Numerical Investigation on the Cavity Implementation Methods in Trapped Vortex Combustor

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisanth M S ◽  
Pratikash P. Panda ◽  
Ravikrishna R V
Keyword(s):  
Direct Injection ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Flux Ratio ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Cavity Depth ◽  
Flow Parameters ◽  
Inlet Conditions ◽  
Trapped Vortex

Abstract Well-stabilized vortices inside a physical cavity using direct injection of reactants can be used to provide stable combustion with performance benefits. The adaptation of the Trapped Vortex Combustion (TVC) concept involves the placement of the cavity-based flame stabilization device in the main duct of the combustor using annular or planar geometric configurations. In this work, we compare the performance of inner annular, outer annular and planar arrangements of the cavity with dual-vortex structure configuration enabled by a single injection port on the upstream wall of the cavity. The comparison is done using Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations. The effect of cavity implementation methods on the flame stabilization, temperature distribution at the exit of the combustor and pollutant emissions are analyzed with three combustor operating conditions based on the flow parameters. Significant differences in the flame stabilization are observed in the combustors due to the dissimilarity of the velocity and fuel distribution. The parameter, jet momentum flux ratio, denoted by J, is defined based on the inlet conditions and the estimate of actual cavity flow velocity from numerical results. This parameter is used to correlate the combustor performance among the various configurations studied. The inner annular combustor can be scaled to higher power by increasing the combustor radius (R) with same cavity size, flow parameters and chemical parameters, however, the flame stabilization and performance are affected by the geometric parameters, combustor radius (R) and cavity depth (D). Strategies to scale-up the combustor to obtain the required performance are discussed along with the challenges faced in comparing results of the various configurations studied.

Determination of Criteria for Flame Stability in an Annular Trapped Vortex Combustor

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradip Xavier ◽  
Mickael Pires ◽  
Alexis Vandel ◽  
Bruno Renou ◽  
Gilles Cabot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Flux Ratio ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Combustion Instabilities ◽  
Stability Maps ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Acoustic Instabilities ◽  
Trapped Vortex

Development of lean premixed (LP) combustion is still a challenge as it results in considerable constraints for the combustor design. Indeed, new combustors using LP combustion are more prone to flashback, blow-off, or even thermo-acoustic instabilities. A detailed understanding of mechanisms leading to such extreme conditions is then crucial to reduce pollutant emissions, widen the range of operating conditions, and reduce design time. This paper reports the experimental study of an innovative LP trapped vortex combustor (TVC). The TVC concept uses a recirculating rich flow trapped in a cavity to create a stable flame that continuously ignites a main lean mixture passing above the cavity. This concept gave promising performances but some workers highlighted the existence of combustion instabilities for some operating conditions. Detailed studies have therefore been carried out in order to understand the occurrence of these drastic operating conditions. Results showed that the cavity flow dynamics in conjunction with the location of the interfacial mixing zone (between the cavity and the mainstream) were the driving forces to obtain stable combustion regimes. The goal of this work has been to take advantage of these detailed recommendations to determine stability maps, trends, and dimensionless parameters which could be easily used as early-design rules. For this reason, the study introduced a simple and robust criterion, based on the global pressure fluctuation energy. The latter was used to distinguish stable and unstable modes. An aerodynamic momentum flux ratio and a chemical stratification ratio (taken between the cavity and the mainstream) were defined to scale all measurements. Results indicated that the mainstream velocity was critically important to confine the cavity and to prevent combustion instabilities. Remarkably, this trend was verified and even more pronounced for larger cavity powers. In addition, flame stabilization above the cavity resulted in the existence of specific stratification ratios, in order to obtain a soft gradient of gas composition between the rich and lean regions. Finally, a linear relation between the mainstream and cavity velocities became apparent, thereby making possible to simply predict the combustor stability.

LES Based CFD Investigation of the Ignition Process in Lean Spray Burner

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Andreini ◽  
M. Amerighi ◽  
L. Palanti ◽  
B. Facchini
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbines ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Direct Injection ◽  
Flame Structure ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Ignition Process ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
New Formulation

Abstract During the last decades several new technologies were investigated in order to reduce the pollutant emissions and increase the overall engine efficiency. Unluckily, some of them including the lean direct injection spray combustion hinder the ignition performances of the combustor. Moreover, several expensive tests under very challenging operating conditions must be carried out to obtain the required certifications and assess the combustor behaviour with respect to the ignition process. Therefore, a deeper knowledge of the phenomena involved in the flame onset is mandatory to shorten the design process and achieve the required performances from the very beginning. In the last years, CFD simulations established as valid alternative to the experiments to investigate the complex phenomena involved in the ignition process. In fact, several examples are available in scientific literature about the use of simulations to predict the development of the flame starting from an initial kernel. In particular, LES proved to be a reliable tool to uncover new mechanisms of ignition and flame stabilization in gas turbines. In this work, two reactive LES of the ignition process were attempted using ANSYS Fluent 2019R1, with the aim of testing the Thickened Flame Model already implemented in the solver. In fact, compared to the previous versions, a new formulation for the efficiency function based on the pioneering work of Colin was made available. Such promising tool was validated against some detailed experimental results of a lean swirled flame, known as KIAI-CORIA spray flame. At first, a non-reactive and reactive LES were carried out to validate the cold field and the stabilized flame structure respectively. Finally, two ignition simulations were performed, from initial spark deposition up to flame stabilization or kernel quenching. All the obtained results have been extensively compared against the available experimental data showing that the employed simulation setup is fairly capable of describing the phenomena involved in the rig ignition.

Prediction of gaseous pollutant emissions from a spark-ignition direct-injection engine with gas-exchange simulation

2021 ◽  
pp. 146808742110050
Author(s):  
Stefania Esposito ◽  
Lutz Diekhoff ◽  
Stefan Pischinger
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Combustion Chamber ◽  
Direct Injection ◽  
Spark Ignition ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Operating Parameters ◽  
Gaseous Pollutant ◽  
Fuel Ratio ◽  
No Emissions

With the further tightening of emission regulations and the introduction of real driving emission tests (RDE), the simulative prediction of emissions is becoming increasingly important for the development of future low-emission internal combustion engines. In this context, gas-exchange simulation can be used as a powerful tool for the evaluation of new design concepts. However, the simplified description of the combustion chamber can make the prediction of complex in-cylinder phenomena like emission formation quite challenging. The present work focuses on the prediction of gaseous pollutants from a spark-ignition (SI) direct injection (DI) engine with 1D–0D gas-exchange simulations. The accuracy of the simulative prediction regarding gaseous pollutant emissions is assessed based on the comparison with measurement data obtained with a research single cylinder engine (SCE). Multiple variations of engine operating parameters – for example, load, speed, air-to-fuel ratio, valve timing – are taken into account to verify the predictivity of the simulation toward changing engine operating conditions. Regarding the unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions, phenomenological models are used to estimate the contribution of the piston top-land crevice as well as flame wall-quenching and oil-film fuel adsorption-desorption mechanisms. Regarding CO and NO emissions, multiple approaches to describe the burned zone kinetics in combination with a two-zone 0D combustion chamber model are evaluated. In particular, calculations with reduced reaction kinetics are compared with simplified kinetic descriptions. At engine warm operation, the HC models show an accuracy mainly within 20%. The predictions for the NO emissions follow the trend of the measurements with changing engine operating parameters and all modeled results are mainly within ±20%. Regarding CO emissions, the simplified kinetic models are not capable to predict CO at stoichiometric conditions with errors below 30%. With the usage of a reduced kinetic mechanism, a better prediction capability of CO at stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio could be achieved.

scholarly journals Experimental and Computational Study of Trapped Vortex Combustor Sector Rig with High-Speed Diffuser Flow

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 375-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Hendricks ◽  
D. T. Shouse ◽  
W. M. Roquemore ◽  
D. L. Burrus ◽  
B. S. Duncan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Fuel Injection ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Combustion Efficiency ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Performance Data ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Choked Flow ◽  
Trapped Vortex

The Trapped Vortex Combustor (TVC) potentially offers numerous operational advantages over current production gas turbine engine combustors. These include lower weight, lower pollutant emissions, effective flame stabilization, high combustion efficiency, excellent high altitude relight capability, and operation in the lean burn or RQL modes of combustion. The present work describes the operational principles of the TVC, and extends diffuser velocities toward choked flow and provides system performance data. Performance data include EINOx results for various fuel-air ratios and combustor residence times, combustion efficiency as a function of combustor residence time, and combustor lean blow-out (LBO) performance. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using liquid spray droplet evaporation and combustion modeling are performed and related to flow structures observed in photographs of the combustor. The CFD results are used to understand the aerodynamics and combustion features under different fueling conditions. Performance data acquired to date are favorable compared to conventional gas turbine combustors. Further testing over a wider range of fuel-air ratios, fuel flow splits, and pressure ratios is in progress to explore the TVC performance. In addition, alternate configurations for the upstream pressure feed, including bi-pass diffusion schemes, as well as variations on the fuel injection patterns, are currently in test and evaluation phases.

Modeling of Turbulent Combustion and Radiative Heat Transfer in a Object-Oriented CFD Code for Gas Turbine Application

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Matteo Cerutti ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Luca Mangani
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Radiative Heat Transfer ◽  
Turbulent Combustion ◽  
Radiative Heat ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Combustion Models

One of the driving requirements in gas turbine design is the combustion analysis. The reduction of exhaust pollutant emissions is in fact the main design constraint of modern gas turbine engines, requiring a detailed investigation of flame stabilization criteria and temperature distribution within combustion chamber. At the same time, the prediction of thermal loads on liner walls continues to represent a critical issue especially with diffusion flame combustors which are still widely used in aeroengines. To meet such requirement, design techniques have to take advantage also of the most recent CFD tools that have to supply advanced combustion models according to the specific application demand. Even if LES approach represents a very accurate approach for the analysis of reactive flows, RANS computation still represents a fundamental tool in industrial gas turbine development, thanks to its optimal tradeoff between accuracy and computational costs. This paper describes the development and the validation of both combustion and radiation models in a object-oriented RANS CFD code: several turbulent combustion models were considered, all based on a generalized presumed PDF flamelet approach, valid for premixed and non premixed flames. Concerning radiative heat transfer calculations, two directional models based on the P1-Approximation and the Finite Volume Method were treated. Accuracy and reliability of developed models have been proved by performing several computations on well known literature test-cases. Selected cases investigate several turbulent flame types and regimes allowing to prove code affordability in a wide range of possible gas turbine operating conditions.

Investigation of Flame Stabilization in a High-Pressure Multi-Jet Combustor by Laser Measurement Techniques

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Lammel ◽  
Tim Rödiger ◽  
Michael Stöhr ◽  
Holger Ax ◽  
Peter Kutne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Combustion Chamber ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Recirculation Zone ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Single Shot ◽  
Optical Access

In this contribution, comprehensive optical and laser based measurements in a generic multi-jet combustor at gas turbine relevant conditions are presented. The flame position and shape, flow field, temperatures and species concentrations of turbulent premixed natural gas and hydrogen flames were investigated in a high-pressure test rig with optical access. The needs of modern highly efficient gas turbine combustion systems, i.e., fuel flexibility, load flexibility with increased part load capability, and high turbine inlet temperatures, have to be addressed by novel or improved burner concepts. One promising design is the enhanced FLOX® burner, which can achieve low pollutant emissions in a very wide range of operating conditions. In principle, this kind of gas turbine combustor consists of several nozzles without swirl, which discharge axial high momentum jets through orifices arranged on a circle. The geometry provides a pronounced inner recirculation zone in the combustion chamber. Flame stabilization takes place in a shear layer around the jet flow, where fresh gas is mixed with hot exhaust gas. Flashback resistance is obtained through the absence of low velocity zones, which favors this concept for multi-fuel applications, e.g. fuels with medium to high hydrogen content. The understanding of flame stabilization mechanisms of jet flames for different fuels is the key to identify and control the main parameters in the design process of combustors based on an enhanced FLOX® burner concept. Both experimental analysis and numerical simulations can contribute and complement each other in this task. They need a detailed and relevant data base, with well-known boundary conditions. For this purpose, a high-pressure burner assembly was designed with a generic 3-nozzle combustor in a rectangular combustion chamber with optical access. The nozzles are linearly arranged in z direction to allow for jet-jet interaction of the middle jet. This line is off-centered in y direction to develop a distinct recirculation zone. This arrangement approximates a sector of a full FLOX® gas turbine burner. The experiments were conducted at a pressure of 8 bar with preheated and premixed natural gas/air and hydrogen/air flows and jet velocities of 120 m/s. For the visualization of the flame, OH* chemiluminescence imaging was performed. 1D laser Raman scattering was applied and evaluated on an average and single shot basis in order to simultaneously and quantitatively determine the major species concentrations, the mixture fraction and the temperature. Flow velocities were measured using particle image velocimetry at different section planes through the combustion chamber.

Optimum control of an automotive direct injection diesel engine for low exhaust emissions

2001 ◽  
Vol 215 (11) ◽  
pp. 1225-1236 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Capobianco
Keyword(s):  
Diesel Engine ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Direct Injection ◽  
Experimental Information ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Control Variables ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Di Diesel Engine ◽  
Definition Of

The paper presents the latest results of a wide investigation performed at the University of Genoa on the control of automotive direct injection (DI) diesel engines. A dedicated procedure was developed which enables analysis of the behaviour of engine operating parameters as a function of two control variables with a limited amount of experimental information and the definition of proper control strategies. A first application of the procedure is presented in the paper with reference to a typical turbocharged DI diesel engine for automotive applications. The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate and the position of the turbocharger waste-gate regulating valve were assumed as control variables and the behaviour of the most important engine parameters was analysed in a wide range for 15 steady state operating conditions related to the European driving cycle. Particular attention was paid to the most significant pollutant emissions and to the exhaust boundary conditions for the application of a low temperature lean de-NOx catalyst. Two different control strategies were also developed by which the catalyst conversion efficiency and the NOx engine tail pipe emission were individually optimized, taking account of some operating limits for specific parameters.

Analysis of the Flame Structure in a Trapped Vortex Combustor Using Low and High-Speed OH-PLIF

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradip Xavier ◽  
Alexis Vandel ◽  
Gilles Godard ◽  
Bruno Renou ◽  
Frederic Grisch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Laser Diagnostics ◽  
Flame Structure ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Lean Combustion ◽  
Stage Combustion ◽  
Trapped Vortex

Operating with lean combustion has led to more efficient “Low-NOx” burners but has also brought several technological issues. The burner design geometry is among the most important element as it controls, in a general way, the whole combustion process, the pollutant emissions and the flame stability. Investigation of new geometry concepts associating lean combustion is still under development, and new solutions have to meet the future pollutant regulations. This paper reports the experimental investigation of an innovative staged lean premixed burner. The retained annular geometry follows the Trapped Vortex Combustor concept (TVC) which operates with a two stage combustion chamber: a main lean flame (1) is stabilized by passing past a vortex shape rich-pilot flame (2) located within a cavity. This concept, presented in GT2012-68451 and GT2013-94704, seems to be promising but exhibits combustion instabilities in certain cases, then leading to undesirable level of pollutant emissions and could possibly conduct to serious material damages. No precise information have been reported in the literature about the chain of reasons leading to such an operation. The aim of this paper is to have insights about the main parameters controlling the combustion in this geometry. The flame structure dynamics is examined and compared for two specific operating conditions, producing an acoustically self-excited and a stable burner. Low and high-speed OH-PLIF laser diagnostics (up to 10 kHz) are used to have access to the flame curvature and to time-resolved events. Results show that the cavity jets location can lead to flow-field oscillations and a non-constant flame’s heat release. The associated flame structure, naturally influenced by turbulence is also affected by hot gases thermal expansion. Achieving a good and rapid mixing at the interface between the cavity and the main channel leads to a stable flame.

scholarly journals EFFECT OF OPERATING CONDITIONS ON PERFORMANCE AND EMISSIONS OF A DIESEL ENGINE OPERATED WITH DIESEL-HYDROGEN BLEND

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-357
Author(s):  
Haroun A.K. Shahad ◽  
Emad D. Abood
Keyword(s):  
Diesel Engine ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Direct Injection ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Injection Timing ◽  
Engine Operation ◽  
Performance And Emissions

Hydrogen is a clean fuel for internal combustion engines since it produces only water vapor and nitrogen oxides when it burns. In this research, hydrogen is used as a blending fuel with diesel to reduce pollutants emission and to improve performance. It is inducted in the inlet manifold, of a single cylinder, four stroke, direct injection, water cold diesel engine, type (Kirloskar). Hydrogen blending is done on energy replacement basis. A special electronic unit is designed and fabricated to control hydrogen blending ratio. The maximum achieved ratio is 30% of input energy and beyond that engine operation becomes unsatisfactory when the air temperature is 20 oC and injection timing of -35o CA which represent the first part of this work. Inlet air heating system is built and added in the experimental work. The heating system allows to increase the air temperature up to 100 oC. A heating of air to 60 oC with injection timing of -30o CA and 55% of hydrogen blending is executed in the second part of this study. Tests are done with 17.5 compression ratio and 1500 rpm. The brake specific fuel consumption is reduced by 29% and 46%, the engine thermal efficiency is increased with 16% and 21% for the 1st and 2nd part respectively. The pollutant emissions of carbon oxides, UHC, and smoke opacity are dramatically decreased by 19.5%, 13%, and 45% respectively for the 1st part and 41%, 38% and 65.6% for the 2nd part while NOx emission is increased by 10% and 25% for the 1st and 2nd part respectively.

CFD Investigation of a Lean Premixed Burner Redesign for High Hydrogen Content Syngas Operation

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Bianchini ◽  
R. Da Soghe ◽  
A. Andreini ◽  
V. Anisimov ◽  
A. Bulli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Content ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Lookup Table ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Chemical Mechanism ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
High Hydrogen ◽  
High Hydrogen Content ◽  
Lean Premixed

The continuous challenge to develop more efficient and cleaner combustion systems for energy production, promotes the exploitation of traditional fossil fuels in alternative energy cycles capable of abating pollutant emissions. Integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology for instance permits to convert standard coal and other carbon based fuels into hydrogen-rich syngas. These gases are generally used to fuel standard gas turbine engines typically designed for natural gas combustion. Due to the increased propensity to flashback with high hydrogen content, lean premixed burners usually need a specific redesign to ensure adequate flow velocity at the burner exit section so as to extend lean blow out limits. However design practices for flashback prevention are far from being established especially for these unconventional fuels and it is therefore of interest to rely on CFD analysis to establish flame stabilization process and to predict incipient flashback. The purpose of this work is to assess the accuracy and reliability of a CFD methodology to describe the flame anchoring process and exhaust pollutant emissions in a high hydrogen syngas version of a standard swirled lean premixed burner which has been tested in a tubular test rig. Considered numerical setup is based on the use of the Flamelet-Generated Manifolds (FGM) method which is a good choice to combine computational efficiency and detailed chemistry modelling. This work aims at providing a first assessment of the FGM model as implemented in Fluent v15 in the framework of RANS turbulence approach. Four different operating conditions at increasing pressure levels are tested and a detailed sensitivity analysis of the combustion model is provided exploring flamelet generation parameters, turbulence-chemistry interaction closures and methods to assign progress variable variance. A specifically developed detailed chemical mechanism for H2 was implemented and used to verify NOx emission predicting capabilities of three alternative methods: lookup table generated integrating with presumed PDF, automatic reactor network model based on CFD aero-thermal solution and Fluent native NOx model. Obtained results are validated against available experimental data.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document