Evaluation of Two Measurement Techniques to Quantify Fuel-Air Mixing of a Gas Turbine Pre-Mixer at Atmospheric Conditions

Author(s):  
Wessam Estefanos ◽  
Umesh Bhayaraju ◽  
Mahmoud Hamza ◽  
San-Mou Jeng

In the present study, two measurement techniques are adopted to evaluate the fuel-air mixing under atmospheric conditions using an industrial fuel-air pre-mixer. These techniques are CO2 mixing and Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) in water. In these techniques, CO2 and fluorescent dye are injected as fuel simulants. CO2 measurements are used to validate PLIF in water. In the CO2 technique, CO2 concentrations are converted to fuel mass fractions whereas, in the PLIF technique, a modified post processing method is used to convert the LIF signal into fuel mass fraction. The experiments are conducted at the same Reynolds number and momentum flux ratio for two injection strategies. To study the effect of the flow aerodynamics on the mixing results, high speed PIV measurements are conducted in water at the same Reynolds number. A comparison of fuel concentrations measured with the CO2 and PLIF techniques shows good quantitative agreement at all momentum flux ratios. However, deviations between the two techniques are observed at high fuel concentration gradients. The unsteady mixing is evaluated using PLIF technique with high temporal resolution. Analysis of PIV and PLIF data shows that unsteady mixing is lower at regions of high fluctuations in velocity. Moreover, it is found that there is high unsteady mixing at locations where there is high concentration gradient.

Author(s):  
Wessam Estefanos ◽  
Mahmoud Hamza ◽  
Umesh Bhayaraju ◽  
San-Mou Jeng

In the present study, two measurement techniques are adopted to evaluate the fuel–air mixing under atmospheric conditions using an industrial fuel–air premixer. These techniques are CO2 mixing and planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) in water. In these techniques, CO2 and fluorescent dye are injected as fuel simulants. CO2 measurements are used to validate PLIF in water. In the CO2 technique, CO2 concentrations are converted to fuel mass fractions, whereas in the PLIF technique, a modified post processing method is used to convert the LIF signal into fuel mass fraction. The experiments are conducted at the same Reynolds number and momentum flux ratio for two injection strategies. To study the effect of the flow aerodynamics on the mixing results, high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are conducted in water at the same Reynolds number. A comparison of fuel concentrations measured with the CO2 and PLIF techniques shows good quantitative agreement at all momentum flux ratios. However, deviations between the two techniques are observed at locations of high fuel concentration gradients. The unsteady mixing is evaluated using the PLIF technique with high temporal resolution. Analysis of PIV and PLIF data shows that unsteady mixing is lower at regions of high fluctuations in velocity. Moreover, it is found that there is high unsteady mixing at locations of high concentration gradient.


Author(s):  
Tushar Sikroria ◽  
Abhijit Kushari

Abstract This paper presents the experimental analysis of the impact of swirl number of cross-flowing air stream on liquid jet spray trajectory at a fixed air flow velocity of 42 m/s with the corresponding Mach number of 0.12. The experiments were conducted for 4 different swirl numbers (0, 0.2, 0.42 and 0.73) using swirl vanes at air inlet having angles of 0°, 15°, 30° and 45° respectively. Liquid to air momentum flux ratio (q) was varied from 5 to 25. High speed (@ 500 fps) images of the spray were captured and those images were processed using MATLAB to obtain the path of the spray at various momentum flux ratios. The results show interesting trends for the spray trajectory and the jet spread in swirling air flow. High swirling flows not only lead to spray with lower radial penetration due to sharp bending and disintegration of liquid jet, but also result in spray with high jet spread and spray area. Based on the results, correlations for the spray path have been proposed which incorporates the effects of the swirl number of the air flow.


Author(s):  
Tushar Sikroria ◽  
Abhijit Kushari ◽  
Saadat Syed ◽  
Jeffery A. Lovett

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of liquid jet breakup in a cross flow of air under the influence of swirl (swirl numbers 0 and 0.2) at a fixed air flow Mach number 0.12 (typical gas turbine conditions). The experiments have been conducted for various liquid to air momentum flux ratios (q) in the range of 1 to 25. High speed (@ 500 fps) images of the jet breakup process are captured and those images are processed using matlab to obtain the variation of breakup length and penetration height with momentum flux ratio. Using the high speed images, an attempt has been made to understand the physics of the jet breakup process by identification of breakup modes—bag breakup, column breakup, shear breakup, and surface breakup. The results show unique breakup and penetration behavior which departs from the continuous correlations typically used. Furthermore, the images show a substantial spatial fluctuation of the emerging jet resulting in a wavy nature related to effects of instability waves. The results with 15 deg swirl show reduced breakup length and penetration related to the nonuniform distribution of velocity that offers enhanced fuel atomization in swirling fuel nozzles.


Author(s):  
Umesh Bhayaraju ◽  
Mahmoud Hamza ◽  
San-Mou Jeng

The Combustion and Fire Research Laboratory (CFRL) at the University of Cincinnati (UC) is working on the development of advanced next generation injectors for DLN combustors. Several inputs were received from the project partners during the development phase. In the present paper, developmental work on two novel injectors with Porous Injection Technology (PIT) is presented. The technology has the potential to reduce NOx emissions to single digit PPM level with a stable combustion across wide range of load conditions. One of the key factors that are essential for lowering NOx levels is the efficient mixing of fuel-air in both spatial and temporal domains. The porous injection technology has the potential to reduce the spatial and temporal gradients to a minimum. In the present paper, two measurement techniques were used to evaluate the fuel-air mixing under atmospheric conditions. The CO2 mixing technique was used to quantify the spatial variations in the fuel mass fraction. Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) was used to obtain both spatial and temporal fuel mass fractions. The CO2 mixing measurements were used to validate the PLIF data for quantification. The RMS fluctuations in spatial and temporal domains were quantified from PLIF data. The combustion experiments were carried out at atmospheric pressure with a preheated temperature of air of 500–650 K and equivalence ratio of 0.5–0.8. The pressure drop across the injector was 4%. Natural gas with 90% methane and 9% ethane was used as fuel. The results show a stable flame for both injectors without combustion instabilities. Both injectors show low NOx levels. For conventional swirl stabilized design with PIT, the NOx levels were of the order of 1.5 ppm at the firing temperature of 1866 K whereas for the novel micromixer design, the NOx levels were of the order of 4 ppm @ ∼1866 K.


Author(s):  
Stefan Bauer ◽  
Simon Bäßler ◽  
Balbina Hampel ◽  
Christoph Hirsch ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer

The application of vortex generator premixers (VGPs) is particularly challenging for highly reactive fuels in recuperated gas turbines, because high combustor inlet temperature leads to a potential risk of premature self-ignition and flame flashback. As current knowledge does not extend to the temperature range far above the self-ignition temperature, an experimental investigation of the operational limits of VGPs is conducted at the Thermodynamics Institute of the Technical University of Munich. The study is particularly focused on highly reactive fuels and the thermodynamic conditions present in recuperated gas turbines with pressure ratios of 4–5. The present study is focuses on fuel-air mixing at the corresponding high air temperatures. A fuel-air mixing device is required to achieve sufficient mixing quality without excessive premixer length. Vortex generators are known to be effective in augmenting the distribution of fuel injected from the tube wall over the cross section of the tube. In the range of typical gas turbine combustor inlet temperatures, the performance of VGPs has already been investigated for methane as well as for hydrogen-methane blends. The limits of operating a VGP under auto-ignition relevant conditions were presented in a previous study. In this study, the VGP’s mixture quality under these conditions is experimentally investigated. For this purpose, the existing test rig has been modified to conduct high speed PIV and MixPIV measurements. Measurements at different positions inside and downstream of the injector have been performed. Two other mixer types in addition to the VGP are investigated to determine the influence of mixture quality on auto-ignition behavior in a future study and to validate MixPIV measurements. The influence of the momentum flux ratio on mixture quality is presented for the three mixer types. Comparison shows that the VGP exhibits significantly better mixture homogeneity at the mixer exit than do the two other mixer types.


Author(s):  
Yosef Rezaei ◽  
Mehran Tadjfar

An experimental investigation was performed to study the physics of liquid jets injected into a low subsonic crossflow. The jets are issued from elliptical and circular injectors with equivalent exit area. The liquid jet was visualized using shadowgraph technique and a high speed camera was used to record the instantaneous status of the jet. The liquid / air momentum flux ratio and air Weber number were varied to examine their effects on different parameters of the flow like liquid jet column trajectory, breakup point and breakup regimes. The major axis of the elliptical nozzle was aligned parallel and perpendicular to the air crossflow direction. Two different breakup modes were observed, column breakup and bag breakup. Based on the obtained results some characteristics of injected liquid jets into the air crossflow such as penetration depth and the trajectory of liquid jet were affected by changing the nozzle exit shape.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Becker ◽  
C. Hassa

Fuel placement and air-fuel mixing in a generic aeroengine premix module employing plain jet liquid fuel injection into a counter-swirling double-annular crossflow were investigated at different values of air inlet pressure (6 bar, 700 K and 12 bar, 700 K) and liquid-to-air momentum flux ratio, both parameters being a function of engine power. Kerosene Jet A-1 was used as liquid fuel. Measurement techniques included LDA for investigation of the airflow and Mie-scattering laser light sheets and PDA for investigation of the two-phase flow. Measurements were taken at various axial distances from the fuel nozzle equivalent to mean residence times of up to 0.47 ms. It was found that the initial fuel placement reacts very sensitively to a variation of liquid-to-air momentum flux ratio. Susceptibility of the spray to dispersion due to centrifugal forces and to turbulent mixing is primarily a function of the fuel droplet diameters, which in turn depend on operating pressure. The data are interpreted by evaluation of the corresponding Stokes numbers.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1070-1072 ◽  
pp. 1945-1950
Author(s):  
Pei Feng Liu ◽  
Yong Huang ◽  
Zhi Lin Liu ◽  
Lei Sun

An experiment was conducted to investigate bag breakup process of round liquid jets in crossflow. The objective of this study is to research pulsation law. Specifically, this study measures the onset position of bag, the breakup position of bag, the breakup position of the jet. High-speed camera was used to observe the formation and breakup of bags. The diameter of the nozzle used in the experiment was 0.5mm, 0.8mm, 1mm. The test liquid was tap water. Wea number covers the range of 6~30, and liquid-to-air momentum flux ratio varied from 22 to 211. Present results indicate that in the direction perpendicular to the gas flow, the dimensionless pulsating amount of the onset point of bags (yonset/d) is linear to q, while the dimensionless pulsating amount of breakup point of bags (ybag/d) and the dimensionless pulsating amount of breakup point of the jet (yjet/d) is linear to ln (q). The dimensionless pulsating amount of these points in the direction of gas flow is irregular.


Author(s):  
Julian Becker ◽  
Christoph Hassa

Fuel placement and air-fuel mixing in a generic aeroengine premix module employing plain jet liquid fuel injection into a counter-swirling double-annular crossflow were investigated at different values of air inlet pressure (6 bar, 700 K and 12 bar, 700 K) and liquid-to-air momentum flux ratio, both parameters being a function of engine power. Kerosene Jet A-1 was used as liquid fuel. Measurement techniques included LDA for investigation of the airflow and Mie-scattering laser light sheets and PDA for investigation of the two-phase flow. Measurements were taken at various axial distances from the fuel nozzle equivalent to mean residence times of up to 0.47 ms. It was found that the initial fuel placement reacts very sensitively to a variation of liquid-to-air momentum flux ratio. Susceptibility of the spray to dispersion due to centrifugal forces and to turbulent mixing is primarily a function of the fuel droplet diameters, which in turn depend on operating pressure. The data are interpreted by evaluation of the corresponding Stokes numbers.


Author(s):  
Tushar Sikroria ◽  
Abhijit Kushari ◽  
Saadat Syed ◽  
Jeffery A. Lovett

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of liquid jet breakup in a cross-flow of air under the influence of swirl (swirl numbers 0 and 0.2) at a fixed air flow Mach No. 0.12 (typical gas turbine conditions). The experiments have been conducted for various liquid to air momentum flux ratios (q) in the range of 1 to 25. High speed (@ 500 fps) images of the jet breakup process are captured and those images are processed using MATLAB to obtain the variation of breakup length and penetration height with momentum flux ratio. Using the high speed images, an attempt has been made to understand the physics of the jet breakup process by identification of breakup modes — bag breakup, column breakup, shear breakup and surface breakup. The results show unique breakup and penetration behavior which departs from the continuous correlations typically used. Furthermore, the images show a substantial spatial fluctuation of the emerging jet resulting in a wavy nature related to effects of instability waves. The results with 15° swirl show reduced breakup length and penetration related to the non-uniform distribution of velocity that offers enhanced fuel atomization in swirling fuel nozzles.


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