THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

Iliya K IlievORCID

,

Elvira Zvereva

,

George Marin

,

Hristo I Beloev

,

Yuliya Valeeva

EFFECT OF ALTERNATIVE FUEL GASES ON PERFORMANCE GAS TURBINE UNITS

ABSTRACT
The change in the energy characteristics of alternative fuels affects the operation of gas turbines designed to operate on natural gas as well as on the operation of the main and auxiliary equipment of a combined cycle gas turbine. In the future, the transition to alternative gases will eliminate the use of natural gas for the operation of the gas turbine. The publication estimates the operating costs, initial investments in adapting the equipment and setting up the automatic control system of the gas turbine. Important recommendations are made regarding fuel combustion in gas turbines when switching to different types of fuels. An assessment of emissions after the gas turbine unit is made when switching to alternative fuels and adding hydrogen fuel to the fuel mixture. Mathematical modelling of the gas turbine unit was carried out in the software package "AS GRET" (Automated system of gas-dynamic calculations of power turbomachines). A distinctive feature of this study is the analysis of gas turbine operation at a constant combustion chamber temperature, irrespective of the fuel type utilized. Maintaining this condition enables the gas turbine to be integrated into a combined-cycle power unit without necessitating modifications to the steam-water path.
KEYWORDS
Hydrogen fuel, alternative energy, gas turbine installation, efficiency, mathematical model, forecasting, alternative fuels, hydrogen energy, green energy
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2025-08-17
PAPER REVISED: 2025-11-14
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2025-11-19
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2026-01-17
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI250817236I
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Effect of alternative fuel gases on performance gas turbine units

© 2026 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence