A NOx Prediction Scheme for Lean-Premixed Gas Turbine Combustion Based on Detailed Chemical Kinetics

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Polifke ◽  
K. Do¨bbeling ◽  
T. Sattelmayer ◽  
D. G. Nicol ◽  
P. C. Malte
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Concentration Field ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Chemical Mechanism ◽  
Reacting Flow ◽  
Oxides Of Nitrogen ◽  
Detailed Chemical Kinetics ◽  
Nox Formation ◽  
Lean Premixed

The lean-premixed technique has proven very efficient in reducing the emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from gas turbine combustors. The numerical prediction of NOx levels in such combustors with multidimensional CFD codes has only met with limited success so far. This is to some extent due to the complexity of the NOx formation chemistry in lean-premixed combustion, i.e., all three known NOx formation routes (Zeldovich, nitrous, and prompt) can contribute significantly. Furthermore, NOx formation occurs almost exclusively in the flame zone, where radical concentrations significantly above equilibrium values are observed. A relatively large chemical mechanism is therefore required to predict radical concentrations and NOx formation rates under such conditions. These difficulties have prompted the development of a NOx postprocessing scheme, where rate and concentration information necessary to predict NOx formation is taken from one-dimensional combustion models with detailed chemistry and provided—via look-up tables—to the multidimensional CFD code. The look-up tables are prepared beforehand in accordance with the operating conditions and are based on CO concentrations, which are indicative of free radical chemistry. Once the reacting flow field has been computed with the main CFD code, the chemical source terms of the NO transport equation, i.e., local NO formation rates, are determined from the reacting flow field and the tabulated chemical data. Then the main code is turned on again to compute the NO concentration field. This NOx submodel has no adjustable parameters and converges very quickly. Good agreement with experiment has been observed and interesting conclusions concerning superequilibrium O-atom concentrations and fluctuations of temperature could be drawn.

scholarly journals A NOx Prediction Scheme for Lean-Premixed Gas Turbine Combustion Based on Detailed Chemical Kinetics

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Polifke ◽  
Klaus Döbbeling ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer ◽  
David G. Nicol ◽  
Philip C. Malte
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Concentration Field ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Chemical Mechanism ◽  
Reacting Flow ◽  
Oxides Of Nitrogen ◽  
Nox Formation ◽  
Processing Scheme ◽  
Lean Premixed

The lean-premixed technique has proven very efficient in reducing the emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from gas turbine combustors. The numerical prediction of NOx-levels in such combustors with multidimensional CFD codes has only met with limited success so far. This is at least to some extent due to the complexity of the NOx formation chemistry in lean-premixed combustion, i.e. all three known NOx formation routes (Zeldovich, nitrous and prompt) can contribute significantly. Furthermore, NOx formation occurs almost exclusively in the flame zone, where radical concentrations significantly above equilibrium values are observed. A relatively large chemical mechanism is therefore required to predict radical concentrations and NOx formation rates under such conditions. These difficulties have prompted the development of a NOx post-processing scheme, where rate and concentration information necessary to predict NOx formation is taken from one-dimensional combustion models with detailed chemistry and provided — via look-up tables — to the multi-dimensional CFD code. The look-up tables are prepared beforehand in accordance with the operating conditions and are based on CO concentrations, which are indicative of free radical chemistry. Once the reacting flow field has been computed with the main CFD code, the chemical source terms of the NO transport equation, i.e. local NO formation rates, are determined from the reacting flow field and the tabulated chemical data. Then the main code is turned on again to compute the NO concentration field. This NOx sub-model has no adjustable parameters and converges very quickly. Good agreement with experiment has been observed and interesting conclusions concerning superequilibrium O-atom concentrations and fluctuations of temperature could be drawn.

Flow Field and Wall Temperature Measurements for Reacting Flow in a Lean Premixed Swirl Stabilized Can Combustor

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhyeon Park ◽  
David Gomez-Ramirez ◽  
Siddhartha Gadiraju ◽  
Sandeep Kedukodi ◽  
Srinath V. Ekkad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Reacting Flow ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Lean Premixed

In this study, we provide detailed wall heat flux measurements and flow details for reacting flow conditions in a model combustor. Heat transfer measurements inside a gas turbine combustor provide one of the most serious challenges for gas turbine researchers. Gas turbine combustor improvements require accurate measurement and prediction of reacting flows. Flow and heat transfer measurements inside combustors under reacting flow conditions remain a challenge. The mechanisms of thermal energy transfer must be investigated by studying the flow characteristics and associated heat load. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of combustor operating conditions on the reacting flow in an optical single can combustor. The swirling flow was generated by an industrial lean premixed, axial swirl fuel nozzle. Planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) data were analyzed to understand the characteristics of the flow field. Liner surface temperatures were measured in reacting condition with an infrared camera for a single case. Experiments were conducted at Reynolds numbers ranging between 50,000 and 110,000 (with respect to the nozzle diameter, DN); equivalence ratios between 0.55 and 0.78; and pilot fuel split ratios of 0 to 6%. Characterizing the impingement location on the liner, and the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) distribution were a fundamental part of the investigation. Self-similar characteristics were observed at different reacting conditions. Swirling exit flow from the nozzle was found to be unaffected by the operating conditions with little effect on the liner. Comparison between reacting and nonreacting flows (NR) yielded very interesting and striking differences.

Flow Field and Wall Temperature Measurements for Reacting Flow in a Lean Premixed Swirl Stabilized Can Combustor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhyeon Park ◽  
David Gomez-Ramirez ◽  
Siddhartha Gadiraju ◽  
Sandeep Kedukodi ◽  
Srinath Ekkad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Convective Heat Transfer ◽  
Convective Heat ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Heat Load ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Reacting Flow ◽  
Lean Premixed ◽  
Combustor Liner

Designing gas turbine combustors requires accurate measurement and prediction of the violent, high-temperature environment in reacting flow. One important factor in combustor design is the heat load on the inner surface of the combustor liner during combustion. To properly analyze the heat load, the mechanisms of thermal energy transfer must be investigated. Of these, the convective heat transfer has not been fully characterized, representing an important challenge in the field of combustor research. The flow field is closely related to the combustion dynamics from the swirling flame in modern burners, and has a direct impact on the convective heat transfer. Most of the flow field measurements reported in the literature have relied on custom research nozzles. However, the development of modern low emission, lean-premixed combustors requires experimental results from realistic industrial fuel nozzles. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of combustor operating conditions on the reacting flow in an optical single can combustor. The swirling flow was generated by an industrial lean pre-mixed, axial swirl fuel nozzle manufactured by Solar Turbines Incorporated. Planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) data were acquired and analyzed to understand the characteristics of the flow field. Experiments were conducted at Reynolds numbers ranging between 50000 and 110000 (with respect to the nozzle diameter, DN); equivalence ratios between 0.55 and 0.78; and pilot fuel split ratios of 0 to 6%. Characterizing the impingement location on the liner, and the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) distribution were a fundamental part of the investigation. Self-similar characteristics were observed at reacting conditions. Jet impingement locations on the liner were at x ≈ 1.16 DN for seven different reacting cases, and it was observed that the impingement location was not significantly affected by the combustion parameters studied. However, non-reacting flow was significantly different in flame structure and impingement locations. Combustor liner wall temperature distributions were measured in reacting condition with an infrared camera for a single case. The temperature profile was explained qualitatively with the flow features measured with PIV. Peak wall temperature close to impingement location on the liner wall reached about 900 K, and peak heat flux was measured as ≈ 23 kW/m2 at x ≈ 2.3 DN.

Catalytic Combustion Technology Development for Gas Turbine Engine Applications

1998 ◽  
Vol 549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert N. Carter ◽  
Lance L. Smith ◽  
Hasan Karim ◽  
Marco Castaldi ◽  
Shah Etemad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Catalytic Combustion ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Oxides Of Nitrogen ◽  
Nox Formation ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Lean Premixed ◽  
Homogeneous Combustion

AbstractCatalytic combustion is one means of meeting increasingly strict emissions requirements for ground-based gas turbine engines for power generation. In conventional homogeneous combustion, high flame temperatures and incomplete combustion lead to emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO), and in lean premixed systems unburned hydrocarbons (UHC). However, catalyst-assisted reaction upstream of a lean premixed homogeneous combustion zone can increase the fuel/air mixture reactivity sufficiently to provide low CO/UHC emissions. Additionally, catalytic combustion extends the lean limit of combustion, thereby minimizing NOx formation by lowering the adiabatic flame temperature. An overview of this technology is presented including discussion of the many materials science and catalyst challenges that catalytic combustion poses ranging from the need for high temperature materials to catalyst performance and endurance. Results of ongoing development efforts at Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) are presented including modeling studies and experimental results from both bench-scale and combustor-scale studies.

Prediction Model of NOx for Gas Turbine Combustor With Diffusion and Lean Premixed Flames

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fukuo Maeda ◽  
Yasunori Iwai
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Combustion Zone ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Prediction Method ◽  
Computation Time ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Reacting Flow ◽  
Lean Premixed Combustion ◽  
Lean Premixed

In order to predict the NOx concentration etc., it is necessary to carry out 3-D reacting flow analysis in the combustion zone. However, regardless of improved numerical scheme, and physics-based modeling of flow phenomena and combustion reaction, these techniques not yet reached to a level to be applied to practical combustor problem, because of vast computation time and consequently high computation costs, etc. To improve NOx characterization of new Dry Low NOx Combustor (DLNC) and optimum fuel scheduling for DLNC operations, a NOx prediction method to be applicable for practical combustor problems needs to be developed. In this paper has been proposed a simple semi-empirical model for predicting DLNC NOx emissions that formed from lean premixed combustion flames and diffusion flames. This model comprised of experimental coefficients for adjusting or incorporating effects of practical combustion liner configurations and effects of flow conditions in combustion zone, etc. Also, the present model is applied to newly designed and redesigned DLNC for estimating NOx emission levels and its variation with gas turbine operating conditions, which are compared with the experimental data of full pressure combustion with Natural Gas (NG) fuel.

Design of Inlet Conditions for High Pressure NOx Measurements in Lean Premixed Combustors

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon P. McDonald ◽  
Arthur M. Mellor
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Oxides Of Nitrogen ◽  
Nox Formation ◽  
Lean Premixed ◽  
Inlet Conditions

Semi–empirical characteristic time models (CTMs) for NOx emissions index (EI) and lean blowoff are used in the design of an inlet condition matrix for measurement of NOxEI from a lean premixed combustor. Such models relate either NOxEI or the weak extinction limit to times representing relevant physical and chemical processes in the combustor. Lean premixed (LP) natural gas/air combustion is considered for the following conditions: inlet temperature, 300–800 K; combustor pressure, 1–30 atm; and equivalence ratio, 0.5–0.7. The NOx model is used to determine combinations of inlet conditions corresponding to greatest NOx sensitivity. A dependence of NOx emissions on pressure is included in the model. Emissions of oxides of nitrogen are found to he most sensitive to variations in inlet temperature and combustor pressure, in the 560–800 K and 20–30 atm ranges, respectively, while sensitivity to variations in equivalence ratio is substantial over the entire range considered. Thus it is found that operating conditions for high thermal efficiency in LP turbine combustors conflict with the goal of lowering NOx emissions, a result consistent with thermal NOx from conventional, diffusion flame combustors. A lean blowoff model is used to estimate the lowest equivalence ratio at which a flame can he held, as well as to determine whether a flame can be stabilised at the operating conditions suggested by the NOx sensitivity analysis. The results suggest a nominal lower limit on equivalence ratio of 0.4, and that a flame can be held for most of the combinations of inlet conditions suggested by the NOx sensitivity analysis. Autoignition of the fuel/air mixture is also considered in relation to the location and/or design of the premixing system. The current NOx CTM is applied to LP natural gas fired data from the literature. A model modification, thought to better represent the fluid mechanics relevant to LP NOx formation, is applied, and its implications discussed.

Numerical Investigation of the Pressure Effect on the NOx Formation in a Lean-Premixed Gas Turbine Combustor

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 6776-6784
Author(s):  
Truc Huu Nguyen ◽  
Jungkyu Park ◽  
Changhun Sin ◽  
Seungchai Jung ◽  
Shaun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Investigation ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Pressure Effect ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Nox Formation ◽  
Lean Premixed

Chemical Reactor Network Application to Emissions Prediction for Industial DLE Gas Turbine

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. V. Novosselov ◽  
P. C. Malte ◽  
S. Yuan ◽  
R. Srinivasan ◽  
J. C. Y. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Chemical Reactor ◽  
Kinetic Mechanism ◽  
Chemical Kinetic ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Reacting Flow ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Chemical Reactor Network ◽  
Reaction Zones ◽  
Reactor Network

A chemical reactor network (CRN) is developed and applied to a dry low emissions (DLE) industrial gas turbine combustor with the purpose of predicting exhaust emissions. The development of the CRN model is guided by reacting flow computational fluid dynamics (CFD) using the University of Washington (UW) eight-step global mechanism. The network consists of 31 chemical reactor elements representing the different flow and reaction zones of the combustor. The CRN is exercised for full load operating conditions with variable pilot flows ranging from 35% to 200% of the neutral pilot. The NOpilot. The NOx and the CO emissions are predicted using the full GRI 3.0 chemical kinetic mechanism in the CRN. The CRN results closely match the actual engine test rig emissions output. Additional work is ongoing and the results from this ongoing research will be presented in future publications.

Probabilistic and Numerical Modelling of a Lobed Mixer at Windmilling Conditions

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Lecoq ◽  
Nicholas Grech ◽  
Pavlos K. Zachos ◽  
Vassilios Pachidis
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Response Surface ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Engine Performance ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Total Pressure Loss ◽  
Operating Point ◽  
Mixing Losses

Aero-gas turbine engines with a mixed exhaust configuration offer significant benefits to the cycle efficiency relative to separate exhaust systems, such as increase in gross thrust and a reduction in fan pressure ratio required. A number of military and civil engines have a single mixed exhaust system designed to mix out the bypass and core streams. To reduce mixing losses, the two streams are designed to have similar total pressures. In design point whole engine performance solvers, a mixed exhaust is modelled using simple assumptions; momentum balance and a percentage total pressure loss. However at far off-design conditions such as windmilling and altitude relights, the bypass and core streams have very dissimilar total pressures and momentum, with the flow preferring to pass through the bypass duct, increasing drastically the bypass ratio. Mixing of highly dissimilar coaxial streams leads to complex turbulent flow fields for which the simple assumptions and models used in current performance solvers cease to be valid. The effect on simulation results is significant since the nozzle pressure affects critical aspects such as the fan operating point, and therefore the windmilling shaft speeds and air mass flow rates. This paper presents a numerical study on the performance of a lobed mixer under windmilling conditions. An analysis of the flow field is carried out at various total mixer pressure ratios, identifying the onset and nature of recirculation, the flow field characteristics, and the total pressure loss along the mixer as a function of the operating conditions. The data generated from the numerical simulations is used together with a probabilistic approach to generate a response surface in terms of the mass averaged percentage total pressure loss across the mixer, as a function of the engine operating point. This study offers an improved understanding on the complex flows that arise from mixing of highly dissimilar coaxial flows within an aero-gas turbine mixer environment. The total pressure response surface generated using this approach can be used as look-up data for the engine performance solver to include the effects of such turbulent mixing losses.

Numerical Characterisation of a Gas Turbine Model Combustor Applying Scale-Adaptive Simulation

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Widenhorn ◽  
Berthold Noll ◽  
Manfred Aigner
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Mixture Fraction ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Reacting Flow ◽  
Adaptive Simulation ◽  
Power Load ◽  
Turbine Model

In this contribution the three-dimensional reacting turbulent flow field of a swirl-stabilized gas turbine model combustor is analyzed numerically. The investigated partially premixed and lifted CH4/air flame has a thermal power load of Pth = 35kW and a global equivalence ratio of φ = 0.65. To study the reacting flow field the Scale Adaptive Simulation (SAS) turbulence model in combination with the Eddy Dissipation/Finite Rate Chemistry combustion model was applied. The simulations were performed using the commercial CFD software package ANSYS CFX-11.0. The numerically achieved time-averaged values of the velocity components and their appropriate turbulent fluctuations (RMS) are in very good agreement with the experimental values (LDA). The same excellent results were found for other flow quantities like temperature and mixture fraction. Here, the corresponding time-averaged and the appropriate RMS profiles are compared to Raman measurements. Furthermore the instantaneous flow features are discussed. In accordance with the experiment the numerical simulation evidences the existence of a precessing vortex core (PVC). The PVC rotates with a frequency of 1596Hz. Moreover it is shown that in the upper part of the combustion chamber a tornado-like vortical structure is established.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document