Green Engines: Possible Damages by Firing Alternative Fuels and Protection

Abstract

With the rising cost of fossil fuels along with greenhouse gas emission such as NOx and COx, use of alternative fuels such as syngas and biofuels is intense interesting, and in the meantime using ceramic matrix composites that eliminate the need of film cooling in combustors, vanes and other hot section components to improve the efficiency of gas turbine engine and reduce the NOx and COx emission becomes increasingly attractive for green engines. However, the alternative fuels have an increased hydrogen/carbon ratio; in turn during combustion it produces more water vapor than the conventional jet fuels. The increased water vapor level will have an impact on the protective oxide scale developed on the gas turbine hot section components, particularly on those made of SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composites (CMC), leading to an accelerated degradation of the turbine components. In addition, some alternative fuels derived from biomass may contain alkali elements such as potassium, sodium and calcium, as well as chlorine, sulfur and/or phosphorus, which may result in possible corrosion of the hot section components in gas turbines, leading to premature failure during service. This paper will review some of the alternative fuels and their combustion products, the possible damages to gas turbine hot section components, as well as some potential protective coatings that may mitigate such damage