Study to Adapt Industrial Gas Turbines for Significant and Viable CO2 Emissions Reduction

Abstract

Gas turbines have been a significant part of energy production and transportation for decades and should continue indefinitely. As the world evaluates the best approaches to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the world by 2050, while also meeting energy demand, the industrial gas turbine will remain part of that solution with a variety of adaptations. Current (2021) global temperature rise from preindustrial levels is at about 1.2 °C and increasing at a significant rate. The Paris Agreement's objective is to mitigate this rise to 1.5 °C to stem climatic catastrophes and change. Adapting industrial gas turbines for lower CO2 emissions and carbon capture will be incentivized as the pricing authority on CO2 emissions will continue to increase throughout the world. Using the vast existing natural gas infrastructure, post combustion carbon capture adapting to pure hydrogen or hydrogen/natural gas blends, and other augmented solutions will yield substantial GHG reductions that could be implemented on industrial gas turbines. This paper presents the performance impact of adapting the industrial gas turbines for cost-effective carbon capture and using fuels with lower carbon content, such as hydrogen and hydrogen-natural gas blends. As a part of the discussion, the options of either transporting hydrogen to a power plant or transporting natural gas to said power plant and compressing and transporting captured CO2 back to a sequestration site, are evaluated, and supported with simulation data. Lastly, various configurations and mitigations that minimize carbon intensity are discussed and assessed through a simplified techno-economic analysis showing thresholds where industrial gas turbines remain viable in a clean energy future. Industrial gas turbines are needed for growing energy demand and to complement the growing deployment of clean and safe renewable energy sources.