Thermodynamic Analysis of Hydrogen Performance Enhancement in Gas Turbines

Abstract

Hydrogen has recently become increasingly important, especially in the global drive towards clean, green energies. The electricity sector is its first target, due to its huge carbon footprint. In the literature, several studies have examined the mixing of hydrogen with natural gas in gas turbines, but few have studied the effects of the hydrogen addition on the various turbine parts performance.

In this study, a thermodynamic analysis is conducted leading to maximum global system efficiency improvement (18%) is obtained when the maximum turbine inlet temperature is reached, with 8% of hydrogen mass flow addition, while, only a slight combustion chamber efficiency increase (less than (1%) occurs due to the hydrogen combustion characteristics. Consequently, this lead to a gas turbine efficiency improvement, cost-effectiveness and GHG mitigation.