This paper describes reduced NOx diffusion flame combustors that have been developed for both simple cycle and regenerative cycle MS3002 and MS5002 gas turbines. Laboratory tests have shown that when firing with natural gas, without water or steam injection, NOx emissions from the new combustors are about 40 percent lower than NOx emissions from the standard combustors. CO emissions are virtually unchanged at base load, but increase at part load conditions. Commercial demonstration tests have confirmed the laboratory results. The standard combustors on both the MS3002 and MS5002 gas turbine are cylindrical cans, approximately 10.5 inches (27 cm) in diameter. A single fuel nozzle is centered at the inlet to each can and produces a swirl stabilized diffusion flame. The walls of the cans are louvered for cooling, and contain an array of mixing and dilution holes that provide the air needed to complete combustion and dilute the burned gas to the desired turbine inlet temperature. The MS3002 turbine is equipped with six combustor cans, while the MS5002 turbine is equipped with twelve combustors. The new, reduced NOx emissions combustors (referred to as a “lean head end,” or LHE, combustors) retain all of the key features of the conventional combustors; the only major difference is the arrangement of the mixing and dilution holes in the cylindrical combustor cans. By optimizing the number, diameter, and location of these holes, NOx emissions can be reduced considerably. Minor changes are also sometimes made to the combustor cap. The materials of construction, pressure drop, and fuel nozzle are all unchanged. The differences in NOx emissions between the standard and LHE combustors, as well as the variations in NOx emissions with firing temperature, are well correlated using turbulent flame length arguments. Details of this correlation are presented.
This paper describes reduced NOx, diffusion flame combustors that have been developed for both simple cycle and regenerative cycle MS3002 and MS5002 gas turbines. Laboratory tests have shown that when firing with natural gas, without water or steam injection, NOx emissions from the new combustors are about 40% lower than NOx emissions from the standard combustors. CO emissions are virtually unchanged at base load, but increase at part load conditions. Commercial demonstration tests have confirmed the laboratory results. The standard combustors on both the MS3002 and MS5002 gas turbine are cylindrical cans, approximately 10.5 inches (27 cm) in diameter. A single fuel nozzle is centered at the inlet to each can and produces a swirl stabilized diffusion flame. The walls of the cans are louvered for cooling, and contain an array of mixing and dilution holes that provide the air needed to complete combustion and dilute the burned gas to the desired turbine inlet temperature. The MS3002 turbine is equipped with six combustor cans, while the MS5002 turbine is equipped with twelve combustors. The new, reduced NOx emissions combustors (referred to as a “lean head end”, or LHE, combustors) retain all of the key features of the conventional combustors; the only major difference is the arrangement of the mixing and dilution holes in the cylindrical combustor cans. By optimizing the number, diameter, and location of these holes, NOx emissions can be reduced considerably. Minor changes are also sometimes made to the combustor cap. The materials of construction, pressure drop, and fuel nozzle are all unchanged. The differences in NOx emissions between the standard and LHE combustors, as well as the variations in NOx emissions with firing temperature, are well correlated using turbulent flame length arguments. Details of this correlation are presented.
The current shortage of conventional gas turbine fuels has created the need for new sources of “clean” fuel. One of the most promising new fuels is low Btu gaseous fuel, such as produced by air injected coal or oil gasifiers or other chemical processes. The various sources of low Btu fuels and their combustion characteristics are discussed. To burn many of the low Btu fuels in the 100–300 Btu/scf range necessitates certain design modifications to the gas turbine originally optimized for high energy fuels. The extent of the modification depends greatly on the low Btu fuel. The impact of low Btu fuels on the gas turbine thermodynamic cycle performance and environmental performance is very encouraging. From the environmental viewpoint, low Btu fuels promise to be “clean” fuels while providing increased output at higher thermal cycle efficiencies than achieved with conventional fuels.
This paper describes a reduced NOx diffusion flame combustor that has been developed for the MS5002 gas turbine. Laboratory tests have shown that when firing with natural gas, without water or steam injection, NOx emissions from the new combustor are about 40 percent lower than NOx emissions from the standard MS5002 combustor. CO emissions are virtually unchanged at base load, but increase at part load conditions. The laboratory results were confirmed in 1997 by a commercial demonstration test at a British Petroleum site in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The standard MS5002 gas turbine is equipped with a conventional, swirl stabilized diffusion flame combustion system. The twelve standard combustors in an MS5002 turbine are cylindrical cans, approximately 27 cm (10.5 in.) in diameter and 112 cm (44 in.) long. A small, annular, vortex generator surrounds the single fuel nozzle that is centered at the inlet to each can. The walls of the cans are louvered for cooling, and contain an array of mixing and dilution holes that provide the air needed to complete combustion and dilute the burned gas to the desired turbine inlet temperature. The new, reduced NOx emissions combustor (referred to as a “lean head end,” or LHE, combustor) retains all of the key features of the conventional combustor; the only significant difference is the arrangement of the mixing and dilution holes in the cylindrical combustor can. By optimizing the number, diameter, and location of these holes, NOx emissions were substantially reduced. The materials of construction, fuel nozzle, and total combustor air flow were unchanged. The differences in NOx emissions between the standard and LHE combustors, as well as the variations in NOx emissions with firing temperature, were well correlated using turbulent flame length arguments. Details of this correlation are also presented. [S0742-4795(00)01602-1]
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