Catalytic Combustor for Fuel-Flexible Turbine
DE-FC26-03NT41891

In September of 2003, the National Energy Technology Laboratory entered into a cooperative agreement with Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation to develop and demonstrate a cost effective catalytic based turbine combustor. The system will achieve ultra low (less than 2 parts per million) NOx emissions at the exhaust of turbines in combined cycle generating plants without the expensive downstream treatment systems currently employed.

The catalytic combustor developed in this project will be suitable both for retrofit into the installed base of operating turbines as well as deployment in the latest generation of advanced, high firing temperature turbines.  It will also achieve the project’s low emissions objective at the high firing temperatures of advanced turbines. The combustor will support fuel-flexible power generating facilities, with equal performance capabilities when operating on either conventional natural gas fuels or synthetic fuels derived from coal. The project will culminate in a demonstration of the combustor on syngas at the Power Systems Development Facility in Wilsonville, AL.

Siemens Westinghouse has teamed with Solar Turbines, Penn State University, and Southern Company Services in the pursuit of the project objectives.