Gas Turbine Single Annular Combustor Sector: Combustion Dynamics

Author(s):  
Jun Cai ◽  
Fumitaka Ichihashi ◽  
Bassam Mohammad ◽  
Samir Tambe ◽  
Yi-Huan Kao ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Krishna Venkatesan ◽  
Arin Cross ◽  
Changjin Yoon ◽  
Fei Han ◽  
Sven Bethke

Abstract In this study, an experimental facility with two combustion cans was built and successfully replicated the field boundary conditions for heavy duty gas turbine combustors. Each combustor consisted of multiple Dry Low NOx (DLN) fuel nozzles, representative of a real gas turbine combustor headend. The two combustor cans were connected at the combustor exits to simulate the cross-talk area in a can-annular combustor configuration of a gas turbine. Moreover, a choked boundary condition, at the exit section of the cross-talk area, simulated the first-stage nozzle of a turbine. The push-push and push-pull tones were excited by varying the fuel flow splits among the various fuel nozzles in each combustor can. The thermoacoustic behavior of the two-can combustor was modeled using both a reduced-order network approach and a high-fidelity CFD approach. The modeling was carried out to guide rig design and to predict the frequency and relative amplitudes of the various dynamics modes from the experiments. Various combustion dynamics mitigation strategies were demonstrated via the experiments in reducing both push-pull and push-push dynamics tones. Moreover, stable combustor operation was demonstrated with complete mitigation of all dynamics tones.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng Huang ◽  
Rohan Gejji ◽  
William Anderson ◽  
Changjin Yoon ◽  
Venkateswaran Sankaran

2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Romano ◽  
Roberto Meloni ◽  
Giovanni Riccio ◽  
Pier Carlo Nassini ◽  
Antonio Andreini

Abstract This paper addresses the impact of natural gas composition on both the operability and emissions of lean premixed gas turbine combustion system. This is an issue of growing interest due to the challenge for gas turbine manufacturers in developing fuel-flexible combustors capable of operating with variable fuel gases while producing very low emissions at the same time. Natural gas contains primarily methane (CH4) but also notable quantities of higher order hydrocarbons such as ethane (C2H6) can also be present. A deep understanding of natural gas combustion is important to obtain the highest combustion efficiency with minimal environmental impact. For this purpose, Large Eddy Simulations of an annular combustor sector equipped with a partially premixed burner are carried out for two different natural gas compositions with and without including the effect of flame strain rate and heat loss resulting in a more adequate description of flame shape, thermal field, and extinction phenomena. Promising results, in terms of NOx, compared against available experimental data, are obtained including these effects on the flame brush modeling, enhancing the fuel-dependency under nonadiabatic condition.


Author(s):  
Salvatore Matarazzo ◽  
Hannes Laget ◽  
Evert Vanderhaegen ◽  
Jim B. W. Kok

The phenomenon of combustion dynamics (CD) is one of the most important operational challenges facing the gas turbine (GT) industry today. The Limousine project, a Marie Curie Initial Training network funded by the European Commission, focuses on the understanding of the limit cycle behavior of unstable pressure oscillations in gas turbines, and on the resulting mechanical vibrations and materials fatigue. In the framework of this project, a full transient CFD analysis for a Dry Low NOx combustor in a heavy duty gas turbine has been performed. The goal is to gain insight on the thermo-acoustic instability development mechanisms and limit cycle oscillations. The possibility to use numerical codes for complex industrial cases involving fuel staging, fluid-structure interaction, fuel quality variation and flexible operations has been also addressed. The unsteady U-RANS approach used to describe the high-swirled lean partially premixed flame is presented and the results on the flow characteristics as vortex core generation, vortex shedding, flame pulsation are commented on with respect to monitored parameters during operations of the GT units at Electrabel/GDF-SUEZ sites. The time domain pressure oscillations show limit cycle behavior. By means of Fourier analysis, the coupling frequencies caused by the thermo-acoustic feedback between the acoustic resonances of the chamber and the flame heat release has been detected. The possibility to reduce the computational domain to speed up computations, as done in other works in literature, has been investigated.


Author(s):  
Fred C. Bahlmann ◽  
B. Martien Visser

The development, from concept to hardware of a lean-premixed two-stage combustor for small gas turbine engines is presented. This Annular Low Emission Combustor (ALEC) is based on a patent of R.J. Mowill. Emission characteristics of several prototypes of this combustor under a variety of conditions are presented. It is shown that ultra-low NOx levels (< 10 ppm) can be reached with satisfactory CO levels (< 50 ppm).


Author(s):  
Don Ferguson ◽  
Geo. A. Richard ◽  
Doug Straub

In response to environmental concerns of NOx emissions, gas turbine manufacturers have developed engines that operate under lean, pre-mixed fuel and air conditions. While this has proven to reduce NOx emissions by lowering peak flame temperatures, it is not without its limitations as engines utilizing this technology are more susceptible to combustion dynamics. Although dependent on a number of mechanisms, changes in fuel composition can alter the dynamic response of a given combustion system. This is of particular interest as increases in demand of domestic natural gas have fueled efforts to utilize alternatives such as coal derived syngas, imported liquefied natural gas and hydrogen or hydrogen augmented fuels. However, prior to changing the fuel supply end-users need to understand how their system will respond. A variety of historical parameters have been utilized to determine fuel interchangeability such as Wobbe and Weaver Indices, however these parameters were never optimized for today’s engines operating under lean pre-mixed combustion. This paper provides a discussion of currently available parameters to describe fuel interchangeability. Through the analysis of the dynamic response of a lab-scale Rijke tube combustor operating on various fuel blends, it is shown that commonly used indices are inadequate for describing combustion specific phenomena.


Author(s):  
Fumitaka Ichihashi ◽  
Jun Cai ◽  
Y. H. Kao ◽  
A. A. Syed ◽  
S. M. Jeng

The occurrence of combustion instability dynamics known, as “screech, howl and growl,” in the combustors of gas turbine engines is a very difficult challenge for engineers. The very high amplitude pressure oscillations caused by combustion dynamics, are not only detrimental to the operation of the engine and combustor, but the difficulty in predicting and remedying these problems can lead to significant costs and delays in engine development. The coupling of the unsteady heat release in the flame with the natural acoustic resonance modes of the combustor duct causes the phenomena of combustion dynamics. To improve our understanding of stability characteristics in such complex systems, encountered in many industrial applications, the flame structure of an atmospheric swirl-stabilized burner, containing dilution and cooling air holes and fed with natural gas fuel, was systematically investigated for various inlet temperatures, pressure drops and air-fuel ratios. Experiments were also designed and conducted with the goal to understand better the phenomena of combustion dynamics that were experienced. More specifically, six acoustic pressure transducers were incorporated in the combustor and in the upstream duct to measure the acoustic field and the acoustic impedance characteristics at specified locations of interest. A one-dimensional wave propagation model is presented to predict the acoustic frequencies and damping of resonance modes, based on the geometry of the test rig, the flow conditions, and the acoustic impedance characteristics of the terminations of the combustor. This paper will present the acoustic analysis of the test data in the light of the above-mentioned theoretical modeling. The limitations of the current test rig are pointed out and changes in the rig design are discussed for future research.


Author(s):  
David Gomez-Ramirez ◽  
Deepu Dilip ◽  
Bharath Viswanath Ravi ◽  
Samruddhi Deshpande ◽  
Jaideep Pandit ◽  
...  

Increasing pressure to reduce pollutant emissions such as NOx and CO, while simultaneously increasing the efficiency of gas turbines, has led to the development of modern gas turbine combustors operating at lean equivalence ratios and high compression ratios. These modern combustors use a large portion of the compressor air in the combustion process and hence efficient use of cooling air is critical. Backside impingement cooling is one alternative for advanced cooling in gas turbine combustors. The dome of the combustor is a primary example where backside impingement cooling is extensively used. The dome directly interacts with the flame and hence represents a limiting factor for combustor durability. The present paper studies two aspects of dome cooling: the impingement heat transfer on the dome heat shield of an annular combustor and the effect of the outflow from the spent air on the liner heat transfer. A transient measurement technique using Thermochromic Liquid Crystals (TLCs) was used to characterize the convective heat transfer coefficient on the backside of an industrial heat shield design provided by Solar Turbines, Inc. for Reynolds numbers (with respect to the hole diameter) of ∼ 1500 and ∼ 2500. Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) calculations using the k-ω SST turbulence model were found to be in good agreement with the experiment. A standard heat transfer correlation for impingement hole arrays overestimated the mean heat transfer coefficient compared to the experiment and computations, however this could be explained by low biases in the results. Steady state IR measurements were performed to study the effects that the spent air from the heat shield impingement cooling had on the liner convective heat transfer. Measurements were taken for three Reynolds numbers (with respect to the hydraulic diameter of the combustor annulus) including 50000, 90000, and 130000. A downstream shift in the flow features was observed due to the secondary flow introduced by the outflow, as well as a significant increase in the convective heat transfer close to the dome wall.


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