Development of a Catalytic Combustor for Industrial Gas Turbines

Cowell, L. H.; Larkin, Matthew P.

doi:10.1115/94-gt-254

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A major part of GE's development effort has gone into achieving a uniform fuel/air mixture at the catalyst inlet (Beebe et al, 1987). Solar Turbines, Inc. with the Engelhard Corp. also has reported on catalytic combustion work (Cowell and Larkin, 1994). This work does not appear to be so advanced as that at Catalytica but it has been carried out at pressures up to 9 atm on complete prototype systems suitable for incorporation in engines.…”

Section: Prcbwncr Coiitrhvtionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Catalytic combustion for industrial gas turbines

Anson

DeCorso²,

Parks

1996

Int. J. Energy Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This brief review provides a general account of work directed at the use of catalytic combustion in gas turbine engines. A major potential advantage of using catalytic combustion is that the fuel can be burnt efficiently at temperatures low enough ( < 15OOOC) to avoid significant oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen. This advantage was less important when catalytic combustion was demonstrated in the 1970's than it is today and received relatively little attention until the following decade.After discussion of the principles involved in the design of a combustor that must meet the mixing, size, performance and durability goals of a based gas turbine application, the review turns to accounts of experiments conducted on a laboratory scale with simple configurations. These established basic operating parameters for satisfactory combustion performance and led to larger scale work and to prototype design concepts for industrial gas turbines in the late 70's and early 80's. Test results were encouraging but were not pursued definitively in the U.S.A. Activity continued at several centres in Japan, with exploration of a number of different catalyst arrangements, geometries, and control systems, again with encouraging results. At the same time, there has been renewed interests in the U.S.A. and in Europe, spurred largely by the emphasis on reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx).The paper concludes with suggestions for further development of catalytically stabilized combustion systems for gas turbines. These systems must ensure adequate pre-catalyst temperature, with evenly premixed fuel and air, and sufficient temperature rise across the catalyst to ensure effective completion of reaction in a homogeneous reaction mode. The outstanding problems are largely concerned with questions of catalyst integrity and longevity in practical configurations and realistic engine operating conditions.

show abstract

Section: Prcbwncr Coiitrhvtionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Catalytic combustion for industrial gas turbines

Anson

DeCorso²,

Parks

1996

Int. J. Energy Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This multipoint fuel injection enabled complete fuel vaporization and mixing to occur in a mixing zone with a length/diameter ratio of five. Cowell and Larkin (1994) have conducted subscale testing on several different designs of catalytic combustors. The most advanced concept is shown schematically in Fig.…”

Section: Catalytic Combustorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Fuel Preparation in Low Emissions Combustion

Lefebvre

1995

Volume 5: Manufacturing Materials and Metallurgy; Ceramics; Structures and Dynamics; Controls, Diagnostics and Instrumentation;

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The attainment of very low pollutant emissions, in particular oxides of nitrogen (NOx), from gas turbines is not only of considerable environmental concern but has also become an area of increasing competitiveness between the different engine manufacturers. For stationary engines, the attainment of ultra-low NOx has become the foremost marketing issue. This paper is devoted primarily to current and emerging technologies in the development of ultra-low emissions combustors for application to aircraft and stationary engines. Short descriptions of the basic design features of conventional gas turbine combustors and the methods of fuel injection now in widespread use are followed by a review of fuel spray characteristics and recent developments in the measurement and modeling of these characteristics. The main gas turbine generated pollutants and their mechanisms of formation are described, along with related environmental risks and various issues concerning emissions regulations and recently-enacted legislation for limiting the pollutant levels emitted by both aircraft and stationary engines. The impact of these emissions regulations on combustor and engine design are discussed first in relation to conventional combustors and then in the context of variable-geometry and staged combustors. Both these concepts are founded on emissions reduction by control of flame temperature. Basic approaches to the design of “dry” low NOx and ultra-low NOx combustors are reviewed. At the present time lean, premix, prevaporize, combustion appears to be the only technology available for achieving ultra-low NOx emissions from practical combustors. This concept is discussed in some detail, along with its inherent problems of autoignition, flashback, and acoustic resonance. Attention is also given to alternative methods of achieving ultra-low NOx emissions, notably the rich-bum, quick-quench, lean-burn and catalytic combustors. These concepts are now being actively developed, despite the formidable problems they present in terms of mixing and durability. The final section reviews the various correlations which are now being used to predict the exhaust gas concentrations of the main gaseous pollutant emissions from gas turbine engines. Comprehensive numerical methods have not yet completely displaced these semi-empirical correlations but are nevertheless providing useful insight into the interactions of swirling and recirculating flows with fuel sprays, as well as guidance to the combustion engineer during the design and development stages. Throughout the paper emphasis is placed on the important and sometimes pivotal role played by the fuel preparation process in the reduction of pollutant emissions from gas turbines.

show abstract

“…The strategies to overcome this problem can be classified into two groups: 1) A rather conventional catalytic combustor design leads to the demand for highly temperature resistant catalysts Therefore, collaboration with catalyst manufacturers is necessary. Recent examples of this method are documented by Cowell and Larkin (1994) and Orenstein et al (1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

NOx Emission Characteristics of a Catalytic Combustor Under High-Temperature Conditions

Valk

Vortmeyer

Kappler

1995

Volume 3: Coal, Biomass and Alternative Fuels; Combustion and Fuels; Oil and Gas Applications; Cycle Innovations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A catalytic combustor concept with short catalyst segments and a thermal reactor is investigated with regard to NO, production of this concept under high-temperature conditions. The maximum combustor exit temperature was more than 1800 K with catalyst temperatures below 1300 K. For combustion of iso-octane, NO emissions of 4 ppm (day. 15% 02) at a flame temperature of 1800 K were measured. No significant influence of catalyst length, reference velocity and overall residence time on NO" emissions was observed.Additionally, the test combustor was fuelled with commercial diesel and kerosene (Jet-A). In this case, NO emissions were noticeable higher due to fuel-bound nitrogen. The emissions measured were for diesel, 12 ppm, and for kerosene, 7 ppm, (each dry, 15% 02), again at a flame temperature of 1800 K. To evaluate the conversion ratio of fuel-bound nitrogen to NO,, isooctane was doped with various amounts of ammonia and metyhlamine. The conversion rates were 70 to 90%, with a slight tendency to lower values (50%) for nitrogen mass fractions above 0.1%.Considering the NO emission level of actual premix burners, the lower emission value of the presented catalytic combustor results from a perfect premixed plug-flow combustion system incorporating a catalyst herein and not from a specific advantage of the principle of catalytic combustion itself. Again similar to a premix-combustor are the NO emission characteristics in the case of lean combustion of nitrogen bound fuels, which yield very high conversion rates.

show abstract

Development of a Catalytic Combustor for Industrial Gas Turbines

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Catalytic combustion for industrial gas turbines

Catalytic combustion for industrial gas turbines

The Role of Fuel Preparation in Low Emissions Combustion

NOx Emission Characteristics of a Catalytic Combustor Under High-Temperature Conditions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About