A new gas turbine system based on methane pyrolysis has been registered in Russia. It combines hydrogen production and energy generation in a closed technological cycle, the documents were published in the FIPS database.
The installation processes natural gas in a pyrolysis reactor without fuel combustion: hydrogen and solid carbon are produced at the output. Hydrogen is sent to an internal combustion engine, including a gas turbine mode, where it provides the production of mechanical and electrical energy.
Heat recovery plays a key role. The system extracts the thermal energy of the engine's flue gases and returns it to the pyrolysis circuit. The first heat exchanger heats the hydrocarbon flow before the reactor, reducing the energy consumption for methane decomposition. Part of the heat enters the heat generator with a furnace, where the operating temperature of the process is maintained.
The engineers provided for the supply of flue gas with residual oxygen back to the furnace and additional heating of the oxidizer through the second heat exchanger. Heat exchange modules can operate in series or in parallel, which increases the flexibility of the scheme and the overall efficiency.
