Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a FLOX Combustor Firing Low Calorific Value Gases

A prototype flameless oxidation (FLOX) gas turbine combustor has been investigated experimentally and numerically. The combustor was operated with various Low Calorific Value gases. At the outlet main component and emission measurements (CO and NO) have been performed. The influence of several parameters (i.e., fuel composition, outlet temperature, and nozzle diameter) on the emissions have been investigated. Ultralow emissions (single digit) have been achieved. Moreover, axial temperature profiles in the combustion chamber have been measured with a suction pyrometer. The combustor has been simulated with a commercial CFD code (FLUENT 6.3) to gain insight in the combustion characteristics. Using the Eddy Dissipation Concept model for turbulence-chemistry interaction in combination with the Reynolds Stress model for turbulence and two different chemistry mechanisms, the measured temperature profiles have been reasonably well reproduced. In postprocessing mode different NO formation paths have been studied.

[1]  James A. Miller,et al.  Mechanism and modeling of nitrogen chemistry in combustion , 1989 .

[2]  Claudio Bruno,et al.  THEORETICAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION ON FLAMELESS COMBUSTION , 2002 .

[3]  A. Gupta,et al.  COMBUSTION OF NORMAL AND LOW CALORIFIC FUELS IN HIGH TEMPERATURE AND OXYGEN DEFICIENT ENVIRONMENT , 2006 .

[4]  J. Wunning,et al.  Flameless oxidation to reduce thermal no-formation , 1997 .

[5]  Jacobus B.W. Kok,et al.  EFFECT OF COMBUSTION AIR DILUTION BY WATER VAPOR OR NITROGEN ON NOX EMISSION IN A PREMIXED TURBULENT NATURAL GAS FLAME: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY , 2006 .

[6]  A. Paulin,et al.  The construction and calibration of an inexpensive microsuction pyrometer , 1969 .

[7]  Michael Flamme,et al.  New combustion systems for gas turbines (NGT) , 2004 .

[8]  I. S. Ertesvåg,et al.  The Eddy Dissipation Turbulence Energy Cascade Model , 2000 .

[9]  A. Jemcov,et al.  Numerical investigations of detonation in premixed hydrogen-air mixture - Assessment of simplified chemical mechanisms , 2000 .

[10]  Bassam B. Dally,et al.  Scaling of NOx emissions from a laboratory-scale mild combustion furnace , 2008 .

[11]  A. Gupta,et al.  High Temperature Air Combustion: From Energy Conservation to Pollution Reduction , 2002 .

[12]  C. Westbrook,et al.  Simplified Reaction Mechanisms for the Oxidation of Hydrocarbon Fuels in Flames , 1981 .

[13]  Laszlo Fuchs,et al.  Experimental study of a flameless gas turbine combustor , 2006 .

[14]  T. Shih,et al.  A new k-ϵ eddy viscosity model for high reynolds number turbulent flows , 1995 .

[15]  Hartmut Spliethoff,et al.  On the Stability Range of a Cylindrical Combustor for Operation in the FLOX Regime , 2004 .

[16]  Manfred Aigner,et al.  FLOX® Combustion at High Pressure With Different Fuel Compositions , 2007 .

[17]  Manfred Aigner,et al.  Analysis of the Pollutant Formation in the FLOX® Combustion , 2006 .

[18]  Laszlo Fuchs,et al.  Experimental and Numerical Study of Flameless Combustion in a Model Gas Turbine Combustor , 2007 .

[19]  A. Parente,et al.  Effect of the combustion model and kinetic mechanism on the MILD combustion in an industrial burner fed with hydrogen enriched fuels , 2008 .

[20]  Domenic A. Santavicca,et al.  Stability and emissions characteristics of a lean premixed gas turbine combustor , 1996 .

[21]  K. Hanjali,et al.  Second-Moment Turbulence Closures for CFD: Needs and Prospects∗ , 1999 .

[22]  Leonardo Tognotti,et al.  CFD Simulations of Mild Combustion , 2005 .

[23]  Guo-xiu Li,et al.  Numerical Investigation of a Bluff-Body Stabilised Nonpremixed Flame with Differential Reynolds-Stress Models , 2003 .