Experimental Study of Flow Field Effect on Spray and Flame Structure in Swirl Stabilized Combustor

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raju Murugan ◽  
Dhanalakshmi Sellan ◽  
Pankaj S. Kolhe
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Liquid Fuel ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Mixture Fraction ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Fuel Gas

Abstract The spatial distribution of spray plays a key role in liquid fuel combustion, which dictates the local mixture fraction and the flame temperature distribution in gas turbine engines. The swirling flow creates further decomposition of the spray droplets in liquid fuel gas turbine engine, which increases the surface area of the droplets. Turbulent mixing due to the swirling flow is essential for preheating of unburned products and flame holding in the combustor. A lab-scale swirl stabilized liquid fuel combustor was designed and fabricated with the geometric swirl number (SN) of 1. Combustor flow geometry involves internal spray from flow blurring twin-fluid atomizer, surrounded by swirling airflow which is confined with co-flow air to provide full optical access. At constant spray operating conditions, the swirl Reynolds number (Re) is increased whereas co-flow velocity was maintained constant at 0.4 m/s. An experimental study was carried out to understand the effect of Reynolds number on the aerodynamic structure of airflow, the spatial distribution of spray structure and kerosene flame structures using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and direct imaging. The experimental results show that the flow structure and spray spreads radially with the increase in swirl Reynolds number and the corresponding core spray height decreases, which were evident from flame images.

Experimental Study of a 200 kW Partial Oxidation Gas Turbine (POGT) for Co-Production of Power and Hydrogen-Enriched Fuel Gas

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Rabovitser ◽  
Stan Wohadlo ◽  
John M. Pratapas ◽  
Serguei Nester ◽  
Mehmet Tartan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Partial Oxidation ◽  
Synthesis Gas ◽  
Combustion Products ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Fuel Gas ◽  
Lean Combustion ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Oxidation Reactor

Paper presents the results from development and successful testing of a 200 kW POGT prototype. There are two major design features that distinguish POGT from a conventional gas turbine: a POGT utilizes a partial oxidation reactor (POR) in place of a conventional combustor which leads to a much smaller compressor requirement versus comparably rated conventional gas turbine. From a thermodynamic perspective, the working fluid provided by the POR has higher specific heat than lean combustion products enabling the POGT expander to extract more energy per unit mass of fluid. The POGT exhaust is actually a secondary fuel gas that can be combusted in different bottoming cycles or used as synthesis gas for hydrogen or other chemicals production. Conversion steps for modifying a 200 kW radial turbine to POGT duty are described including: utilization of the existing (unmodified) expander; replacement of the combustor with a POR unit; introduction of steam for cooling of the internal turbine structure; and installation of a bypass air port for bleeding excess air from the compressor discharge because of 45% reduction in combustion air requirements. The engine controls that were re-configured for start-up and operation are reviewed including automation of POGT start-up and loading during light-off at lean condition, transition from lean to rich combustion during acceleration, speed control and stabilization under rich operation. Changes were implemented in microprocessor-based controllers. The fully-integrated POGT unit was installed and operated in a dedicated test cell at GTI equipped with extensive process instrumentation and data acquisition systems. Results from a parametric experimental study of POGT operation for co-production of power and H2-enriched synthesis gas are provided.

Effect of Fuel Composition on Emissions From a Low-Swirl Burner

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Sequera ◽  
Ajay K. Agrawal
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Bluff Body ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Recirculation Region ◽  
Fuel Composition ◽  
High Hydrogen ◽  
Flow Recirculation

Lean Premixed Combustion (LPM) is a widely used approach to effectively reduce pollutant emissions in advanced gas turbines. Most LPM combustion systems employ the swirling flow with a bluff body at the center to stabilize the flame. The flow recirculation region established downstream of the bluff-body brings combustion products in contact with fresh reactants to sustain the reactions. However, such systems are prone to combustion oscillations and flame flashback, especially if high hydrogen containing fuels are used. Low-Swirl Injector (LSI) is an innovative approach, whereby a freely propagating LPM flame is stabilized in a diverging flow field surrounded by a weakly-swirling flow. The LSI is devoid of the flow recirculation region in the reaction zone. In the present study, emissions measurements are reported for a LSI operated on mixtures of methane (CH4), hydrogen (H2), and carbon monoxide (CO) to simulate H2 synthetic gas produced by coal gasification. For a fixed adiabatic flame temperature and air flow rate, CH4 content of the fuel in atmospheric pressure experiments is varied from 100% to 50% (by volume) with the remainder of the fuel containing equal amounts of CO and H2. For each test case, the CO and nitric oxide (NOx) emissions are measured axially at the combustor center and radially at several axial locations. Results show that the LSI provides stable flame for a range of operating conditions and fuel mixtures. The emissions are relatively insensitive to the fuel composition within the operational range of the present experiments.

Steady and Dynamic Performance and Emissions of a Variable Geometry Combustor in a Gas Turbine Engine

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. G. Li ◽  
R. L. Hales
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Dynamic Performance ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Combustion Efficiency ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Variable Geometry ◽  
Turbofan Engine ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Control Schemes ◽  
Fuel Staging

One of the remedies to reduce the major emissions production of nitric oxide (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) from conventional gas turbine engine combustors at both high and low operating conditions without losing its performance and stability is to use variable geometry combustors. This type of combustor configuration provides the possibility of dynamically controlling the airflow distribution of the combustor based on its operating conditions and therefore controlling the combustion in certain lean burn conditions. Two control schemes are described and analyzed in this paper: both are based on airflow control with variable geometry, the second including fuel staging. A model two-spool turbofan engine is chosen in this study to test the effectiveness of the variable geometry combustor and control schemes. The steady and dynamic performance of the turbofan engine is simulated and analyzed using an engine transient performance analysis code implemented with the variable geometry combustor. Empirical correlations for NOx, CO and UHC are used for the estimation of emissions. Some conclusions are obtained from this study: • With variable geometry combustors significant reduction of NOx emissions at high operating conditions and CO and UHC at low operating condition is possible; • Combustion efficiency and stability can be improved at low operating conditions, which is symbolized by the higher flame temperature in the variable geometry combustor; • The introduced correlation between non-dimensional fuel flow rate and air flow ratio to the primary zone is effective and simple in the control of flame temperature; • Circumferential fuel staging can reduce the range of air splitter movement in most of the operating conditions from idle to maximum power and have the great potential to reduce the inlet distortion to the combustor and improve the combustion efficiency; • During transient processes, the maximum moving rate of the hydraulic driven system may delay the air splitter movement but this effect on engine combustor performance is not significant.

Prediction of CO Emission Index for Aviation Gas Turbine Combustor Using Flamelet Generated Manifold Combustion Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurabh Patwardhan ◽  
Pravin Nakod ◽  
Stefano Orsino ◽  
Rakesh Yadav ◽  
Fang Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Liquid Fuel ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Turbine Engines ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Gas Turbine Engines ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Flamelet Generated Manifold ◽  
Emission Index ◽  
Co Emission

Abstract Carbon monoxide (CO) has been identified as one of the regulated pollutants and gas turbine manufacturers target to reduce the CO emission from their gas turbine engines. CO forms primarily when carbonous fuels are not burnt completely, or products of combustion are quenched before completing the combustion. Numerical simulations are effective tools that allow a better understanding of the mechanisms of CO formation in gas turbine engines and are useful in evaluating the effect of different parameters like swirl, fuel atomization, mixing etc. on the overall CO emission for different engine conditions like idle, cruise, approach and take off. In this paper, a thorough assessment of flamelet generated manifold (FGM) combustion model is carried out to predict the qualitative variation and magnitude of CO emission index with the different configurations of a Honeywell test combustor operating with liquid fuel under idle condition, which is the more critical engine condition for CO emission. The different designs of the test combustor are configured in such a way that they yield different levels of CO and hence are ideal to test the accuracy of the combustion model. Large eddy simulation (LES) method is used for capturing the turbulence accurately along with the FGM combustion model that is computationally economical compared to the detailed/reduced chemistry modeling using finite rate combustion model. Liquid fuel spray breakup is modeled using stochastic secondary droplet (SSD) model. Four different configurations of the aviation gas turbine combustor are studied in this work referring to earlier work by Xu et al. [1]. It is shown that the FGM model can predict CO trends accurately. The other global parameters like exit temperature, NOx emissions, pattern factor also show reasonable agreement with the test data. The sensitivity of the CO prediction to the liquid fuel droplet breakup model parameters is also studied in this work. Although the trend of CO variation is captured for different values of breakup parameters, the absolute magnitude of CO emission index differs significantly with the change in the values of breakup parameters suggesting that the spray has a larger impact on the quantitative prediction of CO emission. An accurate prediction of CO trends at idle conditions using FGM model extends the applicability of FGM model to predict different engine operating conditions for different performance criteria accurately.

scholarly journals Heat Transfer Results and Operational Characteristics of the NASA Lewis Research Center Hot Section Cascade Test Facility

1985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert J. Gladden ◽  
Frederick C. Yeh ◽  
Dennis L. Fronek
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Research Center ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Nasa Lewis Research ◽  
Number Range ◽  
Full Coverage ◽  
Operational Characteristics ◽  
Wide Range

The NASA Lewis Research Center gas turbine hot section test facility has been developed to provide a “real-engine” environment with well known boundary conditions for the aerothermal performance evaluation/verification of computer design codes. The initial aerothermal research data obtained at this facility are presented and the operational characteristics of the facility are discussed. This facility is capable of testing at temperatures and pressures up to 1600 K and 18 atm which corresponds to a vane exit Reynolds number range of 0.5×106 to 2.5×106 based on vane chord. The component cooling air temperature can be independently modulated between 330 and 700 K providing gas-to-coolant temperature ratios similar to current engine application. Research instrumentation of the test components provide conventional pressure and temperature measurements as well as metal temperatures measured by IR-photography. The primary data acquisition mode is steady state through a 704 channel multiplexer/digitizer. The test facility was configured as an annular cascade of full coverage film cooled vanes for the initial series of research tests. These vanes were tested over a wide range of gas Reynolds number, exit gas Mach number and heat flux levels. The range of test conditions was used to represent both actual operating conditions and similarity state conditions of a gas turbine engine. The results are presented for the aerothermal performance of the facility and the full coverage film cooled vanes.

The Impact of Representative Aerodynamic Flow Fields on Liquid Fuel Atomisation in Modern Gas Turbine Fuel Injectors

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Barker ◽  
J. F. Carrotte
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Liquid Fuel ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Far Field ◽  
Fuel Injector ◽  
Swirl Vane ◽  
The Impact

In modern gas turbine engines swirl is typically imparted to the airflow as it enters the region of heat release to stabilize the flame. This swirling airstream is often highly turbulent and contains non-uniformities such as swirl vane wakes. However, it is within this environment that fuel atomization takes place. This paper is concerned with the potential effect of these airstream characteristics on the atomization process. Such a flow field is difficult to capture within simplified geometries and so measurements have been made within, and downstream of, injector representative geometries. This is experimentally challenging and required the application of a variety of techniques. The geometry considered is thought typical of an air-blast style injector, as may be used within current or future applications, whereby liquid fuel is introduced onto a pre-filming surface over which an airstream passes. Data is presented which characterizes the atomizing airstream presented to the pre-filming region. This includes significant flow field non-uniformities and turbulence characteristics that are mainly associated with the swirling flow along with the vanes used to impart this swirl. The subsequent development of these aerodynamic features over the pre-filming surface is also captured with, for example, swirl vane wakes being evident through the injector passage and into the downstream flow field. It is argued these characteristics will be common to many injector designs. Measurements with and without fuel indicate the effect of the liquid film, on the non-dimensional aerodynamic flow field upstream of the pre-filming region, is minimal. However, the amount of airflow passing through the pre-filming passage is affected. In addition to characterization of the airstream, its impact on the liquid fuel film and its development along the pre-filming surface is visualized. Furthermore, PDA measurements downstream of the fuel injector (i.e. the injector ‘far-field) are presented and the observed spray characteristics spatially correlated with the upstream aerodynamic atomizing flow field. Hence for the first time a series of experimental techniques have been used to capture and correlate both near and far field atomization characteristics within an engine representative aerodynamic flow field.

Investigation of effect of atomization performance on lean blowout limit for gas turbine combustors by comparison of utilizing aviation kerosene and methane as fuel

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Sun ◽  
Yong Huang ◽  
Zhilin Liu ◽  
Shaolin Wang ◽  
Xiaobo Guo
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Liquid Fuel ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Liquid Fuels ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Lean Blowout ◽  
Aviation Kerosene ◽  
Aero Engine ◽  
Gas Fuel ◽  
Atomization Performance

Abstract The lean blowout (LBO) limit is crucial for gas turbine combustor in the aero engine. The effect of atomization of liquid fuels on the LBO limit is needed to be further studied. On the other hand, the effects of atomization on the LBO limit can be neglected if gas fuels are utilized in a combustor. Thus, the comparative experiment between liquid fuel and gas fuel can be utilized to study the effects of atomization performance of liquid fuels on the LBO limit. In this paper, the LBO limit for a gas turbine combustor utilizing methane is studied experimentally. Seven kinds of combustor configurations are chosen for the experimental test. The LBO limits are obtained for all the chosen combustors. The variation of the LBO limit with the combustor configuration for both methane and aviation kerosene exhibits the similar tendency, i.e., the LBO limits utilizing methane are slightly larger than those utilizing aviation kerosene for the same combustor. Further, the atomization performance has little effects on the LBO limits for the present combustor configurations at the present operating conditions where the SMD for the fuel atomizer utilizing aviation kerosene is about 10 μm.

The Impact of Model Assumptions on the CFD Assisted Design of Gas Turbine Packages

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Lucherini ◽  
Vittorio Michelassi ◽  
Stefano Minotti
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Ventilation System ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Computational Effort ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Fuel Gas ◽  
The Impact

Abstract A gas turbine is usually installed inside a package to reduce the acoustics emissions and protect against adverse environmental conditions. An enclosure ventilation system is keeps temperatures under acceptable limits and dilutes any potentially explosive accumulation of gas due to unexpected leakages. The functional and structural integrity as well as certification needs of the instrumentation and auxiliary systems in the package require that temperatures do not exceed a given threshold. Moreover, accidental fuel gas leakages inside the package must be studied in detail for safety purposes as required by ISO21789. CFD is routinely used in BHGE (Baker Hughes, a GE Company) to assist in the design and verification of the complete enclosure and ventilation system. This may require multiple CFD runs of very complex domains and flow fields in several operating conditions, with a large computational effort. Modeling assumptions and simulation set-up in terms of turbulence and thermal models, and the steady or unsteady nature of the simulations must be carefully assessed. In order to find a good compromise between accuracy and computational effort the present work focuses on the analysis of three different approaches, RANS, URANS and Hybrid-LES. The different computational approaches are first applied to an isothermal scaled-down model for validation purposes where it was possible to determine the impact of the large-scale flow unsteadiness and compare with measurements. Then, the analysis proceeds to a full-scale real aero-derivative gas turbine package. in which the aero and thermal field were investigated by a set of URANS and Hybrid-LES that includes the heat released by the engine. The different approaches are compared by analyzing flow and temperature fields. Finally, an accidental gas leak and the subsequent gas diffusion and/or accumulation inside the package are studied and compared. The outcome of this work highlights how the most suitable approach to be followed for industrial purposes depends on the goal of the CFD study and on the specific scenario, such as NPI Program or RQS Project.

Steady and Dynamic Performance and Emissions of a Variable Geometry Combustor in a Gas Turbine Engine

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 961-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. G. Li ◽  
R. L. Hales
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Dynamic Performance ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Combustion Efficiency ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Variable Geometry ◽  
Turbofan Engine ◽  
Turbine Engine ◽  
Control Schemes ◽  
Fuel Staging

One of the remedies to reduce the major emissions production of nitric oxide NOx, carbon monoxide (CO), and unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) from conventional gas turbine engine combustors at both high and low operating conditions without losing performance and stability is to use variable geometry combustors. This type of combustor configuration provides the possibility of dynamically controlling the airflow distribution of the combustor based on its operating conditions and therefore controlling the combustion in certain lean burn conditions. Two control schemes are described and analyzed in this paper: Both are based on airflow control with variable geometry, the second including fuel staging. A model two-spool turbofan engine is chosen in this study to test the effectiveness of the variable geometry combustor and control schemes. The steady and dynamic performance of the turbofan engine is simulated and analyzed using an engine transient performance analysis code implemented with the variable geometry combustor. Empirical correlations for NOx, CO, and UHC are used for the estimation of emissions. Some conclusions are obtained from this study: (1) with variable geometry combustors significant reduction of NOx emissions at high operating conditions and CO and UHC at low operating condition is possible; (2) combustion efficiency and stability can be improved at low operating conditions, which is symbolized by the higher flame temperature in the variable geometry combustor; (3) the introduced correlation between nondimensional fuel flow rate and air flow ratio to the primary zone is effective and simple in the control of flame temperature; (4) circumferential fuel staging can reduce the range of air splitter movement in most of the operating conditions from idle to maximum power and have the great potential to reduce the inlet distortion to the combustor and improve the combustion efficiency; and (5) during transient processes, the maximum moving rate of the hydraulic driven system may delay the air splitter movement but this effect on engine combustor performance is not significant.

scholarly journals CFD Modeling of Syngas Combustion and Emissions for Marine Gas Turbine Applications

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nader R. Ammar ◽  
Ahmed I. Farag
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Alternative Fuels ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Cfd Modeling ◽  
Ansys Fluent ◽  
Gas Fuel

Abstract Strong restrictions on emissions from marine power plants will probably be adopted in the near future. One of the measures which can be considered to reduce exhaust gases emissions is the use of alternative fuels. Synthesis gases are considered competitive renewable gaseous fuels which can be used in marine gas turbines for both propulsion and electric power generation on ships. The paper analyses combustion and emission characteristics of syngas fuel in marine gas turbines. Syngas fuel is burned in a gas turbine can combustor. The gas turbine can combustor with swirl is designed to burn the fuel efficiently and reduce the emissions. The analysis is performed numerically using the computational fluid dynamics code ANSYS FLUENT. Different operating conditions are considered within the numerical runs. The obtained numerical results are compared with experimental data and satisfactory agreement is obtained. The effect of syngas fuel composition and the swirl number values on temperature contours, and exhaust gas species concentrations are presented in this paper. The results show an increase of peak flame temperature for the syngas compared to natural gas fuel combustion at the same operating conditions while the NO emission becomes lower. In addition, lower CO2 emissions and increased CO emissions at the combustor exit are obtained for the syngas, compared to the natural gas fuel.

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