The effects and characteristics of hydrogen in SNG on gas turbine combustion using a diffusion type combustor

Converting coal to natural gas may be one of the alternative solutions for satisfying the demand for natural gas. However, synthetic natural gas (SNG) has not been proven effective in natural gas-fired power plants. In this research, several combustion tests using a diffusion type combustor were conducted to determine the effect of hydrogen content in SNG on gas turbine combustion. Three kinds of SNG with different H2 content up to 3%vol were used for the combustion tests. Even a small amount of hydrogen in SNG affects the flame structure: it shortened the flame length and enlarged the flame angle slightly. However, hydrogen content up to 3% in SNG did not affect the gas turbine combustion characteristics, which are emission performance and combustion efficiency. Due to a similarity with real gas turbine combustor conditions for power generation, a high pressure combustion test helped us verify the ambient pressure combustion tests conducted to determine the effect of hydrogen in SNG. In the high pressure combustion test, the pattern factors were identical even though the hydrogen content was varied from 0% to 3%.