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Summary of Gas Turbine Combustor Short Course Minhaal and I attended the gas turbine combustor design short

course in Costa Mesa, California, during the week of February 26, 2007. The following is a summary of the topics and discussions covered during the course: Basic design: Pressure loss due to combustion is proportional to the square of the air velocity. For a compressor discharge velocity of 170 m/s, this loss would be about a third of the pressure rise achieved in the compressor. To mitigate this loss a diffuser is employed at the entrance to the combustor, the diffuse typically reduces the air velocity by a factor of five. The flame is anchored in a region of low velocity achieved by flow reversal. To achieve the desired temperature rise for the turbine the air to fuel mixture should be around 30 to 40. This is outside the flammability limits of hydrocarbons, combustion is sustained by recirculating the burned products to provide a continuous source of ignition for the incoming air fuel mixture. Additional air is admitted downstream of the combustion zone, this mixes with the hot products consequently reducing the temperature to a value acceptable to the turbine. Combustor Requirements: Gas turbine combustors must satisfy a range of requirements including: o High combustor efficiency o Reliable and smooth ignition, particularly crucial for aircraft engines prone to flameouts at high altitude o Wide stability limits i.e. flame should stay lit over a wide range pressure and air/fuel ratio o Low pressure loss o Provide an outlet temperature profile thats designed to maximize turbine blade and nozzle lives o Low emissions of NOx, CO, and other pollutants including smoke o Free of pressure pulsations and other symptoms of combustion induced instability o Multi-fuel compatible o Maintainable and durable Combustor Types There are generally two types of combustors, tubular and annular. Tubular combustors are more accessible and easier to maintain, they are therefore better suited to industrial applications. Annular combustors are better suited to aeronautical applications due to their compact size and light weight.

Emission In conventional combustors modifications that alleviate smoke and NOx tend to increase emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and CO vise versa. Solutions to this problem include variable combustor geometry, staged combustion, lean premixed pre-vaporized combustors. The device which holds the greatest promise for reducing NOx formation is the catalytic combustor. The fuel is premixed with air at a very low equivalence ratio, the resulting homogeneous mixture is then passed through a catalytic reactor bed. The catalyst promotes combustion at a very lean fuel/air ratio that would normally lie beyond the lean flammability limit. Consequentially the reaction temperature is low and NOx formation is minimized. The harsh environment in the gas turbine combustor and its wide operating range present a challenge to the commercialization of catalytic combustors. However continued development of this technology should lead to increased commercial adoption. Aerodynamic Design The objective of the combustor design is to achieve satisfactory mixing within the liner and a stable flow pattern throughout the combustor while minimizing parasitic losses within a minimal length. The course reviewed the design of flow recirculation, jet penetration and mixing, and discharge coefficients for a variety of admission holes including swirls. Combustion performance Combustion chambers are required to burn stably over a wide range of operating conditions with combustion efficiencies of close to 100%. Additional requirements are easy and reliable lightup, particularly important for aircraft engines after a flameout at altitude. Combustion Noise Combustion in a flowing turbulent mixture is always accompanied by noise. In a gas turbine the total noise resulting from combustion is a combination of direct and indirect combustion noise. Direct combustion noise is generated by the combustion process it self. Indirect noise is attributed to the flow of hot combustion gases through the turbine and exhaust nozzle. Additional insidious noise stems from combustion instabilities combined with acoustic modes in the combustion chamber. Recently sustained combustion oscillation, resulting in noise and engine vibrations, has become an increasing concern. This is due to the advances in premixing of the air fuel mixture prior to combustion in a bid to reduce NOx emissions. The course presented a variety of methods of noise control including passive and active approaches.

Heat transfer While the mechanical stresses sustained by the combustion liner are small in comparison to those sustained by other engine components, the liner is required to withstand a high temperature and steep thermal gradients. These can be detrimental to its structural integrity. To ensure a satisfactory performance it is necessary to limit the maximum operating temperature to less than 1100K (1520F) for most nickel and cobalt based alloys. This necessitates supplemental heat removal from the liner wall, which conventionally occurs through radiation to the combustor casing and convection to the annulus air. Traditionally the principal mode of cooling the liner was to supply a film of cooling air along the inner surface of the liner. However, modern challenges and modifications to the gas turbine have necessitated the development of more efficient cooling techniques. The impetus for developing better cooling techniques can be summarized as follows: o Higher compression ratios in modern engines have improved efficiencies and reduced fuel consumption. An increased pressure ratio results in an increased compressor discharge temperature, this makes liner cooling more difficult and requires more air to achieve the same amount of heat transfer. o Regulations governing pollutant emissions have become more stringent. This requires more air to be allocated to combustion, consequently reducing the amount of air required for liner cooling. Furthermore studies have shown that reducing the amount of air used for liner cooling reduces the emissions of CO and unburned hydrocarbons. o Increase in turbine inlet temperature requiring improvements in combustor pattern factor. Air therefore has to be redirected from the walls of the liner to dilution zone. o Increase in the life expectancy of the combustor liners due to improvements in component durability. Customers now expect longer durations between combustor maintenance. Advances in cooling such as film cooling with augmented convection, impingement cooling, transpiration cooling, effusion cooling have substantially reduced the amount of air required for film cooling. Additional innovations such as thermal barrier coatings, metal alloys such as Nimonic 263, Haynes 188 have been developed to withstand high operating temperatures. Developments in the manufacturing processes and materials have made ceramics promising material for future combustors.

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