Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
(OP)
Hypothetical question that occurred to me while I was discussing our problems about waste oil disposal with management.
I haven't been near an industrial turbine in my career, but we did have one at university that we used for lab tests. It could run on anything that was flammable as long as you could get it into the combustion chamber at a sufficient rate.
Regulatory issues (EPA etc) aside, would there be any problem with using waste oil as a fuel - diluted with other hydrocarbons if necessary? I envisage a small injection of the waste oil (say 2-5% by mass) into a standard natural gas fueled turbine.
Apologies for not having done ANY research before posting.
I haven't been near an industrial turbine in my career, but we did have one at university that we used for lab tests. It could run on anything that was flammable as long as you could get it into the combustion chamber at a sufficient rate.
Regulatory issues (EPA etc) aside, would there be any problem with using waste oil as a fuel - diluted with other hydrocarbons if necessary? I envisage a small injection of the waste oil (say 2-5% by mass) into a standard natural gas fueled turbine.
Apologies for not having done ANY research before posting.
LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.





RE: Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
To burn oil, you'd have to pump it up to a pretty high pressure and inject it with an atomizing nozzle to get plenty of surface area.
The OEM of the turbine could give you details on what it would take to convert a turbine to dual-fuel.
RE: Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
RE: Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
I'd check with your CT OEM and get their blessing before proceeding.
rmw
RE: Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
Another point, in agreement with rmw, is that there could well be heavy metals such as sodium, lead, vanadium, cadmium, etc. which would lead to Liquid Metal Embrittlement of the Hot Gas Path components.
RE: Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
I was thinking more of the heavy metals problem and never even considered calcium carbonate as an issue.
rmw
RE: Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
RE: Disposal of waste oil using it as turbine fuel.
all OEM's specify fuel contaminants... if the analysis of the intended fuel falls outside the manufacturer's recommendations... the warranty is void and all sorts of bad things happen.
saludos.
a.