Investigation of reverse flow distributed combustion for gas turbine application

In this paper reverse flow modes of colorless distributed combustion (CDC) have been investigated for application to gas turbine combustors. 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 burned gases and faster turbulent mixing between the reactants. In the present investigation reverse flow modes consisting of three configurations at thermal intensity of 28 MW/m³-atm and five configurations at thermal intensity of 57 MW/m³-atm have been investigated and these high thermal loadings represent characteristic gas turbine combustion conditions. In all the configurations the air injection port is positioned at the combustor exit end, whereas the location of fuel injection ports is changed to give different configurations. The results are presented on the exhaust emissions and radical emissions using experiments, and evaluation of flowfield using numerical simulations. Ultra-low NO_x emissions were found for both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes investigated here. Cross-flow configuration, wherein the fuel is injected at high velocity cross stream to the air jet resulted in characteristics closest to premixed combustion mode. Change in fuel injection location resulted in changing the combustion characteristics from closer to diffusion mode to distributed regime. This feature is beneficial for part load operation where higher stability limit is desirable.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

旋流预混燃烧室燃烧特性及排放特性的数值模拟研究

为了综合考察燃气轮机燃烧室在高稳定性、低排放以及燃料适应性等方面的新要求,基于旋流预混燃烧技术,通过三维数值模拟方法开展了甲烷/空气、丙烷/空气预混燃烧特性及排放特性研究。结果表明：在一定的预混气进气质量流量条件下,当量比增大易引发回火,燃烧温度更高,同时NO_x排放指数增大,增加预混气质量流量,可在一定程度上提高回/熄火极限;当量比固定,增加预混气进气质量流量可避免潜在的回火现象,且NO_x排放指数线性降低;旋流器的旋流数增大能形成强旋流,稳定火焰,降低NO_x排放指数,但过大的旋流强度会引发回火现象;相比于甲烷/空气预混燃烧,丙烷/空气预混燃烧温度偏高,NO_x排放指数较大,但回熄火边界更宽,对应更广阔的稳定燃烧区间。     

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…     

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.     

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.     

High-fidelity resolution of the characteristic structures of a supersonic hydrogen jet flame with heated co-flow air

In the present paper, direct numerical simulation (DNS) is performed to analyze the characteristic structures of a supersonic jet lifted hydrogen-air flame with Reynolds number of 22, 000, and Mach number of 1.2. The fuel consisting of 85% H₂ and 15% N₂ by volume is injected into hot co-flow air from a round orifice. Overall 975 million grids are used to compute the complex multi-scales phenomena. A Damköhler number and a flame index are defined to analyze combustion modes and the mixedness of the flame. Complicated characteristic elements of the supersonic jet lifted flame are observed, i.e. a stable laminar flame base with auto-ignition as the stabilization mechanism, a violent mixing region in which vigorous turbulent combustion occurs with both fuel-lean and fuel-rich mixtures, and a flame region consisting of outer diffusion combustion and inner weaker premixed combustion in the far field. At the leading edge of the fame base, auto-ignition takes place primarily in the fuel-lean mixture where the mixedness mode is opposed. Downstream of the laminar flame base, the combustion becomes turbulent due to the intensified mixing of fuel and air, which results in the subequilibrium values of temperature and OH concentration. Detonation occurs near the sonic layer, and then sustains the combustion in higher dissipative mixture. The flame near the stochiometric condition keeps non-premixed, and the other non-premixed flame elements could be observed in the very fuel-rich region. Through the reacting field the premixed flame appears near the shear layer. The combustion intensity decreases in the far field where the inner non-premixed flame disappears gradually.     

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.     

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.     

Effects of Fischer-Tropsch diesel fuel on combustion and emissions of direct injection diesel engine

Effects of Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) diesel fuel on the combustion and emission characteristics of a single-cylinder direct injection diesel engine under different fuel delivery advance angles were investigated. The experimental results show that F-T diesel fuel exhibits shorter ignition delay, lower peak values of premixed burning rate, lower combustion pressure and pressure rise rate, and higher peak value of diffusion burning rate than conventional diesel fuel when the engine remains unmodified. In addition, the unmodified engine with F-T diesel fuel has lower brake specific fuel consumption and higher effective thermal efficiency, and presents lower HC, CO, NO _x and smoke emissions than conventional diesel fuel. When fuel delivery advance angle is retarded by 3 crank angle degrees, the combustion duration is obviously shortened; the peak values of premixed burning rate, the combustion pressure and pressure rise rate are further reduced; and the peak value of diffusion burning rate is further increased for F-T diesel fuel operation. Moreover, the retardation of fuel delivery advance angle results in a further significant reduction in NO _x emissions with no penalty on specific fuel consumption and with much less penalty on HC, CO and smoke emissions. __________ Translated from Chinese Internal Combustion Engine Engineering, 2007, 28(2): 19–23 [译自: 内燃机工程]     

Model-based control of combustion instabilities in annular combustors

Lean premixed combustors produce lower NO_x emissions, but are particularly prone to damaging combustion instabilities. Active control can be used to stabilize combustion instabilities. So far model-based control strategies have tended to focus on longitudinal rather than annular combustors, even though many gas turbines have annular geometries. In this work, a computational thermoacoustic model is used to simulate unstable annular combustors, providing a platform on which to develop and test control strategies. The model contains multiple fuel valves for actuation, which respond to multiple pressure sensors according to a controller matrix. Two strategies for designing the controller matrix are developed. The first involves stabilizing each of the unstable circumferential modes independently; the second involves controlling the transfer function matrix between sets of actuators and sensors. The resulting controllers are implemented in simulations using the thermoacoustic model. They are seen to stabilize instabilities in a variety of combustors, including one with nonaxisymmetry due to burner differences and one with both circumferential and longitudinal unstable modes.     

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。     

F-T柴油对直喷式柴油机燃烧和排放的影响

在两种不同供油提前角下研究了燃用F-T柴油对直喷式柴油机燃烧和排放特性的影响,结果表明:发动机不做任何调整时,与0号柴油相比,燃用F-T柴油的滞燃期较短,预混燃烧放热峰值较低,扩散燃烧放热峰值较高,最高燃烧压力和最大压力升高率较低,燃油消耗率和热效率都得到了改善,HC、CO、NOx和碳烟排放同时降低。当供油提前角推迟3℃A时,燃用F-T柴油燃烧持续期明显缩短,预混燃烧放热峰值、最高燃烧压力和最大压力升高率进一步降低,扩散燃烧放热峰值略有升高,燃油消耗率变化不大,NOx排放进一步降低, HC、CO和碳烟略有增加,其中HC排放与原柴油机相当,而CO和碳烟仍远低于原柴油机。     

Application of distributed combustion technique to hydrogen-rich coal gases: A numerical investigation

Distributed combustion has been a promising combustion technique, for enabling a more uniform thermal field, resulting in ultra-low pollutant emissions, reduced combustion noise, and enhanced combustion efficiency. This work examines combustion of hydrogen-rich coal gases derived from Turkish coal under distributed combustion conditions. Focus here is on obtaining a broadened flame and reducing pollutant emissions. Numerical modelling was carried out using a commercial code in order to predict the thermal field and pollutant emissions of the hydrogen-rich coal gases under distributed combustion conditions. A gas mixture (90% N₂ and 10% CO₂) was utilized to simulate controlled entrainment of hot reactive product gases into the fresh mixture prior to ignition in order to seek distributed combustion. The results showed that distributed combustion provided far more uniform thermal field that resulted in greatly reduced NOx emissions. The results also showed that the temperature difference between the maximum and exit temperature was reduced to approximately 200 K under distributed conditions. In addition, the NOx pollutant emissions predicted for each gas were reduced to near zero levels under high intensity distributed combustion conditions supporting the available experimental data. It has been concluded that enhanced thermal field uniformity and significantly reduced NOx emissions were achieved for hydrogen-rich coal gases under distributed conditions.     

Measurement of the mixing quality in premix combustors

The problem of mixing fuel and air is the essential point of low emission combustion in gas turbines. In premixed combustors and fuel staged combustors the quality of the fuel–air mixture is the determinant parameter for the amount of emissions of nitric oxides (NO_x). The nearly perfect preparation of the fuel–air mixture is also a condition for trouble-free operation in catalytical combustion. Prevaporization of liquid fuels hampers the process of mixing. So the investigative work at the Department of Steam and Gas Turbines at the University of Bochum concentrated on experiments with liquid fuels. The results show that there is a great potential of reducing NO_x emission even with liquid fuels and reveal the key role of prevaporization and mixing. The experiments were carried out at a premix combustion test rig at moderate pressure. By using the technique of planar-laser induced fluorescence (LIF), highly time and spatially resolved measurements of fuel concentrations were yielded from the experiments. The optical measurements showed the structure of the mixture field of fuel and air in the zone downstream of the flameholder. The pollutant emissions were simultaneously monitored with conventional gas analysers. As the main result, the strong dependence of the pollutant emissions on the mixture could be clearly revealed. On one hand the homogeneity over the cross-section of the combustor was the main condition for low emission combustion. On the other hand the time-resolved two-dimensional LIF images of the turbulent mixture field showed that the instationary distribution also had a considerable influence on the rate of emissions. Even the mixture of static mixers contained spatial and temporal inhomogeneities, which could be observed by using the LIF-technique but not with conventional methods.     

天然气燃料轴向分级预混燃烧特性研究

低NOx排放是燃气轮机燃烧室的重要性能指标,面对燃烧室出口温度不断增加的趋势,新型燃烧技术探索应用成为必然。燃料轴向分级(Axial Fuel Staging,AFS)燃烧作为一项可行技术方案已在各燃机厂商的最先进燃气轮机燃烧室上获得应用,其主要通过降低高温烟气有效停留时间和低氧浓度燃烧来实现低NOx排放。基于Chemkin平台建立轴向分级预混燃烧室化学网络模型,针对1 973 K燃烧室,研究二级负荷比例、当量比和停留时间对NOx/CO排放的影响规律,对比分析主燃区高温烟气与二级未燃预混气掺混特征的影响,获得AFS燃烧的污染物排放特性和关键影响因素。同时,在贫预混燃烧器上,设计二级喷射段,实验研究二级火焰结构、污染物排放等燃烧特性。结果表明,相比于常规贫预混燃烧,AFS燃烧在高温区体现出很好的低NOx优势,且能拓宽低NOx工况范围,其中主燃区温度、二级当量比和停留时间匹配特征、主燃区高温烟气与二级预混气掺混性能等是关键。