Design and Commissioning for the Piloted Syngas Burner

A gas turbine combuster has been designed to burn coal derived syngas with a lower heating value (LHV) of less than 3700 kJ/Nm3 (100 Btu/scf). The new Piloted Syngas Burner (PSB) is designed to operate with a continuous propane pilot during syngas firing to maintain flame stability. The amount of propane supplied to the pilot can be adjusted in response to a burner noise measurement or other indications of flame stability, with the ultimate goal of operating only on syngas. The burner has a very large combustion volume to promote burnout of less than 3700 kJ/Nm3 syngas and incorporates a high-efficiency liner cooling scheme, to allow utilization of high energy fuel for starting and backup. The PSB is being tested at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) in Wilsonville, AL, where it replaces the usual six combustor cans in a Rolls-Royce Allison 501-KM gas turbine. Syngas is supplied to the burner from a Transport Reactor coal gasifier. Initial operation of the PSB on propane startup fuel was successfully conducted during February 2003, and initial operation on syngas was successfully conducted during October 2003. The paper will discuss the results of the initial propane and syngas operation. The PSB is expected to be operated extensively in 2004.Copyright © 2004 by ASME