Design Study of a Lean Premixed Prevaporized Counter Flow Combustor for a Micro Gas Turbine

Author(s):  
O. Liedtke ◽  
A. Schulz ◽  
S. Wittig

The present paper describes a new burner for a micro gas turbine utilizing the lean premixed prevaporized (LPP) combustion. The major objective of the new combustor concept is to achieve low pollutant emissions, in particular carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxide (NOx). Therefore, a homogeneous air fuel mixture is imperative for a lean combustion. Due to the thermodynamic cycle conditions of the micro gas turbine, the combustion air temperature is too low for an intense evaporation of a liquid fuel droplet spray. The new combustor concept therefore, is based on fuel film evaporation on the hot inner surface of a premix tube. The heat required for fuel film evaporation is transferred from the hot combustion gases, flowing along the outer surface of the tube, through the tube wall. The combustor wall is a multi-layered assembly consisting of a ceramic inner liner, a compliant layer, and the outer metal casing. This design allows almost adiabatic combustion to be established. The design process of the combustor is assisted by comprehensive numerical studies of droplet and fuel film evaporation. The commercial CFD code “CFD-RC” has been utilized to investigate the isothermal flow of the combustor. The vortex flow of the burner, which provides for flame stabilization, is described in detail. First experimental tests have been conducted. Measured pollutant concentrations of the exhaust gases meet international standards and demonstrate the great potential of the new combustor.

Author(s):  
O. Liedtke ◽  
A. Schulz ◽  
S. Wittig

The present paper describes the emission performance of a newly designed liquid fuelled micro gas turbine combustor. In order to reduce pollutant emissions, in particular nitrogen oxides NOx, lean premixed pre-vaporized combustion is utilized. Both, combustor inlet pressure and temperature are very low due to the thermodynamic cycle conditions chosen. As a consequence, the heat available for fuel spray evaporation is not sufficient. The present combustor concept therefore uses fuel film evaporation on the hot inner surface of a premix tube. The heat for evaporating the liquid fuel film is provided by the outer counter flow of hot exhaust gases. To establish almost adiabatic conditions within the reaction zone the flame tube features a multi-layered design, consisting of ceramic rings forming the inner wall, an insulation compliant layer, and the outer metal casing. To demonstrate the potential for reducing pollutant emissions overall NOx and CO concentrations of the exhaust gases have been measured and analyzed. The impact of combustor loading parameter, equivalence ratio, staging of the combustion, and ratio between calculated reaction times and mean residence times on the formation of pollutant emissions is investigated in detail. Furthermore, the impact of the flame tube volume on pollutant emissions and combustion stability is considered at various operating conditions. Measured pollutant emissions indicate the great potential for pollutant reduction that is associated with the specific geometry of the combustor.


Author(s):  
Eleni Agelidou ◽  
Martin Henke ◽  
Thomas Monz ◽  
Manfred Aigner

Residential buildings account for approximately one fifth of the total energy consumption and 12 % of the overall CO2 emissions in the OECD countries. Replacing conventional boilers by a co-generation of heat and power in decentralized plants on site promises a great benefit. Especially, micro gas turbine (MGT) based combined heat and power systems are particularly suitable due to their low pollutant emissions without exhaust gas treatment. Hence, the overall aim of this work is the development of a recuperated inverted MGT as heat and power supply for a single family house with 1 kWel. First, an inverted MGT on a Brayton cycle MGT was developed and experimentally characterized, in previous work by the authors. This approach allows exploiting the potential of using the same components for both cycles. As a next step, the applicability of the Brayton cycle components operated in inverted mode needs to be evaluated and the requirements for a component optimization need to be defined, both, by pursuing thermodynamic cycle simulations. This paper presents a parametrization and validation of in-house 1D steady state simulation tool for an inverted MGT, based on experimental data from the inverted Brayton cycle test rig. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to estimate the influence of every major component on the overall system and to identify the necessary optimizations. Finally, the component requirements for an optimized inverted MGT with 1 kWel and 16 % of electrical efficiency are defined. This work demonstrates the high potential of an inverted MGT for a decentralized heat and power generation when optimizing the system components.


2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Schwärzle ◽  
Thomas O. Monz ◽  
Andreas Huber ◽  
Manfred Aigner

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.


Author(s):  
Youichlrou Ohkubo ◽  
Yoshinorl Idota ◽  
Yoshihiro Nomura

Spray characteristics of liquid fuel air-assisted atomizers developed for a lean premixed-prevaporization combustor were evaluated under two kinds of conditions: in still air under non-evaporation conditions at atmospheric pressure and in a prevaporization-premixing tube under evaporation conditions with a running gas turbine. The non-evaporated mass fraction of fuel spray was measured using a phase Doppler particle analyzer in the prevaporization-premixing tube, in which the inlet temperature ranged from 873K to 1173K. The evaporation of the fuel spray in the tube is mainly controlled by its atomization and distribution. The NOx emission characteristics measured with a combustor test rig were evaluated with three-dimensional numerical simulations. A low non-evaporated mass fraction of less than 10% was effective in reducing the exhausted NOx from lean premixed-prevaporization combustion to about 1/6 times smaller than that from lean diffusion (spray) combustion. The flow patterns in the combustor are established by a swirl chamber in fuel-air preparation tube, and affect the flame stabilization of lean combustion.


2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 375-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Hendricks ◽  
D. T. Shouse ◽  
W. M. Roquemore ◽  
D. L. Burrus ◽  
B. S. Duncan ◽  
...  

The Trapped Vortex Combustor (TVC) potentially offers numerous operational advantages over current production gas turbine engine combustors. These include lower weight, lower pollutant emissions, effective flame stabilization, high combustion efficiency, excellent high altitude relight capability, and operation in the lean burn or RQL modes of combustion. The present work describes the operational principles of the TVC, and extends diffuser velocities toward choked flow and provides system performance data. Performance data include EINOx results for various fuel-air ratios and combustor residence times, combustion efficiency as a function of combustor residence time, and combustor lean blow-out (LBO) performance. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using liquid spray droplet evaporation and combustion modeling are performed and related to flow structures observed in photographs of the combustor. The CFD results are used to understand the aerodynamics and combustion features under different fueling conditions. Performance data acquired to date are favorable compared to conventional gas turbine combustors. Further testing over a wider range of fuel-air ratios, fuel flow splits, and pressure ratios is in progress to explore the TVC performance. In addition, alternate configurations for the upstream pressure feed, including bi-pass diffusion schemes, as well as variations on the fuel injection patterns, are currently in test and evaluation phases.


Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Matteo Cerutti ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Luca Mangani

One of the driving requirements in gas turbine design is the combustion analysis. The reduction of exhaust pollutant emissions is in fact the main design constraint of modern gas turbine engines, requiring a detailed investigation of flame stabilization criteria and temperature distribution within combustion chamber. At the same time, the prediction of thermal loads on liner walls continues to represent a critical issue especially with diffusion flame combustors which are still widely used in aeroengines. To meet such requirement, design techniques have to take advantage also of the most recent CFD tools that have to supply advanced combustion models according to the specific application demand. Even if LES approach represents a very accurate approach for the analysis of reactive flows, RANS computation still represents a fundamental tool in industrial gas turbine development, thanks to its optimal tradeoff between accuracy and computational costs. This paper describes the development and the validation of both combustion and radiation models in a object-oriented RANS CFD code: several turbulent combustion models were considered, all based on a generalized presumed PDF flamelet approach, valid for premixed and non premixed flames. Concerning radiative heat transfer calculations, two directional models based on the P1-Approximation and the Finite Volume Method were treated. Accuracy and reliability of developed models have been proved by performing several computations on well known literature test-cases. Selected cases investigate several turbulent flame types and regimes allowing to prove code affordability in a wide range of possible gas turbine operating conditions.


Author(s):  
Homam Nikpey ◽  
Mohsen Assadi ◽  
Peter Breuhaus

Previously published studies have addressed modifications to the engines when operating with biogas, i.e. a low heating value (LHV) fuel. This study focuses on mapping out the possible biogas share in a fuel mixture of biogas and natural gas in micro combined heat and power (CHP) installations without any engine modifications. This contributes to a reduction in CO2 emissions from existing CHP installations and makes it possible to avoid a costly upgrade of biogas to the natural gas quality as well as engine modifications. Moreover, this approach allows the use of natural gas as a “fallback” solution in the case of eventual variations of the biogas composition and or shortage of biogas, providing improved availability. In this study, the performance of a commercial 100kW micro gas turbine (MGT) is experimentally evaluated when fed by varying mixtures of natural gas and biogas. The MGT is equipped with additional instrumentation, and a gas mixing station is used to supply the demanded fuel mixtures from zero biogas to maximum possible level by diluting natural gas with CO2. A typical biogas composition with 0.6 CH4 and 0.4 CO2 (in mole fraction) was used as reference, and corresponding biogas content in the supplied mixtures was computed. The performance changes due to increased biogas share were studied and compared with the purely natural gas fired engine. This paper presents the test rig setup used for the experimental activities and reports results, demonstrating the impact of burning a mixture of biogas and natural gas on the performance of the MGT. Comparing with when only natural gas was fired in the engine, the electrical efficiency was almost unchanged and no significant changes in operating parameters were observed. It was also shown that burning a mixture of natural gas and biogas contributes to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions from the plant.


Author(s):  
Oliver Lammel ◽  
Tim Rödiger ◽  
Michael Stöhr ◽  
Holger Ax ◽  
Peter Kutne ◽  
...  

In this contribution, comprehensive optical and laser based measurements in a generic multi-jet combustor at gas turbine relevant conditions are presented. The flame position and shape, flow field, temperatures and species concentrations of turbulent premixed natural gas and hydrogen flames were investigated in a high-pressure test rig with optical access. The needs of modern highly efficient gas turbine combustion systems, i.e., fuel flexibility, load flexibility with increased part load capability, and high turbine inlet temperatures, have to be addressed by novel or improved burner concepts. One promising design is the enhanced FLOX® burner, which can achieve low pollutant emissions in a very wide range of operating conditions. In principle, this kind of gas turbine combustor consists of several nozzles without swirl, which discharge axial high momentum jets through orifices arranged on a circle. The geometry provides a pronounced inner recirculation zone in the combustion chamber. Flame stabilization takes place in a shear layer around the jet flow, where fresh gas is mixed with hot exhaust gas. Flashback resistance is obtained through the absence of low velocity zones, which favors this concept for multi-fuel applications, e.g. fuels with medium to high hydrogen content. The understanding of flame stabilization mechanisms of jet flames for different fuels is the key to identify and control the main parameters in the design process of combustors based on an enhanced FLOX® burner concept. Both experimental analysis and numerical simulations can contribute and complement each other in this task. They need a detailed and relevant data base, with well-known boundary conditions. For this purpose, a high-pressure burner assembly was designed with a generic 3-nozzle combustor in a rectangular combustion chamber with optical access. The nozzles are linearly arranged in z direction to allow for jet-jet interaction of the middle jet. This line is off-centered in y direction to develop a distinct recirculation zone. This arrangement approximates a sector of a full FLOX® gas turbine burner. The experiments were conducted at a pressure of 8 bar with preheated and premixed natural gas/air and hydrogen/air flows and jet velocities of 120 m/s. For the visualization of the flame, OH* chemiluminescence imaging was performed. 1D laser Raman scattering was applied and evaluated on an average and single shot basis in order to simultaneously and quantitatively determine the major species concentrations, the mixture fraction and the temperature. Flow velocities were measured using particle image velocimetry at different section planes through the combustion chamber.


Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Luca Mangani ◽  
Stefano Cocchi ◽  
Roberto Modi

Medium- and low-LHV fuels are receiving a continuously growing interest in stationary power applications. Besides that, since in many applications the fuels available at a site can be time by time of significantly different composition, fuel flexibility has become one of the most important requirements to be taken into account in developing power systems. A test campaign, aimed to provide a preliminary assessment of a small power gas turbine’s fuel flexibility, was carried over a full-scale GE10 prototypical unit, located at the Nuovo-Pignone manufacturing site, in Florence. The engine is a single shaft, simple cycle gas turbine designed for power generation applications, rated at 11 MW electrical power and equipped with a silos-type combustor. A variable composition gas fuel was obtained by mixing natural gas with CO2 to about 40% by vol. at engine base-load condition. Tests involved two different diffusive combustion systems: the standard version, designed for operation with natural gas, and a specific system designed for low-LHV fuels. Tests performed aimed to investigate both ignition limits and combustors’ performances, focusing on hot parts’ temperatures and pollutant emissions. Regarding NOx emissions, data collected during standard combustor’s tests were matched a simple scaling law (as a function of cycle parameters and CO2 concentration in the fuel mixture), which can be used in similar applications as a NOx predictive tool. In a following step, a CFD study was performed in order to verify in detail the effects of LHV reduction on flame structure and to compare measured and calculated NOx. STAR-CD™ code was employed as main CFD solver while turbulent combustion and NOx models were specifically developed and implemented using STAR’s user-subroutine features. Both models are based on classical laminar-flamelet approach. Three different operating points were considered at base-load conditions, varying CO2 concentration (0%, 20% and 30% vol. simulated). Numerical simulations point out the flexibility of the GE10 standard combustor to assure flame stabilization even against large variation of fuel characteristics. Calculated NOx emissions are in fairly good agreement with measured data confirming the validity of the adopted models.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document