Investigation of forward flow distributed combustion for gas turbine application

New innovative advanced combustion design methodology for gas turbine applications is presented that is focused on the quest towards zero emissions. The new design methodology is called colorless distributed combustion (CDC) and is significantly different from the currently used methodology. In this paper forward flow modes of CDC have been investigated for application to gas turbine combustors. The CDC provides significant improvement in pattern factor, reduced NO_x emission and uniform thermal field in the entire combustion zone for it to be called as an isothermal reactor. Basic requirement for CDC is carefully tailored mixture preparation through good mixing between the combustion air and product gases prior to rapid mixing with fuel so that the reactants are at much higher temperature to result in hot and diluted oxidant stream at temperatures that are high enough to autoignite the fuel and oxidant mixture. With desirable conditions one can achieve spontaneous ignition of the fuel with distributed combustion reactions. Distributed reactions can also be achieved in premixed mode of operation with sufficient entrainment of burned gases and faster turbulent mixing between the reactants. In the present investigation forward flow modes consisting of two non-premixed combustion modes and one premixed combustion mode have been examined that provide potential for CDC. In all the configurations the air injection port is positioned at the opposite side of the combustor exit, whereas the location of fuel injection ports is changed to give different configurations. Two combustion geometries resulting in thermal intensity of 5 MW/m³-atm and 28 MW/m³-atm are investigated. Increase in thermal intensity (lower combustion volume) presents many challenges, such as, lower residence time, lower recirculation of gases and effect of confinement on jet characteristics. The results are presented on the global flame signatures, exhaust emissions, and radical emissions using experiments and flowfield using numerical simulations. Ultra-low NO_x emissions are found for both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes at the two thermal intensities investigated here. Almost colorless flames (no visible flame signatures) have been observed for the premixed combustion mode. The reaction zone is observed to be significantly different in the two non-premixed modes. Higher thermal intensity case resulted in lower recirculation of gases within the combustion chamber and higher CO levels, possibly due to lower associated residence time. The characteristics at the two thermal intensity combustors investigated here were found to be similar.     

Swirling distributed combustion for clean energy conversion in gas turbine applications

Distributed combustion provides significant performance improvement of gas turbine combustors. Key features of distributed combustion includes uniform thermal field in the entire combustion chamber, thus avoiding hot-spot regions that promote NO_x emissions (from thermal NO_x) and significantly improved pattern factor. Rapid mixing between the injected fuel and hot oxidizer has been carefully explored for spontaneous ignition of the mixture to achieve distributed combustion reactions. Distributed reactions can be achieved in premixed, partially premixed or non-premixed modes of combustor operation with sufficient entrainment of hot and active species present in the flame and their rapid turbulent mixing with the reactants. Distributed combustion with swirl is investigated here for our quest to explore the beneficial aspects of such flows on clean combustion in simulated gas turbine combustion conditions. The goal is to develop high intensity combustor with ultra low emissions of NO and CO, and much improved pattern factor. Experimental results are reported from a cylindrical geometry combustor with different modes of fuel injection and gas exit stream location in the combustor. In all the configurations, air was injected tangentially to impart swirl to the flow inside the combustor. Ultra-low NO_x emissions were found for both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes for the geometries investigated here. Swirling flow configuration, wherein the product gas exits axially resulted in characteristics closest to premixed combustion mode. Change in fuel injection location resulted in changing the combustion characteristics from traditional diffusion mode to distributed combustion regime. Results showed very low levels of NO (∼3 PPM) and CO (∼70 PPM) emissions even at rather high equivalence ratio of 0.7 at a high heat release intensity of 36 MW/m³-atm with non-premixed mode of combustion. Results are also reported on lean stability limit and OH^* chemiluminescence under both premixed and non-premixed conditions for determining the extent of distribution combustion conditions.     

Distributed swirl combustion for gas turbine application

Colorless distributed combustion (CDC) has been shown to provide significant improvement in gas turbine combustor performance. Colorless distributed combustion with swirl is investigated here to develop ultra-low emissions of NO and CO, and significantly improved pattern factor. Experimental investigations have been performed using a cylindrical geometry combustor with swirling air injection and axial hot gas exit stream from the combustor. Air was injected tangentially to impart swirl to the flow inside the combustor. The results obtained from the combustor have demonstrated very low levels of NO (∼3 PPM) and CO (∼70 PPM) emissions at an equivalence ratio of 0.7 and a high heat release intensity of 36 MW/m³-atm under non-premixed combustion. To further simulate gas turbine operating conditions, inlet air to the combustor was preheated to 600 K temperature and the combustor operated at 2 atm pressure. Results showed very low levels of CO (∼10 PPM) but the NO increased somewhat to ∼10 PPM at an equivalence ratio of 0.5 and heat release intensity of 22.5 MW/m³-atm under non-premixed combustion conditions. For premixed combustion, the combustor demonstrated low levels of both NO (5 PPM) and CO (8 PPM) at an equivalence ratio of 0.6 and a heat release intensity of 27 MW/m³-atm. Results are reported at different equivalence ratios on the emission of NO and CO, lean stability limit and OH^* chemiluminescence. These results suggest that further performance improvement can be achieved with improved fuel mixture preparation prior to the ignition of fuel at higher operational pressures using swirling combustor design for our quest to develop ultra low emission high intensity combustor for gas turbine application.     

Development of high intensity CDC combustor for gas turbine engines

Colorless distributed combustion (CDC) has been demonstrated to provide ultra-low emission of NOx and CO, improved pattern factor and reduced combustion noise in high intensity gas turbine combustors. The key feature to achieve CDC is the controlled flow distribution, reduce ignition delay, and high speed injection of air and fuel jets and their controlled mixing to promote distributed reaction zone in the entire combustion volume without any flame stabilizer. Large gas recirculation and high turbulent mixing rates are desirable to achieve distributed reactions thus avoiding hot spot zones in the flame. The high temperature air combustion (HiTAC) technology has been successfully demonstrated in industrial furnaces which inherently possess low heat release intensity. However, gas turbine combustors operate at high heat release intensity and this result in many challenges for combustor design, which include lower residence time, high flow velocity and difficulty to contain the flame within a given volume. The focus here is on colorless distributed combustion for stationary gas turbine applications. In the first part of investigation effect of fuel injection diameter and air injection diameter is investigated in detail to elucidate the effect fuel/air mixing and gas recirculation on characteristics of CDC at relatively lower heat release intensity of 5 MW/m³ atm. Based on favorable conditions at lower heat release intensity the effect of confinement size (reduction in combustor volume at same heat load) is investigated to examine heat release intensity up to 40 MW/m³ atm. Three confinement sizes with same length and different diameters resulting in heat release intensity of 20 MW/m³ atm, 30 MW/m³ atm and 40 MW/m³ atm have been investigated. Both non-premixed and premixed modes were examined for the range of heat release intensities. The heat load for the combustor was 25 kW with methane fuel. The air and fuel injection temperature was at normal 300 K. The combustor was operated at 1 atm pressure. The results were evaluated for flow field, fuel/air mixing and gas recirculation from numerical simulations and global flame images, and emissions of NO, CO from experiments. It was observed that the larger air injection diameter resulted in significantly higher levels of NO and CO whereas increase in fuel injection diameter had minimal effect on the NO and resulted in small increase of CO emissions. Increase in heat release intensity had minimal effect on NO emissions, however it resulted in significantly higher CO emissions. The premixed combustion mode resulted in ultra-low NO levels (<1 ppm) and NO emission as low as 5 ppm was obtained with the non-premixed flame mode.     

Hydrogen addition effects on methane-air colorless distributed combustion flames

In this investigation the role of hydrogen addition in a reverse flow configuration, consisting of both non-premixed and premixed combustion modes, have been examined for the CDC flames. In the non-premixed configuration the air injection port is positioned at combustor exit end while the fuel injection port is positioned on the side so that the fuel is injected in cross-flow with respect to air injection. The thermal intensity of the flames investigated is 85 MW/m³ atm to simulate high thermal intensity gas turbine combustion conditions. The results are presented on the global flame signatures, exhaust emissions, and radical emissions using experiments and flowfield using numerical simulations. Ultra low NO_x emissions are found for both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes. Addition of hydrogen to methane fuel resulted in only a slight increase of NO emission, significant decrease of CO emission and extended the lean operational limit of the combustor.     

Effect of flow field for colorless distributed combustion (CDC) for gas turbine combustion

Colorless distributed combustion (CDC) investigated here is focused on gas turbine combustion applications due to its significant benefits for, much reduced NOx emissions and noise reduction, and significantly improved pattern factor. CDC is characterized by distributed reaction zone of combustion which leads to uniform thermal field and avoidance of hot spot regions to provide significant improvement in pattern factor, lower sound levels and reduced NOx emission. Mixing between the combustion air and product gases to form hot and diluted oxidant prior to its mixing with the fuel is critical so that one must determine the most suitable mixing conditions to minimize the ignition delay. Spontaneous ignition of the fuel occurs to provide distributed reaction combustion conditions. The above requirements can be met with different configuration of fuel and air injections with carefully characterized flow field distribution within the combustion zone. This study examines four different sample configurations to achieve colorless distributed combustion conditions that reveal no visible color of the flame. They include a baseline diffusion flame configuration and three other configurations that provide conditions close to distributed combustion conditions. For all four modes same fuel and air injection diameters are used to examine the effect of flow field configuration on combustion characteristics. The results are compared from the four different configurations on flow field and fuel/air mixing using numerical simulations and with experiments using global flame signatures, exhaust emissions, acoustic signatures, and thermal field. Both numerical simulations and experiments are performed at a constant heat load of 25 kW, using methane as the fuel at atmospheric pressure using normal temperature air and fuel. Lower NOx and CO emissions, better thermal field uniformity, and lower acoustic levels have been observed when the flame approached CDC mode as compared to the baseline case of a diffusion flame. The reaction zone is observed to be uniformly distributed over the entire combustor volume when the visible flame signatures approached CDC mode.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of effect of fuel line length on combustion instability for H2/CH4 gas turbine combustor

This study primarily aims to investigate the effects of fuel line length on the combustion instability characteristics of a partially premixed system. The key characteristics of combustion instabilities are analyzed in a H₂/CH₄ fueled laboratory scaled model gas turbine combustor with a different fuel line length via dynamic pressure measurement, continuous wavelet transform, proper orthogonal decomposition, Rayleigh criterion analysis, and a numerical approach using a three-dimensional Helmholtz solver. It is discovered that the instability characteristics change with the fuel line length. In particular, when the resonance in the fuel line appears at frequencies similar to those of the various resonance modes in the combustion chamber, the corresponding resonance modes amplify each other, causing intense instability as those frequencies. Therefore, the acoustics of the fuel line or the geometry of the pre-chamber can be an important design parameter that affects the main characteristics of combustion instability in partially premixed combustion.     

柴油机部分均质预混燃烧模式下混合与化学控制参数对指示热效率的影响

基于部分均质预混燃烧(PPC)的柴油机研究开发和优化了一种混合燃烧控制策略,在平均指示压力(IMEP)高达1.1,MPa的负荷范围内实现了高的指示热效率以及超低排放.燃烧过程中的混合与化学控制参数包括了喷油定时、喷油模式(如多脉冲喷射)、增压压力、EGR率以及进气气门关闭定时等,通过优化耦合以上控制参数可以优化控制当量比与温度的变化路径,从而避开NOx与碳烟(Soot)生成区.基于热力学第一定律,通过能量平衡的分析方法研究了混合与化学控制参数对热效率的影响.研究表明,相对于排放而言,热效率受控制参数的影响更加敏感.     

Frontiers in combustion techniques and burner designs for emissions control and CO2 capture: A review

The use of fossil fuel is expected to increase significantly by midcentury because of the large rise in the world energy demand despite the effective integration of renewable energies in the energy production sector. This increase, alongside with the development of stricter emission regulations, forced the manufacturers of combustion systems, especially gas turbines, to develop novel combustion techniques for the control of NO_x and CO₂ emissions, the latter being a greenhouse gas responsible for more than 60% to the global warming problem. The present review addresses different burner designs and combustion techniques for clean power production in gas turbines. Combustion and emission characteristics, flame instabilities, and solution techniques are presented, such as lean premixed air‐fuel (LPM) and premixed oxy‐fuel combustion techniques, and the combustor performance is compared for both cases. The fuel flexibility approach is also reviewed, as one of the combustion techniques for controlling emissions and reducing flame instabilities, focusing on the hydrogen‐enrichment and the integrated fuel‐flexible premixed oxy‐combustion approaches. State‐of‐the‐art burner designs for gas turbine combustion applications are reviewed in this study, including stagnation point reverse flow (SPRF) burner, dry low NO_x (DLN) and dry low‐emission (DLE) burners, EnVironmental burners (including EV, AEV, and SEV burners), perforated plate (PP) burner, and micromixer (MM) burner. Special emphasis is made on the MM combustor technology, as one of the most recent advances in gas turbines for stable premixed flame operation with wide turndown and effective control of NO_x emissions. Since the generation of pure oxygen is prerequisite to oxy‐combustion, oxygen‐separation membranes became of immense importance either for air separation for clean oxy‐combustion applications or for conversion/splitting of the effluent CO₂ into useful chemical and energy products. The different carbon‐capture technologies, along with the most recent carbon‐utilization approaches towards CO₂ emissions control, are also reviewed.     

重型燃气轮机先进低NOx燃烧技术分析

对重型燃气轮机领域中的低NOx燃烧技术进行介绍与说明,首先简要论述了重型燃气轮机燃烧室中氮氧化物的产生机理及抑制方法,其次,介绍了贫预混多喷嘴分级燃烧技术、富油/烽熄/贫油燃烧技术和贫预混低旋流燃烧技术等7种可用于重型燃气轮机燃烧室的先进低NOx燃烧技术,并详细论述了这7种低NOx燃烧技术的作用原理及应用进展,可为国内重型燃气轮机低污染燃烧室的设计与研制提供技术参考.     

Premixed hydrogen-air combustion system for fuel cell systems

The advance of efficient hydrogen-air combustion systems has increasingly become of interest in the framework of the development of fuel cell systems, especially for the automotive sector. Therefore, compact modulating systems are required, with the additional demand of low emissions, to be integrated in a fuel cell system. A modulating combustion system based on combustion within inert porous media and an integrated heat exchanger has been developed and investigated. The system is able to handle premixed combustion of lean H₂/air mixtures at a surface load range of 1075 kW/m²-2150 kW/m², and a global equivalence ratio of ?=0.5. The special hydrogen-air mixing concept eliminates the risk of flame flashback and enables operation with very low NO_x emissions.     

氢混天然气燃气轮机加湿低氮燃烧性能研究

为了解贫预混燃烧室天然气掺氢加湿燃烧时的性能变化和容许加湿范围,解决氢混燃气轮机NO_x排放超标问题,以某燃气轮机燃烧室为研究对象,数值研究了掺氢比和加湿比对燃烧性能及污染物排放特性的影响。结果表明：燃料无加湿条件下,燃烧室出口CO和CO₂排放值随着掺氢比的增加而减小,较高燃烧温度将导致热力型NO_x排放值增加,掺氢比达到0.2以上时,NO_x排放已超出环保限值;燃料加湿条件下,随着加湿程度增加,燃气出口平均流速及水蒸气组分含量均增加,燃烧筒内全局温度、CO₂和NO_x排放值均降低,CO排放值先降低后增加;掺氢天然气加湿可实现低氮燃烧,考虑到低掺氢工况燃气轮机功率输出效能和高掺氢工况燃烧性能恶化问题,水蒸气加湿量不宜过多,当掺氢比为0.3时,推荐燃料加湿比为0.463。     

Experimental investigation of dynamic and emission characteristics of a DLE gas turbine combustor

The DLE (dry low emission) technology has already been used on industrial gas turbine combustor and the NO X emission can be limited to 25 ppmv (@15% O 2 ), but one of the destructive effects is combustion instability. In this paper, the dynamic and emission characteristics of a DLE gas turbine combustor have been researched in the authors’ laboratory, and the results show that the key source of combustion instability is the non-uniformity of fuel in the flame zone. Two main fuel supply methods have been used to form different fuel distribution types; it is shown that in the perfectly premixed case the emission level is low and combustion process is stable. The PPF also has an obvious effect on the combustor’s emission and dynamic characteristics.     

掺混比例和喷射定时对二甲醚-乙醇发动机燃烧和排放的影响

在一台电控共轨发动机上,试验研究了乙醇掺混比例和喷射定时对二甲醚-乙醇混合燃料燃烧及排放的影响。结果表明:随乙醇比例的增加,滞燃期延长,燃烧持续期缩短,最大压力升高率上升。随喷射推迟,滞燃期延长,燃烧相位延后,燃烧持续期在纯二甲醚时延长,而在掺混乙醇时则先延长后缩短,最大压力升高率先下降后上升。掺混乙醇和推迟喷射使预混燃烧比例增加。随喷射推迟,混合燃料的排气温度升高,喷射推迟到上止点后,排气温度随乙醇比例的增加而升高,排气温度高,则废气能量高,增压器增压比大,进气流量大,导致缸内压缩压力升高。在上止点前喷射时,掺混乙醇能使HC和CO排放保持在较低范围的同时,一定程度降低NO_x排放,掺混15%的乙醇较纯二甲醚最大降低约11%NO_x排放。随推迟喷射,NO_x排放降低,最大降幅达52%,在过分推迟燃料喷射时,因热效率低,循环喷射量增加,含15%乙醇混合燃料的NO_x排放会高于纯二甲醚。HC和CO排放随喷射推迟而升高,且升高幅度增大。     

Investigation of combustion and emission performance of a micro combustor: Effects of bluff body insertion and oxygen enriched combustion conditions

Major challenges for micro combustors are high heat losses and inappropriate residence time. In this study, it was aimed to eliminate these challenges via placing bluff bodies into the combustion zone and combusting fuel with oxygen enriched air. To this end, micro combustor models with different geometries were constructed and in these models, premixed H₂/air combustion was simulated by using ANSYS/Fluent CFD code to investigate effects of bluff body shape, location and thickness, and low level O₂ enhancement on performance determining parameters such as rate of conversion of fuel to useable heat, temperature uniformity, pollutant emissions etc. To further analyze effects of micro combustor geometry, a perforated plate was also placed into the combustion zone. Thermal performance of the micro combustor with perforated plate insertion in O₂ enriched conditions was found to be highest in terms of increased reaction kinetics and heat transfer characteristics. The trade-offs of respective design are increased NO_x emissions and slightly decreased temperature uniformity.     

Free radical imaging techniques applied to hydrocarbon flames diagnosis

introductionThe current industrial needs for hydIDcrton-fuelcombushon systems involve simul~s assessllled ofdecreasing pollutal emissions, increasing equipmentlifetime and reducing fuel consumphon. withoutcompromising final PIDduct quality and Promotingflexible and clean Operation modes. Ih thes context,exhaust endssions chendcal composition have been arelevant issue for researchers and engineers, namelyunbumed hydrocboons and nitric and carbon Oboes,Which can direCtly or indireCtly hann e…     

Study on nonpremixed methane/air combustion from flame structure and NOX emission aspect for different burner head structures

In the present study, the air turbulator, which is a part of a nonpremixed burner, is investigated numerically in terms of its effects on the diffusion methane flame structure and NO_X emissions. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code was used for the numerical analysis. At first, four experiments were conducted using natural gas fuel. In the experimental studies, the excess air ratio was taken constant as 1.2, while the fuel consumption rate was changed between 22 and 51 Nm³/h. After the experimental studies, the CFD studies were carried out. Pure methane was taken as fuel for the simulations. The nonpremixed combustion model with the steady laminar flamelet model (SFM) approach was used in the combustion analyses. Methane‐air extinction mechanism with 17 species and 58 reactions was used for the simulations. The results obtained from the CFD studies were confronted with the measurements of the flue gas emissions in the experimental studies. Then, a modified burner head was analysed numerically for the different air turbulator blade numbers and angles. The CFD results show that increasing the air turbulator blade number and angle causes the thermal NO emissions to be reduced in the flue gas by making the flame in the combustion chamber more uniform than the original case. This new flame structure provides better mixing of the fuel and combustion air. Thus, the diffusion flame structure in the combustion chamber takes the form of the partially premixed flame structure. The maximum reduction in the thermal NO emissions in the flue gas is achieved at 38% according to the original case.     

Modelling of combustion performances and emission characteristics of coal gases in a model gas turbine combustor

In recent years, gas mixtures are being used as alternative fuels in combustors. These gas mixtures are obtained by different methods. For instance, coal gasification and carbonization as coal have the largest reserves among fossil fuels. Gas mixtures obtained via coal gasification and carbonization are called water gas, generator gas, town gas and coke oven gas. These fuels contain various gases. As a result of this, heating values of fuels are also different. Therefore, combustion performances and emission characteristics of these fuels need to be investigated. In this study, combustion performances and emissions including CO, CO₂ and NO_X of water gas, generator gas, town gases, coke oven gas and methane were numerically investigated in a model gas turbine combustor. The numerical modelling of turbulent nonpremixed diffusion flames has been performed in this combustor. Mathematical models used in this study involved the k–ε model of turbulent flow, the PDF/mixture fraction model of nonpremixed combustion and P‐1 radiation model. A CFD code ANSYS Fluent was used for all numerical investigations. Temperature distributions of axial and radial directions were determined. A NO_X post‐processor was used for the prediction of NO_X emissions from the gas turbine combustor. Modelling was performed for 60 kW thermal power and different equivalance ratios (i.e. Ф = 0.91, Ф = 0.77 and Ф = 0.67). The studied type 1 model gas turbine combustor was modelled for Ф = 0.91 equivalance ratio. Then, Other equivalance ratios were analysed for type 2 model gas turbine combustor. The effect of dilution air on combustion performances and emission characteristics was also investigated. It is concluded that the coke oven gas, the town gas I, town gas II and the water gas are appropriate for usage as alternative fuel, whereas the generator gas is not suitable for gas turbine combustors. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A computational study on the combustion of hydrogen/methane blended fuels for a micro gas turbines

To understand the combustion performance of using hydrogen/methane blended fuels for a micro gas turbine that was originally designed as a natural gas fueled engine, the combustion characteristics of a can combustor has been modeled and the effects of hydrogen addition were investigated. The simulations were performed with three-dimensional compressible k-ε turbulent flow model and presumed probability density function for chemical reaction. The combustion and emission characteristics with a variable volumetric fraction of hydrogen from 0% to 90% were studied. As hydrogen is substituted for methane at a fixed fuel injection velocity, the flame temperatures become higher, but lower fuel flow rate and heat input at higher hydrogen substitution percentages cause a power shortage. To apply the blended fuels at a constant fuel flow rate, the flame temperatures are increased with increasing hydrogen percentages. This will benefit the performance of gas turbine, but the cooling and the NO_x emissions are the primary concerns. While fixing a certain heat input to the engine with blended fuels, wider but shorter flames at higher hydrogen percentages are found, but the substantial increase of CO emission indicates a decrease in combustion efficiency. Further modifications including fuel injection and cooling strategies are needed for the micro gas turbine engine with hydrogen/methane blended fuel as an alternative.     

Catalytic combustion for industrial gas turbines

This brief review provides a general account of work directed at the use of catalytic combustion in gas turbine engines. A major potential advantage of using catalytic combustion is that the fuel can be burnt efficiently at temperatures low enough (< 1500°C) to avoid significant oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen. This advantage was less important when catalytic combustion was demonstrated in the 1970s than it is today and received relatively little attention until the following decade. After discussion of the principles involved in the design of a combustor that must meet the mixing, size, performance and durability goals of a based gas turbine application, the review turns to accounts of experiments conducted on a laboratory scale with simple configurations. These established basic operating parameters for satisfactory combustion performance and led to larger scale work and to prototype design concepts for industrial gas turbines in the late 70s and early 80s. Test results were encouraging but were not pursued definitively in the U.S.A. Activity continued at several centres in Japan, with exploration of a number of different catalyst arrangements, geometries, and control systems, again with encouraging results. At the same time, there has been renewed interests in the U.S.A. and in Europe, spurred largely by the emphasis on reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The paper concludes with suggestions for further development of catalytically stabilized combustion systems for gas turbines. These systems must ensure adequate pre-catalyst temperature, with evenly premixed fuel and air, and sufficient temperature rise across the catalyst to ensure effective completion of reaction in a homogeneous reaction mode. The outstanding problems are largely concerned with questions of catalyst integrity and longevity in practical configurations and realistic engine operating conditions.