Sensors for measuring primary zone equivalence ratio in gas turbine combustors

In lean-premixed combustion, the narrow range of operating conditions where stable, low-emissions combustion, is achieved make it necessary for a fuel-air equivalence ratio sensor to be incorporated into the combustor. Such a sensor should be capable of determining nozzle-to-nozzle variations in the equivalence ratio, and have a reasonably fast response time so that the control mechanism can meter the flowrates accordingly. This paper describes the development of a flame chemiluminescence based equivalence ratio sensor, which can be installed in the individual nozzles of a gas turbine combustor. The first stage of the development involves studying the chemiluminescence characteristics of CH* and CO2* in a dump combustor. It was observed that fuel-air mixedness does not affect the overall flame chemiluminescence, and inlet temperature variations over 50K have not produced discernible differences in the chemiluminescence intensities. Combustor velocities do affect the flame chemiluminescence intensities, and this parameter has to be taken into account while developing the sensor. An optical fiber based sensor, which can easily installed in a combustor, has been designed. Based on this study, a methodology for determining the equivalence ratio from the chemiluminescent intensities and flowrates is proposed for use with the sensor under development.