Experimental Investigation of the Influence of Water Injection on Acoustic Properties of the Exhaust System of a Gas Turbine Combustion Test Rig

Author(s):  
Martin Schmid ◽  
Natalie Trott ◽  
Robert Kathan ◽  
Dan Fanaca ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer

It is a known phenomenon that single can combustion test rigs and gas turbines have a different stability behavior. Real gas turbines are often more stable than their test rigs. One main difference between test rigs and real engines is the injection of cooling water into the test rigs to reduce the temperature of the exhaust gas and thus to protect the exhaust valve. A literature survey showed that the presence of a two phase flow can drastically reduce the sonic velocity and consequently change the acoustic properties of a system. The aim of this project is to study the influence of water injection on the acoustic properties of a test rig representing the exhaust system of a gas turbine. The experimental results clearly show that the sonic velocity does not change in the present test rig because the droplets are too big to follow the acoustic fluctuations. The critical dimension-less number in this context is the Stokes number, which is mainly determined by the droplet diameter and the acoustic frequency. Furthermore, the experimental results point out that the injected water increases the acoustic damping. It can be concluded from this study that the influence of water injection on the acoustic properties and therefore on the stability behavior is very sensitive to the injection conditions, especially the droplet diameter.

Author(s):  
S. Clauss ◽  
J. P. Schnitzler ◽  
B. Barabas ◽  
P. S. Nagabhushan ◽  
F. K. Benra ◽  
...  

The efficiency of gas turbine cycles can be enhanced by many applications and combinations according to the choice of the thermodynamic cycle. Gas turbine cycles which operate with humid air and water injection at different locations of the compressor are in the focus of present thermodynamic analysis and experimental research. Reasoned by their high potential in efficiency and power output augmentation, they have been implemented on many industrial gas turbines. The evaporation process of water droplets, especially at high temperature and pressure levels has been recently investigated with the laser based measurement technique Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA) in detail in a stationary test rig at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The focus of these investigations was on the analysis of the evaporation process in a free stream or cross flow without droplet wall interaction [1–5]. In this paper the development of a novel four stage axial compressor test rig which is designed for water injection will be introduced and results of numerical investigations will be presented. This test rig has been designed to adopt the results from the stationary test rig to a real compressor. The first part of the paper deals with the mechanical and aerothermodynamic design of the test rig. Certain design parameters, the optical access for the PDPA measurements and a comparison between numerical and experimental results without water injection are outlined. In the second part of the paper, first comparative results from numerical investigations of the compressor performance in dry and wet compression operating conditions are presented. Furthermore, numerical results for droplet wall interaction in the four stage axial compressor are shown. This analysis outlines the need for further experimental research in the future to validate numerical methods with accurate droplet wall interaction behavior in turbomachines.


Author(s):  
Jie Gao ◽  
Feng Lin ◽  
Xiying Niu ◽  
Qun Zheng ◽  
Guoqiang Yue ◽  
...  

The marine gas turbine exhaust volute is an important component that connects a power turbine and an exhaust system, and it is of great importance to the overall performance of the gas turbine. Gases exhausted from the power turbine are expanded and deflected 90 degrees in the exhaust volute, and then discharge radially into the exhaust system. The flows in the power turbine and the nonaxisymmetric exhaust volute are closely coupled and inherently unsteady. The flow interactions between the power turbine and the exhaust volute have a significant influence on the shrouded rotor blade aerodynamic forces. However, the interactions have not been taken into account properly in current power turbine design approaches. The present study aims to investigate the flow interactions between the last stage of a shrouded power turbine and the nonaxisymmetric exhaust volute with struts. Special attention is given to the coupled aerodynamics and pressure response studies. This work was carried out using coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with the computational domain including a stator vane, 76 shrouded rotor blades, 9 struts and an exhaust volute. Three-dimensional (3D) unsteady and steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions in conjunction with a Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model are utilized to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of shrouded rotors and an exhaust volute using a commercial CFD software ANSYS Fluent 14.0. The asymmetric flow fields are analyzed in detail; as are the unsteady pressures on the shrouded rotor blade. In addition, the unsteady total pressures at the volute outlet is also analyzed without consideration of the upstream turbine effects. Results show that the flows in the nonaxisymmetric exhaust volute are inherently unsteady; for the studied turbine-exhaust configuration the nonaxisymmetric back-pressure induced by the downstream volute leads to the local flow varying for each shrouded blade and low frequency fluctuations in the blade force. Detailed results from this investigation are presented and discussed in this paper.


Author(s):  
Dieter Bohn ◽  
James F. Willie ◽  
Nils Ohlendorf

Lean gas turbine combustion instability and control is currently a subject of interest for many researchers. The motivation for running gas turbines lean is to reduce NOx emissions. For this reason gas turbine combustors are being design using the Lean Premixed Prevaporized (LPP) concept. In this concept, the liquid fuel must first be atomized, vaporized and thoroughly premixed with the oxidizer before it enters the combustion chamber. One problem that is associated with running gas turbines lean and premixed is that they are prone to combustion instability. The matrix burner test rig at the Institute of Steam and Gas Turbines at the RWTH Aachen University is no exception. This matrix burner is suitable for simulating the conditions prevailing in stationary gas turbines. Till now this burner could handle only gaseous fuel injection. It is important for gas turbines in operation to be able to handle both gaseous and liquid fuels though. This paper reports the modification of this test rig in order for it to be able to handle both gaseous and liquid primary fuels. Many design issues like the number and position of injectors, the spray angle, nozzle type, droplet size distribution, etc. were considered. Starting with the determination of the spray cone angle from measurements, CFD was used in the initial design to determine the optimum position and number of injectors from cold flow simulations. This was followed by hot flow simulations to determine the dynamic behavior of the flame first without any forcing at the air inlet and with forcing at the air inlet. The effect of the forcing on the atomization is determined and discussed.


Author(s):  
Xueyou Wen ◽  
Jiguo Zou ◽  
Zheng Fu ◽  
Shikang Yu ◽  
Lingbo Li

Steam-injected gas turbines have a multitude of advantages, but they suffer from the inability to recover precious demineralized water. The present paper describes the test conditions and results of steam injection along with an attempt to achieve water recovery, which were obtained through a series of tests conducted on a S1A-02 small-sized industrial gas turbine. A water recovery device incorporating a compact finned spiral plate cooling condenser equipped with filter screens has been designed for the said gas turbine and a 100% water recovery (based on the design point) was attained.


Author(s):  
R. A. Wenglarz ◽  
C. Wilkes ◽  
R. C. Bourke ◽  
H. C. Mongia

This paper describes the first test of an industrial gas turbine and low emissions combustion system on coal-water-slurry fuel. The engine and combustion system have been developed over the past five years as part of the Heat Engines program sponsored by the Morgantown Energy Technology Center of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The engine is a modified Allison 501-K industrial gas turbine designed to produce 3.5 MW of electrical power when burning natural gas or distillate fuel. Full load power output increases to approximately 4.9 MW when burning coal-water slurry as a result of additional turbine mass flow rate. The engine has been modified to accept an external staged combustion system developed specifically for burning coal and low quality ash-bearing fuels. Combustion staging permits the control of NOx from fuel-bound nitrogen while simultaneously controlling CO emissions. Water injection freezes molten ash in the quench zone located between the rich and lean zones. The dry ash is removed from the hot gas stream by two parallel cyclone separators. This paper describes the engine and combustor system modifications required for running on coal and presents the emissions and turbine performance data from the coal-water slurry testing. Included is a discussion of hot gas path ash deposition and planned future work that will support the commercialization of coal-fired gas turbines.


Author(s):  
Klaus Brun ◽  
Rainer Kurz ◽  
Harold R. Simmons

Gas turbine power enhancement technologies such as inlet fogging, interstage water injection, saturation cooling, inlet chillers, and combustor injection are being employed by end-users without evaluating the potentially negative effects these devices may have on the operational integrity of the gas turbine. Particularly, the effect of these add-on devices, off-design operating conditions, non-standard fuels, and compressor degradation/fouling on the gas turbine’s axial compressor surge margin and aerodynamic stability is often overlooked. Nonetheless, compressor aerodynamic instabilities caused by these factors can be directly linked to blade high-cycle fatigue and subsequent catastrophic gas turbine failure; i.e., a careful analysis should always proceed the application of power enhancement devices, especially if the gas turbine is operated at extreme conditions, uses older internal parts that are degraded and weakened, or uses non-standard fuels. This paper discusses a simplified method to evaluate the principal factors that affect the aerodynamic stability of a single shaft gas turbine’s axial compressor. As an example, the method is applied to a frame type gas turbine and results are presented. These results show that inlet cooling alone will not cause gas turbine aerodynamic instabilities but that it can be a contributing factor if for other reasons the machine’s surge margin is already slim. The approach described herein can be employed to identify high-risk applications and bound the gas turbine operating regions to limit the risk of blade life reducing aerodynamic instability and potential catastrophic failure.


Author(s):  
Martin Hauser ◽  
Manuel Lorenz ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer

Modern large gas turbines for power generation have multiple burners, which are distributed around the circumference of the engine and which generate flames in combustors of either annular or can-annular geometry. In both cases, considering only the axial modes has proven to be insufficient for the assessment of the thermoacoustic stability. An adequate analysis requires consideration of the circumferential acoustic coupling generated by the acoustic field in the upstream and downstream annuli and the open passages between the cans, respectively. As in annular combustors, the particularly critical eigenmodes with low frequencies are predominantly of circumferential nature; the stability of annular combustors is often governed by the onset of circumferential acoustic oscillations. To determine the influence of these circumferential acoustic modes on the dynamic flame behavior, a new single burner test rig was developed. The unique acoustic properties of the test rig allow the exposure of a single swirl burner to a two-dimensional acoustic field that resembles the circumferential mode in an annular combustor. Measurements were performed for axial as well as transversal excitation of the burner and the combination of both. To investigate the dynamic flame structure, phase-resolved flame images have been evaluated in terms of amplitude and phase distribution. Under transversal excitation, the flame structure becomes highly asymmetrical. A region of higher OH∗ intensity is generated in the combustion chamber, which rotates with the excitation frequency. From phase-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the isothermal flow, it is concluded that the transversal excitation modulates the swirl generation leading to an asymmetrical velocity distribution in the burner nozzle and the combustion chamber.


Author(s):  
Takane Itoh ◽  
Hidetomo Kimura

Under the ongoing seven-year program, designated “Research and Development of Automotive Ceramic Gas Turbine Engine (CGT Program)”, started in June 1990. Japan Automobile Research Institute. Inc. (JARI) is continuing to address the issues of developing and demonstrating the advantageous potentials of ceramic gas turbines for automotive use. This program has been conducted by the Petroleum Energy Center (PEC) with the financial support of MITI. The basic engine is a 100 kW, single-shaft regenerative engine having a turbine inlet temperature of 1350°C and a rotor speed of 110,000 rpm. In the third year of this program, the experimental evaluation of the individual engine components and various assembly tests in a static thermal test rig were continued. Exhaust emissions were also measured in a performance test rig for an initially designed pre-mixed, pre-vaporized lean (PPL) combustor. A maximum speed of 130,700 rpm was obtained during hot spin tests of delivered ceramic turbine rotors, which was almost the same level as during cold spin tests. A dynamic thermal test including a centrifugal compressor, a ceramic radial turbine rotor and all the ceramic stationary hot parts was initiated.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Benoit ◽  
Charles Ellis ◽  
Joseph Cook

The search for power plant sustainability options continues as regulating agencies exert more stringent industrial gas turbine emission requirements on operators. Purchasing power for resale, de-comissioning current capabilities altogether and repowering by replacing or converting existing equipment to comply with emissions standards are economic-driven options contemplated by many mature gas turbine operators. One Las Vegas Nevada, USA operator, NV Energy, with four (4) natural gas fired W501B6 Combined Cycle units at their Edward W. Clark Generating Station, was in this situation in 2006. The units, originally configured with diffusion flame combustion systems, were permitted at 103 ppm NOx with regulatory mandates to significantly reduce NOx emissions to below 5ppm by the end of 2009. Studies were conducted by the operator to evaluate the economic viability of using a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system, which would have forced significant modifications to the exhaust system and heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), or convert the turbines to operate with dry low-emissions combustion systems. Based on life cycle cost and installation complexity, the ultra-low emission combustion system was selected. This technical paper focuses on a short summary of the end user considerations in downselecting options, the ultra low emissions technology and key features employed to achieve these low emissions, an overview of the conversion scope and a review and description of the control technology employed. Finally, a technical discussion of the low emissions operational flexibility will be provided including performance results of the converted units.


1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-85
Author(s):  
F. Fleischer ◽  
C. Koerner ◽  
J. Mann

Following repeated cases of damage caused to exhaust silencers located directly beyond gas turbine diffusers, this paper reports on investigations carried out to determine possible remedies. In all instances, an uneven exhaust gas flow distribution was found. The company’s innovative approach to the problem involved constructing a scale model of a complete gas turbine exhaust system and using it for flow simulation purposes. It was established for the first time that, subject to certain conditions, the results of tests conducted on a model can be applied to the actual turbine exhaust system. It is shown that when an unfavorable duct arrangement might produce an uneven exhaust flow, scale models are useful in the development of suitable flow-distributing devices.


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