Abstract
The increasing global demand for energy and the need to reduce polluting emissions necessitate the use of alternative fuels, especially in the hard-to-abate sectors, that are more critical from an environmental standpoint. Ammonia is considered as a promising carrier of green hydrogen and as a renewable carbon-free fuel, therefore, it is anticipated to play a fundamental role in the decarbonization of the energy supply chain. In this study, a simulation algorithm has been used to evaluate the performance of a 3.2 kWe Micro Gas Turbine (MGT) fed by ammonia. The algorithm comprises a set of equations describing the behavior of the MGT’s components, and the consumption of the auxiliary devices. To examine the combustion kinetics and evaluate the MGT emissions with ammonia feed, a further algorithm utilizing Cantera library has been developed. This model is a one-dimensional tool that allows to assess the mixing flows in the combustion chamber, the temperature trends, and the formation of the combustion products. Results indicate that, if a suitable fuel injection and an air supply strategies are used, the electric power output obtained using Ammonia (NH3) turns out to be comparable to that obtained with Methane (CH4), while the electric efficiency is marginally lower (5.16%). In this work, due to the high amount of NOx emission when using ammonia, the Rich-Lean non-premixed combustion strategy is investigated in a three-stage combustion chamber. By adopting this strategy, the amount of NOx concentration has been reduced to 744 ppm (15% O2 dilution), about 92% less than original strategy.