scholarly journals Characterization of NOx, N2O, and CO for Lean-Premixed Combustion in a High-Pressure Jet-Stirred Reactor

Author(s):  
Robert C. Steele ◽  
Jon H. Tonouchi ◽  
David G. Nicol ◽  
David C. Horning ◽  
Philip C. Malte ◽  
...  

A high-pressure jet-stirred reactor (HP-JSR) has been built and applied to the study of NOx and N2O formation and CO oxidation in lean-premixed (LPM) combustion. The measurements obtained with the HP-JSR provide information on how NOx forms in lean-premixed, high-intensity combustion, and provide comparison to NOx data published recently for practical LPM combustors. The HP-JSR results indicate that the NOx yield is significantly influenced by the rate of relaxation of super-equilibrium concentrations of the O-atom. Also indicated by the HP-JSR results are characteristic NOx formation rates. Two computational models are used to simulate the HP-JSR, and to provide comparison to the measurements. The first is a chemical reactor model (CRM) consisting of two perfectly-stirred reactors (PSRs) placed in series. The second is a stirred reactor model with finite rate macromixing (i.e., recirculation) and micromixing. The micromixing is treated by either coalescence-dispersion (CD) or interaction-by-exchange-with-the-mean (IEM) theory. Additionally, a model based on one-dimensional gas dynamics with chemical reaction is used to assess chemical conversions within the gas sample probe.

1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Steele ◽  
J. H. Tonouchi ◽  
D. G. Nicol ◽  
D. C. Horning ◽  
P. C. Malte ◽  
...  

A high-pressure jet-stirred reactor (HP-JSR) has been built and applied to the study of NOx and N2o formation and CO oxidation in lean-Premixed (LPM) combustion. The measurements obtained with the HP-JSR Provide information on how NOx forms in lean-premixed, high-intensity combustion, and provide comparison to NOx data published recently for practical LPM combustors. The HP-JSR results indicate that the NOx yield is significantly influenced by the rate of relaxation of super-equilibrium concentrations of the O-atom. Also indicated by the HP-JSR results are characteristic NOx formation rates. Two computational models are used to simulate the HP-JSR and to provide comparison to the measurements. The first is a chemical reactor model (CRM) consisting of two perfectly stirred reactors (PSRs) placed in series. The second is a stirred reactor model with finite rate macromixing (i.e., recirculation) and micromixing. The micromixing is treated by either coalescence-dispersion (CD) or interaction by exchange with the mean (IEM) theory. Additionally, a model based on one-dimensional gas dynamics with chemical reaction is used to assess chemical conversions within the gas sample probe.


Author(s):  
Teodora Rutar ◽  
Scott M. Martin ◽  
David G. Nicol ◽  
Philip C. Malte ◽  
David T. Pratt

A probability density function/chemical reactor model (PDF/CRM) is applied to study how NOx emissions vary with mean combustion temperature, inlet air temperature, and pressure for different degrees of premixing quality under lean-premixed (LP) gas turbine combustor conditions. Inlet air temperatures of 550, 650 and 750 K, and combustor pressures of 10, 14 and 30 atm are examined in different chemical reactor configurations. Primary results from this study are: incomplete premixing can either increase or decrease NOx emissions, depending on the primary zone stoichiometry; an Arrhenius-type plot of NOx emissions may have promise for assessing the premixer quality of lean-premixed combustors; and decreasing premixing quality enhances the influence of inlet air temperature and pressure on NOx emissions.


Author(s):  
David G. Nicol ◽  
Robert C. Steele ◽  
Nick M. Marinov ◽  
Philip C. Malte

This study addresses the importance of the different chemical pathways responsible for NOx formation in lean-premixed combustion, and especially the role of the nitrous oxide pathway relative to the traditional Zeldovich pathway. NOx formation is modeled and computed over a range of operating conditions for the lean-premixed primary zone of gas turbine engine combustors. The primary zone, of uniform fuel-air ratio, is modeled as a micro-mixed well-stirred reactor, representing the flame zone, followed by a series of plug flow reactors, representing the post-flame zone. The fuel is methane. The fuel-air equivalence ratio is varied from 0.5 to 0.7. The chemical reactor model permits study of the three pathways by which NOx forms, which are the Zeldovich, nitrous oxide, and prompt pathways. Modeling is also performed for the well-stirred reactor alone. Three recently published, complete chemical kinetic mechanisms for the C1-C2 hydrocarbon oxidation and the NOx formation are applied and compared. Verification of the model is based on the comparison of its NOx output to experimental results published for atmospheric pressure jet-stirred reactors and for a ten atmosphere porous-plate burner. Good agreement between the modeled results and the measurements is obtained for most of the jet-stirred reactor operating range. For the porous-plate burner, the model shows agreement to the NOx measurements within a factor of two, with close agreement occurring at the leanest and coolest cases examined. For lean-premixed combustion at gas turbine engine conditions, the nitrous oxide pathway is found to be important, though the Zeldovich pathway cannot be neglected. The prompt pathway, however, contributes small-to-negligible NOx. Whenever the NOx emission is in the 15 to 30ppmv (15% O2, dry) range, the nitrous oxide pathway is predicted to contribute 40 to 45% of the NOx for high pressure engines (30atm), and 20 to 35% of the NOx for intermediate pressure engines (10atm). For conditions producing NOx of less than 10ppmv (15% O2, dry), the nitrous oxide contribution increases steeply and approaches 100%. For lean-premixed combustion in the atmospheric pressure jet-stirred reactors, different behavior is found. All three pathways contribute; none can be dismissed. No universal behavior is found for the pressure dependence of the NOx. It does appear, however, that lean-premixed combustors operated in the vicinity of 10atm have a relatively weak pressure dependence, whereas combustors operated in the vicinity of 30atm have an approximately square root pressure dependence of the NOx.


Author(s):  
Teodora Rutar ◽  
Philip C. Malte

Measurements of NOx and CO in methane-fired, lean-premixed, high-pressure jet-stirred reactors (HP-JSRs) independently obtained by Rutar [1] and Rutar et al. [2] and by Bengtsson [3] and Bengtsson et al. [4] are well predicted assuming simple chemical reactor models and the GRI 3.0 chemical kinetic mechanism. The single-jet HP-JSR of Rutar [1] and Rutar et al. [2] is well modeled for NOx and CO assuming a single PSR for Damköhler number below 0.15. Under these conditions, the estimates of flame thickness indicate the flame zone, that is, the region of rapid oxidation and large concentrations of free radicals, fully fills the HP-JSR. For Damköhler number above 0.15, that is, for longer residence times, the NOx and CO are well modeled assuming two PSRs in series, representing a small flame zone followed by a large post-flame zone. The multi-jet reactor of Bengtsson [3] and Bengtsson et al. [4] is well modeled assuming a large PSR (over 88% of the reactor volume) followed by a short PFR, which accounts for the exit region of the HP-JSR and the short section of exhaust prior to the sampling point. The Damköhler number is estimated between 0.01 and 0.03. Our modeling shows the NOx formation pathway contributions. Although all pathways, including Zeldovich (under the influence of super-equilibrium O-atom), nitrous oxide, Fenimore prompt, and NNH, contribute to the total NOx predicted, of special note are the following findings: 1) NOx formed by the nitrous oxide pathway is significant throughout the conditions studied; and 2) NOx formed by the Fenimore prompt pathway is significant when the fuel-air equivalence ratio is greater than about 0.7 (as might occur in a piloted lean-premixed combustor) or when the residence time of the flame zone is very short. The latter effect is a consequence of the short lifetime of the CH radical in flames.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Nicol ◽  
R. C. Steele ◽  
N. M. Marinov ◽  
P. C. Malte

This study addresses the importance of the different chemical pathways responsible for NOx formation in lean-premixed combustion, and especially the role of the nitrous oxide pathway relative to the traditional Zeldovich pathway. NOx formation is modeled and computed over a range of operating conditions for the lean-premixed primary zone of gas turbine engine combustors. The primary zone, of uniform fuel-air ratio, is modeled as a micromixed well-stirred reactor, representing the flame zone, followed by a series of plug flow reactors, representing the postflame zone. The fuel is methane. The fuel–air equivalence ratio is varied from 0.5 to 0.7.The chemical reactor model permits study of the three pathways by which NOx forms, which are the Zeldovich, nitrous oxide, and prompt pathways. Modeling is also performed for the well-stirred reactor alone. Three recently published, complete chemical kinetic mechanisms for the C1–C2 hydrocarbon oxidation and the NOx formation are applied and compared. Verification of the model is based on the comparison of its NOx output to experimental results published for atmospheric pressure jet-stirred reactors and for a 10 atm. porous-plate burner. Good agreement between the modeled results and the measurements is obtained for most of the jet-stirred reactor operating range. For the porous-plate burner, the model shows agreement to the NOx measurements within a factor of two, with close agreement occurring at the leanest and coolest cases examined. For lean-premixed combustion at gas turbine engine conditions, the nitrous oxide pathway is found to be important, though the Zeldovich pathway cannot be neglected. The prompt pathway, however, contributes small-to-negligible NOx. Whenever the NOx emission is in the 15 to 30 ppmυ (15 percent O2, dry) range, the nitrous oxide pathway is predicted to contribute 40 to 45 percent of the NOx for high-pressure engines (30 atm), and 20 to 35 percent of the NOx for intermediate pressure engines (10 atm). For conditions producing NOx of less than 10 ppmυ (15 percent O2, dry), the nitrous oxide contribution increases steeply and approaches 100 percent. For lean-premixed combustion in the atmospheric pressure jet-stirred reactors, different behavior is found. All three pathways contribute; none can be dismissed. No universal behavior is found for the pressure dependence of the NOx. It does appear, however, that lean-premixed combustors operated in the vicinity of 10 atm have a relatively weak pressure dependence, whereas combustors operated in the vicinity of 30 atm have an approximately square root pressure dependence of the NOx.


Author(s):  
Shazib Z. Vijlee ◽  
John C. Kramlich ◽  
Ann M. Mescher ◽  
Scott D. Stouffer ◽  
Alanna R. O’Neil-Abels

The use of alternative/synthetic fuels in jet engines requires improved understanding and prediction of the performance envelopes and emissions characteristics relative to the behavior of conventional fuels. In this study, experiments in a toroidal well-stirred reactor (TWSR) are used to study lean premixed combustion temperature and extinction behavior for several fuels including simple alkanes, synthetic jet fuels, and conventional JP8. A perfectly stirred reactor (PSR) model is used to interpret the observed behavior. The first portion of the study deals with jet fuels and synthetic jet fuels with varying concentrations of added aromatic compounds. Synthetic fuels contain little or no natural aromatic species, so aromatic compounds are added to the fuel because fuel system seals require these species to function properly. The liquid fuels are prevaporized and premixed before being burned in the TWSR. Air flow is held constant to keep the reactor loading roughly constant. Temperature is monitored inside the reactor as the fuel flow rate is slowly lowered until extinction occurs. The extinction point is defined by both its equivalence ratio and temperature. The measured blowout point is very similar for all four synthetic fuels and the baseline JP8 at aromatic concentrations of up to 20% by volume. Since blowout is essentially the same for all the base fuels at low aromatic concentrations, a single fuel was used to test the effect of aromatic concentrations from 0 to 100%. PSR models of these complex fuels show the expected result that behavior diverges from an ideal, perfectly premixed model as the combustion approaches extinction. The second portion of this study deals with lean premixed combustion of simple gaseous alkanes (methane, ethane, and propane) in the same TWSR. These simpler fuels were tested for extinction in a similar manner to the complex fuels, and behavior was characterized similarly. Once again, PSR models show that the TWSR behaves similar to a PSR during stable combustion far from blowout, but as it approaches blowout and becomes less stable a single PSR no longer accurately describes the TWSR. This work is a step towards developing chemical reactor networks (CRNs) based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) of the simple gaseous fuels in the TWSR. Ultimately, CRNs are the only realistic way to accurately perform detailed chemical modeling of the combustion of complex liquid fuels.


1998 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1393-1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin U.M. Bengtsson ◽  
Peter Benz ◽  
Rolf Schären ◽  
Christos E. Frouzakis

Author(s):  
David G. Nicol ◽  
Philip C. Malte ◽  
Robert C. Steele

Simplified models for predicting the rate of production of NOx in lean-premixed combustion are presented. These models are based on chemical reactor modeling, and are influenced strongly by the nitrous oxide mechanism, which is an important source of NOx in lean-premixed combustion. They include 1) the minimum set of reactions required for predicting the NOx production, and 2) empirical correlations of the NOx production rate as a function of the CO concentration. The later have been developed for use in an NOx post-processor for CFD codes. Also presented are recent laboratory data, which support the chemical rates used in this study.


Author(s):  
Igor V. Novosselov ◽  
Philip C. Malte

In this paper, the development of an eight-step global chemical kinetic mechanism for methane oxidation with nitric oxide formation in lean-premixed combustion at elevated pressures is described and applied. In particular, the mechanism has been developed for use in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and chemical reactor network (CRN) simulations of combustion in lean-premixed gas turbine engines. Special attention is focused on the ability of the mechanism to predict NOx and CO exhaust emissions. Applications of the eight-step mechanism are reported in the paper, all for high-pressure, lean-premixed, methane-air (or natural gas-air) combustion. The eight steps of the mechanism are as follows: 1. Oxidation of the methane fuel to CO and H2O. 2. Oxidation of the CO to CO2. 3. Dissociation of the CO2 to CO. 4. Flame NO formation by the Zeldovich and nitrous oxide mechanisms. 5. Flame NO formation by the prompt and NNH mechanisms. 6. Post-flame NO formation by equilibrium H-atom attack on equilibrium N2O. 7. Post-flame NO formation by equilibrium O-atom attack on equilibrium N2O. 8. Post-flame Zeldovich NO formation by equilibrium O-atom attack on N2.


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