Experimental Investigations on Isothermal Swirling Flows in a Reverse Flow Annular Gas Turbine Combustor

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Sudhakar Reddy ◽  
D. N. Reddy ◽  
C. M. Vara Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Combustion Chamber ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Reverse Flow ◽  
Swirling Flows ◽  
Recirculation Region ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Swirl Number ◽  
Inlet Swirl ◽  
Annular Gas Turbine Combustor

An experimental work was carried out on confined swirling flows under non-combusting conditions in a reverse flow annular gas turbine combustor. Flow measurements with a five hole pitot probe are carried out in a flow apparatus of a geometrical configuration similar to the model of a swirl combustor. Mean flow results are obtained for different flow conditions to determine the effect of swirl on the recirculation zone and the variation of the swirl strength along the axis of the gas turbine combustion chamber. The boundaries of the recirculation region are plotted to compare the size and length of the zone with various swirlers. Minimum flow Reynolds number is required for flow recirculation; the effect of Reynolds number on determining which flow class is present for flow of interest in combustion chamber was investigated. The inlet swirl number is optimized for higher swirl strength and the inlet swirl number for which recirculation completely vanishes is also estimated.

CFD Analysis of Fuel Distribution in Concentric Swirling Flows in a Reverse Flow Gas Turbine Combustor

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Sudhakar Reddy ◽  
D. N. Reddy ◽  
C. M. Vara Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Reverse Flow ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Swirling Flows ◽  
Cfd Analysis ◽  
Fuel Injector ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Fuel Distribution ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Injection Pressures

This paper presents the results of numerical investigations of a turbulent, swirling and recirculating flow without combustion inside a reverse flow gas turbine combustor. In order to establish the characteristics of fuel distribution patterns of the fuel spray injected into swirling flows, flow fields are analyzed inside the swirl combustor for varying amount of swirl strength using a commercial CFD code fluent 6.1.22. Three Dimensional computations are performed to study the influence of the various parameters like injection pressure, flow Reynolds number and Swirl Strength on the fuel distribution patterns. The model predictions are compared against the experimental results, and its applicability over a wide range of flow conditions was investigated. It was observed from the CFD analysis, that the fuel decay along the axis is faster with low injection pressures compared to higher injection pressures. With higher Reynolds numbers the fuel patterns are spreading longer in the axial direction. The higher momentum of the air impedes the radial mixing and increases the constraint on the jet spread. The results reveal that an increase in swirl enhances the mixing rate of the fuel and air and causes recirculation to be more pronounced and to occur away form the fuel injector. The CFD predictions are compared with the experimental data from the phototransistor probe measurements, and good agreement has been achieved.

Numerical and Experimental Investigations for Flow Fields Under Non-Reacting and Reacting Conditions Through a Lean Premixed Fuel Nozzle

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep Kedukodi ◽  
Suhyeon Park ◽  
Siddhartha Gadiraju ◽  
Srinath Ekkad ◽  
Yong Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Turbulence Model ◽  
Jet Impingement ◽  
Flow Fields ◽  
Recirculation Region ◽  
Strong Base ◽  
Lean Premixed ◽  
Inlet Swirl ◽  
Fuel Nozzle

Numerical methods coupled with experimental benchmarking approaches, are typically used as effective tools for solving engineering problems due to their significant time saving benefits. In this paper, the swirling flow through an industrial lean-premixed fuel nozzle as used in actual gas turbine combustors is numerically analyzed and compared with experimental observations. The analysis is performed under both non-reacting and reacting conditions for a specific Reynolds number. The reacting experiments were performed using compressed methane as the fuel and air as the oxidizer. A specific inlet Reynolds number flow was studied to understand the combustor flow field with an overall equivalence ratio of 0.65 and 6% pilot fuel. Steady state simulations were performed using Fluent solver using Realizable k-ε turbulence model. The reacting flow was simulated using Flamelet Generation Manifold (FGM) model to simulate partially premixed combustion. The non-reacting simulations predicted the combustor flow profiles with certain deviation from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) data within the central recirculation region. This deviation may be attributed to the inherent limitations of turbulence model in predicting the central vortex accurately. However, the simulated flow fields were in very good agreement with PIV data under reacting conditions. Additionally, the study was also extended to investigate the sensitivity of inlet swirl on the jet impingement location along the combustor wall. It was found that reaction significantly modifies the jet impingement location for lower inlet swirl angles and showed negligible impact under non-reacting conditions. The presented studies in this paper provide a comprehensive summary of modified flow features under non-reacting and reacting conditions and also demonstrates the sensitivity of inlet swirl changes on the location of liner wall impingement. This study is believed to offer a strong base for future studies involving heat transfer characterization along the combustor walls under reacting conditions; and also provide valuable information to the gas turbine combustor design community towards improved liner wall designs using simplistic numerical modeling approaches.

Towards the Multiobjective Optimisation of Gas Turbine Combustors

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Wyse ◽  
G. T. Parks ◽  
R. S. Cant
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Tabu Search ◽  
Combustion Chamber ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Design Space ◽  
Objective Functions ◽  
Multiobjective Optimisation ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Linear Network ◽  
Good Design

Gas turbine combustor design entails multiple, and often contradictory, requirements for the designer to consider. Multiobjective optimisation on a low-fidelity linear-network-based code is suggested as a way of investigating the design space. The ability of the Tabu Search optimiser to minimise NOx and CO, as well as several acoustic objective functions, is investigated, and the resulting “good” design vectors presented. An analysis of the importance of the flame transfer function in the model is also given. The mass flow and the combustion chamber width and area are shown to be very important. The length of the plenum and the widths of the plenum exit and combustor exit also influence the design space.

Influence of fuel volatility on combustion and emission characteristics in a gas turbine combustor at different inlet pressures and swirl conditions

2002 ◽  
Vol 216 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Y. Sharma ◽  
S. K. Som
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Combustion Efficiency ◽  
Inlet Pressure ◽  
Emission Characteristics ◽  
Spray Parameters ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Spray Cone ◽  
Emission Level ◽  
Inlet Swirl

The practical challenges in research in the field of gas turbine combustion mainly centre around a clean emission, a low liner wall temperature and a desirable exit temperature distribution for turboma-chinery applications, along with fuel economy of the combustion process. An attempt has been made in the present paper to develop a computational model based on stochastic separated flow analysis of typical diffusion-controlled spray combustion of liquid fuel in a gas turbine combustor to study the influence of fuel volatility at different combustor pressures and inlet swirls on combustion and emission characteristics. A κ-ɛ model with wall function treatment for the near-wall region has been adopted for the solution of conservation equations in gas phase. The initial spray parameters are specified by a suitable probability distribution function (PDF) size distribution and a given spray cone angle. A radiation model for the gas phase, based on the first-order moment method, has been adopted in consideration of the gas phase as a grey absorbing-emitting medium. The formation of thermal NO x as a post-combustion reaction process is determined from the Zeldovich mechanism. It has been recognized from the present work that an increase in fuel volatility increases combustion efficiency only at higher pressures. For a given fuel, an increase in combustor pressure, at a constant inlet temperature, always reduces the combustion efficiency, while the influence of inlet swirl is found to decrease the combustion efficiency only at higher pressure. The influence of inlet pressure on pattern factor is contrasting in nature for fuels with lower and higher volatilities. For a higher-volatility fuel, a reduction in inlet pressure decreases the value of the pattern factor, while the trend is exactly the opposite in the case of fuels with lower volatilities. The NOx emission level increases with decrease in fuel volatility at all combustor pressures and inlet swirls. For a given fuel, the NOx emission level decreases with a reduction in combustor pressure and an increase in inlet swirl number.

Effect of Prediffuser Angle on the Static Pressure Recovery in Flow Through Casing-Liner Annulus of a Gas Turbine Combustor at Various Swirl Levels

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prakash Ghose ◽  
Amitava Datta ◽  
Achintya Mukhopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Static Pressure ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Pressure Recovery ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Pressure Losses ◽  
Pressure Distributions ◽  
Inlet Swirl ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
The Ideal

A numerical study has been performed in an axisymmetric diffuser followed by a casing-liner annulus of a typical gas turbine combustor to analyze the flow structure and pressure recovery in the geometry. Static pressure recovery in a gas turbine combustor is important to ensure high pressure of air around the liner. However, the irreversible pressure losses reduce the static pressure recovery from the ideal value. The presence of swirl in the flow from compressor and prediffuser geometry before the dump diffuser influences the flow pattern significantly. In this study, flow structures are numerically predicted with different prediffuser angles and inlet swirl levels for different dump gaps. Streamline distributions and pressure plots on the casing and liner walls are analyzed. Static pressure recovery coefficients are obtained from the pressure distributions across the combustor. The effect of dump gap on the static pressure recovery has also been evaluated. It is observed that the best static pressure recovery can be obtained at optimum values of inlet swirl level and prediffuser angle. Dump gap is found to have significant influence on the static pressure recovery only at small prediffuser angle.

Bioethanol Combustion in an Industrial Gas Turbine Combustor: Simulations and Experiments

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost L. H. P. Sallevelt ◽  
Artur K. Pozarlik ◽  
Martin Beran ◽  
Lars-Uno Axelsson ◽  
Gerrit Brem
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Model Comparison ◽  
Reverse Flow ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Fuel Spray ◽  
Exhaust Gas ◽  
Gas Temperature ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Diffusion Type ◽  
Flamelet Model

Combustion tests with bioethanol and diesel as a reference have been performed in OPRA's 2 MWe class OP16 gas turbine combustor. The main purposes of this work are to investigate the combustion quality of ethanol with respect to diesel and to validate the developed CFD model for ethanol spray combustion. The experimental investigation has been conducted in a modified OP16 gas turbine combustor, which is a reverse-flow tubular combustor of the diffusion type. Bioethanol and diesel burning experiments have been performed at atmospheric pressure with a thermal input ranging from 29 to 59 kW. Exhaust gas temperature and emissions (CO, CO2, O2, NOx) were measured at various fuel flow rates while keeping the air flow rate and air temperature constant. In addition, the temperature profile of the combustor liner has been determined by applying thermochromic paint. CFD simulations have been performed with ethanol for five different operating conditions using ANSYS FLUENT. The simulations are based on a 3D RANS code. Fuel droplets representing the fuel spray are tracked throughout the domain while they interact with the gas phase. A liner temperature measurement has been used to account for heat transfer through the flame tube wall. Detailed combustion chemistry is included by using the steady laminar flamelet model. Comparison between diesel and bioethanol burning tests show similar CO emissions, but NOx concentrations are lower for bioethanol. The CFD results for CO2 and O2 are in good agreement, proving the overall integrity of the model. NOx concentrations were found to be in fair agreement, but the model failed to predict CO levels in the exhaust gas. Simulations of the fuel spray suggest that some liner wetting might have occurred. However, this finding could not be clearly confirmed by the test data.

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