June 15, 2008

Biofuels help green up gas turbines

Angela Neville, JD

It’s a common perception that environmentally friendly practices are inhospitable to company bottom lines. However, the lean, premixed, prevaporized (LPP) combustion of liquid fuels, also known as LPP gas, offers substantial financial savings to power plant operators when a cheaper fuel (relative to natural gas) is used to power gas turbines. In addition, in light of the growing number of carbon emission regulations in many states, this technology has the advantage that it can use renewable fuels, which produce clean power with no net greenhouse gases and earn carbon credits for the generator.

 

The new LPP System provides an alternative fuel source for gas turbines designed to use natural gas. It creates, in effect, a substitute natural gas. The transition between the use of natural gas and LPP gas is virtually transparent to the gas turbine operator. The physical transition process may be made in minutes while the turbine continues to spin. The turbine may be operated on pure natural gas, pure LPP gas, or any blend of LPP gas and natural gas. To date, development of this technology is so recent that it is not yet being used by any power plants.

“The discussions for the first power plant installation are currently ongoing, with interest from various size facilities all around the country,” Dr. Richard Roby, CEO of LPP Combustion, said in an interview with POWER in April. “The design of the first commercial-scale unit is being finalized in order to have it constructed and operating around the end of 2008. This LPP System is designed for a mobile 5.5-MW gas turbine that will allow the technology to be showcased at a variety of locations using a variety of liquid fuels, including biofuels.”

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