Spray Drop Size and Velocity Measurements in a Swirl-Stabilized Combustor

A pressure-swirl fuel nozzle generating a hollow-cone spray with nominal cone angle of 30 degrees is used in a swirl-stabilized combustor. The combustor is circular in cross section with swirl plate and fuel nozzle axes aligned and coinciding with the axis of the chamber. Kerosene is injected upward inside the chamber from the fuel nozzle. Separate swirl and dilution air flows are uniformly distributed into the chamber that pass through the honey comb flow straighteners and screens. Calculated swirl number of 1.5 is generated with the design swirl plate exit air velocity of 30 degrees with respect to the chamber axis. Effects of swirl and dilution air flow rates on the shape and stability of the flame are investigated. Stable and classical liquid fuel sheet disintegration zone exists close to the nozzle with no visible light followed by a luminous blue region and a mixed blue/yellow region that subsequently turns into yellow for most of the part in the flame. A Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA) is used to measure drop size, mean and rms axial velocity for two cases of with and without combustion at six different axial locations from the nozzle. For the no-combustion case all air and fuel flow rates were kept at the same values as the combusting spray condition. Results for mean axial drop velocity profiles indicate widening of the spray due to combustion while the magnitudes of the peak velocities are slightly increased. No measurements inside the hollow-cone spray are possible due to burning of fuel droplets. Drop turbulence decreases due to combination of increase in gas kinematic viscosity and elimination of small drops at high temperatures. Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) radial profiles at all axial locations increase with combustion due to preferential burning of small drops.

Design and Test of a Candidate Topping Combustor for Second Generation PFB Applications

Second Generation Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion Combined Cycles utilize topping combustion to raise the combustion turbine inlet temperature to the state of the art. Principally for this reason, cycle efficiency is improved over first generation PFB systems. Topping combustor design requirements differ from conventional gas turbine combustors since hot, vitiated air from the PFB is used for both cooling and combustion. In addition, the topping combustor fuel, a hot, low-heating value gas produced from coal pyrolysis, contains ammonia. This NOx-forming constituent adds to the combustor’s unique design challenges. The candidate combustor is the multi-annular swirl burner (MASB) based on the design described by J.M. Beér. This concept embodies rich-burn, quick quench, and lean-burn zones formed aerodynamically. The initial test sponsored by the Department of Energy, Morgantown, West Virginia, has been completed and the results of that test are presented.

Effects of Turbine Design on Particulate Erosion of Turbine Airfoils

An analytic study was conducted to determine the effects of turbine design, airfoil shape and material on particulate erosion of turbine airfoils in coal-fueled, direct-fired gas turbines used for electric power generation. First-stage, mean-line airfoil sections were designed for 80 MW output turbines with 3 and 4 stages. Two-dimensional particle trajectory calculations and erosion rate analyses were performed for a range of particle diameters and densities and for ductile and ceramic airfoil materials. Results indicate that the surface erosion rates can vary by a factor of 5 and that erosion on rotating blades is not well correlated with particle diameter. The results quantify the cause/effect turbine design relationships expected and assist in the selection of turbine design characteristics for use downstream of a coal-fueled combustion process.

Separating Hydrogen From Coal Gasification Gases With Alumina Membranes

Synthesis gas produced in coal gasification processes contains hydrogen, along with carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, water, nitrogen, and other gases, depending on the particular gasification process. Development of membrane technology to separate the hydrogen from the raw gas at the high operating temperatures and pressures near exit gas conditions would improve the efficiency of the process. Tubular porous alumina membranes with mean pore radii ranging from about 9 to 22 A have been fabricated and characterized. Based on the results of hydrostatic tests, the burst strength of the membranes ranged from 800 to 1600 psig, with a mean value of about 1300 psig. These membranes were evaluated for separating hydrogen and other gases. Tests of membrane permeabilities were made with helium, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Measurements were made at room temperature in the pressure range of 15 to 589 psi. In general, the relative gas permeabilities correlated qualitatively with a Knudsen flow mechanism; however, other gas transport mechanisms such as surface adsorption may also be involved. Efforts are under way to fabricate membranes having still smaller pores. At smaller pore sizes, higher separation factors are expected from molecular sieving effects.

Reduced NOx Emissions Using Low Radial Swirler Vane Angles

The influence of vane angle and hence swirl number of a radial swirler on the weak extinction, combustion inefficiency and NOx emissions was investigated at lean gas turbine combustor primary zone conditions. A 140mm diameter atmospheric pressure low NOx combustor primary zone was developed with a Mach number simulation of 30% and 43% of the combustor air flow into the primary zone through a curved blade radial swirler. The range of radial swirler vane angles was 0–60 degrees and central radially outward fuel injection was used throughout with a 600K inlet temperature. For zero vane angle radially inward jets were formed that impinged and generated a strong outer recirculation. This was found to have much lower NOx characteristics compared with a 45 degree swirler at the same pressure loss. However, the lean stability and combustion efficiency in the near weak extinction region was not as good. With swirl the central recirculation zone enhanced the combustion efficiency. For all the swirl vane angles there was little difference in combustion inefficiency between the swirlers. However, the NOx emissions were reduced at the lowest swirl angles and vane angles in the range 20–30 degrees were considered to be the optimum for central injection. NOx emissions for central injection as low as 5ppm at 15% oxygen and 1 bar were demonstrated for zero swirl and 20 degree swirler vane angle. This would scale to well under 25 ppm at pressure for all current industrial gas turbines.

Combustion of LCV Coal Derived Fuel Gas for High Temperature, Low Emissions Gas Turbines in the British Coal Topping Cycle

Advanced coal based power generation systems such as the British Coal Topping Cycle offer the potential for high efficiency electricity generation with minimum environmental impact. An important component of the Topping Cycle programme is the development of a gas turbine combustion system to burn low calorific value (3.5–4.0 MJ/m3 wet gross) coal derived fuel gas, at a turbine inlet temperature of 1260°C, with minimum pollutant emissions. The paper gives an overview of the British Coal approach to the provision of a gas turbine combustion system for the British Coal Topping Cycle, which includes both experimental and modelling aspects. The first phase of this programme is described, including the design and operation of a low-NOx turbine combustor, operating at an outlet temperature of 1360°C and burning a synthetic low calorific value (LCV) fuel gas, containing 0 to 1000 ppmv of ammonia. Test results up to a pressure of 8 bar are presented and the requirements for further combustor development outlined.

Calculation Approach Validation for Airblast Atomizers

In order to formulate a common approach that could provide the spray parameters of airblast atomizers, various processes of liquid preparation, breakup and secondary atomization have been included in a semi-analytical calculation procedure. The air velocity components in the atomizer flow field are provided by mathematical expressions, and the spray droplets are considered to form at ligament breakup through a disturbance wave growth concept. The validation of the developed approach included the application to six atomizers that significantly varied in concept, design, and size. They represented both prefilming and plain-jet types, and their data utilized in the present effort were obtained with six different liquids. Satisfactory agreement between the measurements and the predictions has been achieved under wide ranges of air/fuel ratio and air pressure drop for various test liquids. The results of this investigation indicate the potential of using such an approach in the early phases of airblast atomizer design, and may be followed by more detailed calculations using analytical tools.

CFD Analysis of Jet Mixing in Low NOx Flametube Combustors

The Rich-burn/Quick-mix/Lean-burn (RQL) combustor has been identified as a potential gas turbine combustor concept to reduce NOx emissions in High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) aircraft. To demonstrate reduced NOx levels, cylindrical flametube versions of RQL combustors are being tested at NASA Lewis Research Center. A critical technology needed for the RQL combustor is a method of quickly mixing by-pass combustion air with rich-burn gases. In this study, jet mixing in a cylindrical quick-mix section was numerically analyzed. The quick-mix configuration was five inches in diameter and employed twelve radial-inflow slots. The numerical analyses were performed with an advanced, validated 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code named REFLEQS. Parametric variation of jet-to-mainstream momentum flux ratio (J) and slot aspect ratio was investigated. Both non-reacting and reacting analyses were performed. Results showed mixing and NOx emissions to be highly sensitive to J and slot aspect ratio. Lowest NOx emissions occurred when the dilution jet penetrated to approximately mid-radius. The viability of using 3-D CFD analyses for optimizing jet mixing was demonstrated.

Motion and Evaporation of Shear-Driven Liquid Films in Turbulent Gases

Detailed measurements of wavy liquid films driven by the shear stress of turbulent air flow are obtained for different air temperatures, air velocities and flow rates of the liquid. The experimental conditions are chosen from characteristic data of liquid film flow in prefilming airblast atomizers and film vaporization employing combustors. For the measurement of the local film thickness and film velocity a new optical instrument — based on the light absorption of the liquid — has been developed, which can be used at high temperatures with evaporation. The measured data of the gas phase and the liquid film are compared with the results of a numerical code using a laminar as well as a turbulent model for the film flow and a standard numerical finite volume code for the gas phase. The results utilizing the two models for the liquid film show that the film exhibits laminar rather then turbulent characteristics under a wide range of flow conditions. This is of considerable interest when heat is transferred across the film by heating or cooling of the wall. With this information the optical instrument can also be used to determine the local shear stress of the gas phase at the phase interface. Using time averaged values for the thickness, the velocity and the roughness of the film the code leads to relatively accurate predictions of the interaction of the liquid film with the gas phase.

An Expert System for Trend Analysis Applied to Turbomachinery

With the advent of computerized monitoring techniques, it is becoming evident that more automated methods of trend analysis and other diagnostic techniques are both possible and necessary. The implementation of a computerized health monitoring system has led to research into techniques for identifying trend behavior which can be used to detect equipment deterioration. The result has been the development of statistical techniques to characterize generic trend behavior and of an expert system to translate these into a diagnosis of equipment deterioration.