DEYELOPJIE:TS IX IULTIPLE FUEL .

\PPLIC A TIONS FOR GAS TURBINES

hy
.James (. I\iernan
.lana!er . . \ pplication Enineerin
.lediur Gas Turbine Department
r;eneral Electric Company
Schenectady. \ CY York
James C. lil'rnan hrt' 1)1'<'11 Ieith
the General Electric (I! !II f!WIY (,us
Turbine Department since JIIJ. He
1nts appointed .llanager nf Applica
tion Engineering Jledium Cas Tur
IJine Department in September ]!(:_
Prior to that time he held wrinus
posz:tions nithin the Cas Turbine De
partment as unit mana[er. supeni
sor. and indhidual con I ributor.
J/r. fiernan hols a IA Degree
jrom Williams College. and U B.ll E Degree irom Rensse
laer Polvtcchrzic Institute in Troy New York. He is a
ngist cr;d Professional Engineer ;n New York State. and
holds membership in AS.l!E. Tau Beta Pi. Pi Tau Sigma.
and the Society oj the Sigma .\. Prior to joining the
Cas Turbine Department he spent two years with the
1nolls Atomic Pouer Laboratory as a core design en
gineer. and he was also a member of the faculty of the
1/eclwnical Engineerin
g
Department at R.P.l. for three
years.
1(J70-A DECADE OF CHALLEGE
As the decade of the 1 0/0 s graduallv unfolds. it
becomes clear that it will be a decade of challenge for
manv of vou who are en!a!ed in the Process. Pipeline. or
Electric Ctilitv lndustrie.
L
The changing 11orld supplies
of fuel resouces have already had. and ll'ill continue to
have. H si!nificant impact o vour business. The most
si;ificant e1ent that h:s occurred has bee the prol\ ing
shortage of domestic natural gas. Current studies indi
cate this shorta!e will continue for the foreseeable future.
Figure l. prepaed hv the Chase :lanhattan Bank, projects
U deficiencv of - 7.0 billion cubic feet per dav of the fuel
by l 1JDS.
.
Faced ll'ith this dilemma, it becomes necessary for
those of vou who are pas turbine users to gi,-e considera-
HILLICtE OF CO. F. OAlLY
|2
Figure 1. U. S. Cas Supply and Demand.
70
lion to the burning of liquid fuels in Your machines.
This pa
p
er 11 ill summarize some recent de,elopments in
General Electric Co. Heavv Dut\ Cas Turbines which
provide them \\ ith the capabilit1

of burning a 11ide va
rietv of liquid fuels. Included among these fuels are
distillates. crudes. blends. and residuals. The abilitv to
hurn these [!quid fuels can be provided along with eist
ing natural gas burning capabilities. so that the gas
turbines are true multiple fuel buring machines.
In manv cases. existing field machines can be up
;raded to achieve these capabilities. For new machines,
the necessarY hardware requirement5 mav he specified
when the pu.rchase documents are prepared. Before re
,iewing specific details of hardware and fuel require
ments necessary for these capabilities. it might be useful
to summarize 5ome of the General Electric Co. heavy duty
gas turbine experience in these fields.
BACKGROC;D OF EXPERIENCE
As of :larch 1973, there were a total of 1 7D1 General
Electric Co. Heavy Duty Gas Turbines installed or on
order. These machines ranged in size from 3,850 H.P.
to 60,000 H.P., and collectively thev have accumulated
some 41 million hours of operation. A total of lOS of
these machines have entered the 100.000 hour club as
shown in Fi!ure 2. The lon!est service on anv one
machine is 1S3.000 hours.
L

The fuel classifications that these machines have
run on is shown in Figure 3. Of the 1-m total number
of machines. -1 9 ran on gas alone. -<. ran on gas or
light distillate. and -05 ran on light distillate alone.
Thus the total number of machines that ran on either
gas or light distillate amounted to 1613, or approximately
01 ; of the machines in service or on order. These fuels
constitute 11hat have been considered to be the optimum
fuels for gas turbines from the overall viewpoints of
availabilitv. cleanliness, cost, and compatibility with the
hot gas path parts of the machine. An additional W
machines ran on true distillate fuels either in the form
Figure 2. The 100,000 Hour Club.
c
-
'
DEVELOPMENTS IX :IlLTIPLE FLEL APPLICA TIOXS FOR GAS TCRBIXES il
PbW Ll\M DIST
WPMMP & L1Lb11
Ll\MLb
MLPU Lb (TRUE)
LLWLb
LMLL LL
MLlLPL LL
LL1L L XL
TRUE DIST
HEAVY OIL
TOTAL,MACHINES 1781
Figure 3. .1/achines Shipped and On OrdCr, .llarch 1973.
of naptha or heavy distillates. These fuels are also clean
and entireh compatible wit the hot gas path parts.
It should be noted that in the tabluation sho1111. V-
machines had the capacitY of running on either li(uid
fuel or natural gas. That is- they were dual fuel ma
chines and could be readilv transferred from one fuel
:ystem to another. This apability 11as primarily the
outgrowth of work don
e
for the Electric Ctility industry
\\ here operating practices dictated the requirement for
beinz able to transfer from one fuel to another so as to
be r' eoponsive to fuel availabilities and seasonal costs.
The hardware and options available for such dual fuel
sntems 11 ill be discussed further on in this paper.
The balance of US machines included in the tabu
lation of Figure 3, have run or will run on Blends, Crudes,
or residuals. It is the stated goal and purpose of the
General Electric Co. to facilitate an expansion in the con
sumption and use of such fuels in its heavy duty gas
turbines in the future. This expansion will be, and is
being accomplished as t
e
result of significant techno
l ogical improvements in the overall state of the art of the
requirements for burning such fuels. These technological
improvements include a new universal fuel system for
handling a wide range of liquid fuels, improved com
bustion systems for burning them, an improved fuel
treatment system for removing or inhibiting corrosive
elements in such fuels, refined read-out equipment for
monitoring the condition of the treated fuels, and finally
improved cleaning systems for removi ng ash build-up
and deposits from the hot gas path parts that can occur
when such fuels are burned.
Although much of the incentive for these undertak
ings originally resulte from te General Electric Co. com
mitment to enter the marine industry where the burning
of residual oil is an absolute requirement, the changing
FUEL 1!
EXHAUST
Figure 4. Functional Control Diagram-Single Shaft
Turbine.
O
TNO5PHtHt
q
1
i MANUAL!
1t5T
VENT
Figure .J. Gus Fuel System.
world fuel situation as it affects all industries has been
great spur to our efforts. Todav, as I address this
Second Annual Texas A&M Cniversity TurbomULhinery
Symposium, I am pleased to be able to report that the
General Electric Co. has gas turbines currently in opera
tion that are burning all of these fuels and using all of
our latest technical innovations as well. These innova
tions will be discussed and expanded upon in this paper.
DUAL FUEL CAPABILITY AND THE
UNIVERSAL FUEL SYSTEM
Figure 4 shows a functional control diagram for
singl
e
shaft gas turbine. The various operating para
meters such as exhaust temperature, speed, load set point,
and appropriate process variable are fed into the SPEED
TRONIC control system and causU an output variable
control signal VCE. On gas turbines that operate solely
on gas, the VCE signal operates directly on the gas con
trol valve servo. On gas turbines utilizing only liquid
fuel, the VCE signal goes directly to the fuel pump servo
valve. On gas turbines designed to start and operate
on either liquid fuel or gas fuel, the fuel system receives
the signal from a VCE splitter.
Figure 5 shows the fuel handling portion of a typical
gas fuel system. Fuel gas is delivered throu
g
h the
strainer to the combined speed ratio/stop valv
e
and gas
control Yalve, from where it is then delivered to the gas
ring manifold. From the gas ring manifold, the gas
fuel is fed to the individual fuel nozzles and combustion
cans through short pieces of piping called "pig-tails."
Figure 6. Ga C antral Valve Plug.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND TGRBOMACHINERY SYiPOSIUl
(FREE-WHEELING)
FLOW DIVIDER
Figure / Flow Divider Fuel System
The act ual meteri ng of similar amount s of fuel to each
combust i on can i s achieved by cl ose tolerance control of
t he pressure drop characteris tics of each fuel nozzl e. The
actual fl ow of gas through the gas control valve is con
trolled by the gas cont rol plug. A photograph of a typ
ical plug i s shown in Figure 6. This pl ug mus t be accu
rat ely sized and cont oured so as to reflect the heating
prop
-
erties of the gas being burned.
Fi gure I shows the free wheeling flow di vider sys
tem used wi th l i ght disti llate fuel. The main components
are the primary supply filter, st op valve, shaft driven
yari abl e di splacement fuel pump, secondary filter, and
free "heeling fl ow di vi der together with the combust i on
sys tem of fuel nozzles and combustion chambers. The
control signal VCE acts on the variable di splacem

nt
pump t o control t he f l ow of fuel to t he combustiOn
chambers.
Metering of t he fl ow vol umes to each combust i on
can is achieved by means of the flow divider. This device
consists of a connected series of small positive displace
ment gear pumps. Fuel enters the flow di vider t hrough
d si ngl e inl et and is fed to each element by an internal
mani fold. The gear elements divide the fuel delivered
from the main fuel pump. They are matched at assembly
t o assure equal flow to each combustion chamber wi thin
very cl ose l imi ts. The free wheeling flow di vider system
i s i n operati on i n many hundreds of machines i n the
field that burn number 2 distillates. I t has recently been
superceded by the universal fuel system which has the
capaci t y for handling a wide range of liquid fuels, i nclud
ing residuals, crudes, and naptha.
Figur e 3 shows the main components of t he new
uni versal liquid fuel system. This system is designed t o
0UFrLT
WW fUL
Figure 8. Universal Fuel Systemo
lZlS6
LV 1Y\Lh
. vL
LL
NLL
epp-3ozi48
fc-o1iisM8
Figure 9. Dual Fuel-Gas/Distillate Fuel Oil.
handl e al l liquid fuels from naptha on the l i ght end,
t hrough the entire dis til lat e range, t o residual and crudes
on the heavy end.
The major components are: A fixed displacement
main fuel pump, a free wheeling fl ow divider equipped
wi th speed sensors, an el ectrohydraul ically controlled by
pass valve, a fuel st op valve, fuel fi l t ers, nozzles, and
combust ors. Many of these component s have been used
on earlier fuel systems, and over 5500 hours of test
data experience has been accumulat ed on the universal
fuel system running on resi dual oi l .
The si gnificant feat ure of t he universal fuel syst em
i s that i t empl oys a fixed displacement pump. Flow
t hrough the fuel dividers into the nozzl es is controlled
by a by-pass valve and recirculat i on l oop. The flow
divider in the universal system i ncorporates a toothed
wheel and magnetic pick-up at each end to provide a
flow di vider speed si gnal, which is actually the same
as a fuel fl ow feedback si gnal. This si gnal is then com
pared to the VCE input signal and correct i ons are auto
mati cally made as necessary.
The simplicity of the universal system and i ts use
of U fixed displ acement pump and by-pass l oop as con
t rasted to a variable di splacement pump give it substant ial
benefi ts, particularly when pumping the heavier fuels.
Figure 9 shows a typical dual fuel gas/distillate
system for automatic changeover under load. This con
si sts of a complete di stillat e fuel system, a complete gas
fuel system, and a VCE spl i tter. The Speedtronic control
incorporates the dual fuel cont rol system. To effect a
t ransfer from one fuel to another, i t is necessary to split
the VE signal into two parts, LCE and GCE, the sum
of which act similar t o the individual fuel system during
the t ransfer.
A typical dual fuel transfer characteristic is illus
trated in Figure 10. Here the t ransfer considered is
from gas t o liquid. In such a t ransfer, after starting,
there is an ini tial delay period of 30 seconds during
which time the LCE signal rises to an appropriate level
to allow filling of the liquid fuel lines. At the end of
t hi s 30 seconds, t he transfer begins and within an addi
tional 30 seconds it is completed.
On transfer in the opposite di rection from oil to gas,
there is no need to delay to fill lines. The fuel t ransfer
is initiated immediately after the signal is r eceived. The
fuel t ransfer may be stopped at any poi nt, in other words,
at any mixture. In general, however, some lower limi t
DEYELOP:ETS I: :ICLTIPLE FUL .-l'PLIC'.TIO:S fOR G.-S lTEDIES
-..
IJ
20
16
Signal 12
Level
8
4
Gs to Liquid
VCE
GE
LCE
oL==. -----
0
Start
30 60
Finish
Time- Sec
Figure 10. Dual Fuel Transfer Characteristics.
of flow is eneralh recommended in order to ensure
proper distribution .oi gas fuels and proper atomization
for some liquid fuel 5Ystems employing pressure atomi
zation s\stems.
The General Electric Co. Cas Turbine Products
Division has pioneered in the design of dual fuel svstems
for gas turbines. .\t the present ti'e. there are mchines
in operation in the field which have dual gas, dual liquid,
gas-liquid, gas-dual liquid, and dual gas-liquid fuel sys
tems. In addition to the automatic transfer under load
system that has been described above. two other systems
are available. The first is called a "long time shutdown
changeover" and requires fuel nozzle hangeout. The
5econd is called a "short time shutdown changeover and
requires the operation of several selector vaes and the
insertion or removal of a drive spline for the liquid fuel
system.
Multiple fuel systems are available for the burning
of natural gas, distillate, and crude, or natural gas, dis
tillate and residuals on many of the machines in our
current product line. If desired, the natural gas burning
portion may be dispensed with. In generaL gas turbines
that burn the heavier crudes and residuals will alwavs
require H light dist_llate fuel system for starting up ad
shutting down. \'ithout such a light distillate system,
there is the possibility of te heavy fuel coagulating
the fuel lines and nozzles during periods of shutdown.
COMBUSTION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENTS
Figure 11 shows a cross-sectional view of a typical
:IS 5002 gas turbine. One of the 12 circumferentially
spaced combustion chambers has been circled to focus
Figure 11. .l!S-5002 Combustion System.
---c!uir
i -L;\
cCvPPF5B
Di5HAHG AiR
Figure L!. Combustion Sytem in the HCaUy-DUty Gas
Turbine.
attention on it. :n indication of the various zones of
the combustion sYstem in a tYpical hean dutv ras turbine
is shown in Figure 12. Figure 13 is pho.toraph of a
combustion liner for a low smoke combustion svstem.
The vortex generator is clearly shown in the cap end
of the liner. The development of this device has been a
significant step forward in the state of the art for gas
turbine combustion systems for liquid fuel machines
particularly the heavier crudes and residuals.
The function of the vortex generator is to introduce
air into the priman combustion zone in a vortex fashion
which provides swirl to the fuel and air. This generates
a low pressure core which recirculates burninc fuel and
ign.ites the fresh fuel introduced by the fuel nozle. It is
because of this vigorous stirring and recirculation that
the primary zone can be made lean enough to inhibit the
formation of soot particles which would result in smoke
if they were to escape the highly reactive primary zone
into the relatively cool and unreactive secondary zone.
The head end of the combustion liner contains the
primary combustion holes which introduce additional air
into the core of the vortex formed by the vortex genera
tor. These jets augment the turbulence and provide maxi
mum stability and optimum reaction rates. Since the
flame temperature and emissivity are maximum in the
primary zone, the heat radiated to the liner wall is also
maximum. As a result, the cooling louvers are densely
spaced in the primary zone in order to provide adequate
cooling. The louver spacing becomes much less dense
in the secondary zone.
Figure 13. Combustion Liner.
PROCEEDI.Gs OF THE SECO?D TCRBO:L-CHLERY SY:IPOSIDI
MOUNTING FLANGE
AIR
OIL
Figure 14. Laze-Pressure Air Atomizer.
figure U shows a low pressure air atomizin; nozzle
that has a single low pressure oil spin chamber and is
used for cistillate and certain light crudes. The spin
chamber for air is located around the outside of the oil
nozzle and produces a high \elocity air jet concentric
with the fuel stream. The hi!h relative velocitv differ
ence between the air and oil produces a shearin'g action
which breaks the fuel up into small drop!ets which burn
rapidlY. The atomizing air is taken from the main
Iompressor discharge and boosted to 1.5 times the com
bustion chamber pressure by compressor driven from
the accessory gear. The compressor for an MS 5002
mes approximately 125 H.P. at base load. High vis
cositY residual oii reqUires a pressure ratio of approxi
mateiy 2/l. The nozzle for re3idual fuel is somewhat
different and provides a primary and secondary air swirl
pattern.
Much of the diversity of the heavy duty gas turbine
is achieved as a result of the !enerous size of the com
bu-stion sYstem which permits d significant degree of
control to be achieved over the combustion process. The
flame emissivity in a combustion chamber varies greatly
accord in! to the fuel burned: from .1 to .2 for natural
gas, to .' to .5 for distillate fuels, and up to . or . 9
for residuals. Iecause of this, the liner temperature for
a residual fuel machine tends to be hotter than for a
natural gas machine, nevertheless both fuels can be run
in the same liner by the provision of adequate cooling
holes. The generous size of the combustion system
permits a large degree of temperature uniformity to Le
achieved at the first stage nozzle. A typical tempera
ture profile is shown in Figure 15.
POLLUTANTS
Anv discussion of multiple fuel burning capabiliti es
for ias turbines should make note of pollution effects.
There are five main pollutants that may be considered in
gas turbine performance. They are: 1-0xides of sulfur,
-VERAGE TEMPERATURE 899 C
- 946 - 899 0 47 .
07
6
`` m -
0
-
,\
T
Vc TEMPERATURE MINUS
-VERAGE TEMPERATURE
DIVIDED BY AVERAGE TEMP
ERATURE MINUS COMBUSTION
INLET AIR TEMPERATURE
`
_ 927 - 899 = o
= U.44
- 899 - 27 4
6
25
_ = SAME AS N
T
EXCEPT PEAK
RADIAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
USED INSTEAD OF PEAK TEMP
ERATURE
Fi
g
ure 1.. Typical Temperature Profile.
2-Cnburned hydrocarbons and CO, 3-0xides of Nitro
gen and particulates from, --Smoke, and 5-ash of the
fuel.
The emission rate of sulfur pollutants is strictly pro
portional to the sulfur content of the fuel and the rat
e
at which fuel is burned. figure 16 is a nomograph
which permits determination of this rate.
Unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide pre
sent \erv li ttle problem. Thev only occur briefly during
rhe start-up phase, and after approximately one-third load
has been put on the machine the exhaust levels of te
substances become almost negligible.
Oxides of nitrogen are produced in all air-fuel com
bustion engines. They are produced by two general
means. The mechanisms known to form NO are desig
nated as: l. hot air, and 2. organic
Hot air NO is produced in the hottest region of the
combustion system. four factors are important in its
rate of production: 1-flame temperature, 2-residence
time of the gas at high temperature, 3-excess oxygen in
the reaction zone, and +-degree of mixing of fuel and
au.
Organic NO is formed from the chemically bound
nitrogen ( FBN I in the fuel molecule. Its formation Lan
proceed at much lower temperatures than can hot air
NO. Organic NO is strictly fuel dependent. In general,
organic NO would only tend to become a problem with
some residuals. distillates, or crudes having high FBN
contents.
4 30 20
S03 EMISION
RATE-LB/HR
4
8 12
TOTAL FUEL FLOW
RATE-LBSEC
H0
4
.2H20 EMISION
----- 20
RATE-LB/HR
Figure 16. Emission Rates-Oxides of Sulfur and Sul
furic Acid.
' I _ 1
DE\.ELOP:IEXTS I: :ICLTIPLE FCEL A!PLTC\TIO:S FOR GAS TIRB!XES
200c
lOOc
60
=
40
30
20r
NO.2 DIST ORIG
GAS ORIG
1200 1600
FIRING TEMP- F
GAS
2000
Figure 11. 1/5 SOOIP Oxides oj Nitrogen E111issions.
The General Electric Co. Gas Turbine Products
Division has made substantial progress in reducin! oxides
of nitro!en emissions. A ''drv"" 00x svtem has recentlv
been pr
'
duced and applied
i
o all i\IS .'001 P machin
e
s
11 hich provides a 30;; reduction in NOx iormation over
t:rlier svstems as sho1m in Fi!ure 1-. This reduction
has been
.
achie1ed by injecting
;
ore air. into the combus
t ion zone, and providing other changes aimed at reducing
the peak combustion temperatures. Efforts to further
reduce the rate of NOx formation by additional improve
ment to the drv svstem are currently underwav. At the
same time, 11 a
t
er
.
injection systems
h
ave been
.
developed
which permit water to be injected into the combustion
chamber to further reduce peak temperatures. Seventeen
:IS 5001 gas turbines have been made to comply with
San Diego APCD rule 68 by the use of water injection
applied across the whole load range. Similar reductions
may also be achieved using steam injection.
Smoke performance for gas turbines when burning
liquid fuels with air atomization systems plus the vortex
generator are generally excellent. Figure 13 provides
plot of the smoke performance of an :IS 5001 burning
number 2 distillate. This performance is measured in
terms of Von Brand Number versus load. It is seen that
the smoke is not vsible throughout the load range.
Ash deri1ed emission components are shown in
Fi!ure 19. This is for the case of a residual fuel havin!
high vanadium content, and which has had the corrosiv
effect of vanadium inhibited by the addition of magne
sium sulfate in a ratio of i\lg/V of 3/l. Light distillate
w

0
:
V
C

o
m

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 \ 18 20 22 24 26
OUTPUT LOAD-MW
Figure 18. Smoke Performance for MS 5001 Burning
. Vumber 2 Oil.
0.0 ------000
PARTICULATE
0.35
.lATTER ASH
VANADIM AND 0.30
IHIBITOR CONTENT
I
OF FUEL-
0.251
E/10
6
BTU IPUT
_20
0.15
0.10
0.05
900
100 200 300 400 500
VAADIM CONTENT OF FEL-PPM
Fi,ure 11. !'articulate .\faller fru/11 Ash Cuntenl oj Fuel.
oils ha1in! little 1.adium or ash 11ould not have this
omponen
t
.
of particulate matter. The general subject of
corrosion inhibition "ill be expanded upon further under
fuel treatment.
LIQUD FCEL SPECIFICATION
The General Electric Co. Gas Turbine Liquid Fuel
Specification GEl -10-IE covers the o1erall require
ments for liquid fuels for G.E. heavv duty gas turbines.
Included therein are pcific requirements for blends,
crudes. and residuals. This spcification was published
in early 1973, and that portion of the specification deal
ing with blends, crudes, and residuals reflects the expe
rience gained in running a total of -6 units on blends
and crudes, and 85 units on residuals. This experience
is summarized in Tables l and 2. The fuel specification
also reflects the fact that firing temperatures have in
creased substantially in recent years, and it is specifi
cally relevant to gas turbines that operate at firing tem
peratures of 1600 degree fahrenheit and above.
TYPICAL PROPERTIES AND COMPOSITION
An overall comparison of typical physical properties
and composition of gas turbine liquid fuels is contained
in Table 3. A comparison of the heavy fuels to the true
distillates reveals se1eral major areas of differences, both
in physical properties and chemical properties.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
In generaL it is seen that the heavier fuels as con
trasted to the true distillates tend to have high specific
gravities, are more Yiscous, and have higher pour points.
It is also seen that the low ash crudes and blends can
have extremely low flash points. All of these differences
from true distillates impose extra handling requirements
for the heavier fuels.
The high specific gravity can tend to -make the re
moval of sodium difficult in fuel treatment systems; te
high viscosity requires that the fuel be heated to achieve
a 20 centistoke viscositv which is required at the fuel
nozzle; the existence of
.
the high pour points make start
up and shutdown distillate systems a requirement to avoid
plugging of the fuel lines and nozzles when the machine
is not running, and finally the low flash points of the
crudes may impose the requirement for explosion proof
ina. Nevertheless. all of these requirements can be read
ilv
"
achieved, and they do not present particularly difficult
o
b
stacles .
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND TCRBOJIACHI)ERY SYMPOSI"J1
T.-BLE 1. BLENDS AXD CRUDE EXPERIE:CE (MARCH 1973)
Customer
Blends
Bahamas Electric
Shell Curacao
Lilco
Indonesia
Crude Oils
Tapline.i Aramco
So peg
Caltex
Florida Power Corp
Chiyoda
TOTAL
Gen Petroleum Co. Syria
Jersey Central
Philadelphia Electric
Portland G.E.
TOTAL
:lodel
Series
MS 5001
MS 5001
MS 5001
llS 5001
MS 3002
MS 3002
MS 5001
MS 7001
MS 5001
MS 5001
MS 7001
MS 7001
MS 7001
No. Units
3
1
8
2
14 UNITS
9
2
5
4
3
5
4
8
6
46 UNITS
Max "nit
14.000
14,000
500
75,000
60,000
18,000
2,000
Heavy Oil Hours
1973 INST
Total
40,000
14,000
3,000
57,000 HOURS
1973 INST
1973 INST
1973 INST
1974 INST
1974 INST
600,000
120,000
32,000
5,000
757,000 HOURS
TABLE 2. RESIDUAL OIL BURNING EXPERIENCE (MARCH 1973)
Customer
Central Vermont P.S.
Bangor Hydroelectric
Union Pacific
*Gts John Sergeant
Brazil
British Columbia Power
Ferrara
Green Mountain Power Corp
General Electric, Lynn
*Broken Hills Proprietary Ltd
Pee-Syria
China
City of Taunton
*Reksten
*Marine
TOTAL
Model
Series
MS 3002
MS 5001
MS 3002
MS 3002
MS 5001
MS 3002
MS 3001
MS 7001
MS 5001
MS 5001
MS 5001
MS 5002
MS 5001
MS 5001
MS .5001
MS 5002
No. Units
j
3
1
2
j 27
31
1
2
4
2
1
1
2
3
3
1
1
85 UNITS
Residual Oil Hours
Max Unit Totl
15,000 40,000
4,250 8,500
35,000 1,900,000
7,700 7,700
10,000
3,500 8,000
28,000 55,000
600 600
400 400
1973 INST
1973 INST
1973 INST
1973 INST
1974 INST
2.03 MILLION HRS
TABLE 3. GAS TURBINE LIQUID FUELS-TYPICAL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND COMPOSITION
Fuel Type
Specific Gravity, 100F
Viscosity, eSt, 100F
Flash Point, F
Pour Point, F
Gross Heating Value, BTU/Lb
Filterable Dirt, ' max.
Carbon Residue (10% Bottoms), %
Carbon Residue (100% Sample), '
Sulfur, '
Nitrogen, %
Hydrogen, o
{
Ash, (As Delivered Fuel), ppm
Ash, (Inhibited Fuel), ppm
Trace Metal Contaminants, Untreated
Sodium plus Potassium, ppm
Vanadium, ppm
Lead, ppm
Calcium, ppm
True Distillates
No. 2
Kerosene Distillate
.78/.83 .82/.86
1.4/2.2 2.4/4.0
140/160 150/200
-50 -10/+20
19400/19700 19200/19500
.002 .005
.01/.1 .1/.3
NA NA
.01/.1 .1/.5
.002/.01 .005/.06
12.8/14.5 12.2/13.2
1/3 2/20
NA NA
0/.5 0/1
.1 max .1 max
0/.5 0/1
0/1 0/2
Heavy Fuels
Residual
Low Ash Fuels and
Crdes and High Ash
Blends Crudes
.80/.92 .92/1.05
2/50 100/1800
50/200 195/265
+25/+110 +40/+70
19000/19500 18300/18800
.05 .2
NA NA
.3/3.0 2.0/10
.2/1.0 .5/2.7
.06/.20 .05/0.5
12.0/13.2 10/12.5
25/200 100/1000
25/250 10017000
1/100 1/100
0/5 5/400
0/1 0/25
0/10 0/50

--
c
DE\"ELOPME:TS I) :IULTIPLE FLEL .-PPLIC.HIO:S FOR G.S TCRBINES
''
CHL\IIC\L PROPERTIES
The ui iur and nitroen content of the bean fueb
in !(ntrUl are hieher thn ior the true distil lates. .-s
11oted e:trlier in this Ici ier. these hiher concentrations
,, i[l be eflected in the emissions Iroduced b1 the gas
turbine. The hvdroeen content oi the heavv fuels is
,li!hth less than for
'
the distillate. The lower alue does
hae 1: el Cva!ce to the smoke Iroducin! tendenc1 of the
fuel. but its effect is counteracted b1 the use of the hi!h
pressure air atomization svstem.
The reallv si!nificant differences between the fuels
invohe the tr
a
ce eta! contaminants thev contain. These
are: ntnadium. sodium. potassium. led. and c:lcium.
These contaminants must be removed or inhibited in
order to permit satisfactory burning in the gas turbine.
These treatment and inhibition svstems \\ ill be expanded
upon further. First, however, the effects of these fuel
contaminants will be reviewed.
EFFECTS OF FUEL CONTA\IIX\'TS
Vanadium, sodium. potassim, and lead are corrosive
to turbine buckets at elevated temperatures when present
in amounts above specification limits. All of these ma
terials. plus calcium, can also form hard deposits which
are difficult to remove. These deposits can cause plug
gmg and reduced output.
Although these fi1e elements are of importance, the
most critical items are the sodium content and the vana
dium content. C nless the fuel is treated properly to
remove the sodium or inhibit the vanadium, extremely
corrosive compounds such as sodium sulfate, sodium
vanadate, and Yanadium pentoxides mav be formed dur
ing the combustion process. These copounds are semi
molten and extremely corrosive at temperatures as low
as l lSO degrees fahrenheit. Their corrosive attack be
comes more severe at the higher firing temperatures
associated with present-day gas turbines.
Removal of sodium and/ or potassium is accom
plished bv water \\ ashing the fuel to dissolve the salts
which contain these elements. The water containin2
these dissolved salts is then removed from the oil bv eithe
centrifuging or electrostatic precipitation. A sid
.
e bene
fit of this water washing process is the removal of sub
stantial amounts of dirt and sludge from the fuel.
Vanadium is not present in liquid fuels in water
soluble form. As a result, it is not economical to remove
it. Instead. its effects are inhibited by the addition of
magnesium to the fuel in the ratio f three parts bv
weight to each part of vanadium. At this level of inhi
bition, the vanadium pentoxide that is formed during
combustion reacts to form ma!nesium orthovanedate.
This has a melting point sufficiently high to allow its
passage through the turbine without deposition and the
resultant corrosion.
FUEL TREATMENT SYSTEMS DESCRIPTION
Fuel treatment systems are generally arranged ac
cording to the block diagram shown in Figure 20. Raw
fuel is drawn from storage, washed, inhibited, and held
in supplv tanks until used.
Fuel washing may be accomplished by either centri
fuging systems or electrostatic precipitation systems.
.ufOMAHD |
:ONTFOL
'
ANEL
=uEL
.NALYZER |
Figure 10. Heauy Fuel Processing :
_
.-stem Components.
In general. the centrifuge sstems are recommended at
this point in time for the heavier residual fuels. They
can also be Upplied to the higher crudes and blends. The
electrostatic precipitators are applicable to most crudes
a

d blends. and
_
thev h
_
ave wealth of background expe
nence
.
from then Uz the petroleum industry. They
are bemg developed for heaVIer residuals.
CENTRIFCGAL WASHING SYSTDI DESCRIPTION
A centrifugal \\ ashing system schematic is shown in
Figure 21. In follo\ring the flow path, it can be seen
that the fuel is pumped from raw storaoe throuoh a
heater where it is heated to about 200 de.rees F.
0
The
heating significantlv reduces the oil viscesiv. A demul
sifying agent at the rate of about .025% of
-
oil flow, and
water at the rate of 5 to 7'{ of oil flow are then intro
duced into the flow stream at the extractor where tor
ough mixing occurs. Here the salts are dissolved and
extracted into the water. and this water and oil mixture
are then sent to the centrifuge for separation. When
very heavy fuels are employed, two stages of centrifuging
are used.
After leaving the
through the inhibition
the main supply tanks.
centrifuge, the flow I
system and collected
passed
one of
Were U two stage system is used on the heavier
fuels, the stages are connected in series. The first staoe
takes out the bulk of the salt, and the second stare is
utilized solely for removing the last few ppm of salt.
"
On
h
_
eavy fuels. it is the goal to reduce the sodium plus potas
siUm levels to below 2 ppm.
In some cases, where the specific gravity of the fuel
approaches l, it may be necessary to blend the fuel with
distillate in order to increase the difference in density
between the water and oil.
ELECTROSTATIC WASHING
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
The electrostatic washing system schematic is shown
in Figure 22. This operates in a fashion similar to the
centrifugal system in that salt is first extracted into the
water, and then the water is separated from the fuel.
Electrostatic separators utilize an electric field to
coalesce droplets of water for a 100 to l increase in
diameter. This in turn increases settling rates by 10,000
to l according to Stokes law
,
which states that settling
rate goes as the square of the diameter. A model of an
AC unit is shown in Figure 23.
RAW FUEL
STORAGE
RAW FUEL
STORAGE
PROCEEDIXGS OF THE :ECOJ'W TlRBO:L-CHIXERY SY:IPOSIUlI

I
DEMULSI FlEA
OIL
EXTRACTOR
F1
1ST STAGE
INHIBITOR
TANK

\
i
SLUDGE
!
WATER
INHIBITOR
MIXER
WASH
WATER
+
SUPPLY
TRANSFER
VALVES
01 L FREE \A TEA
DEMULSIFIER
OIL
Figure 21. Heavy Fuel Treatment System-entrifugal.
RECYCLE WASH WATER
WASH
WATER
SUPPLY
TRANSFER
VALVES
OIL FREE WATER
Figure 22. Heavy Fuel Treatment System-Electrosttic.
GAS TURBINE
r..
- )
DE\"ELOPIENTS I ILLTIPLE FLEL .-\PPLI C.HI OS FOR GAS TCRBI:ES
Figure 23. Jfodel Electrostatic System.
Electrost at i c preci pi t at ors rely on i ncreasi ng part i cl e
di ameters i n a hi gh ,- ol t age gradient fi el d and a one I g I
gravi tv field. Th cent rifug on the other hand empl oy

es
U hi gh gravi ty field al one of many t housands of g' s to
accomplish the separat i on.
l .HI II TI ON SYSTDI S
Aft er havi ng been wat er washed usi ng ei t her the
centri fuge sys tem or the electrost at i c preci pitator syst em,
the fuel goes to t he i nhi bi ti on system 11 here the magne
si um addi tive i s i nt roduced and bl ended i nt o the fuel.
The inhibition system i s si mply U metering and blending
arrangement .
The choi ce of the magnesium t o be used i s depen
dent upon the vanadi um c ontent of the fuel. For l ow
vanadi um, l i ght l i qui d fuels an oi l soluble compound
such as magnesi um sul fonat e i s inj ected i nt o t he fuel i n
an amount great enough t o cover t he maximum amount
of vanadi um present. Pr ocess cont rol i s used for thi s
1v i th no at t empt of measuri ng t he vanadi um and magne
si um spectrographi callY. :[ at eri al costs of t he oi l sol uble
materi al become prohi bi t i ve above about 500 ppm va
nadi um.
For hi gher vanadi um fuel s a less expensive i nhi bit or,
magnesium sul fat e, i s used. I t i s emulsified pri or t o
inj ecti on.
Si nce t he hi gh vanadi um fuels are generally
cheaper, a greater capi t al investment for i nhi bi t i on equi p
ment i s j us tifi able. One contri but or t o this cost i s t he
spect rographi c t race met al anal yzer equi pment requi red
to assure t hat the i nhi bi t i on i s properly done.
FUEL ANALYSIS
To do a proper j ob of fuel treatment , i t i s i mportant
to know precisely how much of the trace metals are
present, S wel l as the actual amount of inhibitors used.
For highly cont aminated fuels, t hi s can be accom
pli shed by a direct reading atomic emission spectrophoto
meter. An illust rat ion of this instrument is shown in
Fi gure 24.
To operat e this device, a fuel s ample is put into the
exci tation chamber. A button is pushed by the operator,
and one minute l ater an analysis of the trace element
i s aut omatically pri nt ed out on a typewri t er. Use of t his
i nst rument facili t ates accurat e vanadi um i nhi bi t i on, and
pro1 i des i nsurance a!ai mt unus ual l v l arge l evel s of trace
el ement ;.
.
For l i ght fuel s that are l o11 in vanadi um. a si mple
manual fl ame phot omet er i s used for det ermi nat i on of
s odi um l evel . An on-l ine sodium moni tor i s al so avail
Jbl e 11 hi ch moni tors sodi um i n t he fuel down to 0. 1 ppm.
COiI PRESSOR A:D Tl- RBI .E '" ASHING
.\0 CLEANING SYSTDI S l CATW ACS )
When a gas t urbi ne is run on t he heavi er r esi dual
fuel s, especi al l y t hose wi th hi gh vanadi um content, de
posi ts form 1 vhi ch wi ll gradual l v reduce performance and
requi re turbi ne cl eani ng. In some i ndustri al or sea- ai r
envi r onment s, i t i s also

necessary t o c lean t he compres
sor peri odi cal ly. G. E. heavy duty gas t urbi nes can be
s uppl i ed wi t h a compl etelv aut omat i c manual l v i ni t iat ed
CAT\'AC system for accompl ishi ng thi s task. Fi gure 25
shows a schematic of such a svs tem. and Fi gure 26 shows
phot ogr aph of an act ual i nstal l ati on.

TURBI NE AD COMPRESSOR CLEANING
\en the operat or det ermi nes that t urbi ne perform
ance has deteri orated 5 to 1 0 percent, he i ni t i at es a
cl eani ng cycle on t he turbine cont rol panel . A timed
sequence then shoots about 20 pounds of nuthells i nt o
each c ombust i on chamber. one at a t i me. Chambers are
al ternat el y chosen to mai nt ai n bal ance during cl eaning.
The compressor cleani ng depends on t he environ
ment and should not be required as often as turbine
cl eani ng. All four compressor cleaning nozzles are ini
tiated si mul taneousl y when the compressor cleaning fea
t ure i s selected.
TURBINE AND COMPRESSOR WASHING
At a conveni ent poi nt in time, the heavy duty gas
turbi ne may be shut down for water washing wi th or
wi thout other pl anned maintenance. Wat er washi ng re
st ores performance cl ose to ori gi nal performance of a
cl ean machi ne.
After the turbi ne has been shut down l ong enough
t o c ool . wheelspace temperat ure to about 200 degree F,
Figure 24. Emission Spectrophotometer.
so PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND T'RBOMACHINERY SY:IPOSillI
NUT
SHE L L
STORAGE
WATER
SUPPLY
DETERGENT
ATOMI ZI NG AI R
AUTOMATI C
CONTROL PANE L
D
TO I NJECTI ON
NOZZLES
TO I NJECTI O
NOZZLES
SMP
CONDUCTI ON
CELL

Figure 25. CATW ACS-ompressor and Turbine Washing and Cleaning System.
it is water washed by i nitiati ng the cycle on the control
panel . The turbine is automatically brought to crank
i ng speed and \1-arm water i s i nj ected through a nozzle
in each combustion chamber simultaneously. The wash
i ng conti nues until a clean reading is obtained on a con
ductivitv cell which measures the water effluent. At
that t i

e, water is shut off and the turbine goes through

fi ri ng cycle for a dry out period.
The compressor may also be washed in a s imilar
fashi on when it becomes fouled. A detergent feature
is included to help in getting rid of oily deposit s on com
pressor blading.
Figure 26. CATW AC System.
Water washing should be considered the primary
means of turbine and compressor performance recovery.
Nutshell cleaning is the interim measure between water
washings.
RESI DUAL AND CRUDE BURNI NG
CAPABILITIES EXIST
The abili ty to burn crudes and residuals currently
exists on General Electric Co. heavy duty gas turbines.
The technical innovations and continuing research de
scribed above, have made this capability

not only tech

nically feasible but economically desi rable as well. As
part of the continuing program of research in this area,
the General Electric Co. has recently installed, at i t
Figure 27. RWUMP Plant.

DEVELOPMENTS I) ILLTI PLE Fl' EL .-PPLICATI O)S FOR G.-S Tl- RBI )ES 81
INc .t
710( -
bI |
9- \b=
-P5lLTS
-
-
Figure 28. Fuel Treatment Plan t Cos ts.
Lmn Ri ver \"orks plant an MS 5001 gas t urbi ne for
power generat i on equi pped for burni n; resi dual fuel .
Thi s i ns t al l ation has bot h elect ros t at i c and cent ri fu!al
l \ pe fuel washi ng sys tems, fuel moni t ori ng equi pmnt .
and compl et e compressor and turbi ne washi ng and cl ean
i ng sys tems . Fuels cont aini ng up t o 1 50 ppm sodi um
and as much as -WO ppm vanadi um have been s ati s fac
t ori l v t reated at t hi s i ns t al l at i on. A pi ct ure of t he i nst al
l at i on i s shown in Fi gure 27.
ECONOMIC CONSI DERATI ONS
When one recogni zes t he fact t hat i f a gas t urbi ne
burns a fuel t hat costs as much as S l / mil l ion BTU, t he
annual cost of t he fuel wi ll exceed t he fi rst cos t of t he
t urbi ne i f operated conti nuousl y at base l oad 8760 hours
per year, i t becomes apparent that anv pot ent i al for de
cr easi ni fuel costs shoul d be i nvest i at ed. Thi s mos t
defi ni tel y i ncludes crudes and resi dual s

I t should be poi nt ed out t hat the abi l i ty to burn such
crudes or residuals wi l l requi re addi t i onal capi t al i nvest
ment for the fuel t reatment svstems. An i ndi cat i on of
fuel treatmen t pl ant cost s i s provi ded by Fi gure 28. These
cost s i ncl ude the compl ete fuel treat ment, fuel handl i ng,
and fuel analysis systems on an i nstalled basi s. Total
operating cost on a / MBTU basi s for vari ous vanadi um
content s are shown i n Fi gure 29. These costs i ncl ude
chemi cals, electric power, operati ng l abor and mai nt e
nance. s team. water, and fi xed charges at l57 per year
for a 6000 GPH plant.

VANADI UM
CONTENT $ / MITU 2MW O MW
PPM ANNUAL $ ANNUAL $
s 3. 14 $ 75000 ./66 000
100 3. 71 91 000 200 000
200 4. 42 103000 235000
300 5. 06 121000 265000
400 5. 99 144000 315000
9% tOI0 FACTO!
Figure 29. Heavy Fuel Treatment-Total Operating
Cos ts .
CRUD
DISTI LLATE NTURAL
G
.
-:.' . . . . -

Figure 30. Effect of Fuel on Gas Turbine Maintenance
Cos ts.
lIai nt enance cost s for t urbi nes burninr residual or
crudes wi l l i n general be hi gher t han f or trbi nes burn
i ng natural gas. The rel at ive esti mat ed effects of vari ous
fuel s on mai ntenance cos ts as compared to natural "as
are shown i n Fi gure 30. Thi s dat a i s really somewhat
subj ect i ve. because in act ual fact maintenance c ost s can
be s i gni fi cant l v i nfl uenced bv t he care "iven to the t urbi ne
i n i ts dai h- operati on. Fur-ther, some
"
crudes are almos t
as good as s ome di st i l l at es. c O an el ement of j udoment
. . .

Io necessarY e\ auat mg potent i al mai nt enance cost s.

Neverthel ess. t he dat a i s provided to give an i ndi cati on
of general t rends.
Final ly, t urbi nes burni ng resi dual or crude wi l l ex
perience more frequent down t i me i n order t o remove
deposi t s and bui l d- up. I ntervals bet ween shutdowns can
range between 500 t o 1500 hours for a residual burni nr
m

chi ne. Comparat i ve val ues of outage hours and oper

atmg hours between shutdowns for vari ous types of fuels
and di fferent mai nt enance operat i ons are summarized i n
Tabl e -.
I n summary. anv economi cal eval uat i on involvin "
t he possi bl e use . of cheap and l ow "rade fuels must cor
si der t he ext ra cos t fact ors noted abve. A payoff occurs
TABLE 4. EFFECT OF FUEL ON GAS TURBINE
OPERATION & OUTAGE
Interval ( Hrs . )
Maintenance Outage Natural #2 #6
Requirement Hours Gas Dist. Residual
Fuel nozzl e
cl eani ng and Ash
removal by water Not 4, 000 to
wash 8 Required 8, 000 750
Combustion 10, 000 to 2, 000 to
inspection 24 30, 000 14, 000 4,000
Hot gas path 10,000 to 4, 000 to
inspection 80 30, 000 14, 000 8, 000
Major 30, 000 to 20, 000 to 16, 000 to
i nspection 160 40, 000 24, 000 24, 000
BASI S : 1) Al l values typical for a MS 5001 gas turbine
2) No repair time for components-replacement
only
3) Necessary parts and tools at site
4) Ash removal i s not required with operation on
#2 Dist. fuel.
PROCEEDIXGS OF THE SECOND Tl- RB0:1.-CHI)ERY SYl1POSI DI
\\ hen t he pl us fac t or pr ovi ded bv t he dol l ar a1 i n
g
i n
fuel co ts i s !reater t han t he mi nus fact or of i ncreased
costs Itt ul ting from t he acdi t i onal operat i ng. mai nte
nance. and down t i me costs. The si gni fi cant point t o
he not ed i s t hat wi t h t he i mprond technol ogi es currently
avai l abl e for burning these fuels. and wi th the i ncreasi ng
scarci t v and escal at ig cos ts oi premium grade fuels. t h
potent i al for such payoffs is \ en real i ndeed.
OTHER .-CTIVITIES
I n addi t i on to the work dCscri bLd above. desi!ned
t o broaden the capability of G. E. heavy duty gas turbines
t o burn a wi de variety of l iquid fuel s, t he General El ect ri c
Co. has al so engaged i n other acti viti es designed t o burn
l ow BTU gas fuels.
The s tandard gas humi n! combust i on s1 5 t em for
G. E. heavv duty !s t urbi nes ' can handl e ful s havi n!
heat i ng cpaci t i
.
es that range fr om 300 to 1 000 BTU/
st andard cubic feet.
\i th exi st i ng technol ogy , It 1b possi ble t o generate
gases from coal that have heat i ng contents of as l ow as
from 100 to 300 BTU/ standard cubic feet. Si mi l ar heat
i ng val ues may he obtained from t he gasifi cati on of oi l s
and al so from many process gases.
Sui t abl e L mbus ti on s 1 s tem desi gns can he put i n
pl ace f or burni ng such l ow BTU fuel s in many of our
hean cl u tv !as t urbi nes. I n !eneIal. t he combust i on
s\ ste-ms w; l l - equi re oversize co

mbusti on chambers and

iel svs t ems. Act i vi t v i s curren th undenray i n pr ovi d
i ng s uch s1 stems for s ome of our MS 7000 machi nes and
al;o sel ect d i nst all at i on of :IS 5000 machines.
The ad 1 antage of coal or oi l gasi fi cat i on pl ants i s
t hat t hev pr ovi d t he capabi l i t 1 for removi ng sul f ur
from fuel s i n t he form of HcS.
SUiL\IARY
This paper has summarized some of the recent de
- el opments t hat permi t a wi de variety of fuels t o be
burned i n General Electric Co. heavy duty gas t urbi nes.
These act i vi ties have the hi ghest pri ori ties wi thi n t he
General Elect ri c Co. Gas Turbi ne Product s Di visi on. The
remarkabl e adaptabil i ty of heavy duty gas t urbi nes t o
burni ng such fuels makes them singul arl y i mport ant as
power generati on devi ces i n today' s envi ronment of i n
creasi ng fuel shortages. Our efforts to broaden the scope
and adapt abil i ty of gas turbines "- i l l c ontinue. and as
r esul t s are obtained they wi l l be made available t o our
users.