Chemical Kinetic Models for Enhancing Gas Turbine Flexibility: Model Validation and Application

Author(s):  
Felix Güthe ◽  
Martin Gassner ◽  
Stefano Bernero ◽  
Thiemo Meeuwissen ◽  
Torsten Wind

In recent years, market trends towards higher power generation flexibility are driving gas turbine requirements of operation at stable conditions and below environmental emission guarantees over a wide range of operating conditions, such as load, and for changing fuels. In order to achieve these targets, engine components and operation concept need to be optimized to minimise emissions (e.g. CO, NOx) and combustion instabilities, as well as to maximize component lifetime. Therefore the combination of field experience, experimental studies and theoretical modelling of flames with state of the art tools play a key role in enabling the development of such solutions. For many applications the relative changes of reactivity due to changes in operation conditions are important thus in this report a few examples are shown, where chemical kinetics simulations are used to determine the reactivity and to predict engine behaviour. The predicted trends are validated by correlating them to validation data from high pressure test rigs and real gas turbine operational data. With this approach the full operational range from highest reactivity (flashback) to lowest reactivity (blow out or CO emission increase) are covered. The study is focused on the sequential combustor (SEV) of reheat engines and addresses both the safety margins with respect to highly reactive fuels and achievable load flexibility with respect to part load CO emissions. The analysis shows that it is necessary to utilize updated kinetic mechanisms since older schemes have proved to be inaccurate. A version of the mechanism developed at NUI Galway in cooperation with Alstom and Texas A&M was used and the results are encouraging, since they are well in line with experimental test data and can be matched to GT conditions to determine, predict, and optimize their operational range. This example demonstrates nicely how a development over several years starting from fundamental basic research over experimental validation finally delivers a product for power plants. This report therefore validates the kinetic model in combination with the approach to use modelling for guidance of the GT development and extending it fuel capabilities. The GT24 / GT26 can not only be operated with H2 containing fuels, but also at very low part load conditions and with the integration of H2 from electrolysis (∼power to gas ∼PTG) the turndown capability can even be further improved. In this way the energy converted at low electricity prices can be stored and utilised at later times when it is advantageous to run the GT at lower loads increasing the overall flexibility. This development is well suited to integrate renewable energy at highly fluctuating availability and price to the energy provisioning by co-firing with conventional fuels.

Author(s):  
M. S. N. Murthy ◽  
Subhash Kumar ◽  
Sheshadri Sreedhara

Abstract A gas turbine engine (GT) is very complex to design and manufacture considering the power density it offers. Development of a GT is also iterative, expensive and involves a long lead time. The components of a GT, viz compressor, combustor and turbine are strongly dependent on each other for the overall performance characteristics of the GT. The range of compressor operation is dependent on the functional and safe limits of surging and choking. The turbine operating speeds are required to be matched with that of compressor for wide range of operating conditions. Due to this constrain, design for optimum possible performance is often sacrificed. Further, once catered for a design point, gas turbines offer low part load efficiencies at conditions away from design point. As a more efficient option, a GT is practically achievable in a split configuration, where the compressor and turbine rotate on different shafts independently. The compressor is driven by a variable speed electric motor. The power developed in the combustor using the compressed air from the compressor and fuel, drives the turbine. The turbine provides mechanical shaft power through a gear box if required. A drive taken from the shaft rotates an electricity generator, which provides power for the compressor’s variable speed electric motor through a power bank. Despite introducing, two additional power conversions compared to a conventional GT, this split configuration named as ‘Part Electric Gas Turbine’, has a potential for new applications and to achieve overall better efficiencies from a GT considering the poor part load characteristics of a conventional GT.


Author(s):  
E. Tsoutsanis ◽  
Y. G. Li ◽  
P. Pilidis ◽  
M. Newby

Part-load performance prediction of gas turbines is strongly dependent on detailed understanding of engine component behavior and mainly that of compressors. The accuracy of gas turbine engine models relies on the compressor performance maps, which are obtained in costly rig tests and remain manufacturer’s proprietary information. The gas turbine research community has addressed this limitation by scaling default generic compressor maps in order to match the targeted off-design measurements. This approach is efficient in small range of operating conditions but becomes less accurate for wide range of operating conditions. In this part of the paper a novel method of compressor map generation which has a primary objective to improve the accuracy of engine models performance at part load conditions is presented. This is to generate a generic form of equations to represent the lines of constant speed and constant efficiency of the compressor map for a generic compressor. The parameters that control the shape of the compressor map have been expressed in their simplest form in order to aid the adaptation process. The proposed compressor map generation method has the capacity to refine current gas turbine performance adaptation techniques, and it has been integrated into Cranfield’s PYTHIA gas turbine performance simulation and diagnostics software tool.


Author(s):  
Ranjan Saha ◽  
Jens Fridh ◽  
Torsten Fransson ◽  
Boris I. Mamaev ◽  
Mats Annerfeldt

An experimental study of the hub leading edge contouring using fillets is performed in an annular sector cascade to observe the influence of secondary flows and aerodynamic losses. The investigated vane is a three dimensional gas turbine guide vane (geometrically similar) with a mid-span aspect ratio of 0.46. The measurements are carried out on the leading edge fillet and baseline cases using pneumatic probes. Significant precautions have been taken to increase the accuracy of the measurements. The investigations are performed for a wide range of operating exit Mach numbers from 0.5 to 0.9 at a design inlet flow angle of 90°. Data presented include the loading, fields of total pressures, exit flow angles, radial flow angles, as well as profile and secondary losses. The vane has a small profile loss of approximately 2.5% and secondary loss of about 1.1%. Contour plots of vorticity distributions and velocity vectors indicate there is a small influence of the vortex-structure in endwall regions when the leading edge fillet is used. Compared to the baseline case the loss for the filleted case is lower up to 13% of span and higher from 13% to 20% of the span for a reference condition with Mach no. of 0.9. For the filleted case, there is a small increase of turning up to 15% of the span and then a small decrease up to 35% of the span. Hence, there are no significant influences on the losses and turning for the filleted case. Results lead to the conclusion that one cannot expect a noticeable effect of leading edge contouring on the aerodynamic efficiency for the investigated 1st stage vane of a modern gas turbine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhui Li ◽  
Huaxin Zhu ◽  
Min Zhu ◽  
Gang Zhao ◽  
Xiaofeng Wei

Abstract Conventional physics-based or experimental-based approaches for gas turbine combustion tuning are time consuming and cost intensive. Recent advances in data analytics provide an alternative method. In this paper, we present a cross-disciplinary study on the combustion tuning of an F-class gas turbine that combines machine learning with physics understanding. An artificial-neural-network-based (ANN) model is developed to predict the combustion performance (outputs), including NOx emissions, combustion dynamics, combustor vibrational acceleration, and turbine exhaust temperature. The inputs of the ANN model are identified by analyzing the key operating variables that impact the combustion performance, such as the pilot and the premixed fuel flow, and the inlet guide vane angle. The ANN model is trained by field data from an F-class gas turbine power plant. The trained model is able to describe the combustion performance at an acceptable accuracy in a wide range of operating conditions. In combination with the genetic algorithm, the model is applied to optimize the combustion performance of the gas turbine. Results demonstrate that the data-driven method offers a promising alternative for combustion tuning at a low cost and fast turn-around.


Author(s):  
E. Benvenuti ◽  
B. Innocenti ◽  
R. Modi

This paper outlines parameter selection criteria and major procedures used in the PGT 25 gas turbine power spool aerodynamic design; significant results of the shop full-load tests are also illustrated with reference to both overall performance and internal flow-field measurements. A major aero-design objective was established as that of achieving the highest overall performance levels possible with the matching to latest generation aero-derivative gas generators; therefore, high efficiencies were set as a target both for the design point and for a wide range of operating conditions, to optimize the turbine’s uses in mechanical drive applications. Furthermore, the design was developed to reach the performance targets in conjunction with the availability of a nominal shaft speed optimized for the direct drive of pipeline booster centrifugal compressors. The results of the full-load performance testing of the first unit, equipped with a General Electric LM 2500/30 gas generator, showed full attainment of the design objectives; a maximum overall thermal efficiency exceeding 37% at nominal rating and a wide operating flexibility with regard to both efficiency and power were demonstrated.


Author(s):  
R. Friso ◽  
N. Casari ◽  
M. Pinelli ◽  
A. Suman ◽  
F. Montomoli

Abstract Gas turbines (GT) are often forced to operate in harsh environmental conditions. Therefore, the presence of particles in their flow-path is expected. With this regard, deposition is a problem that severely affects gas turbine operation. Components’ lifetime and performance can dramatically vary as a consequence of this phenomenon. Unfortunately, the operating conditions of the machine can vary in a wide range, and they cannot be treated as deterministic. Their stochastic variations greatly affect the forecasting of life and performance of the components. In this work, the main parameters considered affected by the uncertainty are the circumferential hot core location and the turbulence level at the inlet of the domain. A stochastic analysis is used to predict the degradation of a high-pressure-turbine (HPT) nozzle due to particulate ingestion. The GT’s component analyzed as a reference is the HPT nozzle of the Energy-Efficient Engine (E3). The uncertainty quantification technique used is the probabilistic collocation method (PCM). This work shows the impact of the operating conditions uncertainties on the performance and lifetime reduction due to deposition. Sobol indices are used to identify the most important parameter and its contribution to life. The present analysis enables to build confidence intervals on the deposit profile and on the residual creep-life of the vane.


Author(s):  
Harald H. W. Funke ◽  
Nils Beckmann ◽  
Jan Keinz ◽  
Sylvester Abanteriba

Abstract The dry-low-NOx (DLN) micromix combustion technology has been developed originally as a low emission alternative for industrial gas turbine combustors fueled with hydrogen. Currently, the ongoing research process targets flexible fuel operation with hydrogen and syngas fuel. The nonpremixed combustion process features jet-in-crossflow-mixing of fuel and oxidizer and combustion through multiple miniaturized flames. The miniaturization of the flames leads to a significant reduction of NOx emissions due to the very short residence time of reactants in the flame. The paper presents the results of a numerical and experimental combustor test campaign. It is conducted as part of an integration study for a dual-fuel (H2 and H2/CO 90/10 vol %) micromix (MMX) combustion chamber prototype for application under full scale, pressurized gas turbine conditions in the auxiliary power unit Honeywell Garrett GTCP 36-300. In the presented experimental studies, the integration-optimized dual-fuel MMX combustor geometry is tested at atmospheric pressure over a range of gas turbine operating conditions with hydrogen and syngas fuel. The experimental investigations are supported by numerical combustion and flow simulations. For validation, the results of experimental exhaust gas analyses are applied. Despite the significantly differing fuel characteristics between pure hydrogen and hydrogen-rich syngas, the evaluated dual-fuel MMX prototype shows a significant low NOx performance and high combustion efficiency. The combustor features an increased energy density that benefits manufacturing complexity and costs.


Author(s):  
Marek Dzida ◽  
Krzysztof Kosowski

In bibliography we can find many methods of determining pressure drop in the combustion chambers of gas turbines, but there is only very few data of experimental results. This article presents the experimental investigations of pressure drop in the combustion chamber over a wide range of part-load performances (from minimal power up to take-off power). Our research was carried out on an aircraft gas turbine of small output. The experimental results have proved that relative pressure drop changes with respect to fuel flow over the whole range of operating conditions. The results were then compared with theoretical methods.


Author(s):  
Tae Won Song ◽  
Jeong L. Sohn ◽  
Tong Seop Kim ◽  
Sung Tack Ro

To investigate the possible applications of the SOFC/MGT hybrid system to large electric power generations, a study for the kW-class hybrid power system conducted in our group is extended to the MW-class hybrid system in this study. Because of the matured technology of the gas turbine and commercial availability in the market, it is reasonable to construct a hybrid system with the selection of a gas turbine as an off-the-shelf item. For this purpose, the performance analysis is conducted to find out the optimal power size of the hybrid system based on a commercially available gas turbine. The optimal power size has to be selected by considering specifications of a selected gas turbine which limit the performance of the hybrid system. Also, the cell temperature of the SOFC is another limiting parameter to be considered in the selection of the optimal power size. Because of different system configuration of the hybrid system, the control strategies for the part-load operation of the MW-class hybrid system are quite different from the kW-class case. Also, it is necessary to consider that the control of supplied air to the MW-class gas turbine is typically done by the variable inlet guide vane located in front of the compressor inlet, instead of the control of variable rotational speed of the kW-class micro gas turbine. Performance characteristics at part-load operating conditions with different kinds of control strategies of supplied fuel and air to the hybrid system are investigated in this study.


Author(s):  
Riccardo Da Soghe ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Luca Innocenti ◽  
Mirko Micio

Reliable design of secondary air system is one of the main tasks for the safety, unfailing and performance of gas turbine engines. To meet the increasing demands of gas turbines design, improved tools in prediction of the secondary air system behavior over a wide range of operating conditions are needed. A real gas turbine secondary air system includes several components, therefore its analysis is not carried out through a complete CFD approach. Usually, that predictions are performed using codes, based on simplified approach which allows to evaluate the flow characteristics in each branch of the air system requiring very poor computational resources and few calculation time. Generally the available simplified commercial packages allow to correctly solve only some of the components of a real air system and often the elements with a more complex flow structure cannot be studied; among such elements, the analysis of rotating cavities is very hard. This paper deals with a design-tool developed at the University of Florence for the simulation of rotating cavities. This simplified in-house code solves the governing equations for steady one-dimensional axysimmetric flow using experimental correlations both to incorporate flow phenomena caused by multidimensional effects, like heat transfer and flow field losses, and to evaluate the circumferential component of velocity. Although this calculation approach does not enable a correct modeling of the turbulent flow within a wheel space cavity, the authors tried to create an accurate model taking into account the effects of inner and outer flow extraction, rotor and stator drag, leakages, injection momentum and, finally, the shroud/rim seal effects on cavity ingestion. The simplified calculation tool was designed to simulate the flow in a rotating cavity with radial outflow both with a Batchelor and/or Stewartson flow structures. A primary 1D-code testing campaign is available in the literature [1]. In the present paper the authors develop, using CFD tools, reliable correlations for both stator and rotor friction coefficients and provide a full 1D-code validation comparing, due to lack of experimental data, the in house design-code predictions with those evaluated by CFD.


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