors at engine pressures, temperatures and load conditions. Figure 7 shows the installation.

100% ethane

0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 propane/(propane+ethane)

0.8

0.9

100% propane

Figure 6: Relative ignition times for varying C2/C3 ratio at constant C2+ (10.7%) with different mechanismus To study the effect of the ethane to propane ratio for a constant C2+value eight different fuel mixtures were tested: 92 % Swiss Gas + 0-8 % ethane + 8-0 % propane (C2+ = 10.71 % ) 3. Theoretical autoignition analysis has been used to design model fuels for rig and engine testing. The rational has been that key indicators for the model fuel are the Wobbe index, heating value, and ignition time based on an equivalent C2+. The matching condition was primarily based on ignition time. The model gases for the engine tests contain Swiss natural gas, Propane and N2. The target were gas mixtures, which simulate the customer gases with 10, 13.5 and 15% C2+ and inert content up to about 19%. Fuel gases with normal inert content but high C2+ content were looked at as well. Matching the auto-ignition delay times between customer gas and model gas means that the C2+ content may differ. At the same time we had to account for the uncertainty mentioned above (choice of kinetic scheme etc.). That bears some risk for the tests. Mitigations actions such as special protection measures had to be prepared for and were included in our test schedule. The inert content was specified to achieve the desired heating value. As CO2 had to be substituted through N2 we had to compromise in density for some of the mixtures. The Wobbe index was allowed to differ as well. The resulting model gases used in the GT26B engine tests in Switzerland are listed in table 2 below.
Run LHV MJ/kg density kg/m3 LHV MJ/m3 W .I. MJ/m3 Actual C2+ % Eq. C2+ % 411 46.4 0.85 39.6 46.5 16.9 10.4 CM Mix 1, 2, 3 412 424 412 46.5 0.98 45.6 50.0 28.0 13.3 46.4 1.01 46.9 50.6 30.9 14.1 46.5 1.15 53.4 54.1 42.7 16.0 413 46.5 1.16 53.7 54.2 43.1 16.3 403 Swiss Gas 406 407 47.3 0.70 33.3 43.1 4.5 4.2 47.2 0.70 33.2 43.0 4.3 4.1 407 32.5 0.94 30.4 34.1 13.8 10.2 Thaigas Mix 1 415 418 33.3 0.92 30.5 34.6 13.0 9.9 32.3 0.92 29.6 33.6 12.4 9.8 426 34.0 0.90 30.7 35.1 12.6 9.7

Figure 7: ALSTOMs combustor test rig at DLR, Cologne, Germany. The tests were carried out with a variety of gas mixtures. One goal was to evaluate the consequences of replacing the various higher hydrocarbons with Propane and replacing CO2 with N2. The second goal was the definition of a preliminary operating concept. With the flame sensing and monitoring equipment we were able to show 1st that the EV 17i dry low-NOx burner is insensitive to high C2+ content and bears no flash back risk. 2nd, we have derived an operating concept for the SEV burner depending on the C2+ content. With both findings we could proceed to ALSTOMs GT26B test facility in Birr, Switzerland.

47.4 0.70 33.2 43.0 3.8 3.7

Table 2: typical engine gas compositions with high C2+ content (CM), the standard natural gas at the Birr testing facility (Swiss gas), and gas mixtures for testing (Thaigas mix) based on Swiss gas and nitrogene and propane addition.

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Engine tests at ALSTOMs GT26B test center in Birr Based on the availability of Propane and Nitrogen in sufficient quantities for a GT26B engine test a specialized fuel gas mixing plant was designed, commissioned and operated at the ALSTOM Test Center in Birr, Switzerland. Figure 8 shows a sketch of the system layout and the plant overview containing liquid propane and liquid nitrogen supplies, vaporizers and a mixing station, which merges C3H8 and N2 with Swiss natural gas from the grid. The installation of such a gas mixing facility for a GT26 gas turbine operating at full load implied train loads of propane and nitrogen, massive sprinkler systems, special sealing of all basement corridors, tunnels and drainages, to name but a few of the efforts which have been carried out for validation.
Layout

The pulsation amplitudes of the SEV combustor are recorded as well. We find that the delta in SEV burner inlet temperature between the pulsations and the critical metal temperature is independent of the C2+ content. That means that the flame shape and relative position, which are described through its characteristic stability remains unaffected by C2+. The change of the flame position can therefore be controlled only with the burner inlet temperature, just one single parameter. This is a key result as it comes to the control effort for handling high C2+ gases. It simplifies our operating concept.

Steam Generator Heater & Vaporisers Mixer New Pipe

Hall 11
PreHeater Room

Nitrogen Storage & Pump Flare Propane Storage & Pump

Figure 8: Installation overview of the gas mixing plant at the ALSTOM GT26B test center in Birr, Switzerland. The gas mixing plant allows to vary the inert and C2+ content on-line, i.e. while the GT26B is running. Typically, the engine is started on normal Swiss natural gas; then nitrogen is added to the desired flow rate and finally propane is brought in to the desired value. Then the test period follows. In reverse order the composition is reduced back to Swiss natural gas. A typical test period contains the extended mappings of both combustors at different loads. Acceptance criteria have been derived from material temperature data at the SEV burner. That instrumentation is shown in figure 9. One recognizes the thermocouples at the exit of the mixing zone, which detect the approaching flame when the C2+ content increases. We record a linear rise of the metal temperature with the rise of the burner inlet temperature up to the point when the flame reaches the vicinity of burner exit. Then the rise becomes larger than linear. We set the limit for a sustainable operation at the maximal metal temperature allowed by the burner cooling design. That level of critical metal temperature is reached for high C2+ content at a lower burner inlet temperature than for low C2+ content, and this behavior is schematically shown in figure 10. The flame movement is monitored with cameras at the same time.

Figure 9: Instrumented SEV burners with thermocouples for flashback monitoring.

Figure 10: SEV burner metal temperature for variations in burner inlet temperature and fuel composition. General trends are indicated by straight lines. Finally, we show how the results obtained at the single burner level have been confirmed by the engine tests. In figure 11 the excellent agreement of the trend for the maximal allowable burner inlet temperature, for variations in C2+ addition is shown. Also included in the figure are the results from the first fleet engine where also detailed instrumentation was available.

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SEV Burner Inlet Temperature

SEV burner protection limit

Operation Window

EV burner lean extinction limit

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

C2+ [% ]

Figure 11: comparison of different rig and engine results for the critical burner inlet temperature where the burner metal temperature reaches its maximal allowable limit. For completeness, it is noted that the EV combustor did not show any flashback risk with increasing C2+ content with the ALSTOM dry-low NOx burner EV17i which is installed in the first combustor stage of the GT24B and GT26B engines. The flame proximity has been monitored with burner shell and lance tip temperature measurements. It has been observed that the flame position does not change with the C2+ content in the EV 17i burner and the flashback risk is negligible; in fact, the only observable change has been the increased stability for lean blow out with increased C2+ content which is even beneficial for operation at low EV combustor temperatures. We conclude that the two stage combustor system of ALSTOMs GT26B and GT24B with the EV and SEV burner design is very well capable of handling varying C2+ contents through a simple adjustment of the SEV burner inlet temperature. Based on these findings, the operating concept for the GT24B and GT26B engines has been modified to cover low and high C2+ gases and is summarized in the diagram in figure 12. There is no need for action up to 9% C2+ content. Above 9% a moderate (and linear) reduction of the SEV burner inlet temperature is applied up to the maximal allowable limit which is given by todays gas experience at 16%. Also shown in the figure is the EV lean extinction temperature which decreases for increasing C2+. As a consequence, the operating window for the engine remains wide for flexible operation for all gas compositions.

Figure 12: The operation concept of the GT24B and GT26B engines for low and high C2+ gases. Shown is only the range of 9-16% C2+ where the operating concept requires a small change in burner inlet temperature. Below 9% there is no change in operating concept required. 4. FLEET IMPLEMENTATION Fast gas composition monitoring With the operation concept for varying C2+ content defined we had one more task left to do. That was to detect and measure C2+ containing gases fast enough. For ALSTOMs fuel flexibility test campaign in Birr, Switzerland we had developed a gas sensor which records and transmits any changes of the gas composition at the gas mixing plant faster than the gas reaches the fuel distribution system of the engine. For this application it was clear that a gas chromatograph would be too slow for this task. A novel IR gas sensor was developed, tested and commissioned and it performed very well during the test. For the field application we had received data from our customers, which illustrate that the changes in gas composition are sufficiently slow for gas chromatographs to record them. All data had been taken with gas chromatographs however and we have installed a fast gas sensor during the first C2+ implementation at the Bowin power plant as a precautionary measure. We have learnt on that site however that even in large gas networks the changes in gas composition can be much faster than it is recorded by gas chromatographs. In one example the trip of several stages of a gas separation plant occurred. It caused a rise of the C2+ content from 10 to 16% within 30 seconds at the GT. That separation plant is located 90km upstream of the gas turbine requiring a flow time of 45min. An example of the changes in gas composition are illustrated in figure 13. One compares the readings from the fast gas sensor (green) to the gaschromatograph data (blue).

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range of 10-16Vol% and the emissions are close to single digit values.
100

GT NOx @15%O2, dry [ppm]

10 Guarantee Eninge A Ringsend 11 GT26B2.1 Eninge B San Roque 21 GT26B2.0 1

0 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Relative Load [%]

Figure 13: Example of a rapid change of gas composition and the corresponding engine adjustment of SEV burner inlet temperature. One compares C2+ readings from the fast gas sensor (green) and the gaschromatograph (blue). Fleet implementation and experience The fleet implementation of ALSTOMs high C2+ combustion technology started with an extended mapping at the Bowin power plant in Thailand. We had installed extensive instrumentation, similar to the GT26B at the ALSTOM test center in Birr, Switzerland. The commissioning proceeded well while we have obtained valuable experience about the full C2+ range through trips of a gas separation plant which occurred during the commissioning. Extra inspections and reduced inspection intervals were applied to the SEV burner and SEV lance during the first 6 months of operation. The purpose of the inspections was to check that no overheating damage due to flashback events had occurred. The results of these tests showed not only that no damage had occurred but that the condition of the SEV burners was in line with the experience of engines running on low C2+ fuel gas. The high C2+ engines then adopted the standard fleet inspection intervals. The fleet implementation so far covers 5 GT24Bs and 13 GT26Bs with a total of 200000 OH. 145000 OH have been operated at C2+ levels above 9%. There is no C2+ related problem or finding in particular there is no flashback or any other damage to any combustor hardware nor any loss of availability through C2+. For example, two field engines were equipped with SEV burner exit thermocouples similar to the Birr test engine. These thermocouples were connected to ALSTOMs monitoring and diagnostic system. The data has indicated that no flashback events have taken place in these engines. This fact has also been confirmed by boroscope inspections. The availability of C2+ engines is high. For example in Bowin the availability in commercial operation lies above 97%. Finally, the GT24/26 engines are running with best-in-class emission levels also for high C2+ gases. In figure 14, we give for examples from the fleet where the gas composition is in the

Figure 14: Typical NOx emission levels observed in customer engines with high C2+ gases. The emission levels are well below the guarantee level for the entire load range. CONCLUSION ALSTOMs GT24B / GT26B engines have demonstrated their capability to burn low and high C2+ fuels and cope with fast changes of C2+ content. That fuel flexibility combined with reliable operation and high availability at low emissions comes as a benefit to ALSTOMs customers. This paper has outlined both the careful validation procedure, in particular for the reheat combustion system, as well as describing the operating fleet experience. Today ALSTOMs experience covers 18 engines in the GT24B/GT26B fleet with high C2+ gas supplies. Another GT26B will be commissioned on high C2+ gas this year, three more in 2005. These engines have logged more than 200000 OH so far, 145000 of which are reliable operation with high C2+ gases, i.e. with a C2+ content above 9%. REFERENCES M. Brandt, W. Polifke, B. Ivancic, P. Flohr, B. Paikert Autoignition in a gas turbine burner at elevated temperature, ASME GT2003-38224 M. Braun-Unkhoff & C. Naumann, DLR, private communication C.J. Goy, A.J. Moran, G.O. Thomas Autoignition characteristics of gaseous fuels at representative Gas turbine conditions ASME 2001-51. GRI3.0: http://www.me.berkeley.edu./gri_mech. F. Joos, P. Brunner, B. Schulte-Wenning, K. Syed Development of the sequential combustion system for the ABB GT24/26 gas turbine family, ASME 1996-GT-315 Z. Qin, V. Lissianski, H. Yang, W. C. Gardiner, S. Davis, H. Wang, 28th Proc. Comb. Symp. 1663 (2000).

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