Parametric Study to Optimize Air/Fuel Mixing for Lean, Premix Combustion Systems

Author(s):  
Ibrahim Yimer ◽  
Ian Campbell

New designs of gas turbine combustors for power generation applications have to meet ever-tightening emission standards (mainly NOx, CO and UHC) while operating at high combustor pressures. This requires a detailed understanding of the physical processes involved. The air-fuel mixture preparation is a critical step in most advanced gas turbine combustion strategies to achieve lower emissions. It has long been established that the level of unmixedness between the fuel and air is strongly tied with NOx levels. The present paper applies the statistical technique of Design Of Experiments (DOE) to a generic mixer set-up that includes an axial swirler, with fuel injected at discrete locations and transverse to the flow. The objective is to identify influential design and operating parameters that will provide rapid and enhanced mixing. The parameters tested include Swirl strength as measured by the Swirl number, Swirl type (Constant angle vs. Free vortex), number and momentum of fuel injection sites and gas temperature. Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence of acetone (PLIF) was used to quantify mixing at various planar locations in the mixing section. Commercial CFD software is used to model the flow field and predict the spatial mixing at selected conditions. Comparisons are made with experimental measurements with the aim to validate the CFD code and also on comparing the model results with the measurements.

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed O. Said ◽  
Ahmed E. E. Khalil ◽  
Ashwani K. Gupta

Colorless distributed combustion (CDC) has shown to provide ultra-low emissions of NO, CO, unburned hydrocarbons, and soot, with stable combustion without using any flame stabilizer. The benefits of CDC also include uniform thermal field in the entire combustion space and low combustion noise. One of the critical aspects in distributed combustion is fuel mixture preparation prior to mixture ignition. In an effort to improve fuel mixing and distribution, several schemes have been explored that includes premixed, nonpremixed, and partially premixed. In this paper, the effect of dual-location fuel injection is examined as opposed to single fuel injection into the combustor. Fuel distribution between different injection points was varied with the focus on reaction distribution and pollutants emission. The investigations were performed at different equivalence ratios (0.6–0.8), and the fuel distribution in each case was varied while maintaining constant overall thermal load. The results obtained with multi-injection of fuel using a model combustor showed lower emissions as compared to single injection of fuel using methane as the fuel under favorable fuel distribution condition. The NO emission from double injection as compared to single injection showed a reduction of 28%, 24%, and 13% at equivalence ratio of 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8, respectively. This is attributed to enhanced mixture preparation prior to the mixture ignition. OH* chemiluminescence intensity distribution within the combustor showed that under favorable fuel injection condition, the reaction zone shifted downstream, allowing for longer fuel mixing time prior to ignition. This longer mixing time resulted in better mixture preparation and lower emissions. The OH* chemiluminescence signals also revealed enhanced OH* distribution with fuel introduced through two injectors.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. K. Rizk ◽  
J. S. Chin ◽  
M. K. Razdan

Satisfactory performance of the gas turbine combustor relies on the careful design of various components, particularly the fuel injector. It is, therefore, essential to establish a fundamental basis for fuel injection modeling that involves various atomization processes. A two-dimensional fuel injection model has been formulated to simulate the airflow within and downstream of the atomizer and address the formation and breakup of the liquid sheet formed at the atomizer exit. The sheet breakup under the effects of airblast, fuel pressure, or the combined atomization mode of the airassist type is considered in the calculation. The model accounts for secondary breakup of drops and the stochastic Lagrangian treatment of spray. The calculation of spray evaporation addresses both droplet heat-up and steady-state mechanisms, and fuel vapor concentration is based on the partial pressure concept. An enhanced evaporation model has been developed that accounts for multicomponent, finite mass diffusivity and conductivity effects, and addresses near-critical evaporation. The presents investigation involved predictions of flow and spray characteristics of two distinctively different fuel atomizers under both nonreacting and reacting conditions. The predictions of the continuous phase velocity components and the spray mean drop sizes agree well with the detailed measurements obtained for the two atomizers, which indicates the model accounts for key aspects of atomization. The model also provides insight into ligament formation and breakup at the atomizer exit and the initial drop sizes formed in the atomizer near field region where measurements are difficult to obtain. The calculations of the reacting spray show the fuel-rich region occupied most of the spray volume with two-peak radial gas temperature profiles. The results also provided local concentrations of unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) and carbon monoxide (CO) in atomizer flowfield, information that could support the effort to reduce emission levels of gas turbine combustors.


Author(s):  
N. K. Rizk ◽  
J. S. Chin ◽  
M. K. Razdan

Satisfactory performance of the gas turbine combustor relies on the careful design of various components, particularly the fuel injector. It is, therefore, essential to establish a fundamental basis for fuel injection modeling that involves various atomization processes. A 2-D fuel injection model has been formulated to simulate the airflow within and downstream of the atomizer and address the formation and breakup of the liquid sheet formed at the atomizer exit. The sheet breakup under the effects of airblast, fuel pressure, or the combined atomization mode of the air-assist type is considered in the calculation. The model accounts for secondary breakup of drops and the stochastic Lagrangian treatment of spray. The calculation of spray evaporation addresses both droplet heat-up and steady-state mechanisms, and fuel vapor concentration is based on partial pressure concept. An enhanced evaporation model has been developed that accounts for multicomponent, finite mass diffusivity and conductivity effects, and addresses near critical evaporation. The present investigation involved predictions of flow and spray characteristics of two distinctively different fuel atomizers under both nonreacting and reacting conditions. The predictions of the continuous phase velocity components and the spray mean drop sizes agree well with the detailed measurements obtained for the two atomizers, which indicates the model accounts for key aspects of atomization. The model also provides insight into ligament formation and breakup at the atomizer exit and the initial drop sizes formed in the atomizer near field region where measurements are difficult to obtain. The calculations of the reacting spray show the fuel rich region occupied most of the spray volume with two-peak radial gas temperature profiles. The results also provided local concentrations of unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) and carbon monoxide (CO) in atomizer flowfield, information that could support the effort to reduce emission levels of gas turbine combustors.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Do¨bbeling ◽  
A. Eroglu ◽  
D. Winkler ◽  
T. Sattelmayer ◽  
W. Keppel

The paper reports on the development and testing of a premix research burner for MBtu fuels. The burner has a quartz glass annular mixing section and a quartz, glass flame tube to allow visualization of the flame. A central lance is used to mount modules for fuel injection, swirl generation, and flame stabilization. This allows a large number of variants with different swirl strength, mixing section length, fuel injection geometry, and flameholder size and shape to be easily tested. Experiments have been performed at atmospheric pressure and under high-pressure conditions (14 bar pressure, 400°C air preheat temperature) for syngas with a H2/CO ratio of up to 5. In a preliminary study, the mixing quality of the tested variants has been assessed with planar laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). High-pressure combustion tests show that low NOx (<10 vppmd @ 15 percent O2) premix combustion of MBtu fuels under industrial GT conditions without dilution is feasible.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Wassmer ◽  
Bruno Schuermans ◽  
Christian Oliver Paschereit ◽  
Jonas P Moeck

Indirect combustion noise is caused by entropy spots that are accelerated at the first turbine stage. These so-called entropy waves originate from the equivalence ratio fluctuations in the air–fuel mixture upstream of the flame. As entropy waves propagate convectively through the combustion chamber, they are subject to diffusion and dispersion. Because of the inherent difficulty of accurately measuring the burned gas temperature with sufficient temporal resolution, experimental data of entropy waves are scarce. In this work, the transfer function between equivalence ratio fluctuations and entropy fluctuations is modeled by a linearized reactor model, and the transport of entropy waves is investigated based on a convection-diffusion model. Temperature fluctuations are measured by means of a novel measurement technique at different axial positions downstream of the premixed flame, which is forced by periodic fuel injection. Experiments with various flow velocities and excitation frequencies enable model validation over a wide range of parameters.


Author(s):  
Ahmed O. Said ◽  
Ashwani K. Gupta

Fuel injection at two locations in a combustor using premixed, partially pre-mixed and non-premixed schemes has been explored for improved distributed combustion. The effect of dual location fuel injection to the combustor is examined and the results compared from single fuel injection. Focus of dual and single injection scheme was on enhancing reaction zone uniformity in the combustor. A cylindrical combustor at a combustion intensity of 36MW/m3.atm and heat load of 6.25 kW was used. Three different schemes of dual location fuel injection with different proportions of fuel injected from each injector were investigated using methane as the fuel. The role of fuel distribution between the two injection ports using constant air flow rate to the combustor at room temperature was examined on reaction zone distribution and pollutants emission. Three different equivalence ratios of 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8 were examined with different fuel distributions between the two injectors to the combustor at a constant overall thermal load. The results showed lower emission with dual location fuel injection as compared to single location. Dual location fuel injection showed 48% NO reduction with 90% of the total fuel from injector 1 while only 13% reduction was achieved with 80% of the fuel injection from this location. . OH* Chemiluminescene intensity distribution within the combustor showed that under favorable fuel injection condition, the reaction zone shifted downstream to allow longer fuel mixture preparation time prior to ignition. The longer mixing time resulted in improved mixture preparation and lower emissions. The OH* Chemiluminescene intensity distribution with fuel introduced through two injectors showed improved OH* distribution in the combustor. Improved mixture preparation enhanced reaction distribution in the combustor and lower emission.


2019 ◽  
pp. 146808741986805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingzhe Rao ◽  
Yilong Zhang ◽  
Sanghoon Kook ◽  
Kenneth S Kim ◽  
Chol-Bum Kweon

This study shows the in-cylinder soot reduction mechanism associated with injection timing variation in a small-bore optical diesel engine. For the three selected injection timings, three optical-/laser-based imaging diagnostics were performed to show the development of high-temperature reaction and soot within the cylinder, which include OH* chemiluminescence, planar laser–induced fluorescence of hydroxyl and planar laser–induced incandescence. In addition, detailed soot morphology analysis was conducted using thermophoresis-based soot particle sampling from two locations within the piston bowl, and the subsequent analysis of transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of the sampled soot aggregates was also conducted. The results suggest that when fuel injection timing is varied, ambient gas temperature makes a predominant effect on soot formation and oxidation. This is primarily combustion phasing effect as the advanced fuel injection moved the start of combustion closer to the top dead centre, and therefore, soot formation and oxidation occurred at elevated ambient gas temperature. There was an overall development pattern of in-cylinder soot consistently found for three injection timings of this study. The planar laser–induced incandescence images showed that a few small soot pockets first appear around the jet axis, which promptly grow into large soot regions behind the head of the flame marked planar laser–induced fluorescence of hydroxyl. The soot signals disappear due to significant oxidation induced by surrounding OH radicals. When the injection timing is advanced, the soot formation becomes higher as indicated by higher total laser–induced incandescence coverage, increased sampled particle counts and larger and more stretched soot aggregate structures. However, soot oxidation is also enhanced under this elevated ambient temperature environment. At the most advanced injection timing of this study, the enhanced soot oxidation outperformed the increased soot formation with both peak laser–induced incandescence signal coverage and late-cycle coverage showing lower values than those of more retarded injection timings.


Author(s):  
M. Cordier ◽  
A. Vandel ◽  
B. Renou ◽  
G. Cabot ◽  
M. A. Boukhalfa ◽  
...  

The design of a gas turbine combustion chamber integrates multiple contradicting objectives. Among all the parameters available to the engineers, the number of fuel injection systems and their spacing are crucial information which need to be fixed early on in the design phase. Indeed, such choices not only impact the cost and size of the combustor but they also affect the operability of the future engine. One key objective behind these parameters is the ignition time delay needed for the whole combustion chamber to successfully light. To gather knowledge in the ignition process that takes place in real gas turbine engines, current research orient towards the development of experimental facilities that complement high fidelity unsteady numerical simulations. In this context, a multi-injectors experimental set-up located at CORIA (France) is used to validate Large Eddy Simulation (LES) tools developed by CERFACS, IFP-EN and CORIA (France). Preliminary validations against experimental data show that for a given inter-injector distance, LES stationary and ignition transient predictions are very promising and recover the main features found in the experiment. Exit mean and root mean square velocity profiles of the steady flow are in good agreement with measurements obtained for all injectors at multiple axial locations. The simulation of the ignition transient phase well captures global events such as the propagation of the flame front from one injector to its neighbors and the related mechanisms. Improvement is however still needed to recover the proper ignition time of the whole burner.


Author(s):  
K. Döbbeling ◽  
A. Eroglu ◽  
D. Winkler ◽  
T. Sattelmayer ◽  
W. Keppel

The paper reports on the development and testing of a premix research burner for MBtu fuels. The burner has a quartz glass annular mixing section and a quartz glass flame tube to allow visualization of the flame. A central lance is used to mount modules for fuel injection, swirl generation and flame stabilization. This allows a large number of variants with different swirl strength, mixing section length, fuel injection geometry and flameholder size and shape to be easily tested. Experiments have been performed at atmospheric pressure and under high pressure conditions (14 bar pressure, 400°C air preheat temperature) for syngas with a H2/CO ratio of up to 5. In a preliminary study the mixing quality of the tested variants has been assessed with planar laser induced fluorescence (LIF). High pressure combustion tests show that low NOx (< 10 vppmd @ 15% O2) premix combustion of MBtu fuels under industrial GT conditions without dilution is feasible.


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