scholarly journals Assessment of Combustor Working Environments

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leiyong Jiang ◽  
Andrew Corber

In order to assess the remaining life of gas turbine critical components, it is vital to accurately define the aerothermodynamic working environments and service histories. As a part of a major multidisciplinary collaboration program, a benchmark modeling on a practical gas turbine combustor is successfully carried out, and the two-phase, steady, turbulent, compressible, reacting flow fields at both cruise and takeoff are obtained. The results show the complicated flow features inside the combustor. The airflow over each flow element of the combustor can or liner is not evenly distributed, and considerable variations, ±25%, around the average values, are observed. It is more important to note that the temperatures at the combustor can and cooling wiggle strips vary significantly, which can significantly affect fatigue life of engine critical components. The present study suggests that to develop an adequate aerothermodynamics tool, it is necessary to carry out a further systematic study, including validation of numerical results, simulations at typical engine operating conditions, and development of simple correlations between engine operating conditions and component working environments. As an ultimate goal, the cost and time of gas turbine engine fleet management must be significantly reduced.

Author(s):  
S.M. Sergeev ◽  
◽  
V.A. Kudriashov ◽  
N.V. Petrukhin ◽  
◽  
...  

The main technical characteristics of jet engines depend on the fuel quality: thrust and fuel consumption. As a rule, the comparative assessment of real engines is carried by specific values. Specific thrust is one of the most important parameters of the gas turbine engine (GTE). The larger it is, the smaller the required air flow rate through the engine at a given thrust and therefore its dimensions and mass. To date, a system for evaluating the performance properties of fuels based on qualification methods has been created. However, these methods do not allow calculating the thrust and specific thrust of the engine and potentially assessing the effect of fuels on these characteristics. Therefore, the issues of efficient use of fuels for GTE are solved almost exclusively on the basis of tests at testing units with full-scale engines, which are carried out repeatedly, which leads to a significant increase in the cost of testing. The article proposes a method for calculating the thrust and specific thrust of a double-flow gas turbine engine according to the results of tests at a constant volume laboratory unit of bypass type “Flame”. The method is based on modeling the engine operating conditions using the similarity criteria of the bench reactor and the real engine and allows reducing significantly the material and time costs for testing. The experimental of the combustion characteristics of hydrocarbon fuels and the rated values of their thrust and specific thrust for a double-flow gas turbine engine are presented.


Author(s):  
Stephen N. Finger ◽  
Thomas L. Dubell

Gas turbine engine combustor design and development has long held a somewhat undeserved reputation as a “Black Art”. This reputation was earned because those unfamiliar with the technology perceived the large amount of development testing required indicated a lack of fundamental knowledge of combustion. Fundamental knowledge exists and provides the foundation for design and to guide decisions on development. However, considerable trial and error work is required to satisfy many and sometimes conflicting performance goals because complete quantification of separated flow aerodynamics, three dimensional flowfields, anisotropic two phase flow, chemical reaction and heat addition is a challenge not yet met. Therefore, there is considerable reliance on use of rigs during the preliminary design phase and on the use of rigs and engines during development. Well founded use of experimental tools is necessary and must be adequately planned for in any program for a combustor intended for production. This paper describes these tools and how they should be used in such a program.


1982 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Rhode ◽  
D. G. Lilley ◽  
D. K. McLaughlin

Combustor modeling has reached the stage where the most useful research activities are likely to be on specific sub-problems of the general three-dimensional turbulent reacting flow problem. The present study is concerned with a timely fluid dynamic research task of interest to the combustor modeling community. Numerical computations have been undertaken for a basic two-dimensional axisymmetric flowfield which is similar to that found in a conventional gas turbine combustor. A swirling nonreacting flow enters a larger chamber via a sudden or gradual expansion. The calculation method includes a stairstep boundary representation of the expansion flow, a conventional k-ε turbulence model and realistic accommodation of swirl effects. The results include recirculation zone characterization and predicted mean streamline patterns. In addition, an experimental evaluation using flow visualization of neutrally-buoyant helium-filled soap bubbles is yielding very promising results. Successful outcomes of the work can be incorporated into the more combustion- and hardware-oriented activities of gas turbine engine manufacturers, including incorporating the modeling aspects into already existing comprehensive numerical solution procedures.


Author(s):  
Suhyeon Park ◽  
David Gomez-Ramirez ◽  
Siddhartha Gadiraju ◽  
Sandeep Kedukodi ◽  
Srinath V. Ekkad ◽  
...  

In this study, we provide detailed wall heat flux measurements and flow details for reacting flow conditions in a model combustor. Heat transfer measurements inside a gas turbine combustor provide one of the most serious challenges for gas turbine researchers. Gas turbine combustor improvements require accurate measurement and prediction of reacting flows. Flow and heat transfer measurements inside combustors under reacting flow conditions remain a challenge. The mechanisms of thermal energy transfer must be investigated by studying the flow characteristics and associated heat load. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of combustor operating conditions on the reacting flow in an optical single can combustor. The swirling flow was generated by an industrial lean premixed, axial swirl fuel nozzle. Planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) data were analyzed to understand the characteristics of the flow field. Liner surface temperatures were measured in reacting condition with an infrared camera for a single case. Experiments were conducted at Reynolds numbers ranging between 50,000 and 110,000 (with respect to the nozzle diameter, DN); equivalence ratios between 0.55 and 0.78; and pilot fuel split ratios of 0 to 6%. Characterizing the impingement location on the liner, and the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) distribution were a fundamental part of the investigation. Self-similar characteristics were observed at different reacting conditions. Swirling exit flow from the nozzle was found to be unaffected by the operating conditions with little effect on the liner. Comparison between reacting and nonreacting flows (NR) yielded very interesting and striking differences.


Author(s):  
R. H. W. Brook

When a serious failure situation has developed, an expensive crash programme is usually required. If in-service data are analysed as a routine, then impending trouble may be foreseen and management decisions made to minimize the cost. A reliability analysis can help to establish a failure pattern compatible with intuitive engineering assessment so that, from a realistic prediction, alternative courses of action can be considered. A recent gas-turbine engine problem which has caused six component failures is analysed, and alternative replacement strategies are considered. It is suggested that to adopt the intuitive compromise strategy could be the most expensive in this case.


Author(s):  
I. V. Novosselov ◽  
P. C. Malte ◽  
S. Yuan ◽  
R. Srinivasan ◽  
J. C. Y. Lee

A chemical reactor network (CRN) is developed and applied to a dry low emissions (DLE) industrial gas turbine combustor with the purpose of predicting exhaust emissions. The development of the CRN model is guided by reacting flow computational fluid dynamics (CFD) using the University of Washington (UW) eight-step global mechanism. The network consists of 31 chemical reactor elements representing the different flow and reaction zones of the combustor. The CRN is exercised for full load operating conditions with variable pilot flows ranging from 35% to 200% of the neutral pilot. The NOpilot. The NOx and the CO emissions are predicted using the full GRI 3.0 chemical kinetic mechanism in the CRN. The CRN results closely match the actual engine test rig emissions output. Additional work is ongoing and the results from this ongoing research will be presented in future publications.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Γεώργιος Πατεράκης

The current work describes an experimental investigation of isothermal and turbulent reacting flow field characteristics downstream of axisymmetric bluff body stabilizers under a variety of inlet mixture conditions. Fully premixed and stratified flames established downstream of this double cavity premixer/burner configuration were measured and assessed under lean and ultra-lean operating conditions. The aim of this thesis was to further comprehend the impact of stratifying the inlet fuelair mixture on the reacting wake characteristics for a range of practical stabilizers under a variety of inlet fuel-air settings. In the first part of this thesis, the isothermal mean and turbulent flow features downstream of a variety of axisymmetric baffles was initially examined. The effect of different shapes, (cone or disk), blockage ratios, (0.23 and 0.48), and rim thicknesses of these baffles was assessed. The variations of the recirculation zones, back flow velocity magnitude, annular jet ejection angles, wake development, entrainment efficiency, as well as several turbulent flow features were obtained, evaluated and appraised. Next, a comparative examination of the counterpart turbulent cold fuel-air mixing performance and characteristics of stratified against fully-premixed operation was performed for a wide range of baffle geometries and inlet mixture conditions. Scalar mixing and entrainment properties were investigated at the exit plane, at the bluff body annular shear layer, at the reattachment region and along the developing wake were investigated. These isothermal studies provided the necessary background information for clarifying the combustion properties and interpreting the trends in the counterpart turbulent reacting fields. Subsequently, for selected bluff bodies, flame structures and behavior for operation with a variety of reacting conditions were demonstrated. The effect of inlet fuel-air mixture settings, fuel type and bluff body geometry on wake development, flame shape, anchoring and structure, temperatures and combustion efficiencies, over lean and close to blow-off conditions, was presented and analyzed. For the obtained measurements infrared radiation, particle image velocimetry, laser doppler velocimetry, chemiluminescence imaging set-ups, together with Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy, thermocouples and global emission analyzer instrumentation was employed. This helped to delineate a number of factors that affectcold flow fuel-air mixing, flame anchoring topologies, wake structure development and overall burner performance. The presented data will also significantly assist the validation of computational methodologies for combusting flows and the development of turbulence-chemistry interaction models.


Author(s):  
Masato Hiramatsu ◽  
Yoshifumi Nakashima ◽  
Sadamasa Adachi ◽  
Yudai Yamasaki ◽  
Shigehiko Kaneko

One approach to achieving 99% combustion efficiency (C.E.) and 10 ppmV or lower NOx (at 15%O2) in a micro gas turbine (MGT) combustor fueled by biomass gas at a variety of operating conditions is with the use of flameless combustion (FLC). This paper compares experimentally obtained results and CHEMKIN analysis conducted for the developed combustor. As a result, increase the number of stage of FLC combustion enlarges the MGT operation range with low-NOx emissions and high-C.E. The composition of fuel has a small effect on the characteristics of ignition in FLC. In addition, NOx in the engine exhaust is reduced by higher levels of CO2 in the fuel.


1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Watts ◽  
T. E. Dwan ◽  
C. G. Brockus

An analog fuel control for a gas turbine engine was compared with several state-space derived fuel controls. A single-spool, simple cycle gas turbine engine was modeled using ACSL (high level simulation language based on FORTRAN). The model included an analog fuel control representative of existing commercial fuel controls. The ACSL model was stripped of nonessential states to produce an eight-state linear state-space model of the engine. The A, B, and C matrices, derived from rated operating conditions, were used to obtain feedback control gains by the following methods: (1) state feedback; (2) LQR theory; (3) Bellman method; and (4) polygonal search. An off-load transient followed by an on-load transient was run for each of these fuel controls. The transient curves obtained were used to compare the state-space fuel controls with the analog fuel control. The state-space fuel controls did better than the analog control.


Author(s):  
S. James ◽  
M. S. Anand ◽  
B. Sekar

The paper presents an assessment of large eddy simulation (LES) and conventional Reynolds averaged methods (RANS) for predicting aero-engine gas turbine combustor performance. The performance characteristic that is examined in detail is the radial burner outlet temperature (BOT) or fuel-air ratio profile. Several different combustor configurations, with variations in airflows, geometries, hole patterns and operating conditions are analyzed with both LES and RANS methods. It is seen that LES consistently produces a better match to radial profile as compared to RANS. To assess the predictive capability of LES as a design tool, pretest predictions of radial profile for a combustor configuration are also presented. Overall, the work presented indicates that LES is a more accurate tool and can be used with confidence to guide combustor design. This work is the first systematic assessment of LES versus RANS on industry-relevant aero-engine gas turbine combustors.


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