Uncertainty Quantification of NOx Emission Due to Operating Conditions and Chemical Kinetic Parameters in a Premixed Burner

Author(s):  
Sajjad Yousefian ◽  
Gilles Bourque ◽  
Rory F. D. Monaghan

Many sources of uncertainty exist when emissions are modeled for a gas turbine combustion system. They originate from uncertain inputs, boundary conditions, calibration, or lack of sufficient fidelity in a model. In this paper, a nonintrusive polynomial chaos expansion (NIPCE) method is coupled with a chemical reactor network (CRN) model using Python to quantify uncertainties of NOx emission in a premixed burner. The first objective of uncertainty quantification (UQ) in this study is development of a global sensitivity analysis method based on the NIPCE method to capture aleatory uncertainty on NOx emission due to variation of operating conditions. The second objective is uncertainty analysis (UA) of NOx emission due to uncertain Arrhenius parameters in a chemical kinetic mechanism to study epistemic uncertainty in emission modeling. A two-reactor CRN consisting of a perfectly stirred reactor (PSR) and a plug flow reactor (PFR) is constructed in this study using Cantera to model NOx emission in a benchmark premixed burner under gas turbine operating conditions. The results of uncertainty and sensitivity analysis (SA) using NIPCE based on point collocation method (PCM) are then compared with the results of advanced Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). A set of surrogate models is also developed based on the NIPCE approach and compared with the forward model in Cantera to predict NOx emissions. The results show the capability of NIPCE approach for UQ using a limited number of evaluations to develop a UQ-enabled emission prediction tool for gas turbine combustion systems.

Author(s):  
Sajjad Yousefian ◽  
Gilles Bourque ◽  
Rory F. D. Monaghan

Many sources of uncertainty exist when emissions are modelled for a gas turbine combustion system. They originate from uncertain inputs, boundary conditions, calibration, or lack of sufficient fidelity in the model. In this paper, a non-intrusive polynomial chaos expansion (NIPCE) method is coupled with a chemical reactor network (CRN) model using Python to rigorously quantify uncertainties of NOx emission in a premixed burner. The first objective of the uncertainty quantification (UQ) in this study is development of a global sensitivity analysis method based on NIPCE to capture aleatory uncertainty due to the variation of operating conditions and input parameters. The second objective is uncertainty analysis of Arrhenius parameters in the chemical kinetic mechanism to study the epistemic uncertainty in the modelling of NOx emission. A two-reactor CRN consisting of a perfectly stirred reactor (PSR) and a plug flow reactor (PFR) is constructed in this study using Cantera to model NOx for natural gas at the relevant operating conditions for a benchmark premixed burner. UQ is performed through the use of a number of packages in Python. The results of uncertainty and sensitivity analysis using NIPCE based on point collocation method (PCM) are then compared with the results of advanced Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). Surrogate models are also developed based on the NIPCE approach and compared with the forward model in Cantera to predict NOx emissions. The results show the capability of NIPCE approach for UQ using a limited number of evaluations to develop a UQ-enabled emission prediction tool for gas turbine combustion systems.


Author(s):  
Sajjad Yousefian ◽  
Gilles Bourque ◽  
Rory F. D. Monaghan

There is a need for fast and reliable emissions prediction tools in the design, development and performance analysis of gas turbine combustion systems to predict emissions such as NOx, CO. Hybrid emissions prediction tools are defined as modelling approaches that (1) use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) or component modelling methods to generate flow field information, and (2) integrate them with detailed chemical kinetic modelling of emissions using chemical reactor network (CRN) techniques. This paper presents a review and comparison of hybrid emissions prediction tools and uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods for gas turbine combustion systems. In the first part of this study, CRN solvers are compared on the bases of some selected attributes which facilitate flexibility of network modelling, implementation of large chemical kinetic mechanisms and automatic construction of CRN. The second part of this study deals with UQ, which is becoming an important aspect of the development and use of computational tools in gas turbine combustion chamber design and analysis. Therefore, the use of UQ technique as part of the generalized modelling approach is important to develop a UQ-enabled hybrid emissions prediction tool. UQ techniques are compared on the bases of the number of evaluations and corresponding computational cost to achieve desired accuracy levels and their ability to treat deterministic models for emissions prediction as black boxes that do not require modifications. Recommendations for the development of UQ-enabled emissions prediction tools are made.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 389
Author(s):  
Jinfu Liu ◽  
Zhenhua Long ◽  
Mingliang Bai ◽  
Linhai Zhu ◽  
Daren Yu

As one of the core components of gas turbines, the combustion system operates in a high-temperature and high-pressure adverse environment, which makes it extremely prone to faults and catastrophic accidents. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the combustion system to detect in a timely way whether its performance has deteriorated, to improve the safety and economy of gas turbine operation. However, the combustor outlet temperature is so high that conventional sensors cannot work in such a harsh environment for a long time. In practical application, temperature thermocouples distributed at the turbine outlet are used to monitor the exhaust gas temperature (EGT) to indirectly monitor the performance of the combustion system, but, the EGT is not only affected by faults but also influenced by many interference factors, such as ambient conditions, operating conditions, rotation and mixing of uneven hot gas, performance degradation of compressor, etc., which will reduce the sensitivity and reliability of fault detection. For this reason, many scholars have devoted themselves to the research of combustion system fault detection and proposed many excellent methods. However, few studies have compared these methods. This paper will introduce the main methods of combustion system fault detection and select current mainstream methods for analysis. And a circumferential temperature distribution model of gas turbine is established to simulate the EGT profile when a fault is coupled with interference factors, then use the simulation data to compare the detection results of selected methods. Besides, the comparison results are verified by the actual operation data of a gas turbine. Finally, through comparative research and mechanism analysis, the study points out a more suitable method for gas turbine combustion system fault detection and proposes possible development directions.


Author(s):  
I. V. Novosselov ◽  
P. C. Malte ◽  
S. Yuan ◽  
R. Srinivasan ◽  
J. C. Y. Lee

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.


Author(s):  
Manuel Arias Chao ◽  
Darrel S. Lilley ◽  
Peter Mathé ◽  
Volker Schloßhauer

Calibration and uncertainty quantification for gas turbine (GT) performance models is a key activity for GT manufacturers. The adjustment between the numerical model and measured GT data is obtained with a calibration technique. Since both, the calibration parameters and the measurement data are uncertain the calibration process is intrinsically stochastic. Traditional approaches for calibration of a numerical GT model are deterministic. Therefore, quantification of the remaining uncertainty of the calibrated GT model is not clearly derived. However, there is the business need to provide the probability of the GT performance predictions at tested or untested conditions. Furthermore, a GT performance prediction might be required for a new GT model when no test data for this model are available yet. In this case, quantification of the uncertainty of the baseline GT, upon which the new development is based on, and propagation of the design uncertainty for the new GT is required for risk assessment and decision making reasons. By using as a benchmark a GT model, the calibration problem is discussed and several possible model calibration methodologies are presented. Uncertainty quantification based on both a conventional least squares method and a Bayesian approach will be presented and discussed. For the general nonlinear model a fully Bayesian approach is conducted, and the posterior of the calibration problem is computed based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation using a Metropolis-Hastings sampling scheme. When considering the calibration parameters dependent on operating conditions, a novel formulation of the GT calibration problem is presented in terms of a Gaussian process regression problem.


Author(s):  
G. Arvind Rao ◽  
Yeshayahou Levy ◽  
Ephraim J. Gutmark

Flameless combustion (FC) is one of the most promising techniques of reducing harmful emissions from combustion systems. FC is a combustion phenomenon that takes place at low O2 concentration and high inlet reactant temperature. This unique combination results in a distributed combustion regime with a lower adiabatic flame temperature. The paper focuses on investigating the chemical kinetics of an prototype combustion chamber built at the university of Cincinnati with an aim of establishing flameless regime and demonstrating the applicability of FC to gas turbine engines. A Chemical reactor model (CRM) has been built for emulating the reactions within the combustor. The entire combustion chamber has been divided into appropriate number of Perfectly Stirred Reactors (PSRs) and Plug Flow Reactors (PFRs). The interconnections between these reactors and the residence times of these reactors are based on the PIV studies of the combustor flow field. The CRM model has then been used to predict the combustor emission profile for various equivalence ratios. The results obtained from CRM model show that the emission from the combustor are quite less at low equivalence ratios and have been found to be in reasonable agreement with experimental observations. The chemical kinetic analysis gives an insight on the role of vitiated combustion gases in suppressing the formation of pollutants within the combustion process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Bianchi ◽  
Jason D. Williams ◽  
C. Oliver Kappe

Abstract Oscillatory flow reactors (OFRs) superimpose an oscillatory flow to the net movement through a flow reactor. OFRs have been engineered to enable improved mixing, excellent heat- and mass transfer and good plug flow character under a broad range of operating conditions. Such features render these reactors appealing, since they are suitable for reactions that require long residence times, improved mass transfer (such as in biphasic liquid-liquid systems) or to homogeneously suspend solid particles. Various OFR configurations, offering specific features, have been developed over the past two decades, with significant progress still being made. This review outlines the principles and recent advances in OFR technology and overviews the synthetic applications of OFRs for liquid-liquid and solid-liquid biphasic systems.


Author(s):  
Anamol Pundle ◽  
David G. Nicol ◽  
Philip C. Malte ◽  
Joel D. Hiltner

This paper discusses chemical kinetic modeling used to analyze the formation of pollutant emissions in large-bore, lean-burn gas reciprocating engines. Pollutants considered are NOx, CO, HCHO, and UHC. A quasi-dimensional model, built as a chemical reactor network (CRN), is described. In this model, the flame front is treated as a perfectly stirred reactor (PSR) followed by a plug flow reactor (PFR), and reaction in the burnt gas is modeled assuming a batch reactor of constant-pressure and fixed-mass for each crank angle increment. The model treats full chemical kinetics. Engine heat loss is treated by incorporating the Woschni model into the CRN. The mass burn rate is selected so that the modeled cylinder pressure matches the experiment pressure trace. Originally, the model was developed for large, low speed, two-stoke, lean-burn engines. However, recently, the model has been formatted for the four-stroke, open-chamber, lean-burn engine. The focus of this paper is the application of the model to a four-stroke engine. This is a single-cylinder non-production variant of a heavy duty lean-burn engine of about 5 liters cylinder displacement Engine speed is 1500 RPM. Key findings of this work are the following. 1) Modeled NOx and CO are found to agree closely with emission measurements for this engine over a range of relative air-fuel ratios tested. 2) This modeling shows the importance of including N2O chemistry in the NOx calculation. For λ = 1.7, the model indicates that about 30% of the NOx emitted is formed by the N2O mechanism, with the balance from the Zeldovich mechanism. 3) The modeling shows that the CO and HCHO emissions arise from partial oxidation late in the expansion stroke as unburned charge remaining mixes into the burnt gas. 4) Model generated plots of HCHO versus CH4 emission for the four-stroke engine are in agreement with field data for large-bore, lean-burn, gas reciprocating engines. Also, recent engine tests show the correlation of UHC and CO emissions to crevice volume. These tests suggest that HCHO emissions also are affected by crevice flows through partial oxidation of UHC late in the expansion stroke.


Author(s):  
Y.-C. Lin ◽  
S. Daniele ◽  
P. Jansohn ◽  
K. Boulouchos

In this paper, characteristics of turbulent combustion and NOx emission for high hydrogen-content fuel gases (H2 > 70 vol. %; “hydrogen-rich”) are addressed. An experimental investigation is performed in a perfectly-premixed axial-dump combustor under gas turbine relevant conditions. Fundamental features of turbulent combustion for these mixtures are evaluated based on OH-PLIF diagnostics. On the other hand, NOx emissions are measured with an exhaust gas sampling probe positioned downstream the combustor outlet. Compared to syngas mixtures (H2 + CO), the operational limits for hydrogen-rich fuel gases are found to occur at even leaner conditions concerning flashback phenomena. With respect to effects of operating pressure, a strongly reduced operational envelope is observed at elevated pressure. Only with decreasing the preheat temperature a viable approach to further extend the operational range is seen. Evaluation of the averaged turbulent flame shape shows that the profile of the flame front is generally approaching that of an ideal cone. Thus a simplified approach for estimating the turbulent flame speed via the location of the flame tip alone can be applied. The level of NOx emission for the hydrogen-rich fuel mixtures is generally above that of syngas mixtures, which exhibit already higher NOx emission values than natural gas. Distinct chemical kinetic features are found specifically at elevated pressure. While the pressure effects are weak for syngas, a non-monotonic behavior is observed for the hydrogen-rich fuels. Reaction path analysis is performed to complement and provide more insight to the findings from the measurements. From chemical kinetic calculations a distinct shift in NOx formation pathways (thermal NOx vs. NOx through N2O/NNH reaction channels) can be observed for the different fuel mixtures at different pressure levels.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document