On May 11th, 2023,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new carbon pollution
standards for coal and natural gas-fired power plants. The proposal would set
limits for newly established gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal, oil
and gas-fired steam generating units, and certain existing gas-fired combustion
turbines. For different types of turbines, EPA has listed different pathways
for these engines to meet the standard of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
reduction.
According to the
proposal issued by the EPA, the content of “the co-firing of 30 percent (by
volume) low-GHG hydrogen by 2032, and ramping up to 96 percent by volume
low-GHG hydrogen by 2038” is one of the feasible pathways as potential best
system of emissions reduction (BSER) to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
from new and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired combustion turbines and existing
fossil fuel-fired stationary combustion turbines.
In respond with
the trend of hydrogen as a green fuel in the U.S., retrofitting existing
equipment, facilities, and infrastructure to utilize certain low level of
hydrogen blended natural gas to generate electricity is a crucial transitional
step towards carbon neutrality. Before the successful development and broad
adoption of 100% hydrogen combustion turbines, employing mixed gas combustion
stands as the most cost-effective and immediately practicable method. However, despite the
low concentration of mixed hydrogen, co-firing hydrogen and natural gas still encounter
the severe challenge of ensuring a stable ratio of mixed gases before entering
the combustors. To ensure safe and stable operation at regulated temperature
and pressure conditions, stringent demands are placed on the precision and
steadiness of hydrogen concentration when blended with natural gas. Therefore, operators of gas-fired electricity
generation units (EGU) should adopt advanced technologies that can accurately
and continuously measure hydrogen concentration.
Cubic
Instruments a leading manufacturer of gas analyzers, has leveraged Cubic mature
technology platform of Laser Raman spectroscopy technology, and developed
advancing gas analyzer, LRGA-3100, which is capable of rapid online measurement
of multi-gas concentrations, including homonuclear diatomic molecule H2.
Based on Laser
Raman spectroscopy technology, LRGA-3100 is specifically designed to address
the challenges of rapid and simultaneous monitoring of multiple gases. It is
capable of automatically providing online continuous measurement for all
components of alkanes, such as CH4, C2H6, C3H8, C4H10 and so on, as well as
homonuclear diatomic molecules, including H2, N2, O2, and more. In addition,
LRGA-3100 excels in providing high-precision measurements with exceptionally
low drift, ensuring reliable measurements for monitoring hydrogen and methane
concentrations. Moreover, LRGA-3100 effectively mitigates the risk of
measurement errors caused by manual operations, which could occur when applying
traditional GC-MS methods. With its accurate and rapid gas measurements,
LRGA-3100 empowers operators to promptly respond when hydrogen concentration
approaches or exceeds allowable thresholds, ensuring the stability of the
combustion process and maintaining safe operational standards.
Given its
commendable performance and superior measurement capabilities, Cubic
Instruments innovative Laser Raman gas analyzer,
LRGA-3100, emerges as an ideal solution for hydrogen and natural gas
concentrations monitoring in gas-fired combustion turbines. LRGA-3100 offers
unprecedented efficiency, proving to be a valuable asset for the smooth
function of industrial gas-fired combustion turbine systems.