The axial and swirl velocity and turbulence profiles downstream of a small-scale combustor were measured using a Laser Doppler Velocimeter. The effects of combustor geometry (nozzle swirl and liner mixing and dilution holes), operating conditions (mass flow and pressure) and combustion were independently examined. For the combustion tests, the combustor exit temperature profiles were also measured with an insertion thermocouple. The normalized velocity profiles showed no effect of mass flow, pressure or overall velocity on the combustor exit profiles. For the low-swirl fuel nozzle, levels of turbulence were fairly constant without or with combustion. However, with the high-swirl fuel nozzle, the level of swirl decreased as the firing temperature increased (to conserve angular momentum). The effect of swirl reduction could also be seen in the turbulence levels which also decreased. This showed that the mean swirl was generating much of the turbulence. It was also found from testing various combustor geometries that the dilution jets significantly disrupted and thereby reduced the level of swirl exiting from the combustor.
An experimental study was conducted to determine the NOx emissions and flame stability associated with various flameholders used to support lean-premixed combustion of natural gas at gas turbine conditions. Data were obtained for velocities of 6 to 24 m/s, initial temperatures of 533 to 650 K, and pressures of 3.4 to 13.6 atm. Bluff-body, perforated-plate, and swirl-stabilized flameholders were tested and compared. The results confirm that NOx emissions at ultra-lean conditions scale with the flame temperature and are essentially independent of flameholder geometry for typical combustor residence times. The stability behavior, however, was strongly affected by flameholder type, illustrating the influence of fluid mechanics on flame stability. The flame stability was related also to the dynamics produced by combustion instability. A swirl-stabilized flameholder demonstrated the best stability characteristics at the expense of flameholder pressure drop.
Combustion instabilities in gas turbine engines are most frequently encountered during the late phases of engine development, at which point they are difficult and expensive to fix. The ability to replicate an engine-traceable combustion instability in a laboratory-scale experiment offers the opportunity to economically diagnose the problem more completely (to determine the root cause), and to investigate solutions to the problem, such as active control. The development and validation of active combustion instability control requires that the causal dynamic processes be reproduced in experimental test facilities which can be used as a test bed for control system evaluation. This paper discusses the process through which a laboratory -scale experiment can be designed to replicate an instability observed in a developmental engine. The scaling process used physically-based analyses to preserve the relevant geometric, acoustic and thermo-fluid features, ensuring that results achieved in the single-nozzle experiment will be scaleable to the engine.
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