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Effects of flame-flame interaction on emission characteristics in gas turbine combustors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2022

S. Kwak Open the ORCID record for S. Kwak [Opens in a new window] ,
J. Choi ,
M. Ahn ,
M. C. Lee  and
Y. Yoon Open the ORCID record for Y. Yoon [Opens in a new window]
S. Kwak
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
J. Choi
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
M. Ahn
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
M. C. Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Safety Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, South Korea
Y. Yoon*
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea Institute of Advanced Technology, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
*
*Corresponding Author. Email: ybyoon@snu.ac.kr
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Abstract

In real gas turbines, multiple nozzles are used instead of a single-nozzle; therefore, interactions between flames are inevitable. In this study, the effects of flame-flame interaction on the emission characteristics and lean blowout limit were analysed in a CH4-fueled single- and dual-nozzle combustor. OH* chemiluminescence imaging showed that a flame-interacting region, where the two flames from the nozzles were merged, was present in the dual-nozzle combustor, unlike the single-nozzle combustor. Flow-field measurements using particle image velocimetry confirmed that a faster velocity region was formed at the flame merging region, thereby hindering flame stabilisation. In addition, we compared the emission indices of NOx and CO between the two combustors. The emission indices of CO were not significantly different; however, a distinct effect of flame-flame interaction was indicated in NOx. To understand the effect of flame-flame interaction on NOx emissions, we measured temperature distribution using a multi-point thermocouple. Results showed that a wider high-temperature region was formed in the dual-nozzle combustor compared to the single-nozzle combustor; this was attributable to the high OH* chemiluminescence intensity in the flame-interacting region. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the size of this interacting region caused the deformation of the temperature distribution in the combustor, which can induce a difference in the increase ratio of NOx emission between high and low equivalence ratio ranges. In conclusion, we confirmed that flame-flame interaction significantly affected temperature distribution in the downstream of the flame, and the change in temperature distribution contributed primarily to the varying concentration of the emission gas.

Keywords

Gas turbine combustorNOx emissionFlame-flame interaction
Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 126 , Issue 1302: The 25th ISABE Conference Special Issue – Part II , August 2022 , pp. 1414 - 1429
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal Aeronautical Society

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Footnotes

This paper is a version of a presentation due to be given at the 2022 ISABE Conference

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