SUBPROJECTS

COMBUSTION (SP1) – Safe and low emission combustion technology for undiluted, hydrogen-rich syngas will be developed and demonstrated. In order to achieve this, problems resulting from the differences in combustion properties of hydrogen and natural gas need to be addressed and solved. These are higher flame speed, higher adiabatic flame temperature, drastically reduced auto-ignition delay times and the large increase in volumetric fuel flow rate of hydrogen compared to natural gas.

MATERIALS (SP2) – Improved Materials Systems with advanced coatings able to protect hot path components base materials against different temperatures and compositions of exhaust gases will be delivered. Cost-effective materials and coatings technologies will be developed to overcome the component life-limiting problems of overheating and of hot corrosion resulting from the higher temperatures and residual contaminants in the syngas, including validation of materials performance data, life prediction and monitoring methods. Simulation tools for estimating performance and lifetime of materials systems will also be enhanced to suit the new operating environments.

TURBOMACHINERY (SP3) – Modified compressor, turbine and turbine cooling designs will be delivered. Compressor stable operation should enable the switch between fuels without compromising efficiency with the increased fuel mass flow rate that could lead to compressor instability. Turbine design has to cope with a different enthalpy drop, while the turbine cooling system has to cope with the higher specific heat of the exhaust gases. This will result in increased operating temperatures of the components in comparison with natural gas-fired gas turbines. Potential turbine vibration problems will also be addressed.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS (SP4) – System analysis will evaluate the optimum IGCC plant configurations and set up guidelines for optimised full scale integration providing a detailed system analysis that generates realistic techno-economical results for future gas turbine based IGCC plants with CCS. In particular, the compatibility of the combustion technology with the materials and turbo-machinery requirements will be optimised.