Experimental study of industrial gas turbine flames including quantification of pressure influence on flow field,fuel/air premixing and flame shape

A commercial swirl burner for industrial gas turbine combustors was equipped with an optically accessible combustion chamber and installed in a high-pressure test-rig. Several premixed natural gas/air flames at pressures between 3 and 6 bar and thermal powers of up to 1 MW were studied by using a variety of measurement techniques. These include particle image velocimetry (PIV) for the investigation of the flow field, one-dimensional laser Raman scattering for the determination of the joint probability density functions of major species concentrations, mixture fraction and temperature, planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) of OH for the visualization of the flame front, chemiluminescence measurements of OH^* for determining the lift-off height and size of the flame and acoustic recordings. The results give insights into important flame properties like the flow field structure, the premixing quality and the turbulence–flame interaction as well as their dependency on operating parameters like pressure, inflow velocity and equivalence ratio. The 1D Raman measurements yielded information about the gradients and variation of the mixture fraction and the quality of the fuel/air mixing, as well as the reaction progress. The OH PLIF images showed that the flame was located between the inflow of fresh gas and the recirculated combustion products. The flame front structures varied significantly with Reynolds number from wrinkled flame fronts to fragmented and strongly corrugated flame fronts. All results are combined in one database that can be used for the validation of numerical simulations.     

Unified behaviour of maximum soot yields of methane, ethane and propane laminar diffusion flames at high pressures

Soot concentration and temperature distributions within the flame envelope of laminar diffusion flames of methane and ethane at elevated pressures were measured in a high-pressure combustion chamber. Methane measurements were made with two different fuel flow rates: 0.43 mg/s (0.32 mg/s carbon flow rate) for the pressure range of 15–60 atm, and 0.83 mg/s for the pressure range of 5–20 atm (0.62 mg/s carbon flow rate). For the ethane flames, the flow rate was 0.78 mg/s (0.62 mg/s carbon flow rate) and the pressure range was 2–15 atm. From the soot concentration distribution, soot yields were calculated as a function of flame height and pressure. Maximum soot yields from the current study and the previous measurements in similar flames with methane, ethane, and propane flames were shown to display a unified behaviour. Maximum soot yields, when scaled properly, were represented by an empirical exponential function in terms of the reduced pressure, actual pressure divided by the critical pressure of the fuel. The maximum soot yield seems to reach a plateau asymptotically as the pressure exceeds the critical pressure of the fuel.     

Flame characteristics of pulverized torrefied-biomass combusted with high-temperature air

In this work, the flame characteristics of torrefied biomass were studied numerically under high-temperature air conditions to further understand the combustion performances of biomass. Three torrefied biomasses were prepared with different torrefaction degrees after by releasing 10%, 20%, and 30% of volatile matter on a dry basis and characterized in laboratory with standard and high heating rate analyses. The effects of the torrefaction degree, oxygen concentration, transport air velocity, and particle size on the flame position, flame shape, and peak temperature are discussed based on both direct measurements in a laboratory-scale furnace and CFD simulations. The results primarily showed that the enhanced drag force on the biomass particles caused a late release of volatile matter and resulted in a delay in the ignition of the fuel–air mixture, and the maximum flame diameter was mainly affected by the volatile content of the biomass materials. Furthermore, oxidizers with lower oxygen concentrations always resulted in a larger flame volume, a lower peak flame temperature and a lower NO emission. Finally, a longer flame was found when the transport air velocity was lower, and the flame front gradually moved to the furnace exit as the particle size increased. The results could be used as references for designing a new biomass combustion chamber or switching an existing coal-fired boiler to the combustion of biomass.     

New insights into the peculiar behavior of laminar burning velocities of hydrogen–air flames according to pressure and equivalence ratio

Hydrogen is a clean and energetic fuel, and its oxidation mechanism is a subset of the oxidation mechanisms of all hydrocarbons. Therefore, the validation of the available kinetic schemes is of great importance. In the current study, experimental measurements of laminar flame speeds and modeling studies were performed for H₂–air premixed flames over a wide range of equivalence ratios (0.5–4.0) and pressures (0.2–3 bar). The large scale in mixture and thermodynamic conditions allows a better understanding of the peculiar behavior of hydrogen flame speeds with pressure. Two very recent detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms for hydrogen combustion were selected. Excellent agreement was observed between calculations and experimental results, confirming the validity of the kinetic schemes selected. The kinetic analyses performed allow proposing an explanation for the nonmonotonic variation of hydrogen/air flame speed with pressure observed in the experiments.     

Direct numerical simulation and analysis of a hydrogen/air swirling premixed flame in a micro combustor

A three dimensional spatially developing hydrogen/air premixed flame in a micro combustor with a moderate Reynolds number and a high swirl number is studied using direct numerical simulation. The inflow mixture is composed of hydrogen and air at an equivalent ratio of 1.0 in the jet core region, and pure air elsewhere. The maximum axial velocity at the inlet is 100 m/s. A fourth-order explicit Runge–Kutta method for time integration and an eighth-order central differencing scheme for spatial discretization are used to solve the full Navier–Stokes (N–S) equation system. A 9 species 19-step reduced mechanism for hydrogen/air combustion is adopted. Vortex and turbulence characteristics are examined. Two instabilities, namely Kalvin–Helmholtz instability and centrifugal instability, are responsible for the transition from laminar flow to turbulence. A cone-like vortex breakdown is observed both in the isothermal swirling flow and in the swirling flame. One dimensional premixed laminar flame is studied, the structure of which is compared with that of the multi-dimensional one. Probability density functions of the curvature and tangential strain rate are presented. It is shown that the flame curvature has a near zero mean, and the flame aligns preferentially with extensive strain. Finally, the turbulent premixed flame regime diagram is used to characterize the flame. It is found that most of the flame elements lie in the laminar flame regime and the thin reaction zones regime.     

甲烷/空气典型混合模式在约束空间内的燃烧特性研究

燃料质量浓度分布在一定程度上影响混合气体的燃烧效率,能使燃气充分混合的同轴射流、旋片同轴、轴切结合、切向旋流等典型混合模式在航空发动机、燃气轮机及火箭发动机等先进燃烧技术应用中较为常见。因此,设计了甲烷/空气部分预混的燃烧实验装置,较为系统地实验研究了旋流数和轴向流速对混合气体在约束空间燃烧室内燃烧特性的影响。结果表明：对于有中心射流的混合结构,燃气轴向流速较低时产生黄色火焰,增大轴向流速,黄色火焰转为蓝色湍流火焰,且温度分布趋于均匀;纯切向旋流燃烧器的掺混效果较好,受燃气轴向流速的影响小,火焰结构稳定,均为蓝色火焰,温度轴/径向分布均匀且趋势一致,同当量比下燃烧产物中的污染物体积分数最小。     

Effect of pre-chamber geometrical parameters and operating conditions on the combustion characteristics of the hydrogen-air mixtures in a pre-chamber spark ignition system

The pre-chamber spark ignition system is a promising advanced ignition system adopted for lean burn spark ignition engines as it enables stable combustion and enhances engine efficiency. The performance of the PCSI system is governed by the turbulent flame jet ejected from the pre-chamber, which is influenced by the pre-chamber geometrical parameters and the operating conditions. Hence, the current study aims to understand the effects of pre-chamber volume, nozzle hole diameter, equivalence ratio, and initial chamber pressure on the combustion and flame jet characteristics of hydrogen-air mixture in a passive PCSI system. Pre-chamber with different nozzle hole diameters (1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, and 4 mm) and volumes (2%, 4%, and 6% of the engine clearance volume) were selected and manufactured in-house. The experimental investigation of these pre-chamber configurations was carried out in a constant-volume combustion chamber with optical access. The flame development process was captured using a high-speed camera at a rate of 20000 fps, and the images were processed in MATLAB to obtain quantitative data. The combustion characteristics of hydrogen-air mixtures with the PCSI system improved when compared to the conventional SI system; however, the improvement was more significant for ultra-lean mixtures. Early start of combustion and shorter combustion duration were observed for PCSI – D2 and PCSI – D3 configurations, respectively and improved combustion and flame jet characteristics were also noted for these configurations. With the increase in pre-chamber volume, ignition energy associated with the flame jet increases, which reduces the combustion duration and the ignition lag.     

Combustion characteristics and flame-kernel development of a laser ignited hydrogen–air mixture in a constant volume combustion chamber

Laser ignition of hydrogen–air mixture was carried out in a constant volume combustion chamber (CVCC) at 10 bar initial chamber filling pressure and 373 K chamber temperature. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm with a pulse duration of 6–9 ns was used for plasma generation and ignition of combustible hydrogen–air mixture. Pressure–time history of different hydrogen–air mixtures was measured in the CVCC and flammability limits of hydrogen–air mixture were measured. Flame kernel development was investigated for different air–fuel mixtures using Shawdowgraphy and flame propagation distances were calculated. Minimum ignition energy was measured for hydrogen–air mixtures of different air–fuel ratios and effect laser pulse energy on pressure–time history in the CVCC was experimentally measured. Upon increasing the laser pulse energy, time taken to attain peak cylinder pressure reduced which resulted in faster combustion in hydrogen–air mixtures however the peak cylinder pressure remained similar.     

Combustion characteristics of natural gas–hydrogen hybrid fuel turbulent diffusion flame

Combustion characteristics of natural gas – hydrogen hybrid fuel were investigated experimentally in a free jet turbulent diffusion flame flowing into a slow co-flowing air stream. Experiments were carried out at a constant jet exit Reynolds number of 4000 and with a wide range of NG–H₂ mixture concentrations, varied from 100%NG to 50%NG-50% H₂ by volume. The effect of hydrogen addition on flame stability, flame length, flame structure, exhaust species concentration and pollutant emissions was conducted. Results showed that, hydrogen addition sustains a progressive improvement in flame stability and reduction in flame length, especially for relatively high hydrogen concentrations. Hydrogen-enriched flames found to have a higher combustion temperatures and reactivity than natural gas flame. Also, it was found that hydrogen addition to natural gas is an ineffective strategy for NO and CO reduction in the studied range, while a significant reduction in the %CO₂ molar concentration by about 30% was achieved.     

Flame propagation through concentration gradient

IntroductionIn the matter of internal combustion engine, thesimultaneous reduction of fuel consumption andpollutant emission are required. Pedial premixedcombustion is expected to be a combustion method torealize this. The combustion method has both theadvantage of premixed combustion (low environmentalpollution ) and that of diffusive combustion (highefficiency ). The method is already used in the directinjection gasoline engine and in diesel engine with twostage injection or spray atomizatio…     

Numerical study on supersonic combustion of hydrogen and its mixture with Ethylene and methane with strut injection

In this paper, supersonic combustion and flow field of hydrogen and its mixture with ethylene and methane from strut injections in a Mach 2 supersonic flow are studied numerically. The fuel mixture of hydrogen, methane and ethylene represents the major products of pyrolysis of hydrocarbon fuels with large molecules such as kerosene as it acts as coolant and flows through cooling channels and absorbs heat. Detached Eddy Simulation with a reduced kinetic mechanism and steady flamelet model are applied to simulate turbulent combustion. The calculated temperature profiles of hydrogen are compared to the experimental results of DLR supersonic combustor for validation of the present numerical method. The supersonic combustion flows associated with shock waves, turbulent vortices and flame structures are studied. With addition of methane and ethylene, the flame zone moves further downstream of the strut and the maximum flow temperature at chamber exit decreases by 200 K. With analysis of total temperature ratios, it is found that combustion efficiency for hydrogen combustion is 0.91 and it decreases to 0.78 for the fuel mixture. The calculation of ignition delay time and flame speed reveals that fuel mixture of hydrogen and hydrocarbons has considerably larger delay time and smaller flame speed, that contributes to the weakened flame zone and lower combustion efficiency.     

Study of cyclic variations of direct-injection combustion fueled with natural gas–hydrogen blends using a constant volume vessel

Cyclic variations of direct-injection combustion fueled with natural gas–hydrogen fuel blends were experimentally studied using a constant volume vessel. Direct-injection combustion was realized by injecting the high-pressure fuel into the vessel. Flame propagating photographs and pressure history in the vessel were recorded at various hydrogen volumetric fractions in the fuel blends (from 0% to 40%) under the same lean-burn conditions where the overall equivalence ratios are 0.6 and 0.8, respectively. The effect of fuel–air mixture inhomogeneous distribution and hydrogen addition on the cyclic variations was analyzed via flame development photographs and pressure-derived combustion parameters. The results indicated that the cyclic variations were initiated at the early stage of flame development. The flame kernel is closely concentric to the spark electrode and flame pattern has less irregular with hydrogen addition. Direct-injection natural gas combustion can achieve the stable lean combustion along with low cyclic variations due to the mixture stratification in the vessel. The cyclic variations decreased with the increase of hydrogen addition and this trend is more obvious at ultra-lean-burn condition. Hydrogen addition weakened the effect from turbulent flow on flame propagating process, thus reduce the cyclic variations related to the gas flow. There exists interdependency between the early combustion stage and the subsequent combustion process for direct-injection combustion.     

Experimental investigation of thermoacoustic coupling using blended hydrogen–methane fuels in a low swirl burner

In this study, experimental testing and analysis were performed to examine the combustion instability characteristics of hydrogen–methane blended fuels for a low-swirl lean premixed burner. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of hydrogen addition on combustion instability, and this is assessed by examining the flame response to a range of constant amplitude, single frequency chamber acoustic modes. Three different blends of hydrogen and methane (93% CH₄–7% H₂, 80% CH₄–20% H₂ and 70% CH₄–30% H₂ by volume) were employed as fuel at an equivalence ratio of 0.5, and with four different acoustic excitation frequencies (85, 125, 222 and 399 Hz). Planar laser induced fluorescence of the hydroxyl radical (OH-PLIF) was employed to measure the OH concentration at different phases of acoustic excitation and a Rayleigh Index was then calculated to determine the degree of thermoacoustic coupling. It was found, as has been previously reported, that the combustion characteristics are very sensitive to the fraction of hydrogen in the fuel mixture. The flame shows significant increases in flame base coupling and flame compaction with increasing hydrogen concentration for all conditions. While this effect enhances the flame response at non-resonant frequencies, it induces only minimal compaction and appears to decreases the coupling intensity at the resonant frequency.     

On the ignition and flame development in a spray-guided direct-injection spark-ignition engine

High-speed fuel, flow, and flame imaging are combined with spark discharge measurements to investigate the causes of rare misfires and partial burns in a spray-guided spark-ignited direct-injection (SG-SIDI) engine over a range of nitrogen dilution levels (0–26% by volume). Planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) of biacetyl is combined with planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) to provide quantitative measurements of equivalence ratio and flow velocity within the tumble plane of an optical engine. Mie scattering images used for PIV are also used to identify the enflamed region to resolve the flame development. Engine parameters were selected to mimic low-load idle operating conditions with stratified fuel injection, which provided stable engine performance with the occurrence of rare misfire and partial burn cycles. Nitrogen dilution was introduced into the intake air, thereby displacing the oxygen, which destabilized combustion and increased the occurrence of poor burning cycles. Spark measurements revealed that all cycles exhibited sufficient spark energy and duration for successful ignition. High-speed PLIF, PIV, and Mie scattering images were utilized to analyze the spatial and temporal evolution of the fuel distribution and flow velocity on flame kernel development to better understand the nature of poor burning cycles at each dilution level. The images revealed that all cycles exhibited a flammable mixture near the spark plug at spark timing and a flame kernel was present for all cycles, but the flame failed to develop for misfire and partial burn cycles. Improper flame development was caused by slow flame propagation which prevented the flame from consuming the bulk of the fuel mixture within the piston bowl, which was a crucial step to achieve further combustion. The mechanisms identified in this work that caused slower flame development are: (1) lean mixtures, (2) external dilution, and (3) convection velocities that impede transport of the flame into the fuel mixture.     

Evaluation of a combustion model for the simulation of hydrogen spark-ignition engines using a CFD code

The present work deals with the evaluation of a combustion model that has been developed, in order to simulate the power cycle of hydrogen spark-ignition engines. The motivation for the development of such a model is to obtain a simple combustion model with few calibration constants, applicable to a wide range of engine configurations, incorporated in an in-house CFD code using the RNG k–? turbulence model. The calculated cylinder pressure traces, gross heat release rate diagrams and exhaust nitric oxide (NO) emissions are compared with the corresponding measured ones at various engine loads. The engine used is a Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine fueled with hydrogen, operating at a constant engine speed of 600 rpm. This model is composed of various sub-models used for the simulation of combustion of conventional fuels in SI engines; it has been adjusted in the current study specifically for hydrogen combustion. The basic sub-model incorporated for the calculation of the reaction rates is the characteristic conversion time-scale method, meaning that a time-scale is used depending on the laminar conversion time and the turbulent mixing time, which dictates to what extent the combustible gas has reached its chemical equilibrium during a predefined time step. Also, the laminar and turbulent combustion velocity is used to track the flame development within the combustion chamber, using two correlations for the laminar flame speed and the Zimont/Lipatnikov approach for the modeling of the turbulent flame speed, whereas the (NO) emissions are calculated according to the Zeldovich mechanism. From the evaluation conducted, it is revealed that by using the developed hydrogen combustion model and after adjustment of the unique model calibration constant, there is an adequate agreement with measured data (regarding performance and emissions) for the investigated conditions. However, there are a few more issues to be resolved dealing mainly with the ignition process and the applicability of a reliable set of constants for the emission calculations.     

A filtered-laminar-flame PDF sub-grid-scale closure for LES of premixed turbulent flames: II. Application to a stratified bluff-body burner

Large eddy simulation of the two stratified nonswirling configurations of the Cambridge burner studied by Sweeney et al. (2012) is presented. The sub-grid-scale combustion closure relies on a physical space filtering operation with a filter size determined locally depending on the resolved and sub-grid-scale flame properties, which is discussed in a companion paper. Similarly to the premixed configuration of the same burner, the modeling reproduces the differential diffusion effects leading to accumulation of carbon and an enhancement of mixture fraction in the recirculation zone, an effect that is less pronounced than in the fully lean premixed case, because of the modification of the topology of the reaction zone that is induced by the mixture stratification. The study of the LES combustion regimes shows that the reaction zones develop under a quite large range of flame topologies, from wrinkled flamelets up to thin reaction zones. Instantaneous and time-averaged LES data were analyzed to extract information concerning the degree of stratification and the orientation of flame and mixing vectors. A decomposition of the flame response into premixed, diffusion, and partially premixed flamelets is performed, to conclude that the premixed mode dominates close to the burner, with a partially premixed burning regime further downstream. Overall, the length scales associated with stratification were found to be much larger than that of the reaction zone and flame, resulting in a quasi-homogeneous propagation, predominantly in a back supported stratified combustion regime. Overall good agreement between simulation and measurements was obtained for either configurations.     

用于高速汽油机的一种新型燃烧室（I）

开发了一种新型燃烧室，解决小型高速汽油机燃烧时间短、燃烧过程不充分的难题．它利用在活塞顶面的火花塞的远端和近端处设计的与缸盖形状相吻合的特殊突起，可在发动机压缩和膨胀过程中产生强烈的挤气旋流．将它应用在高速汽油机中，可提高混合气的燃烧速率和火焰传播速率，从而全面改善内燃机的性能．实验研究表明，在空燃比和压缩比优化条件下使用该燃烧室，与原机相比发动机的输出功率和转矩分别提高了3．8％和1％，燃油消耗率节省19．3％，HC排放降低50％以上．     

用于高速汽油机的一种新型燃烧室(Ⅰ)

开发了一种新型燃烧室,解决小型高速汽油机燃烧时间短、燃烧过程不充分的难题.它利用在活塞顶面的火花塞的远端和近端处设计的与缸盖形状相吻合的特殊突起,可在发动机压缩和膨胀过程中产生强烈的挤气旋流.将它应用在高速汽油机中,可提高混合气的燃烧速率和火焰传播速率,从而全面改善内燃机的性能.实验研究表明,在空燃比和压缩比优化条件下使用该燃烧室,与原机相比发动机的输出功率和转矩分别提高了3.8% 和 1%,燃油消耗率节省19.3%,HC排放降低50%以上.     

Effects of hydrogen addition on the structure and pollutant emissions of a turbulent unconfined swirling flame

This article aims at investigating the effect of hydrogen addition on the temperature and pollutant emissions of turbulent unconfined swirling methane/air flame. A computational approach utilizing the steady laminar flamelet and the realizable k–ε combustion and turbulence models, respectively, has been used. The turbulence–combustion interaction has been modeled by a β-shaped presumed probability density function. The percentage of hydrogen in the fuel stream is modeled at a wide range from 0% to 50% of the fuel volume flow rate. Results show that with the increase of volumetric hydrogen percentage in the fuel stream the flame structure changes considerably. The size of maximum temperature region decreases significantly to a small region at flame tip and peak temperature rises which leads to increase in NO emission levels. The flame with 10% hydrogen is observed to be slightly of the general trend. This is deemed to be due to the change in flow field as a result of change in fuel density, while the amount of hydrogen is not effective enough to change the combustion characteristics of the flame.     

Multi-dimensional modeling of mixture preparation in a direct injection engine fueled with gaseous hydrogen

With the recent advances of direct injection (DI) technology, introducing hydrogen into the combustion chamber through DI is being considered as a viable approach to circumvent backfire and pre-ignition encountered in early generations of hydrogen engines. As part of a broader vision to develop a robust numerical model to study hydrogen spark ignition (SI) combustion in internal combustion (IC) engines, the present numerical investigation focuses on mixture preparation in a hydrogen DI SI engine. This study is carried out with a single hole injector with gaseous hydrogen injected at 100 bar injection pressure. Simulations are carried out for high and low tumble configurations and validated against optical data acquired from planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) measurements. Varying mesh configurations are investigated for the impact on in-cylinder mixture distribution. A particular emphasis is placed on the effect of nozzle geometry and mesh orientation near the wall. Overall, the computational model is found to predict the mixture distribution in the combustion cylinder reasonably well. The results showed that the alignment of mesh with the flow direction is important to achieve good agreement between numerical analysis and optical measurement data.