CHAPTER 1 Introduction

COMPONENTS OF GAS TURBINE POWER PLANT:

I. INTRODUCTION
A. General The MS6581B, a single-shaft gas turbine, is mounted on a platform or base which supports the basic gas turbine unit. The various assemblies, systems and components that comprise the compressor, combustion and turbine sections of the gas turbine are described in the text which follows. B. Detail Orientation By definition, the air inlet of the gas turbine is the forward end, while the exhaust is the aft end. The forward and aft ends of each component are determined in like manner with respect to its orientation within the complete unit. The right and left sides of the turbine or of a particular component are determined by standing forward and looking aft. Figure 1 shows the compressor rotor half section. On a drawing or picture, the forward end is usually on the left and the aft end is on the right.

II. COMPRESSOR SECTION A. General The axial-flow compressor section consists of the compressor rotor and the compressor casing. Within the compressor casing are the variable inlet guide vanes, the various stages of rotor and stator blading, and the exit guide vanes. In the compressor, air is

confined to the space between the rotor and stator where it is compressed in stages by a series of alternate rotating (rotor) and stationary (stator) airfoil-shaped blades.

Fig: Compressor Rotor Assembly The rotor blades supply the force needed to compress the air in each stage and the stator blades guide the air so that it enters the following rotor stage at the proper angle. The compressed air exits through the compressor discharge casing to the combustion chambers. Air is extracted from the compressor for turbine cooling and for pulsation control during startup B. Rotor The compressor portion of the gas turbine rotor is an assembly of wheels, a speed ring, ties bolts, the compressor rotor blades, and a forward stub shaft (see Figure 1).Each wheel has slots broached around its periphery. C. Stator

1. General
The casing area of the compressor section is composed of three major sections. These are the: a. Inlet casing b. Compressor casing c. Compressor discharge casing 2

These casings, in conjunction with the turbine casing, form the primary structure of the gas turbine. They support the rotor at the bearing points and constitute the outer wall of the gas-path annulus. All of these casings are split horizontally to facilitate servicing.

a. Inlet Casing
The inlet casing (see Figure 2) is located at the forward end of the gas turbine. Its prime function is to uniformly direct air into the compressor. The inlet casing also supports the #1 bearing assembly. The #1 bearing lower half housing is integrally cast with the inner bell mouth. The upper half bearing housing is a separate casting, flanged and bolted to the lower half. The inner bell mouth is positioned to the outer bell mouth by nine airfoilshaped radial struts.

b. Compressor Casings
The forward compressor casing contains the stage 0 through stage 4 compressor stator stages. The compressor casing lower half is equipped with two large integrally cast trunnions which are used to lift the gas turbine when it is separated from its base.

c. Compressor Discharge Casing

The compressor discharge casing is the final portion of the compressor section. It is the longest single casting, is situated at midpoint between the forward and aft supports and is, in effect, the keystone of the gas turbine structure.

D.Gas Turbine Functional

The compressor rotor and stator blades are airfoil shaped and designed to compress air efficiently at high blade tip velocities.

E. TURBINE SECTION A. General The three-stage turbine section is the area in which energy in the form of high temperature pressurized gas, produced by the compressor and combustion sections, is converted to mechanical energy.

Fig: Fuel Nozzle Details

Gas turbine hardware includes the turbine rotor, turbine casing, exhaust frame, exhaust diffuser, nozzles, and shrouds. B. Turbine Rotor 1. Structure The turbine rotor assembly, shown in Figure 12, consists of the forward and aft turbine wheel shafts and the first-, second- and third-stage turbine wheel assemblies with spacers and turbine buckets. Concentricity control is achieved with mating rabbets on the turbine wheels, wheel shafts, and spacers. The wheels are held together with through bolts mating up with bolting flanges on the wheel shafts and spacers. Selective positioning of rotor members is performed to minimize balance corrections. C. Turbine Stator 1. Structure The turbine casing and the exhaust frame constitute the major portion of the gas turbine stator structure. The turbine nozzles, shrouds, and turbine exhaust diffuser are internally supported from these components.

2. Turbine Casing
The turbine casing controls the axial and radial positions of the shrouds and nozzles. It determines turbine clearances and the relative positions of the nozzles to the turbine buckets. This positioning is critical to gas turbine performance.

3. Nozzles
In the turbine section there are three stages of stationary nozzles which direct the highvelocity flow of the expanded hot combustion gas against the turbine buckets causing the turbine rotor to rotate. Because of the high pressure drop across these nozzles, there are seals at both the inside and the outside diameters to prevent loss of system energy by leakage. Since these nozzles operate in the hot combustion gas flow, they are subjected to thermal stresses in addition to gas pressure loadings. 5

.1.2) Working Principle of Gas Turbine : Brayton cycle The Brayton cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that describes the working of the gas turbine engine, basis of the air breathing jet engine and others. It is named after George Brayton (18301892), the American engineer who developed it, although it was originally proposed and patented by Englishman John Barber in 1791. It is also sometimes known as the Joule cycle. 1.2a) Ideal Brayton cycle: It is the cycle processed without any losses due to friction, carbon deposits in combustion chamber, shaft rotation etc,. Hence, the processes are considered as reversible: Isentropic process - Ambient air is drawn into the compressor, where it is pressurized. Isobaric process - The compressed air then runs through a combustion chamber, where fuel is burned, heating that aira constant-pressure process, since the chamber is open to flow in and out. Isentropic process - The heated, pressurized air then gives up its energy, expanding through a turbine (or series of turbines). Some of the work extracted by the turbine is used to drive the compressor. Isobaric process - Heat rejection (in the atmosphere).

Fig:P-V Ideal Brayton cycle

Fig T-S Ideal Brayton cycle 1.2b) Actual Brayton cycle: It is the cycle in which the losses are indefinitely considered and thus these are irreversible processes 1-2 Adiabatic process - Compression. 2 -3 Isobaric process - Heat addition. 3-4 Adiabatic process - Expansion. 4-1 Isobaric process Heat rejection.

Fig P-V Actual Brayton cycle 7

Fig T-S Actual Brayton cycle

The following is the process followed by a gas turbine engine 1. The air is compressed initially from a lower pressure to higher pressure in the compressor 2.The compressed air is bleed and burnt in the combustion chamber 3.Expanded in turbine and 4. Exhaust from nozzle to the atmosphere Schematic diagram of gas turbine

Fig Schematic diagram of gas turbine 8

A Brayton cycle is characterized by two very significant parameters; Pressure ratio and firing temperature. The pressure ratio of the cycle is the pressure at point 3 divided by the pressure point 2. The firing temperature point 4 on the fig 1.2 is the highest temperature reached in the cycle. The thermodynamic efficiency and power output of a gas turbine depends on these two parameters.

1.3Combustion chambers in gas turbines:

1.3.1. THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER The compressed air from the axial flow compressor is piped to the combustion chamber. The turbine we are discussing has Six (6) identical combustion chambers - three on each side. Each chamber consists of the following: 1. The Fuel Burner. - Using Natural gas, no atomiser is required - the fuel however must have all liquid knocked out. 2. Swirl Vanes. - These are installed at the point of fuel injection in order to get thorough mixing of the fuel and Primary Air, (air for the combustion - 15 to 20% of the compressor discharge). This is done to prevent Hot-Gas Pockets in the hot-gas path to protect the metal of the turbine from excessive heat. 3. The Burner Basket - This is fitted around the burner and contains holes through which the Secondary Air (about 30% of the air), passes into the burning gases to ensure complete combustion of the fuel. 4. The Igniters. - Spark plugs are used for the initial ignition of the fuel/air mixture. The hot gases from the combustor mix with the remaining air from the compressor (about 50%). This is called ' Tertiary Air ' and cools the gases to a safe turbine inlet temperature - at about 1700 F. The hot, expanding gases pass into a ' Transition Piece ' which ensures the final mixing of the gases. The hot gases now pass to the six - fixed nozzle guidevanes which direct the gas flow through the turbine assembly. Between the combustion chambers, 'Cross-fire' tubes are installed to ensure combustion in all chambers. (A flame detector system exists which will instantly shut down the fuel supply and therefore the turbine, should a flame failure occur in a chamber). 9

1.4 The Gas Turbine Process

Gas turbine engines are, theoretically, extremely simple. They have three parts:

Compressor - Compresses the incoming air to high pressure Combustion area - Burns the fuel and produces high-pressure, high-velocity gas Turbine - Extracts the energy from the high-pressure, high-velocity gas flowing from the combustion chamber

The following figure shows the general layout of an axial-flow gas turbine -- the sort of engine you would find driving the rotor of a helicopter, for example: In this engine, air is sucked in from the right by the compressor. The compressor is basically a cone-shaped cylinder with small fan blades attached in rows (eight rows of blades are represented here). Assuming the light blue represents air at normal air pressure, then as the air is forced through the compression stage its pressure rises significantly. In some engines, the pressure of the air can rise by a factor of 30. The highpressure air produced by the compressor is shown in dark blue

1.5 Motivation
1.5.1 Linear processes Cause inherent disturbances to become self excited and grow in amplitude exponentially, A~et 1.5.2 Nonlinear processes Saturate amplitude of self-excited oscillations Amplitude prediction capabilities require understanding nonlinearities!

CHAPTER 2
10

Understanding the combustion process in gas turbines:

To understand efficient boiler operation, the combustion process must be understood. Stable combustion conditions requires the right amounts of fuels and oxygen. The combustion products are heat energy, carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen, and other gases (excluding oxygen). In theory there is a specific amount of oxygen needed to completely burn a given amount of fuel. In practice, burning conditions are never ideal. Therefore, more air than ideal must be supplied to burn all fuel completely. The amount of air more than the theoretical requirement is referred to as excess air. Power plant boilers normally run about 10 to 20 percent excess air. Natural gas-fired boilers may run as low as 5 percent excess air. Pulverized coal-fired boilers may run with 20 percent excess air. Gas turbines runs very lean with up to 300 percent excess air. Typical values of excess air for some common fuels are shown in the table below: Excess of Air (%) 40 5 - 10 5 - 10 15 - 20 20 - 30 10 to 20 70 to 100 40 to 70 30 to 60

Fuel Anthracite Coke oven gas Natural Gas Coal, pulverized Coal, stoker Oil (No. 2 and No. 6) Semi anthracite, hand firing Semi anthracite, with stoker Semi anthracite, with traveling grate

To determine the excess air at which the combustion system will operate we have to start with the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, known as the perfect or ideal fuel ratio, the stoichiometric combustion. During stoichiometric combustion there is a chemically 11

correct mixing proportion between the air and the fuel. During the stoichiometric combustion process no fuel or air are left over. Process heating equipment almost never runs stoichiometric. Even so-called "on-ratio" combustion, used in boilers and high temperature process furnaces incorporates a modest amount of excess air - 10 to 20% more than needed to burn the fuel completely. If insufficient amount of air is supplied to the burner, unburned fuel, soot, smoke, and carbon monoxide are exhausted from the boiler. The result is heat transfer surface fouling, pollution, lower combustion efficiency, flame instability and a potential for explosion. To avoid inefficient and unsafe conditions, boilers normally operate at an excess air level. This excess air level also provides protection from insufficient oxygen conditions caused by variations in fuel composition and "operating slops" in the fuel-air control system.

2.1 lean fuel/air combustion:

Lean burn refers to the use of lean mixtures in an internal combustion engine. The airfuel ratios can be as high as 65:1, so the mixture has considerably less fuel in comparison to the stoichiometric combustion ratio (14.7:1 for petrol). A lean burn mode is a way to reduce throttling losses. An engine in a typical vehicle is sized for providing the power desired for acceleration, but must operate well below that point in normal steady-speed operation. Ordinarily, the power is cut by partially closing a throttle. However, the extra work done in pumping air through the throttle reduces efficiency. If the fuel/air ratio is reduced, then lower power can be achieved with the throttle closer to fully open, and the efficiency during normal driving (below the maximum torque capability of the engine) can be higher. The engines designed for lean burning can employ higher compression ratios and thus provide better performance, efficient fuel use and low exhaust hydrocarbon emissions than those found in conventional petrol engines. Ultra lean mixtures with very high airfuel ratios can only be achieved by direct injection engines. 12

The main drawback of lean burning is that a complex catalytic converter system is required to reduce NOx emissions. Lean burn engines do not work well with modern 3way catalytic converterwhich require a pollutant balance at the exhaust port so they can carry out oxidation and reduction reactionsso most modern engines run at or near the stoichiometric point. Alternatively, ultra-lean ratios can reduce NOx emissions

2.2 rich fuel/air combustion:

Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame. Fuels of interest often include organic compounds (especially hydrocarbons) in the gas, liquid or solid phase. In a complete combustion reaction, a compound reacts with an oxidizing element, such as oxygen or fluorine, and the products are compounds of each element in the fuel with the oxidizing element. For example: CH4 + 2 O2 CO2 + 2 H2O + energy CH2S + 6 F2 CF4 + 2 HF + SF6 A simple example can be seen in the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen, which is a commonly used reaction in rocket engines: 2 H2 + O2 2 H2O(g) + heat The result is water vapor. Complete combustion is almost impossible to achieve. In reality, as actual combustion reactions come to equilibrium, a wide variety of major and minor species will be present such as carbon monoxide and pure carbon (soot or ash). Additionally, any combustion in atmospheric air, which is 78% nitrogen, will also create several forms of nitrogen oxides.

13

Combustion resulting in a turbulent flame is the most used for industrial application (e.g. gas turbines, gasoline engines, etc.) because the turbulence helps the mixing process between the fuel and oxidizer.

2.3 Stoichiometric combustion:

Chemical Equation Generally, the chemical equation for stoichiometric burning of hydrocarbon in oxygen is

For example, the burning of propane is

Generally, the chemical equation for stoichiometric incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon in oxygen is as follows:

For example, the incomplete combustion of propane is:

The simple word equation for the combustion of a hydrocarbon in oxygen is:

If the combustion takes place using air as the oxygen source, the nitrogen can be added to the equation, as and although it does not react, to show the composition of the flue gas:

For example, the burning of propane is:

The simple word equation for this type of combustion is hydrocarbon in air: 14

Nitrogen may also oxidize when there is an excess of oxygen. The reaction is thermodynamically favored only at high temperatures. Diesel engines are run with an excess of oxygen to combust small particles that tend to form with only a stoichiometric amount of oxygen, necessarily producing nitrogen oxide emissions. Both the United States and European Union are planning to impose limits to nitrogen oxide emissions, which necessitate the use of a special catalytic converter or treatment of the exhaust with urea

2.4 Gas dynamics in combustion process:

Task 1- Improved understanding of combustion driven oscillations Will improve capabilities for designing combustors with reduced dynamics problems Task 2 - Active control of combustion driven oscillations Will improve capabilities for suppressing detrimental dynamics.

2.5 Three Combustion Regimes:

Depending on how fuel and oxidizer are brought into contact in the combustion system, different combustion modes or regimes are identified. Traditionally, two regimes have been recognized: the premixed regime and the non-premixed regime. Over the last two decades, a third regime, sometime considered as a hybrid of the two former ones to a certain extend, has risen. It has been named partially-premixed regime.

2.5.1The non premixed regime:

This regime is certainly the easiest to understand. Everybody has already seen a lighter, 15

candle or gas-powered stove. Basically, the fuel issues from a nozzle or a simple duct into the atmosphere. The combustion reaction is the oxidization of the fuel. Because fuel and oxidizer are in contact only in a limited region but are separated elsewhere (especially in the feeding system) this configuration is the safest. Diffusion of oxidant and fuel has to occur simultaneously to reaction to sustain combustion, the flame being a surface of separation of fuel and oxidant streams. The non-premixed flame has some other advantages. By controlling the flows of both reactants, it is (theoretically) possible to locate the stoichiometric interface, and thus, the location of the flame sheet. Moreover, the strength of the flame can also be controlled through the same process. Depending on the width of the transition region from the oxidizer to the fuel side, the species (fuel and oxidizer) feed the flame at different rates. This is because the diffusion of the species is directly dependent on the unbalance (gradient) of their distribution. A sharp transition from fuel to oxidizer creates intense diffusion of those species towards the flame, increasing its burning rate. This burning rate control through the diffusion process is certainly one of the reasons of the alternate name of such a flame and combustion mode: diffusion flame and diffusion regime.

2.5.2 Ignition / Burning / Extinction Curve

Let consider a mixing layer between fuel and oxidizer whose strain (and then intensity of reactant inter-diffusion) is carefully controlled. Let start from a flame already existing. Let also use the Damkhler number as defined above with the inverse of the scalar dissipation rate being the characteristic mechanical time of flow of reactants feeding the reaction zone. For high Da (low dissipation rate), the reactants diffuse slowly. The reaction is not very intense but the chemistry is fully achieved such that the maximum temperature is reached. Now, let decrease slowly (to avoid any unsteady effect on the chemistry) the Da. On one hand, the rate of feeding of flame through diffusion increases, and so does the reaction rate (that said, the reaction rate normalized by the dissipation rate decreases as the Da). On the other hand, the chemistry may not have the time to `eat' every reactant molecules that begin to leak through the flame: the fully sensible value is not realized and a lower temperature is achieved. With still increasing the dissipation 16

rate, this mechanism leads to lower temperature in the flame zone down to a level that cannot be sustained by combustion (that strongly depends on temperature). The diffusion flame leaves the diffusion-controlled burning regime and extinguishes suddenly. It is said to be quenched. This is experienced in real life when blowing off a small wood fire. Slightly blowing increases the transfer between reactants and strengthens the reaction but blowing too much extinguishes the fire.

fig: S-Curve Diffusion Flame. If now the start state is a frozen mixing layer between fuel and oxidant, at low Da (high dissipation rate), the flow remains frozen. When increasing Da, there will be a point where the chemistry will self-accelerate and the flame will light up through a sudden increase in temperature. Because the starting temperature is low, the ignition Da number is higher that the extinction Da above, exhibiting an hysteresis phenomenon. When looking at the trend of the maximum temperature only versus Da, a curve with a shape in `S' appears, named as S-Curve for diffusion flames (see beside figure).

2.5.3 Premixed regime:

In contrast to the non-premixed regime above, the reactants are here well mixed before entering the combustion chamber. Chemical reaction can occur everywhere and this flame can propagate upstream into the feeding system as a subsonic (deflagration regime) chemical wave. This presents lots of safety issues. Some situations prevent them: (i) the mixture is made too rich (lot of fuel compared to oxidizer) or too lean (too much oxidizer) such that the flame is close to its flammability limits (it cannot easily propagate); (ii) the feeding system and regions where the flame is not wanted are 17

designed such that they impose strong heat loss to the flame in order to quench it. For a given thermodynamical state of the mixture (composition, temperature, pressure), the flame has its own dynamics (speed, heat release, etc) on which there is few control: the wave exchanges mass and energy through diffusion process in the fresh gases. On the other hand, those well defined quantities are convenient to describe the flame characteristics. The mechanism of spontaneous propagation towards fresh gas through the thermal transfer from the combustion zone to the immediate slice of fresh gas such that the ignition temperature is eventually reached for this latter was highlighted as early as by the end of the 19th century by Mallard and LeChatelier. The reason the chemical wave is contained in a narrow region of reaction propagating upstream is the consequence of the discussion on the non-linearity of the combustion with temperature in the Fundamental Aspects. It is of interest to compare the orders of magnitude of the temperature dependent term fresh gas ( of the reaction source upstream in the ) and in the reaction zone close to equilibrium temperature ( and )

for the set of representative values: about

. It is found that the reaction is

times slower in the fresh gas than close to the burned gas. It is known that the

chemical time scale is about 0.1 ms in the reaction zone of a typical flame, then the typical reaction time in the fresh gas in normal conditions is about compared with the order of magnitude of the estimated Universe age: . To be . Non-

negligible chemistry is only confined in a thin reaction zone stuck to the hot burned gas at equilibrium temperature. In this zone, the Damkhler number is high, in contrast to in the fresh mixture. It is natural and convenient to consider that the reaction rate is strictly zero everywhere except in this small reaction zone (one recovers the Dirac-like shape of the reaction profile, provided that one can see the upstream flow as a region of increasing temperature towards the combustion zone and the downstream flow as in fully equilibrium).

18

Figure: Photograph of lean premixed combustor facility As the premixed flame is a reaction wave propagating from burned to fresh gases, the basic parameter is known to be the progress variable. In the fresh gas, the progress variable is conventionally put to zero. In the burned gas, it equals unity. Across the flame, the intermediate values describe the progress of the reaction to turn into burned gas the fresh gas penetrating the flame sheet. A progress variable can be set with the help of any quantity like temperature, reactant mass fraction, provided it is bounded by a single value in the burned gas and another one in the fresh gas. The progress variable is usually named c, in usual notations:

It is seen that c is a normalization of a scalar quantity. As mentioned above, the scalar transport equations are assumed linear such that the transport equation for c can be obtained directly. Actually, the transport equation for T (Sec. Transport Equations) is linear if constant heat capacity is further assumed (combustion of hydrocarbon in air implies a large excess of nitrogen whose heat capacity is only slightly varying) and the progress variable equation is directly obtained (here for a default of fuel - lean combustion):

19

The fact that the default or excess of fuel has been discussed above leads to the introduction of another quantity: the equivalence ratio. The equivalence ratio, usually noted , is the ratio of two ratios. The first one is the ratio of the mass of fuel with the mass of oxidizer in the mixture. The second one is the same ratio for a mixture at stoichiometry. Hence, when the equivalence ratio equals unity, the mixture is at stoichiometry. If it is greater than unity, the mixture is named rich as there is an excess of fuel. In contrast, when it is smaller than unity the mixture is named lean. The equivalence ratio presented here for premixed flames has little connection with the equivalence ratio introduced earlier regarding the non-premixed regime. Basically, the equivalence ratio as defined for non-premixed flames gives the equivalence ratio of a premixed mixture with the same mass of fuel and oxidizer. Moreover, the equivalence ratio as defined for a premixed mixture can be obtained based on the mixture fraction (it is thus the local equivalence ratio at a point in the non-homogeneous mixture described by the mixture fraction). From the definitions given above:

Fig: graph of mixture fraction.

CHAPTER 3
20

CONTROLLING OF COMBUSTION TECHNIQUES IN GAS TURBINES :

Combustion under sufficiently fuel-lean conditions can have the desirable attributes of high efficiency and low emissions, this being particularly important in light of recent and rapid increases in the cost of fossil fuels and concerns over the links between combustion and global climate change. About advances in the understanding of ultra lean fuel mixtures and how new types of burners and approaches to managing heat flow can reduce problems often found with lean combustion such as slow, difficult ignition and frequent flame extinction. lating burners, as well as the active control of lean combustion instabilities

3.1 CONTROL OF COMBUSTION PROCESSES

Combustion control, both active and passive, has been used as a tool to minimize combustion-generated oscillations to obtain stable operation, maximize combustion efficiency to improve performance, control temperature distribution, minimize emissions, and improve mixing and residence times to reduce combustor size. Techniques previously used with gaseous fuel combustion have been extended to combustion of liquid fuel of interest. Porous media inserts, countercurrent combustors, etc. have been investigated to control flow and temperature within the combustion chamber, aiming at compact combustors with reduced emission. Environmental and other practical concerns have led to the development of compact gas turbine combustors burning lean mixtures leading to potentially low CO and NOx emissions. The compact design requires efficient atomization and mixing together with a compact premixed flame. Associated with these requirements are higher temperatures, increased heat transfer, and thermal load, thus increasing the danger of combustion instabilities (causing performance deterioration and excessive mechanical loads), and possible off-design operation. Numerical simulations of reacting flows are well suited to address these issues. To this end, large eddy simulation (LES) is particularly promising. The philosophy behind LES is to explicitly simulate the large scales of the flow and the thermochemistry, affected by boundary conditions whilst modeling only the small scales, including the interaction between the flow and the combustion processes. Here, we 21

examine the flow and the flame in a model gas turbine combustor (General Electrics lean premixed dry low NOx LM6000) to evaluate the potential of LES for design studies of engineering applications and to study the effects of the combustor confinement geometry on the flow and on the flame dynamics. Two LES models, a Monotone Integrated LES model with 1 and 2 step Ahrrenius chemistry, and a fractal flame-wrinkling LES model coupled to a conventional one-equation eddy-viscosity subgrid model, are used. Reasonable agreement is found when comparing predictions with experimental data and with other LES computations of the same case. Furthermore, the combustor confinement geometry is found to strongly affect the vortical flow, and hence also the flame and its dynamics. A combustor is a component or area of a gas turbine , ramjet, or scramjet engine where combustion takes place. It is also known as a burner, combustion chamber or flame holder. In a gas turbine engine, the combustor or combustion chamber is fed high pressure air by the compression system. The combustor then heats this air at constant pressure. After heating, air passes from the combustor through the nozzle guide vanes to the turbine. In the case of a ramjet or scramjet engines, the air is directly fed to the nozzle. A combustor must contain and maintain stable combustion despite very high air flow rates. To do so combustors are carefully designed to first mix and ignite the air and fuel, and then mix in more air to complete the combustion process. Early gas turbine engines used a single chamber known as a can type combustor. Today three main configurations exist: can, annular and cannular (also referred to as can-annular tubo-annular). Afterburners are often considered another type of combustor. Combustors play a crucial role in determining many of an engines operating characteristics, such as fuel efficiency, levels of emissions and transient response (the response to changing conditions such a fuel flow and air speed).

3.2 Some of the important combustion techniques in gas turbine combustion are:
3.2 a. Infrared absorption for active combustion control 22

3.2 b. 3.2 c. 3.2 d. 3.2 e.

Swirling jet systems for combustion control Characteristics and control of multi swirl spray combustors Control of combustion instabilities in a swirl stabilizer spray combustors Control of flame structure in spray combustors

3.2.a.Infrared absorption for active combustion control:

The goals of the research are to develop infrared (IR) absorption tomography as a sensor for closed-loop control of combustion and propulsion systems of interest to the Navy, to apply IR absorption tomography to study mixing in forced-jet actuators, and to use proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis to investigate large-scale structures in reacting jet flows and the potential for reduced-order models of jet actuators. This research is in collaboration with Dr. Grinstein and Dr.Kailasanath of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Over the past year, the authors have completed the analysis of tomographic CO2 measurements made on forced jets; refined the tomographic reconstruction technique, adaptive Finite Domain Direct Inversion (FDDI); and used POD analysis both to evaluate the potential for reduced-order models of the vorticity and concentration fields and to investigate the relationship between vorticity and scalar mixing in reacting rectangular
jets.

fig: Generic pressure trace of a combustor illustrating growth rate and saturation to limit cycle of combustion instability

CHAPTER 4
SWIRLING JET SYSTEMS FOR COMBUSTION CONTROL
23

A hybrid simulation approach is used to investigate the flow patterns in an axisymmetric swirl combustor configuration. Effective inlet boundary conditions are based on velocity data from solving Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations or actual laboratory measurements at the outlet of a fuel-injector nozzle, and Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) is used to study the unsteady nonreactive swirl flow dynamics downstream. Case studies ranging from single-swirler to more complex tripleswirler nozzles are presented to emphasize the importance of initial inlet conditions on the behavior of the swirling flow entering a sudden expansion area, including swirl and radial numbers, inlet length, and characteristic velocity profiles. Swirl of sufficient strength produces an adverse pressure gradient which can promote flow reversal or vortex breakdown, and the coupling between swirl and sudden expansion instabilities depends on the relative length of the inlet. The flow is found to be very sensitive to the detailed nature of the radial velocity profiles. The critical challenge of specification of suitable inlet boundary conditions to emulate the turbulent conditions in the laboratory experiments is raised in this context. 4.1 INTRODUCTION The present studies are devoted to the axisymmetric swirl combustor configuration shown schematically in Fig.. It involves a primary fuel nozzle, within which air is passed through a swirler arrangement to mix and atomize the fuel. Coupling swirling flow motion with sudden expansion to the full combustor diameter provides an effective way of enhancing the fuel-air mixing and stabilizing combustion. Because of performance requirements on the design of gas-turbine engines, there is considerable interest in identifying optimal swirl and geometrical conditions to achieve specific practical goals in actual flight regimes, such as reduced emissions, improved efficiency, and stability. Numerical simulations of compressible flows developing in both space and time with precise control of initial and boundary conditions are ideally suited in the quest to recognize and understand the local and global nature of the flow instabilities driving the combustor performance which are the main focuses of this work. Numerical experiments can be used to isolate suspected fundamental mechanisms from others which might confuse issues. The extensive space/time diagnostics available based on the 24

simulation database can be exploited to develop analytical and conceptual bases for improved modeling of the turbulent flame. In simulations for engineering problems involving turbulent combustion, a RANS description of the flow and simplistic combustion models are typically combined. This involves simulating only the mean flow-field features and modeling the effects of the entire range of turbulent scales. The restricted information provided by this approach, regarding the fluid dynamics, combustion, and their different interactions, precludes adequate prediction of the important phenomena required to achieve effective control of the combustion processes, such as combustion-induced flow instabilities, cycle-to-cycle variations, and combustion oscillations associated with unsteady vortex dynamics. Large-Eddy Simulations provide a cost-effective alternative between RANS and (prohibitively expensive) direct numerical simulations in full-scale, three dimensional combustor configurations .However, although LES is capable of simulating flow features which cannot be handled with RANS, such as significant flow unsteadiness and strong vortex-acoustic couplings, the added advantage comes at the expense of computational cost, since LES is typically an order of magnitude more expensive than RANS. As a consequence, hybrid simulation approaches restricting the use of LES to flow regions where it is crucially needed, and using RANS for the remaining regions, can be used for practical flow configurations . The hybrid simulation approach used here for the swirl combustor configuration in Fig. involves effective boundary conditions emulating the fuel nozzle and LES to study the flow within the combustor. Case studies ranging from single-swirler to more complex triple-swirler nozzles were investigated. The inlet boundary conditions used to initialize the combustor flow involve velocity and turbulent intensities based on data at the outlet of the fuel-injector nozzle from RANS or actual laboratory measurements. A more detailed report of the authors joint studies with the University of Cincinnati (UC) has been presented elsewhere ; the authors' on going research addressing the interaction between combustion and flow dynamics is reported separately . 4.2 NUMERICAL SIMULATION MODEL Simulation of turbulent reacting flows encompasses dealing with a broad range of length and time scales. The largest scales of turbulent flows are related to the specific 25

geometry and regime considered, and the smallest scales are associated with the dissipation of turbulent energy through viscosity. In conventional LES , the governing equations are low-pass filtered to remove the dynamics of the smallest eddies, the effects of which are represented by explicit subgrid scale (SGS) closure models. A promising LES approach is Monotonically Integrated LES (MILES),which involves solving the unfiltered Navier-Stokes equations using high-resolution monotone algorithms; in this approach, implicit tensorial (anisotropic) SGS models , provided by intrinsic nonlinear high-frequency filters built into the convection discretization, are coupled naturally to the resolvable scales of the flow. The MILES approach provides an attractive alternative when seeking improved LES for inhomogeneous (inherently anisotropic) high-Reynoldsnumber turbulent flows such as those studied here. The three-dimensional MILES model used in the present work involves structured grids and solves the time-dependent compressible flow conservation equations for total mass, energy, momentum, and species concentrations with appropriate boundary conditions and an ideal gas equation of state. The explicit finite-difference numerical method is based on splitting integrations for convection and other local processes (e.g., molecular viscosity and thermal conduction) and coupling them using a time step splitting approach. Convection is based on the use of the NRL FAST3D code, implementing direction-splitting, fourth order Flux-Corrected Transport algorithm, second-order predictor-corrector integration, and Virtual Cell Embedding to handle the complex geometrical features .Inlet swirl inflow conditions are discussed below. The outflow boundary conditions at the combustor outlet involve advection of all flow and species variables with Uc, where the instantaneous mean streamwise outlet boundary velocity Uc is periodically renormalized to ensure that the time-averaged mass flux coincides with that at the inlet; these convective boundary conditions are enforced in conjuction with soft relaxation of the outflow pressure to its ambient value. Two types of outlets were considered .Viscous wall regions in the combustor cannot be practically resolved for the moderately-high Reynolds numbers involved here. Near-wall boundary condition models are used in conjuction with adiabatic free-slip wall conditions: the local wall conditions involve imposing the impermeability condition for the velocity component normal to the wall and implicit boundary conditions on the tangential velocity component W; the latter conditions are 26

implemented through specification of the surface shear stress in the spirit of a rough-wall model . Additional inflow/outflow numerical boundary conditions required for closure of the discretized equations are chosen based on characteristic analysis (CA) as in previous jet simulation studies. Resolution tests in selected cases involved additional runs on 126 x 307 x 126 and 56 x 136 x 56 grids. 4.3 SWIRL INITIAL CONDITIONS Numerous efforts have been devoted to study swirling flows in various combustion systems such as gas-turbine engines and diesel engines. The swirling flows are used to improve and control the mixing process between fuel and oxidant streams and in order to achieve flame stabilization and an enhanced heat-release rate. Velocity field characteristics of swirling flow combustors have been investigated extensively but were limited to specific geometry and were primarily focused on swirling jet flows or on the interaction of two co-swirling or counter-swirling streams .One of the main features that are usually observed in swirling flows is the formation of a Center Toroidal Recirculation Zone (CTRZ) around the axis of the jet. This CTRZ is used to stabilize the combustion process in a compact region within the combustion chamber. Experimental results showed that the CTRZ is a quasi-axisymmetric bubble developed by vortex breakdown which is associated with swirling flow exceeding a certain swirling strength. Swirling flow is introduced in practical combustor configurations by appropriately forcing tangential or azimuthal velocity components (e.g., introduced through guide vanes, tangential entry swirlers, or a rotating honeycomb).Multiple factors, including inlet conditions and geometry, tangential velocity profile, and axial velocity, are known to affect the process of vortex evolution and the breakdown process.

(a) 27

(b)

(c) Fig. Instantaneous OH PLIF images: (a) original image, (b) corrected image for laser beam inhomogeneities, (c) corrected image after minimum intensity threshold applied Swirl conditions of various degrees of complexity were considered to initialize the simulations at the inlet. This included: (1) idealized inflow boundary conditions involving a top-hat profile for the axial velocity U{r), the zero radial velocity V, and a tangential velocity profile W{r) from RANS of swirling turbulent pipe flows; (2) top-hat velocity profiles based on experimental data from a practical coannular swirl/counter-swirl (GEAE LM-6000) combustor configuration ; and (3) more complex velocity profiles based on RANS or laboratory studies of the flow within a triple-swirler fuel injector. The combustor flows investigated here were characterized by peak inlet freestream Mach numbers between 0.05 and 0.3 and by standard temperature and pressure (STP) conditions. Swirl (S) and radial (R) numbers, defined in terms of circumferentiallyaveraged velocity data by where the inlet radius RQ is chosen to be half of the combustor 28

radius R were considered. Here, 5 and R typically varied between 0 and 0.75 and between 0 and 0.5, respectively. Other than passive excitation due to the swirl, the flow was unforced and was allowed to naturally develop its unsteadiness. Typical Reynolds numbers involved, based on the peak mean inlet axial velocity and diameter, were Re > 70,000.

4.4 Result:
The LM-6000 device involves a coaxial dual-swirl (swirl/counter-swirl) configuration; it is being developed as operational hardware by General Electric Aircraft Engines (GEAE) for gas-turbine applications and used to test computational modeling capabilities in lean premixed turbulent combustion regimes. The laboratory-measured, nozzle-outlet swirl velocity profiles used in are compared in fig for S 0.56 with those of the turbulent pipe-flow case. The latter case involved the simplest swirl initial conditions and was reported elsewhere. Inflow boundary conditions at the inlet used a top-hat profile for the axial velocity, zero radial velocity, a CA-based floating pressure condition and a swirl tangential velocity profile selected as typical of those found in RANS studies of swirling turbulent pipe flows; profiles associated with various body force distributions were reported in the profile corresponding to a constant body force was used in the present simulations. Radial velocities are finite but very small (i.e., R = 0.012) for the LM-6000 case, in contrast with identically zero prescribed radial velocities for the pipe-flow case. For model testing purposes, the actual conditions in the previous nonreactive LES in the LM-6000 configuration were first emulated with present (and other) simulation models; extensive comparative model studies will be reported separately and are only illustrated here. Model testing studies included both the particular geometry and the operating conditions (PQ Q atm, T = 660K, premixed methane-air mixture, equivalence ratio 0 = 0.56, and inlet diameter Do = 3.4 cm). At the combustor inlet, Dirichlet conditions can be used in principle for primary flow variables other than the velocities. However, because subsonic inflow is involved, at least one physical quantity must be allowed to float at the inlet, and there is no indication from laboratory experiments on whether any particular (floating) inlet variable should be preferred. The approach in was to use a condition derived using CA based on assuming fixed 29

temperature and velocity components at the inlet boundary. Two other inlet boundary condition approaches were also tested based on: (1) fixing the inlet mass density at the inflow and allowing pressure (and temperature) to float through a CA-based condition , and (2) allowing the inlet radial velocity to float. Comparison of time-averaged centerline velocity from nonreactive LES in with present simulations using MILES and a One-Equation Eddy-Viscosity Model(OEEVM) indicates that the near-inlet flow^ is captured fairly well with LES but can be somewhat sensitive to the actual choice of the specific inlet floating condition. The sensitivity of the axi-symmetric combustor flow dynamics to the actual choice of inlet velocity conditions was also examined. Fig compares the results of initializing the simulations with the turbulent-pipe or LM-6000 swirling conditions and otherwise identical initial conditions (S 0.56, Uo = 100 m/s,STP). The flow visualizations depict the significant effects on the combustor vortex dynamics of changing the specifics of the velocity profiles used to initialize the LES, with noticeably more axi-symmetric features observed in the flow features for the LM-6000 case. The LM-6000 initial velocity conditions involve a peak tangential velocity component located farther away from the axis and a more moderate radial gradient of the axial velocity. A clear consequence of these initial condition specifics, apparent in Fig. is that the LM-6000.

CHAPTER 5 CONTROL OF FLAME STRUCTURE IN SPRAY COMBUSTION:

In order to develop comprehensive passive combustion control techniques, the effects of radial distribution of swirl and combustion airflow on spray flame characteristics are examined using a double concentric swirl burner. The emphasis of the present work is on the use of shear forces in the swirling air to further reduce the size of the fuel droplets

30

and to transport these droplets to more desirable locations in the spray flame. Flow and droplet characteristics (droplet size, velocity, and number density) and species distribution within the flame have been examined. The results show that the radial distribution of swirl and airflow conditions had a significant effect on droplet size and distribution in the sprays and spray flames. Data shows the direct effect of high-shear in the flow on secondary droplet atomization. The Intensified Charge Coupled Device (ICCD) images of OH and CH species distributions in gas and spray flames are also presented. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) images provided airflow characteristics associated with the high shear regime of the flow. Airflow distribution and shear are shown to have a significant effect on droplet size, flame plume features, and spray flame structure. These features can be used to manipulate passive flame control of swirlstabilized spray combustion systems. 5.1 INTRODUCTION In order to control combustion efficiency, intensity, flame signatures, emissions of trace pollutants, and combustion instability, the flame structure must be controlled. Combustion characteristics can be controlled using either active or passive techniques. Even though the active control techniques may be more effective than passive, the active techniques are more expensive, complicated, and less reliable in harsh combustion environments. They also require the use of some external energy to control the instability in practical combustion systems. Passive control techniques can provide a more reliable and economical means to control flame characteristics, since there would be fewer control devices involved, and no external energy supply is necessary. Smaller fuel droplet size in spray flames is more desirable, since smaller droplets enhance flame stability and combustion intensity and lead to rapid response to input operational conditions. The focus of the present work is to reduce the droplet size by creating high-shear regions within the sprays. Different combustion airflow regimes also have an effect of relocating the droplets within the flame, which, in turn, affects the flame structure. The relocation of droplets to specific regions in the flame can have a significant effect on combustion instability, 31

efficiency, and emissions. If the local heat-release distribution in a flame can be changed, then it may be possible to eliminate the combustion instability at the desired operational conditions without any need to use external energy, instrumentation, or control devices. A double concentric swirl burner is used with a commercially available air assist nozzle to atomize the fuel. Nozzle characteristics, atomization airflow rate, and fuel flow rate were maintained constant throughout the experiments. Information on droplet characteristics in sprays and spray flames is presented. The distribution of OH and CH species in spray and gas-fueled flames is presented in order to decouple the effect of droplet vaporization. As the droplet size in the spray flame becomes smaller, its signature should begin to resemble that of the gas-fueled flame, due to the extremely short evaporation time of the droplets. 5.2 EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY The double concentric swirl burner used here has a centrally located fuel nozzle surrounded by two annular passages through which combustion air is supplied to the burner. Airflow and swirl vane angle (swirl strength) can be varied independently in each annulus. A swirl blade cascade of any blade angle setting can be placed in each annulus of the burner to provide the desired co- or counter-swirl arrangement. The facility therefore allows the examination of different swirl strengths and directions in the inner and outer annuli of the burner. A schematic diagram of the experimental burner is shown in Fig. It features an air-assist fuel nozzle, nominally rated for 0.5 gallons per hour. In the present study, kerosene has been used as the fuel and air has been used as the atomization gas. A Phase Doppler Interferometer (PDI) was used to characterize the fuel spray under non-burning and burning conditions. The PDI measures droplet characteristics in a given volume in space, so that the burner designed to move in three dimensions allowed data to be taken throughout the flame with fixed optics. Data were taken at various radial positions at known axial positions downstream from the burner exit. Particle image velocimetry was used to measure instantaneous images of the flow field of the carrier 32

phase and droplets. This provided information on the mean and root-mean-squared (rms) velocity of axial, radial, and tangential components; velocity vectors; vorticity; and strain rate. A three-dimensional (3D) PIV system, utilizing two cameras and mechanical shutters, was used for taking measurements in spray flames. In the present study, the flow velocity data was obtained at the vertical cross-section of the burner by passing a laser beam through the longitudinal axis of the burner. The procedure provided instantaneous velocity and direction of seeded particles in the airflow and/or droplets. An ICCD camera equipped with 430-, 515-, and 307-nanometer narrow bandpass filters was used to determine the distribution of OH, CH, and C2 species in the gas and spray flames.

5.3 RESULTS The effect of swirl distribution in the burner on droplet size and velocity distribution, flow and flame characteristics is reported. Three examined swirl distributions are 50V30^ 50V-30^ and 65V30^ where the first number indicates the swirl vane angle of the inner annulus and the second number refers to that at the outer annulus. Three airflow distributions of 25%/75%, 50%/50%, and 75%/25% were examined for each swirl 33

distribution. The first percentage number indicates the fraction of the total combustion airflow through the inner annulus, while the second number refers to that at the outer annulus. The results presented here are for swirl distributions of 65^/30^ and 50^/30^ only, where the total airflow was held constant to maintain a fixed equivalence ratio of 0.4. Global features of the flames were examined using direct image photography. The change in swirl in the outer annulus from co- to counter-swirl resulted in a thinner flame. The co-swirl distribution resulted in a more compact flame as compared to the counter-swirl case. The combustion airflow distribution in the burner had a significant effect on the flame plume configuration. The droplet size, number density, and volume flux data under non-burning and burning cases, with swirl distributions of 65^/30^ and 50^/30^, are presented in Figs. They show the effect of low-shear and high-shear air distributions on droplet mean size, number density, and volume flux at 5 and 30 mm downstream from the fuel-nozzle exit for the non-burning and burning cases. Data at other locations in the flame were also obtained. Stronger swirl in the inner annulus provides a secondary breakup of the droplets at the region of high-shear under nonburning conditions. One observes smaller-size droplets shown in Fig. for the 65V30^ case as compared to the 50V30^ case at a radial location of about 10 to 15 mm at X 5 mm. In contrast, under burning conditions, the droplet size with the 65^/30^ case is larger due to rapid depletion of the smaller-size droplets under combustion conditions. The results show that in the non-burning case high-shear created by the 65^/30^ swirl combination produces smaller-size droplets as compared to the low-shear case with 50^/30"^ swirl distribution. The increase in droplet number density occurs in the same region where a decrease in droplet size is observed. This then suggests that there must be secondary breakup of the droplets with the high-shear interface between the flows from the inner and outer annular passages of the burner. The increase in number density coincides with the high-shear region at all locations downstream from the fuel-nozzle exit. Smaller droplets evaporate more quickly. The droplet mean size for the high-shear case (65^/30^) is smaller than that observed in the low-shear (50^/30^) case. Approximate estimates of the Weber number (We) for the high-shear case showed it to be near the critical value. This suggests that the droplets in the high-shear case must have undergone some secondary breakup. A decrease in droplet size by as much as 50% can be 34

seen at some locations in the spray for the high-shear case. This breakup is caused by the velocity difference between the two adjacent air streams. These velocity differences are more pronounced in the high-shear case. An examination of the flow field Wcis made using PIV. The axial component of droplet velocity in high-shear is smaller than for the low-shear case. Since the total amount of combustion air fed to the burner was held constant during the experiments, the decrease in axial velocity indicates that the tangential component of the velocity is increased. Indeed, an examination of the tangential velocity revealed this to be the case. Thus, a sudden increase in tangential velocity promotes secondary breakup of the droplets .

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION:

35

The aforementioned behavior of the various swirlers emphasizes the importance of several parameters on the behavior of the swirling flow entering a sudden expansion area, namely, swirl and radial numbers; inlet length; and specific velocity profiles of the axial, radial, and tangential components. The flow is driven by the strong interaction between swirling shear-layer instabilities, on the one side, and flow instabilities driven by the sudden expansion and geometry of the combustion chamber, on the other. The coupling of these governing instabilities depends on the swirl magnitudes and the relative length of the inlet; swirl of sufficient strength produces an adverse pressure gradient which can promote flow reversal or vortex breakdown.

REFERENCES
[1] Cohen, J., Banaszuk, A., J. Prop. Power, Vol. 19 (5), 2003. 36

[2] Straub, D.L., Richards, G.A., Effect of Fuel Nozzle Configuration on Premix Combustion Dynamics,ASME paper # 98-GT-492, 1998 [3] Paschereit, C.O., Gutmark, E., Weisenstein, W., Control of Thermo-Acoustic Instabilities and Emissions in an Industrial Type Gas Turbine Combustor, Proc. Comb. Inst., 1998. [4] Hsiao, G.C., Pandalai, R.P., Hura, H.S., Mongia, H.C., Combustion Dynamic Modeling for Gas Turbine, Kruger, U., Hren Engines, AIAA paper # 98-3380 [5] , J., Hoffman, S., Krebs, W., Bohn, D., Prediction of Thermoacoustic Instabilities with [6] Focus on the Dynamic Flame Behavior for the 3A-Series Gas TurbineofSiemensKWU, ASME Paper #99-GT-111. Poinsot, T., Veynante, D., Bourienne, F., Candel, S., Esposito, E., Surget, J., Initiation and Suppression of Combustion Instabilities by Active Control, Proc. Comb. Inst., Vol. 22, 1988 [7] Lieuwen, T., Torres, H., Johnson, C., Daniel, B.R., Zinn, B.T., A Mechanism for Combustion Instabilities in Premixed Gas Turbine Combustors, Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Vol. 123(1), 2001, pp. 182-190. [8] Broda, J.C., Seo, S., Santoro, R.J., Shirhattikar, G., Yang, V., An Experimental Investigation of Combustion Dynamics of a Lean, Premixed Swirl Injector, Proc. Comb. Inst., Vol. 27, 1998, pp. 1849-1856 [9] Mongia, H.C., Held, T.J., Hsiao, G.C., Pandalai, R.P., Challenges and Progress in Controlling Combustion Dynamics in Gas Turbine Combustors, J. Prop. Power, Vol. 19(5), pp.822-829, 2003.

37