Lean Blowout Features and Control in a Swirl-Stabilized, Partially Premixed Gas Turbine Combustor

Author(s):  
Tongxun Yi ◽  
Ephraim Gutmark
Author(s):  
Oanh Nguyen ◽  
Scott Samuelsen

In view of increasingly stringent NOx emissions regulations on stationary gas turbines, lean combustion offers an attractive option to reduce reaction temperatures and thereby decrease NOx production. Under lean operation, however, the reaction is vulnerable to blowout. It is herein postulated that pilot hydrogen dopant injection, discretely located, can enhance the lean blowout performance without sacrificing overall performance. The present study addresses this hypothesis in a research combustor assembly, operated at atmospheric pressure, and fired on natural gas using rapid mixing injection, typical of commercial units. Five hydrogen injector scenarios are investigated. The results show that (1) pilot hydrogen dopant injection, discretely located, leads to improved lean blowout performance and (2) the location of discrete injection has a significant impact on the effectiveness of the doping strategy.


Fluids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Zhang ◽  
Ali Ghobadian ◽  
Jamshid M. Nouri

The scale-resolving simulation of a practical gas turbine combustor is performed using a partially premixed finite-rate chemistry combustion model. The combustion model assumes finite-rate chemistry by limiting the chemical reaction rate with flame speed. A comparison of the numerical results with the experimental temperature and species mole fraction clearly showed the superiority of the shear stress transport, K-omega, scale adaptive turbulence model (SSTKWSAS). The model outperforms large eddy simulation (LES) in the primary region of the combustor, probably for two reasons. First, the lower amount of mesh employed in the simulation for the industrial-size combustor does not fit the LES’s explicit mesh size dependency requirement, while it is sufficient for the SSTKWSAS simulation. Second, coupling the finite-rate chemistry method with the SSTKWSAS model provides a more reasonable rate of chemical reaction than that predicted by the fast chemistry method used in LES simulation. Other than comparing with the LES data available in the literature, the SSTKWSAS-predicted result is also compared comprehensively with that obtained from the model based on the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulation approach. The superiority of the SSTKWSAS model in resolving large eddies is highlighted. Overall, the present study emphasizes the effectiveness and efficiency of coupling a partially premixed combustion model with a scale-resolving simulation method in predicting a swirl-stabilized, multi-jets turbulent flame in a practical, complex gas turbine combustor configuration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 6278-6286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaehyun Nam ◽  
Younghun Lee ◽  
Seongpil Joo ◽  
Youngbin Yoon ◽  
Jack J. Yoh

Author(s):  
Somnath De ◽  
Prasanna Mondal ◽  
Gourav Manohar Sardar ◽  
Rakin Bin Bokhtiar ◽  
Arijit Bhattacharya ◽  
...  

Abstract The main problem for using reliable and stable diffusion combustion in modern gas turbine engines is the production of NOx at a higher level which is not permissible for maintaining the healthy environment. Thus, combustion in lean premixed mode has become the most promising technology in many applications related to power generation gas turbine, industrial burner etc. Although the lean combustion minimizes NOx production, it suffers from an increased risk of lean blowout (LBO) when the requirement of thrust or load is low. It mainly occurs at the lean condition when the equilibrium between the flame speed and the unburnt air-fuel mixture velocity is broken. Current aircraft gas turbine engines operate fuel close to the combustion chamber which leads to the partially premixed combustion. Partially premixed combustion is also susceptible to lean blowout. Therefore, we have designed a swirl-stabilized dump combustor, where different lengths of fuel-air mixing are available. Our present work aims at improving the combustion stability by incorporating a secondary fuel injection through a pilot arrangement connected with the combustion chamber for premixed as well as partially premixed flames. Incorporation of the pilot system adds a small fraction of the total fuel into the combustion chamber directly. This investigation shows significant extension of the LBO limit towards leaner fuel-air mixture while the NOx emission in the combustion chamber is within the permissible limit. This result can be used for aircraft operators during the process of landing when fuel supply has to be decreased to reduce engine thrust or for power plants operating at low loads. The study of control is based on the colour variation of the flame which actually defines the changes in combustion characteristics. For early detection of LBO, the ratio between the intensity of red and blue colour obtained from flame images with a high speed camera is used. As LBO is approached, the ratio of red to blue intensity falls monotonically. When the ratio falls below a preset threshold, a small fraction of the total fuel is added to the central pilot line. This strategy allows the LBO limit to be shifted to a much lower equivalence ratio (maximum 20% and 11% for fully premixed and least premixed flames, respectively) without any significant increase in NOx production. The analysis includes a feedback control algorithm which is computed in MATLAB and the code is embedded in Labview for hardware implementation.


Author(s):  
Tongxun Yi ◽  
Ephraim J. Gutmark

The present paper addresses real-time prediction of incipient lean blowout (LBO) in partially premixed, liquid-fueled gas turbine combustors. Near-LBO combustion is characterized by the “intensified” low-frequency combustion oscillations, typically below 30 Hz. Two indices, namely the normalized chemiluminescence RMS and the normalized cumulative duration of LBO precursor events, are recommended for LBO prediction. Both indices are associated with the statistical characteristics of the flame structure, which changes from the normal distribution to the Rayleigh distribution at the approach of LBO. Both indices change little within a large range of equivalence ratios and start to shoot up only when LBO is approached. To use the two indices for LBO prediction, one needs to perform a detailed a priori LBO mapping under simulated engine operating conditions. However, the mapping can be done without running the engines very close to LBO.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-95
Author(s):  
V. KIRUBAKARAN ◽  
David BHATT

The Lean Blowout Limit of the combustor is one of the important performance parameters for a gas turbine combustor design. This study aims to predict the total pressure loss and Lean Blowout (LBO) limits of an in-house designed swirl stabilized 3kW can-type micro gas turbine combustor. The experimental prediction of total pressure loss and LBO limits was performed on a designed combustor fuelled with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for the combustor inlet velocity ranging from 1.70 m/s to 11 m/s. The results show that the predicted total pressure drop increases with increasing combustor inlet velocity, whereas the LBO equivalence ratio decreases gradually with an increase in combustor inlet velocity. The combustor total pressure drop was found to be negligible; being in the range of 0.002 % to 0.065 % for the measured inlet velocity conditions. These LBO limits predictions will be used to fix the operating boundary conditions of the gas turbine combustor.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document