Exhaust emissions from liquid fuel micro gas turbine fed with diesel oil, biodiesel and vegetable oil

Micro gas turbine units are reliable and versatile units for on-site combined heat and power production (CHP). Compared to internal combustion engines, CHP units based on micro gas turbines offer several advantages, among which the compactness, the high power-to-weight ratio, the lower pollutant emissions and maintenance costs. Depending on the specific type of gas turbine, also fuel flexibility could be better than diesel engines, as the fuel is continuously burnt in a hot environment and there is not possible mixing among fuel and lubricating oil. Within the framework of the EU-Russian Federation FP7 cooperative and specifically the Bioliquids-CHP project, a Garrett GTP 30–67 liquid fuel (diesel) micro gas turbine was characterised with diesel and then tested with different first generation biofuels, such as vegetable oil and biodiesel. An in-house test bench was designed, engineered, instrumented and built. In this research work, exhaust emissions from experimental campaign on the micro gas turbine run with diesel oil and biofuels are presented. Emissions were measured at various load. The experiments demonstrated that the MGT can be successfully operated with these biofuels, with emissions comparable to the standard diesel oil. The experiences gained on the operation of the micro gas turbine on first generation biofuels will serve as a basis for modifying the MGT to be operated with bio-oil from fast pyrolysis.