IMPACT OF BIODIESEL AND SVO FUEL QUALITY AND

GAS TURBINE PERFORMANCE

Indonesia Clean Energy Development (ICED)
USAID-ICED team
22 April 2014

Presentation Outline

Biodiesel advantages and disadvantages

Biodiesel use in Gas Turbines
Impacts of poor fuel quality
Challenges
Conclusions

Biodiesel Advantages
Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters or FAME), has very
similar fuel properties to #2 diesel
Biodiesels heating value is normally about 90% of
diesel
Biodiesel is soluble in diesel at any blending ratio
Compared to diesel, biodiesel has enhanced lubricity
and solvency properties without the sulfur
Tests in gas turbines typically show improved emissions

Biodiesel Disadvantages
Impure Biodiesel can cause severe damage to gas
turbines:
The catalysts used to make biodiesel consist of the same alkali
metals (Na and K) that can cause turbine hot gas path corrosion
Particulates in biodiesel can plug off cooling holes within the
turbine and cause erosion

Due to Biodiesels improved solvency, standard seals

and gaskets may not be appropriate for Biodiesel
The Biodiesel supply chain must be clean or biodiesels
improved solvency can dissolve impurities in the system
Biodiesel does not have the shelf life of the fossil fuels
Cold start with biodiesel can be an issue in cold climates

Biodiesel Use in Gas Turbines

Biodiesel and other liquid biofuels typically have a
higher commercial value when used as a transportation
fuel, and biofuels are therefore, typically not used for
electricity production
The use of biodiesel in gas turbines is limited
HECOs use of biodiesel in gas turbines is probably the
most well known use if biodiesel for power production
Biodiesel can be used in gas turbines without significant
modification*
* Gupta, K.K. Rehman, A. Sarviya, R.M. Bio-fuels for the Gas Turbine: A review.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 14 (2010) 2946-2955.

Brookfield Power Syracuse, New York

Biodiesel fuel demonstration on a GE LM6000PA gas
turbine in 2007 (40 MW)
The biodiesel used was B99.9 meeting ASTM specs
No changes were made to the gas turbine
The gas turbine was started on biodiesel and shut down
on biodiesel without any issues
A boroscope inspection of the hot section of the turbine
showed the internal parts to be cleaner after biodiesel
operation
Exhaust filters were also shown to be significantly
cleaner after biodiesel operation

Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton University tested biodiesel in a GE LM1600
gas turbine (14 MW)
There were some initial issues with starting on biodiesel,
but these were remedied by changing out filters and
making simple adjustments
The unit was not able to reach full power because the
fuel control valve maxed out at about 13.5 MW
a new higher flow volume fuel control valve would be
needed to take the LM1600 to full power
No other operational issues noted

Issues for the use of Biodiesel and SVO in Gas

Turbines
Gas Turbine corrosion and erosion caused by unwanted
chemicals and particulates in the fuel
Improper atomization of the fuel can create hot spots
damaging material in the HGP (hot gas path)
Coking of fuel on gas turbine nozzles
Long term storage of the fuel can lead to corrosion and
aging of the fuel

Straight Vegetable Oils

SVOs require special attention and consideration:

High viscosity and non-Newtonian behavior

High hydrogen content
Higher flash point compared to diesel fuel
Poor resistance to oxidation due to unsaturated and tend to
harden by oxidative polymerization during storage
Difficult cold flow properties, some being solid at ambient
temperature

SVOs have been used in smaller gas turbines

SVOs require preheating to temperature of at least
120C

Fuel Contaminants
Sulfur - high sulfur can lead to HGP corrosion and
increased emissions of SOx
Ash - levels of ash higher than the current fuel
specification could lead to increased HGP corrosion
Acid - need to lower biodiesel specification for acid
number to prevent corrosion
Trace metals - need to meet specifications for gas
turbines: 0.5 ppm for vanadium (V), sodium plus
potassium (Na + K), calcium (Ca), and lead (Pb)

The Importance of Fuel Quality

Damaged blade from a
low-firing temperature
gas turbine
The failure occurred
just after 1000 hours
operation on distillate
fuel containing 2 ppm
sodium from sea water
contamination
6 weeks of operation

Challenges
Biodiesel specifications for metals (NA, K, Ca, Mg) must
be lower than Biodiesel for transportation fuel
For transportation fuels 5 ppm max
For gas turbines 0.5 ppm max

LHV of biodiesel is about 90% of diesel: higher mass

flow of fuel is needed for the same energy output from
the gas turbine
Biodiesel storage:
Avoid condensation of water in the biodiesel storage tank, water
will increase corrosion
Avoid storing biodiesel more than one year

Conclusions
Use of biodiesel (up to B100) in gas turbines is
commercial technology and technically feasible
Issues that need to be addressed:

Develop Biodiesel specification for use in gas turbines

Need to develop a quality control program
Lower LHV of biodiesel may require higher fuel flow rates
Address coking and viscosity issues

There is very little data for the use of CPO or PPO in

gas turbines
The use of CPO or PPO in gas turbines is unproven in
the United States

References
Liquid Bio Fuels for Gas Turbines, Anders Kallenberg,
Lund University, February 3, 2013