NOx-Formation and CO-Burnout in Water-Injected, Premixed Natural Gas Flames at Typical Gas Turbine Combustor Residence Times

2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Lellek ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Water Droplet ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Residence Times ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Reaction Progress ◽  
Progress Variable

With the transition of the power production markets toward renewable energy sources, an increased demand for flexible, fossil-based power production systems arises. Steep load gradients and a high range of flexibility make gas turbines a core technology in this ongoing change. In order to further increase this flexibility research on power augmentation of premixed gas turbine combustors is conducted at the Lehrstuhl für Thermodynamik, TU München. Water injection in gas turbine combustors allows for the simultaneous control of NOx emissions as well as the increase of the power output of the engine and has therefore been transferred to a premixed combustor at lab scale. So far stable operation of the system has been obtained for water-to-fuel ratios up to 2.25 at constant adiabatic flame temperatures. This paper focuses on the effects of water injection on pollutant formation in premixed gas turbine flames. In order to guarantee for high practical relevance, experimental measurements are conducted at typical preheating temperatures and common gas turbine combustor residence times of about 20 ms. Spatially resolved and global species measurements are performed in an atmospheric single burner test rig for typical adiabatic flame temperatures between 1740 and 2086 K. Global measurements of NOx and CO emissions are shown for a wide range of equivalence ratios and variable water-to-fuel ratios. Cantera calculations are used to identify nonequilibrium processes in the measured data. To get a close insight into the emission formation processes in water-injected flames, local concentration measurements are used to calculate distributions of the reaction progress variable. Finally, to clarify the influence of spray quality on the composition of the exhaust gas, a variation of the water droplet diameters is done. For rising water content at constant adiabatic flame temperature, the NOx emissions can be held constant, whereas CO concentrations increase. On the contrary, both values decrease for measurements at constant equivalence ratio and reduced flame temperatures. Further analysis of the data shows the close dependency of CO concentration on the equivalence ratio; however, due to the water addition, a shift of the CO curves can be detected. In the local measurements, changes in the distribution of the reaction progress variable and an increase of the flame length were detected for water-injected flames along with changes of the maximum as well as the averaged CO values. Finally, a strong influence of water droplet size on NOx and CO formation is shown for constant operating conditions.

NOx-Formation and CO-Burnout in Water Injected, Premixed Natural Gas Flames at Typical Gas Turbine Combustor Residence Times

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Lellek ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Water Droplet ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Residence Times ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Reaction Progress ◽  
Progress Variable

With the transition of the power production markets towards renewable energy sources an increased demand for flexible, fossil based power production systems arises. Steep load gradients and a high range of flexibility make gas turbines a core technology in this ongoing change. In order to further increase this flexibility research on power augmentation of premixed gas turbine combustors is conducted at the Lehrstuhl für Thermodynamik, TU München. Water injection in gas turbine combustors allows for the simultaneous control of NOx emissions as well as the increase of the power output of the engine and has therefore been transferred to a premixed combustor at lab scale. So far stable operation of the system has been obtained for water-to-fuel ratios up to 2.25 at constant adiabatic flame temperatures. This paper focuses on the effects of water injection on pollutant formation in premixed gas turbine flames. In order to guarantee for high practical relevance experimental measurements are conducted at typical preheating temperatures and common gas turbine combustor residence times of about 20 ms. Spatially resolved and global species measurements are performed in an atmospheric single burner test rig for typical adiabatic flame temperatures between 1740 and 2086 K. Global measurements of NOx and CO emissions are shown for a wide range of equivalence ratios and variable water-to-fuel ratios. Cantera calculations are used to identify non-equilibrium processes in the measured data. To get a close insight into the emission formation processes in water injected flames local concentration measurements are used to calculate distributions of the reaction progress variable. Finally, to clarify the influence of spray quality on the composition of the exhaust gas a variation of the water droplet diameters is done. For rising water content at constant adiabatic flame temperature the NOx emissions can be held constant, whereas CO concentrations increase. On the contrary, both values decrease for measurements at constant equivalence ratio and reduced flame temperatures. Further analysis of the data shows the close dependency of CO concentration on the equivalence ratio, however, due to the water addition a shift of the CO curves can be detected. In the local measurements changes in the distribution of the reaction progress variable and an increase of the flame length were detected for water injected flames along with changes of the maximum as well as the averaged CO values. Finally, a strong influence of water droplet size on NOx and CO formation is shown for constant operating conditions.

Design and Testing of an Ultra-Low NOx Gas Turbine Combustor

1986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth O. Smith ◽  
Leonard C. Angello ◽  
F. Richard Kurzynske
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Catalytic Reduction ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Combustion System ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Program Goal ◽  
Primary Zone ◽  
Design And Testing

The design and initial rig testing of an ultra-low NOx gas turbine combustor primary zone are described. A lean premixed, swirl-stabilized combustor was evaluated over a range of pressures up to 10.7 × 105 Pa (10.6 atm) using natural gas. The program goal of reducing NOx emissions to 10 ppm (at 15% O2) with coincident low CO emissions was achieved at all combustor pressure levels. Appropriate combustor loading for ultra-low NOx operation was determined through emissions sampling within the primary zone. The work described represents a first step in developing an advanced gas turbine combustion system that can yield ultra-low NOx levels without the need for water injection and selective catalytic reduction.

Assessment of a Gas Turbine NOx Reduction Potential Based on a Spatiotemporal Unmixedness Parameter

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Dederichs ◽  
Peter Habisreuther ◽  
Nikolaos Zarzalis ◽  
Christian Beck ◽  
Werner Krebs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Probability Density Function ◽  
Probability Density ◽  
Flame Front ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Reduction Potential ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Reaction Progress ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Mixing Quality

The paper presents a one-dimensional approach to assess the reduction potential of NOx emissions for lean premixed gas turbine combustion systems. NOx emissions from these systems are known to be mainly caused by high temperatures; not only from an averaged perspective but especially related to poor mixing quality of fuel and air. The method separates the NOx chemistry in the flame front zone and the post flame zone (slow reaction). A one-dimensional treatment enables the use of detailed chemistry. A look up table parameterized by reaction progress and equivalence ratio is used to improve the computational efficiency. The influence of mixing quality is taken into account by a probability density function of the fuel element based equivalence ratio, which itself translates into a temperature distribution. Hence, the NOx source terms are a function of reaction progress and equivalence ratio. The reaction progress is considered by means of the two-zone approach. Based on unsteady CFD data, the evolution of the probability density function with residence time has been analyzed. Two types of definitions of an unmixedness quantity are considered. One definition accounts for spatial as well as temporal fluctuations and the other is based on the mean spatial distribution. They are determined at the location of the flame front. The paper presents a comparison of the modeled results with experimental data. A validation and application have shown very good quantitative and qualitative agreement with the measurements. The comparison of the unmixedness definitions has proven the necessity of unsteady simulations. A general emissions - unmixedness correlation can be derived for a given combustion system.

Assessment of a Gas Turbine NOx Reduction Potential Based on a Spatiotemporal Unmixedness Parameter

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Dederichs ◽  
Nikolaos Zarzalis ◽  
Peter Habisreuther ◽  
Christian Beck ◽  
Bernd Prade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Probability Density Function ◽  
Probability Density ◽  
Flame Front ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Reduction Potential ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Reaction Progress ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Mixing Quality

The paper presents a one-dimensional approach to assess the reduction potential of NOx emissions for lean premixed gas turbine combustion systems. NOx emissions from these systems are known to be mainly caused by high temperatures, not only from an averaged perspective but especially related to poor mixing quality of fuel and air. The method separates the NOx chemistry in the flame front zone and the postflame zone (slow reaction). A one-dimensional treatment enables the use of detailed chemistry. A lookup table parameterized by reaction progress and equivalence ratio is used to improve the computational efficiency. The influence of mixing quality is taken into account by a probability density function of the fuel element–based equivalence ratio, which itself translates into a temperature distribution. Hence, the NOx source terms are a function of reaction progress and equivalence ratio. The reaction progress is considered by means of the two-zone approach. Based on unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data, the evolution of the probability density function with residence time has been analyzed. Two types of definitions of an unmixedness quantity are considered. One definition accounts for spatial as well as temporal fluctuations, and the other is based on the mean spatial distribution. They are determined at the location of the flame front. The paper presents a comparison of the modeled results with experimental data. A validation and application have shown very good quantitative and qualitative agreement with the measurements. The comparison of the unmixedness definitions has proven the necessity of unsteady simulations. A general emissions-unmixedness correlation can be derived for a given combustion system.

scholarly journals Design and Operation of Low-NOx Combustors With Medium Heating Value, Coal-Derived Gas

1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Grant ◽  
T. E. Holladay ◽  
F. H. Boenig ◽  
R. L. Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Diffusion Flame ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Attractive Alternative ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Heating Value ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
High Concentrations

Industrial turbines fired on medium heating value (MHV) gas (nominally 300 Btu/scf) synthesized from coal offer an attractive alternative means of producing electrical power in the future. Peak flame temperatures resulting from combustion of this MHV gas in conventional diffusion flame combustors may be comparable to those of natural gas, yielding undesirably high concentrations of NOx. This paper describes an EPRI-sponsored program conducted to demonstrate a MHV gas turbine combustor capable of meeting EPA NOx requirements without water injection. Program objectives were to design, fabricate, and test three MHV combustor configurations and to demonstrate NOx emissions concentrations of 15 ppmv (dry basis) or less at a burner inlet pressure of 1.27 atm: Design of the combustors was based on a lean-premix fuel metering concept. Tests were conducted in a single-can combustor rig at simulated engine conditions ranging from 40 to 125 percent of engine baseload (74 MW).

Prediction of Combustion Performance of Biodiesel in Gas Turbine Combustor

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanka Yadav ◽  
Nagendra P. Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Stable Region ◽  
Airflow Rate ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Mixing Process ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Combustion Performance ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis ◽  
Air Mixing

Abstract This paper focuses the computational fluid dynamics analysis inside the gas turbine combustor for the combustion of biodiesel and air mixture. The biodiesel (methyl soyate) is made from the vegetable oil (soybean oil). ANSYS fluent is used for Numerical simulation and model adapted Eddy dissipation concept for turbulence, discrete model, k-epsilon (standard), and the species transport. The model was validated and the combustion performance of biodiesel is predicted with an air-assist injector. The fuel spray is created by commercially available airblast atomizer in this study. The strength of recirculation increases with increased in equivalence ratio. The strong corner recirculation was observed at 0.75 equivalence ratio. The higher turbulence kinetic energy is found at the middle of the combustor. The temperature increases with the increase in the equivalence ratio in the flame stable region while it decreases with increases in the equivalence ratio. It was observed that an increase in the equivalence ratio, flame length increases. The profiles of carbon monoxide (CO) and nitric oxides (NOx) emissions can be obtained at 15% atomizing airflow rates, while the total airflow rate kept constant. The NOx and CO emissions are effected mainly by the fuel-air mixing process that the fuel-air mixing process and atomization have the great impact on CO and NOx emissions.

Field Conversion of a Low-Firing Frame 7B Gas Turbine Power Plant to Ultra-Low Emission Combustion

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Demougeot ◽  
Jeffrey A. Benoit
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Environmental Controls ◽  
Low Emission ◽  
Technical Discussion

The search for power plant sustainability options continues as regulating agencies exert more stringent industrial gas turbine emission requirements on operators. Purchasing power for resale, de-commissioning current capabilities altogether and repowering by replacing or converting existing equipment to comply with emissions standards are economic-driven options contemplated by many mature gas turbine operators. NRG’s Gilbert power plant based in Milford, NJ began commercial operation in 1974 and is fitted with four (4) natural gas fired GE’s 7B gas turbine generators with two each exhausting to HRSG’s feeding one (1) steam turbine generator. The gas turbine units, originally configured with diffusion flame combustion systems with water injection, were each emitting 35 ppm NOx with the New Jersey High Energy Demand Day (HEED) regulatory mandate to reduce NOx emissions to sub 10 ppm by May 1st, 2015. Studies were conducted by the operator to evaluate the economic viability & installation of environmental controls to reduce NOx emissions. It was determined that installation of post-combustion environmental controls at the facility was both cost prohibitive and technically challenging, and would require a fundamental reconfiguration of the facility. Based on this economic analysis, the ultra-low emission combustion system conversion package was selected as the best cost-benefit solution. This technical paper will focus on the ultra low emissions technology and key features employed to achieve these low emissions, a description of the design challenges and solution to those, a summary of the customer considerations in down selecting options and an overview of the conversion scope. Finally, a technical discussion of the low emissions operational flexibility will be provided including performance results of the converted units.

Combustion Characteristics of Small Size Gas Turbine Combustor Fueled by Biomass Gas Employing Flameless Combustion

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masato Hiramatsu ◽  
Yoshifumi Nakashima ◽  
Sadamasa Adachi ◽  
Yudai Yamasaki ◽  
Shigehiko Kaneko
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Combustion Efficiency ◽  
Combustion Characteristics ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Flameless Combustion ◽  
Engine Exhaust ◽  
Micro Gas Turbine

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.

scholarly journals Detailed Examination of a Modified Two-Stage Micro Gas Turbine Combustor

2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Schwärzle ◽  
Thomas O. Monz ◽  
Andreas Huber ◽  
Manfred Aigner
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Micro Gas Turbine ◽  
Previous Design ◽  
Recirculation Zones ◽  
Asme Paper

Jet-stabilized combustion is a promising technology for fuel flexible, reliable, highly efficient combustion systems. The aim of this work is a reduction of NOx emissions of a previously published two-stage micro gas turbine (MGT) combustor (Zanger et al., 2015, “Experimental Investigation of the Combustion Characteristics of a Double-Staged FLOX-Based Combustor on an Atmospheric and a Micro Gas Turbine Test Rig,” ASME Paper No. GT2015-42313 and Schwärzle et al., 2016, “Detailed Examination of Two-Stage Micro Gas Turbine Combustor,” ASME Paper No. GT2016-57730), where the pilot stage (PS) of the combustor was identified as the main contributor to NOx emissions. The geometry optimization was carried out regarding the shape of the pilot dome and the interface between PS and main stage (MS) in order to prevent the formation of high-temperature recirculation zones. Both stages have been run separately to allow a detailed understanding of the flame stabilization within the combustor, its range of stable combustion, the interaction between both stages, and the influence of the modified geometry. All experiments were conducted at atmospheric pressure and an air preheat temperature of 650  °C. The flame was analyzed in terms of shape, length, and lift-off height, using OH* chemiluminescence (OH-CL) images. Emission measurements for NOx, CO, and unburned hydrocarbons (UHC) emissions were carried out. At a global air number of λ = 2, a fuel split variation was carried out from 0 (only PS) to 1 (only MS). The modification of the geometry leads to a decrease in NOx and CO emissions throughout the fuel split variation in comparison with the previous design. Regarding CO emissions, the PS operations are beneficial for a fuel split above 0.8. The local maximum in NOx emissions observed for the previous combustor design at a fuel split of 0.78 was not apparent for the modified design. NOx emissions were increasing, when the local air number of the PS was below the global air number. In order to evaluate the influence of the modified design on the flow field and identify the origin of the emission reduction compared to the previous design, unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations were carried out for both geometries at fuel splits of 0.93 and 0.78, respectively, using the DLR (German Aerospace Center) in-house code turbulent heat release extension of the tau code (theta) with the k–ω shear stress transport turbulence model and the DRM22 (Kazakov and Frenklach, 1995, “DRM22,” University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, accessed Sept. 21, 2017, http://www.me.berkeley.edu/drm/) detailed reaction mechanism. The numerical results showed a strong influence of the recirculation zones on the PS reaction zone.

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