Gas turbine reactors––chemicals, heat and power

Gas turbines are routinely used for generating power and heat, (CHP), and increasingly, a proportion of the heat from the gas turbine exhaust is used to provide refrigeration or air conditioning––combined heat, power and cooling. One may add another useful output––chemicals. By utilising one or more of the components within a gas turbine cycle as a chemical reactor, we may potentially use a range of feedstock to produce chemicals––the gas turbine reactor. The components we might consider include the combustion chamber as a reforming reactor, blades as reactors, providing cooling of the metal as well, recuperators as heat exchanger-reactors (HEX-reactors) and intercoolers having the same role. The chemical or gas turbine engineer may well think of other opportunities in either open or closed cycle machines. This paper discusses some of the above options, drawing in part upon gas turbine blade cooling technologies and upon recent developments in the UK and elsewhere in HEX-reactors––units combining reactions and heat exchange on one or more sides of a compact heat exchanger.