Performance of a Capstone Gas Turbine Based Power Plant Working on High Butane LPG

Abstract

In this paper there are presented the results of the operational performance of a 30 kW microturbine generator (MTGs) fed with high butane content liquefied petroleum gas, while subjected to a stand-alone test procedure involving steady and transient load conditions. Neither modifications, nor regulations were made to the micro-turbine system for operation on the liquefied petroleum gas. To evaluate the performance, measurements of turbine and generator parameters were gathered from its original unit controller, as load changes were applied by changing load-bank values. For the stand-alone mode detailed graphs of the test results are presented, showing the transparency and robustness of the turbine-generator set to the used fuel, judging by the quality of the output electric parameters. The results from this performance testing provide good insight into the use of high-butane content liquefied petroleum gas as fuel for the tested microturbine. The continuous use of a fuel would need more tests to establish that the life of the critical components of the microturbine are not hampered from what they are on the baseline fuel.