Keywords
natural gas
diesel fuel
thermal efficiency
emissions reduction
How to Cite
Abstract
This paper presents a comparative analysis of natural gas and diesel as fuels for gas turbine power generation, focusing on efficiency, emissions, and sustainability. The findings indicate that natural gas, owing to its higher hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, achieves significantly lower NOx and greenhouse gas emissions compared to diesel. However, diesel exhibits slightly superior thermal efficiency and lower specific fuel consumption under similar operational conditions. Overall, the study concludes that natural gas represents a more sustainable and environmentally favorable option, offering a balanced trade-off between performance, cost, and emission reduction in modern energy systems.
References
Animah, I., & Shafiee, M. (2020). Application of risk analysis in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector: An overview. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 63, Article 103980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2019.103980
Arefin, M. A., Nabi, M. N., Akram, M. W., Islam, M. T., & Chowdhury, M. W. (2020). A review on liquefied natural gas as fuels for dual fuel engines: Opportunities, challenges and responses. Energies, 13(22), Article 6127. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13226127
Burnes, D., & Camou, A. (2019). Impact of fuel composition on gas turbine engine performance. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 141(10), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4044238
Dudley, B. (2019). BP statistical review of world energy 2016. Pureprint Group Limited.
Elgohary, M. M., & Seddiek, I. S. (2012). Comparison between natural gas and diesel fuel oil onboard gas turbine powered ships. Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Marine Sciences, 23(2), 109–127. https://doi.org/10.4197/Mar.23-2.7
Elwardany, M., Nassib, A. E. M. M., & Mohamed, H. A. (2023). Comparative evaluation for selected gas turbine cycles. International Journal of Thermodynamics, 26(4), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.5541/ijot.1268823
Haque, M. A., Nemitallah, M. A., Abdelhafez, A., Mansir, I. B., & Habib, M. A. (2020). Review of fuel/oxidizer-flexible combustion in gas turbines. Energy and Fuels, 34(9), 10459–10485. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c02097
Imteyaz, B. A., Nemitallah, M. A., Abdelhafez, A. A., & Habib, M. A. (2018). Combustion behavior and stability map of hydrogen-enriched oxy-methane premixed flames in a model gas turbine combustor. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 43(34), 16652–16666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.07.087
Karagöz, Y., Sandalci, T., Koylu, U. O., Dalkiliç, A. S., & Wongwises, S. (2016). Effect of the use of natural gas–diesel fuel mixture on performance, emissions, and combustion characteristics of a compression ignition engine. Advances in Mechanical Engineering, 8(4), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1687814016643228
Molière, M. (2023). The fuel flexibility of gas turbines: A review and retrospective outlook. Energies, 16(9), Article 3962. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093962
Nemitallah, M. A., Abdelhafez, A. A., Ali, A., Mansir, I., & Habib, M. A. (2019). Frontiers in combustion techniques and burner designs for emissions control and CO₂ capture: A review. International Journal of Energy Research, 43(14), 7790–7822. https://doi.org/10.1002/er.4730
Portillo, E., Alonso-Fariñas, B., Vega, F., Cano, M., & Navarrete, B. (2019). Alternatives for oxygen-selective membrane systems and their integration into the oxy-fuel combustion process: A review. Separation and Purification Technology, 229, Article 115708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2019.115708
Pourhedayat, S., Hu, E., & Chen, L. (2024). Yearly hour-by-hour performance evaluation of a SIEMENS gas turbine power plant for Australia's climate condition with and without a novel intake air pre-cooling strategy. Energy Conversion and Management X, 21, Article 100501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecmx.2023.100501
Sefiddashti, A. R., Shirmohammadi, R., & Petrakopoulou, F. (2021). Efficiency enhancement of gas turbine systems with air injection driven by natural gas turboexpanders. Sustainability, 13(19), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910994
Speight, J. G. (2007). Recovery, storage, and transportation. In Natural gas (pp. 87–111). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-933762-14-2.50009-1
Stefan, E., Talic, B., Larring, Y., Gruber, A., & Peters, T. A. (2022). Materials challenges in hydrogen-fuelled gas turbines. International Materials Reviews, 67(5), 461–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/09506608.2021.1981706
Yang, Y., Nikolaidis, T., Jafari, S., & Pilidis, P. (2024). Gas turbine engine transient performance and heat transfer effect modelling: A comprehensive review, research challenges, and exploring the future. Applied Thermal Engineering, 236, Article 121523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.121523
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Albaheli Ahmed Abdulimam Odhafa, Ammar Mohamed Zayed Awad, Mani Momeni