scholarly journals Computational Modeling of Boundary Layer Flashback in a Swirling Stratified Flame Using a LES-Based Non-Adiabatic Tabulated Chemistry Approach

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Xudong Jiang ◽  
Yihao Tang ◽  
Zhaohui Liu ◽  
Venkat Raman
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Predictive Accuracy ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Tabulated Chemistry ◽  
Lean Fuel ◽  
Flame Flashback

When operating under lean fuel–air conditions, flame flashback is an operational safety issue in stationary gas turbines. In particular, with the increased use of hydrogen, the propagation of the flame through the boundary layers into the mixing section becomes feasible. Typically, these mixing regions are not designed to hold a high-temperature flame and can lead to catastrophic failure of the gas turbine. Flame flashback along the boundary layers is a competition between chemical reactions in a turbulent flow, where fuel and air are incompletely mixed, and heat loss to the wall that promotes flame quenching. The focus of this work is to develop a comprehensive simulation approach to model boundary layer flashback, accounting for fuel–air stratification and wall heat loss. A large eddy simulation (LES) based framework is used, along with a tabulation-based combustion model. Different approaches to tabulation and the effect of wall heat loss are studied. An experimental flashback configuration is used to understand the predictive accuracy of the models. It is shown that diffusion-flame-based tabulation methods are better suited due to the flashback occurring in relatively low-strain and lean fuel–air mixtures. Further, the flashback is promoted by the formation of features such as flame tongues, which induce negative velocity separated boundary layer flow that promotes upstream flame motion. The wall heat loss alters the strength of these separated flows, which in turn affects the flashback propensity. Comparisons with experimental data for both non-reacting cases that quantify fuel–air mixing and reacting flashback cases are used to demonstrate predictive accuracy.

Experiments on Flame Flashback in a Quasi-2D Turbulent Wall Boundary Layer for Premixed Methane-Hydrogen-Air Mixtures

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Eichler ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Turbulent Flows ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Wall Friction ◽  
Evaluation Procedure ◽  
Wall Boundary Layer ◽  
Wall Boundary ◽  
Flame Flashback ◽  
Turbulent Wall

Premixed combustion of hydrogen-rich mixtures involves the risk of flame flashback through wall boundary layers. For laminar flow conditions, the flashback mechanism is well understood and is usually correlated by a critical velocity gradient at the wall. Turbulent transport inside the boundary layer considerably increases the flashback propensity. Only tube burner setups have been investigated in the past and thus turbulent flashback limits were only derived for a fully-developed Blasius wall friction profile. For turbulent flows, details of the flame propagation in proximity to the wall remain unclear. This paper presents results from a new experimental combustion rig, apt for detailed optical investigations of flame flashbacks in a turbulent wall boundary layer developing on a flat plate and being subject to an adjustable pressure gradient. Turbulent flashback limits are derived from the observed flame position inside the measurement section. The fuels investigated cover mixtures of methane, hydrogen and air at various mixing ratios. The associated wall friction distributions are determined by RANS computations of the flow inside the measurement section with fully resolved boundary layers. Consequently, the interaction between flame back pressure and incoming flow is not taken into account explicitly, in accordance with the evaluation procedure used for tube burner experiments. The results are compared to literature values and the critical gradient concept is reviewed in light of the new data.

Boundary Layer Flashback in Premixed Hydrogen–Air Flames With Acoustic Excitation

2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Hoferichter ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Excitation Amplitude ◽  
Bulk Flow ◽  
Acoustic Excitation ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Thermoacoustic Instabilities ◽  
Flame Flashback

Lean premixed combustion is prevailing in gas turbines to minimize nitrogen oxide emissions. However, this technology bears the risk of flame flashback and thermoacoustic instabilities. Thermoacoustic instabilities induce velocity oscillations at the burner exit which, in turn, can trigger flame flashback. This article presents an experimental study at ambient conditions on the effect of longitudinal acoustic excitation on flashback in the boundary layer of a channel burner. The acoustic excitation simulates the effect of thermoacoustic instabilities. Flashback limits are determined for different excitation frequencies characterizing intermediate frequency dynamics in typical gas turbine combustors (100–350 Hz). The excitation amplitude is varied from 0% to 36% of the burner bulk flow velocity. For increasing excitation amplitude, the risk of flame flashback increases. This effect is strongest at low frequencies. For increasing excitation frequency, the influence of the velocity oscillations decreases as the flame has less time to follow the changes in bulk flow velocity. Two different flashback regimes can be distinguished based on excitation amplitude. For low excitation amplitudes, flashback conditions are reached if the minimum flow velocity in the excitation cycle falls below the flashback limit of unexcited unconfined flames. For higher excitation amplitudes, where the flame starts to periodically enter the burner duct, flashback is initiated if the maximum flow velocity in the excitation cycle is lower than the flashback limit of confined flames. Consequently, flashback limits of confined flames should also be considered in the design of gas turbine burners as a worst case scenario.

Validation of a Novel LES Approach Using Tabulated Chemistry for Thermoacoustic Instability Prediction in Gas Turbines

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Dederichs ◽  
Nikolaos Zarzalis ◽  
Christian Beck
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Mixture Fraction ◽  
Propagation Speed ◽  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Scattering Method ◽  
Thermoacoustic Instability ◽  
Tabulated Chemistry ◽  
Premixed Laminar

For the prediction of thermoacoustic instabilities in gas turbines, a compressible, unsteady LES approach was validated for 1D, lab-scale and technical-scale test cases. The simulations were performed with a novel combustion model, which relies on a combination of tabulated chemistry and flame thickening. A 1D case was used for fundamental verification and to quantify the mesh resolution dependent error. The verification demonstrated sufficiently accurate predictions. In a second step an elevated pressure lab-scale flame was considered to calibrate the model parameter of the turbulence chemistry interaction at relevant conditions. For this case CO2 field data measured with the Raman scattering method is available. Finally, a test rig configuration of a can type combustor was investigated. The comparison between experiment and simulation was performed in terms of thermoacoustic pressure amplitudes at stable and unstable operating conditions. The LES combustion model relies on an artificial thickened flame approach to ensure that the flame propagation speed is reproduced with tolerable error. Tabulated chemistry provides the source term for CO2 (governing species) as a function of the mixture fraction and the CO2 concentration based on premixed, laminar flamelets. The model distinguishes between inherent thickening due to sub grid scale turbulence and explicit laminar thickening. This novel thickening approach is presented for the first time. The presented approach was able to predict the thermoacoustic stability behavior of a gas turbine combustion system correctly.

Influence of Boundary Layer Air Injection on Flashback of Premixed Hydrogen-Air Flames

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Hoferichter ◽  
Payam Mohammadzadeh Keleshtery ◽  
Christoph Hirsch ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer ◽  
Yoshikazu Matsumura
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Structural Damage ◽  
Alternative Fuels ◽  
Air Injection ◽  
Current Standard ◽  
Reference Case ◽  
Flame Flashback

Alternative fuels like hydrogen are presently discussed as one possibility to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from gas turbines. Premixed lean combustion is a current standard to minimize nitrogen oxide emissions. However, the early mixing of fuel and oxidizer upstream of the combustion chamber opens up the possibility of upstream flame propagation, referred to as flame flashback. Flame flashback in gas turbines has to be prevented as it leads to immediate engine shut down or even structural damage. Due to high burning velocities and low quenching distances, flashback is especially critical in premixed hydrogen flames. In particular, the low velocity region near the burner wall promotes flashback. Diluting the mixture near the wall by fluid injection is one approach to counteract this phenomenon and to enhance the safe operating range of a gas turbine burner. This article presents an experimental study on the effect of air injection on flame flashback investigated at a channel burner configuration. Different injection mass flow rates, positions and angles are compared to a reference case without injection regarding their flashback limits. The effectiveness of the injection increases with the injected mass flow rate. The resulting flashback limits can be correlated with the equivalence ratio at the wall by concepts taken from film cooling. However, the fluid injector is a source of boundary layer disturbances leading to an initial penalty regarding flashback resistance. This penalty increases the closer the injector is located to the burner exit. Furthermore, the penalty increases for lower injection angles as the area of the injector and the corresponding boundary layer disturbances increase.

Unsteady RANS and scale adaptive simulations of a turbulent spray flame in a swirled-stabilized gas turbine model combustor using tabulated chemistry

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1064-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Fossi ◽  
Alain DeChamplain ◽  
Benjamin Akih-Kumgeh
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Fluid Dynamic ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Turbulence Models ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spray Flame ◽  
Tabulated Chemistry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the three-dimensional (3D) reacting turbulent two-phase flow field of a scaled swirl-stabilized gas turbine combustor using the commercial computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software ANSYS FLUENT. The first scope of the study aims to explicitly compare the predictive capabilities of two turbulence models namely Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes and Scale Adaptive Simulation for a reasonable trade-off between accuracy of results and global computational cost when applied to simulate swirl-stabilized spray combustion. The second scope of the study is to couple chemical reactions to the turbulent flow using a realistic chemistry model and also to model the local chemical non-equilibrium(NEQ) effects caused by turbulent strain such as flame stretching. Design/methodology/approach – Standard Eulerian and Lagrangian formulations are used to describe both gaseous and liquid phases, respectively. The computing method includes a two-way coupling in which phase properties and spray source terms are interchanging between the two phases within each coupling time step. The fuel used is liquid jet-A1 which is injected in the form of a polydisperse spray and the droplet evaporation rate is calculated using the infinite conductivity model. One-component (n-decane) and two-component fuels (n-decane+toluene) are used as jet-A1 surrogates. The combustion model is based on the mean mixture fraction and its variance, and a presumed-probability density function is used to model turbulent-chemistry interactions. The instantaneous thermochemical state necessary for the chemistry tabulation is determined by using initially the equilibrium (EQ) assumption and thereafter, detailed NEQ calculations through the steady flamelets concept. The combustion chemistry of these surrogates is represented through a reduced chemical kinetic mechanism (CKM) comprising 1,045 reactions among 139 species, derived from the detailed jet-A1 surrogate model, JetSurf 2.0 using a sensitivity based method, Alternate Species Elimination. Findings – Numerical results of the gas velocity, the gas temperature and the species molar fractions are compared with their experimental counterparts obtained from a steady state flame available in the literature. It is observed that, SAS coupled to the tabulated flamelet-based chemistry, predicts reasonably the main flame trends, while URANS even provided with the same combustion model and computing resources, leads to a poor prediction of the global flame trends, emphasizing the asset of a proper resolution when simulating spray flames. Research limitations/implications – The steady flamelet model even coupled with a robust turbulence model does not reproduce accurately the trend of species with slow oxidation kinetics such as CO and H2, because of the restrictiveness of the solutions space of flamelet equations and the assumption of unity Lewis for all species. Practical implications – This work is adding a contribution for spray flame modeling and can be seen as an extension to the significant efforts for the modeling of gaseous flames using robust turbulence models coupled with the tabulated flamelet-based chemistry approach to considerably reduce computing cost. The exclusive use of a commercial CFD code widely used in the industry allows a direct application of this simulation approach to industrial configurations while keeping computing cost reasonable. Originality/value – This study is useful to engineers interested in designing combustors of gas turbines and others combustion systems fed with liquid fuels.

Boundary Layer Flashback in Premixed Hydrogen-Air Flames With Acoustic Excitation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Hoferichter ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Excitation Amplitude ◽  
Bulk Flow ◽  
Acoustic Excitation ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Thermoacoustic Instabilities ◽  
Flame Flashback

Lean premixed combustion is prevailing in gas turbines to minimize nitrogen oxide emissions. However, this technology bears the risk of flame flashback and thermoacoustic instabilities. Thermoacoustic instabilities induce velocity oscillations at the burner exit which, in turn, can trigger flame flashback. This article presents an experimental study at ambient conditions on the effect of longitudinal acoustic excitation on flashback in the boundary layer of a channel burner. The acoustic excitation simulates the effect of thermoacoustic instabilities. Flashback limits are determined for different excitation frequencies characterizing intermediate frequency dynamics in typical gas turbine combustors (100–350 Hz). The excitation amplitude is varied from 0 to 36 % of the burner bulk flow velocity. For increasing excitation amplitude, the risk of flame flashback increases. This effect is strongest at low frequencies. For increasing excitation frequency the influence of the velocity oscillations decreases as the flame has less time to follow the changes in bulk flow velocity. Two different flashback regimes can be distinguished based on excitation amplitude. For low excitation amplitudes flashback conditions are reached if the minimum flow velocity in the excitation cycle falls below the flashback limit of unexcited unconfined flames. For higher excitation amplitudes, where the flame starts to periodically enter the burner duct, flashback is initiated if the maximum flow velocity in the excitation cycle is lower than the flashback limit of confined flames. Consequently, flashback limits of confined flames should also be considered in the design of gas turbine burners as a worst case scenario.

Boundary Layer Flashback Limits of Hydrogen-Methane-Air Flames in a Generic Swirl Burner at Gas Turbine Relevant Conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Ebi ◽  
Peter Jansohn
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Preheat Temperature ◽  
Swirl Burner ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Flame Flashback

Abstract Operating stationary gas turbines on hydrogen-rich fuels offers a pathway to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the power generation sector. A key challenge in the design of lean-premixed burners, which are flexible in terms of the amount of hydrogen in the fuel across a wide range and still adhere to the required emissions levels, is to prevent flame flashback. However, systematic investigations on flashback at gas turbine relevant conditions to support combustor development are sparse. The current work addresses the need for an improved understanding with an experimental study on boundary layer flashback in a generic swirl burner up to 7.5 bar and 300°C preheat temperature. Methane-hydrogen-air flames with 50 to 85% hydrogen by volume were investigated. Flashback limits are reported in terms of the equivalence ratio for a given pressure, preheat temperature, bulk flow velocity and hydrogen content. The wall temperature of the center body along which the flame propagated during flashback events has been controlled by an oil heating/cooling system. This way, the effect any of the control parameters, e.g. pressure, had on the flashback limit was de-coupled from the otherwise inherently associated change in heat load on the wall and thus change in wall temperature. The results show that the preheat temperature has a weaker effect on the flashback propensity than expected. Increasing the pressure from atmospheric conditions to 2.5 bar strongly increases the flashback risk, but hardly affects the flashback limit beyond 2.5 bar.

Experiments on Flame Flashback in a Quasi-2D Turbulent Wall Boundary Layer for Premixed Methane-Hydrogen-Air Mixtures

2010 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Eichler ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Turbulent Flows ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Wall Friction ◽  
Evaluation Procedure ◽  
Wall Boundary Layer ◽  
Wall Boundary ◽  
Flame Flashback ◽  
Turbulent Wall

Premixed combustion of hydrogen-rich mixtures involves the risk of flame flashback through wall boundary layers. For laminar flow conditions, the flashback mechanism is well understood and is usually correlated by a critical velocity gradient at the wall. Turbulent transport inside the boundary layer considerably increases the flashback propensity. Only tube burner setups were investigated in the past, and thus turbulent flashback limits were only derived for a fully developed Blasius wall friction profile. For turbulent flows, details of the flame propagation in proximity to the wall remain unclear. This paper presents results from a new experimental combustion rig, apt for detailed optical investigations of flame flashbacks in a turbulent wall boundary layer developing on a flat plate and being subject to an adjustable pressure gradient. Turbulent flashback limits are derived from the observed flame position inside the measurement section. The fuels investigated cover mixtures of methane, hydrogen, and air at various mixing ratios. The associated wall friction distributions are determined by Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computations of the flow inside the measurement section with fully resolved boundary layers. Consequently, the interaction between flame back pressure and incoming flow is not taken into account explicitly, in accordance with the evaluation procedure used for tube burner experiments. The results are compared with literature values, and the critical gradient concept is reviewed in light of the new data.

The Implementation of Five-Dimensional FGM Combustion Model for the Simulation of a Gas Turbine Model Combustor

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Donini ◽  
Robert J. M. Bastiaans ◽  
Jeroen A. van Oijen ◽  
L. Philip H. de Goey
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Mixture Fraction ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Control Variables ◽  
Progress Variable ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustion ◽  
Turbine Model

Gas turbines are one of the most important energy conversion methods in the world today. This is because using gas turbines, large scale, high efficiency, low cost and low emission energy production is possible. For this type of engines, low pollutants emissions can be achieved by very lean premixed combustion systems. Numerical simulation is foreseen to provide a tremendous increase in gas turbine combustors design efficiency and quality over the next future. However, the numerical simulation of modern stationary gas-turbine combustion systems represents a very challenging task. Several numerical models have been developed in order to reduce the costs of flame simulations for engineering applications. In the present paper the Flamelet-Generated Manifold (FGM) chemistry reduction method is implemented and extended for the inclusion of all the features that are typically observed in stationary gas-turbine combustion. These consist of stratification effects, heat loss and turbulence. The latter is included by coupling FGM with the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) model. Three control variables are included for the chemistry representation: the reaction evolution is described by the reaction progress variable, the heat loss is described by the enthalpy and the stratification effect is expressed by the mixture fraction. The interaction between chemistry and turbulence is considered through a presumed probability density function (PDF) approach, which is considered for progress variable and mixture fraction. This results in two extra control variables: progress variable variance and mixture fraction variance. The resulting manifold is therefore five-dimensional, in which the dimensions are progress variable, enthalpy, mixture fraction, progress variable variance and mixture fraction variance. A highly turbulent and swirling flame in a gas turbine model combustor is computed in order to test the 5-D FGM implementation. The use of FGM as a combustion model shows that combustion features at gas turbine conditions can be satisfactorily reproduced with a reasonable computational effort. The implemented combustion model retains most of the physical accuracy of a detailed simulation while drastically reducing its computational time, paving the way for new developments of alternative fuel usage in a cleaner and more efficient combustion.

The Departure from Equilibrium of Turbulent Boundary Layers

1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Shear Stress ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Stress Distribution ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layers ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Pressure Distributions ◽  
Momentum Integral ◽  
State Examination

SummaryRecently two authors, Nash and Goldberg, have suggested, intuitively, that the rate at which the shear stress distribution in an incompressible, two-dimensional, turbulent boundary layer would return to its equilibrium value is directly proportional to the extent of the departure from the equilibrium state. Examination of the behaviour of the integral properties of the boundary layer supports this hypothesis. In the present paper a relationship similar to the suggestion of Nash and Goldberg is derived from the local balance of the kinetic energy of the turbulence. Coupling this simple derived relationship to the boundary layer momentum and moment-of-momentum integral equations results in quite accurate predictions of the behaviour of non-equilibrium turbulent boundary layers in arbitrary adverse (given) pressure distributions.

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