LHV effect on output and heat rate from GE gas turbine correction curves for both (distillate and

crude oil) LHV reduction (less than ref LHV) will cause output ratio to decrease and vice versa LHV reduction (less than ref LHV) will cause heat rate ratio to increase and vice versa

From Siemens gas turbine correction curves for distillate LHV reduction (less than ref LHV) will cause output ratio to increase and vice versa (opposite to GE curve) LHV reduction (less than ref LHV) will cause efficiency to decrease (heat rate ratio to increase and vice versa) same as GE curves but the Siemens curves in terms of efficiency not HR

In gas turbine engineering hand book (Dr boyce) LHV -430 btu/lb (decrease in LHV) will lead to 0.4% increase in output and -1% ( decrease) heat rate This agree with siemens in output and opposite to both GE and siemns in HR

In Combined-Cycle Gas & Steam Turbine Power Plants ( Rolf Kehlhofer)

The lower heating value (LHV) of the fuel is important because it defines the mass flow of fuel, which must be supplied to the gas turbine. The lower the LHV, the higher the mass flow of fuel required to provide a certain chemical heat input, normally resulting in a higher power output and efficiency. Which agree with Dr boyce book I have noticed that the change in LHV for the same fuel ie distillate is not varying too much and the correction factor for LHV is minor comparing to the inlet temperature but some people look to the LHV as a measure for the quality of the fuel meaning the higher the LHV the better the fuel so reducing the LHV is leading to better performance is confusing. 4 days ago Like CommentFollow Flag More 6 comments

Follow Paul Paul Fernandez, PE The simplistic answer is based on the chemistry of combustion and the thermodynamic properties of the products of combustion. With fuels being primarily carbon and hydrogen, the products of combustion are carbon dioxide and water (neglecting everything else). The difference between HHV and LHV is based on the hydrogen content of your fuel. If your fuel has no hydrogen your products of combustion is pure carbon dioxide. As the hydrogen content increases yuor LHV decreases due to the water vapor as a combustion product from burning hydrogen. Thermodynamics jumps in and says you will not be able to get work from the process of condensing the water vapor in the combustion products, the latent heat of vaporization is not available for work. Not a direct answer to your question, but a basis for LHV vs. HHV. 2 days ago Like

Follow Somnath Somnath Mukherjee Higher the LHV better the fuel as for a given power output for a higher LHV fuel, less fuel mass flow-rate will be required. Difference between HHV and LHV is nicley explained by Paul and it is just the water vapour that is discounted while calculating LHV. 1 day ago Like

Follow Kiran Kiran Rajgor you can read " GAs Turbine Fuels - System Design, Combustion & Operatibility", Turbomachinery Symposium -2010. http://turbolab.tamu.edu/proc/ 1 day ago Like

Follow Brent Brent Homes I always believed that the HHV value (about 6 or 10% higher from LHV for gas and liquid fuels) was the amount of heat contained in the water vapor in the exhaust. The HHV value counted this as usable and the LHV does not, utilizing LHV value is correct for heat rate calcs for GTs and CCGT's as the water vapor heat is never recovered. 1 day ago Like

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Mark Boulden First, watch out for comparisons of performance impacts of LHV variation for liquid fuels. To get very far from 18,300Btu/lb, you typically have to get a little exotic. For example, to get to 19,000Btu/lb you are looking at naptha, and your fuel pumps won't survive due to lack of fuel lubricity unless you have a system specifically designed for that type fuel. To get down to 17,000 Btu/lb, you're looking at residual oil and you're not going to confuse that with distillate. In any case, the fuel volume injected really is very very close to the same because the energy density is not much different from residual oil to naptha. That's why there's typically only one liquid fuel nozzle offered for a turbine model, while the gas fuel nozzles can have significant variation.

Gas fuels are different, especially for recent synthetic gas applications. Particularly in the syngas case, the variation in LHV on a Btu/lb basis is being driven by an inert gas content that is frequently on the order of 65% of the fuel volume and by the hydrogen content. While hydrogen compared to natural gas is high in Btu/lb, it's very low in Btu/ft3. For the inert content (and any emissions control diluent), you are using the gas turbine as a turbo-expander. In this case (including GE curves I've reviewed), LHV going down results in an increase in Output and a decrease in Heat Rate. The predominant impact is on output by a factor of 3:1 to 4:1 for percentage change in Output compared to percentage change in Heat Rate.

Bottom line, your LHV effects on Output and Heat Rate are predominantly going to be a result of the variation in required fuel volume. This means the impact for liquid fuels is virtually negligible. For gas fuel, if you do have variability on LHV, the key is whether it's changing due to variation in reactive constituents or variation in inert content. Also for the fuel gas, make sure to watch out for how the vaiation in LHV is relating to the Wobbe index to ensure you stay in the design window for the fuel nozzles. 1 day ago Like Reply privately Flag as inappropriate 1

Follow Ken Ken Walls Mark, very good explanation you have written, particularly the part about the inert portions acting like a turboexpander. The energy contained due to the inert content in the pressurized fuel supply of course has to provide some additional power as it expands out to atmospheric pressure. Also a good explanation of the difference in liquids vs gas, and why.