Natural Gas Micro-Gas Turbine Combustion Flue Gas Characterization and After- Treatment by Non-Thermal Plasma-Catalyst Reactor

Abstract

<p>With the increasing need for alternative power sources in the future, the growth of the distributed energy sector will play an important role for meeting future world energy needs. One potential source of distributed energy is the natural gas combustion micro-gas turbine (MGT). Although natural gas is considered a cleaner source of energy than some solid and liquid fuels, there are still significant pollutant emissions. In order to determine the potential pollution from MGTs, two types of MGTs were characterized for their emissions; one single stage moderate lean burn combustion type MGT and one dual stage lean burn combustion type MGT. Furthermore, a novel pollution control device, a trench type nonthermal plasma-catalyst reactor, was examined for potential effectiveness of treating gaseous pollutants in MGT type flue gas.</p> <p>The MGT characterization of the exhaust flue gas revealed that the pollutants of greatest concern for the single stage combustion type MGT were nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), with steady state concentrations of 15ppm (-510 g[NO_x]/MWh) and 120ppm at a full load of 101.2kW, respectively. VOCs were observed to be higher in the dual stage MGT's flue gas with a maximum steady state concentration of 140ppm at a full load of 70kW. It was observed that the dual stage MGT had a significant amount of particulate matter emission for a diameter smaller than 29nm.</p> <p>Preliminary MGT simulated exhaust gas treatment results for the trench type non-thermal plasma-catalyst reactor were observed to be effective for converting NO to: N0₂, N₂, O₂, CO₂ and H₂0. Further tests need to be completed on real natural gas combustion exhaust in order to determine the effectiveness of the non-thermal plasma catalyst for treating MGT exhaust.</p>