Gas Heater Optimizer

Operate your gas turbines across a range of gaseous fuels of varying compositions while maintaining performance, reliability, and operating flexibility

Once combustion turbines are tuned to burn a particular gas composition, they have difficulty tolerating large variations and/or rapid changes in that composition. Changes in gas type and changing rate that goes far from the tuned composition can affect flame stability, NOx formation, and combustion dynamics.

Wobbe Index is a measure for gas composition and most turbines can tolerate only a 5% index shift without affecting operations. It can be controlled by changing fuel temperature, so control of natural gas temperature at gas turbine inlet can produce a reduction in issues coming from variations in fuel composition.

ADEX Gas Heater Optimizer gets the fuel temperature setpoint from the gas turbine combustion module and controls the feedwater to the gas heater to improve the control precision.

By improving the control of natural gas temperature, the following benefits are achieved:

  • Lower runback and trip risk, especially during load changes.
  • Reduction of dynamics.
  • Minimize combustion hardware failure and damage.
  • Extend equipment lifetime.
  • Reduction of thermal stress.
  • Improvement of flexibility, allowing the gas turbine to reach the minimum load moderating flame blowout and flashback risk.