Jisu Yoon

Effect of Acoustic Excitation on Lean Blowoff in Turbulent Premixed Bluff Body Flames

ABSTRACT The lean blowoff characteristics of a premixed air-methane flame were investigated in a ducted combustor with a bluff body according to acoustic excitation. The blowoff equivalence ratio increases with the Reynolds number and changes depending on the extent of the recirculation zone. Using the relation between the Damköhler number and the Reynolds number, it was confirmed that the flow velocity at the downstream tip of the bluff body and the laminar flame speed are decisive blowoff factors. Although a periodic flame hole appeared far from the blowoff only with acoustic excitation, the blowoff observed by OH radical chemiluminescence occurred using a similar process regardless of the excitation. The recirculation zone collapses and the flame becomes small when it is close to the blowoff. Then, the flame is locally extinguished downstream from the bluff body and the recirculation zone completely collapses. Eventually, the unburned gas does not ignite and the flame is extinguished. The blowoff equivalence ratio rapidly increases at specific acoustic excitation frequencies. This was investigated using proper orthogonal decomposition analysis, the two-microphone method, and phase-lock particle imaging velocimetry measurement. Resonance occurs when the excitation frequency approaches the harmonic frequency of the combustor and it increases the velocity fluctuation in the combustor and the infiltration velocity of the unburned gas in the shear layer of the recirculation zone. Consequently, because the burning velocity must have a larger value corresponding to the enhanced mixture velocity for a sustained flame, the blowoff occurs at a higher equivalence ratio.

Effect of Hydrogen Content on the Gas Turbine Combustion Performance of Synthetic Natural Gas

This paper investigates the effect of hydrogen content on the gas turbine combustion performance of synthetic natural gases to determine whether they are adaptable to industrial gas turbines. Synthetic natural gases which are composed of methane, propane and varying amounts of hydrogen (0%, 1%, 3% and 5%), are tested in ambient pressure and high temperature conditions at the combustion test facility of a 60kWth industrial gas turbine. Combustion instabilities, flame structures, temperatures at nozzle, dump plane and turbine inlet, and emissions of NOx and CO are investigated for the power outputs from 35 to 60kWth. With increasing hydrogen content, combustion instabilities are slightly alleviated and the frequency of pressure fluctuation and heat release oscillation is increased. NOx and CO emissions are almost similar in trends and amounts for all tested fuels, and the undesirable phenomena from addition of hydrogen such as flashback, auto-ignition and overheating of fuel nozzle were not observed. Synthetic natural gas with less than 1% hydrogen showed no difference in gas turbine combustion characteristics, while synthetic natural gases containing hydrogen of over 3% showed a slight difference in combustion instability such as amplitude and frequency of pressure fluctuations and heat release oscillations. From these results, we conclude that the synthetic natural gas containing less than 1% hydrogen is adaptable without retrofitting any part of the combustor, and Korea coal-SNG Quality Standard Bureau is planning to establish the SNG quality standards, guaranteeing hydrogen content of up to 1%.Copyright

The Effect of Fuel Composition on Combustion Instability Mode Occurrence in a Model Gas Turbine Combustor

Recently, energy resource depletion and unstable energy prices have become global issues. Worldwide pressure to secure and make more gas and oil available to support global power needs has increased. To meet these needs, alternative fuels composed of various types of fuels have received attention, including biomass, dimethyl ether (DME), and low rank coal. For this reason, the fuel flexibility of the combustion system becomes more important. In this study, H2 and CH4 were selected as the main fuel composition variables and the OH-chemiluminescence measurement technique was also applied. This experimental study was conducted under equivalence ratio and fuel composition variations with a model gas turbine combustor to examine the relation between combustion instability and fuel composition. The combustion instability peak occurs in the H2/CH4 50:50 composed fuel and the combustion instability frequency shifted to higher harmonic of longitudinal mode based on the H2 concentration of the fuel. Based on instability mode and flame length calculation, the effect of the convection time during the instability frequency increasing phenomenon was found in a partially premixed gas turbine combustor. The time-lag analysis showed that the short convection time in a high H2 concentration fuel affects the feedback loop period reduction and, in these conditions, high harmonics of longitudinal mode instability occurs.This fundamental study on combustion instability frequency shifting characteristics was conducted for H2/CH4 composed fuel and the results contribute key information for the conceptual design of a fuel flexible gas turbine and its optimum operation conditions.© 2015 ASME

Effects of High-harmonic Components on the Rayleigh Indices in Multi-mode Thermo-acoustic Combustion Instability

This paper presents the characteristics of non-fundamental multi-mode combustion instability and the effects of highharmonic components on the Rayleigh criterion. Phenomenological observations of multi-harmonic-mode dynamic pressure waves regarding the intensity of harmonic components and the source of wave distortion have been explained by introducing examples of second- and third-order harmonics at various amplitudes. The amplitude and order of the harmonic components distorted the wave shapes, including the peak and the amplitude, of the dynamic pressure and heat release, and consequently the temporal Rayleigh index and its integrals. A cause-and-effect analysis was used to identify the root causes of the phase delay and the amplification of the Rayleigh index. From this analysis, the skewness of the dynamic pressure turned out to be a major source in determining whether multi-mode instability is driving or damping, as well as in optimizing the combustor design, such as the mixing length and the combustor length, to avoid unstable regions. The results can be used to minimize errors in predicting combustion instability in cases of high multi-mode combustion instability. In the future, the amount of research and the number of applications will increase because new fuels, such as fast-burning syngases, are prone to generating multi-mode instabilities.

Development of Low Emission Gas Turbine Combustors

Due to increasing environmental concerns, clean technology has become a key feature in industrial gas turbines. Swirler design is directly associated with the combustion performance for its roles in fuel distribution and flame stability. In this study, the development process of three new conceptual swirlers from Samsung Techwin is presented. Each swirler has unique features to enhance fuel-to-air mixing; Swirler 1 uses tangential air-bypass, Swirler 2 minimizes pressure loss using impeller-like design, and Swirler 3 has combined flow characteristics of axial and radial swirlers. Using extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, lead time and cost in manufacturing the prototypes were significantly reduced. The numerical methods were verified with a lab-scale combustion test; particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement of cold flow, direct flame images, and OH planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) images were compared with result of large-eddy simulation (LES), and they showed good agreement. After design optimization using CFD, full-scale combustion tests were performed for all three swirlers. Flame from each swirler was visualized using a cylindrical quartz liner; direct images and OH chemiluminescence images of flames were obtained. Flame stability and blow-off limit at various air load were examined by gradually lowering the equivalence ratio. NOx and CO concentration were measured at the exhaust. All three swirlers satisfied low NOx and CO levels at the design conditions. The performance maps bounded by the NOx and CO limits and blow-off limit were obtained for all swirlers. Further efforts to maximize the combustors performance will be made.© 2015 ASME

Experimental Study on Combustion Instability Characteristics of Model Gas Turbine Combustor at Various H2/CH4/CO Composition

ABSTRACT IGCC(Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) system is candid ates which can solve the environmental problems including global warming, since it can b e easily combined with CCS(Carbon Capture System). In this research, combustion instability chara cteristics were studied at various fuel which are composed of H 2 /CH 4 /CO mixture. Mode analysis for instabilities observed experimen tally was conducted and the linearly increasing tendency of frequency was observed as the hydrogen content in fuel increases.초 록 IGCC(Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) 의 경우 CCS(Carbon Capture System) 시스템과의 결합을 통하여 지구온난화와 같은 환경문제를 해결할 수 있는 발전 방식의 하나로 여겨진다. 따라서 합성가스 연소특성에 대한 연구가 중요하며 본 연구에서는 H 2 /CH 4 /CO로 구성된 합성가스 조성을 바꾸어가며 가스터빈 연소불안정 특성에 대한 실험적 연구를 수행하였다. 실험과정에서 발생한 연소불안정에 대한 모드 분석을 수행하였고 연료 중 수소 비율 증가에 따른 주파수 천이 현상 또한 확인하였다.Key Words: IGCC(석탄가스화 복합발전), Syngas(합성가스), Combustion Instability(연소불안정), Gas Turbine(가스터빈), Fuel Composition(연료조성)Received 1 June 2013 / Revised 7 November 2013 / Accepted 15 No vember 2013

Combustion Performance Test of Syngas Gas in a Model Gas Turbine Combustor - Part 1 : Flame Stability

This paper describes on the flame stability and combustion instability of coal derived synthetic gas especially for gases of Buggenum IGCC in Netherlands and Taean IGCC in Korea. These combustion characteristics were observed by conducting ambient-pressure elevated-temperature combustion tests in GE7EA model combustor when varying heat input and nitrogen dilution ratio. Flame stability map is plotted according to the flame structure by dividing all regimes into six, and only regime I and II are identified to be stable. Both syngases of Taean and Buggenum with nitrogen integration corresponds to regime II in which syngas burnt stably and flame coupled with outer recirculation flow. Stable regime of Buggenum is larger than that of Taean when considering only /CO ratio due to higher content of hydrogen. However, when considering nitrogen dilution, syngas of Taean is burnt more stably than that of Buggenum since more nitrogen in Buggenum has negative effect on the stability of flame.

Combustion Performance Test of Syngas Gas in a Model Gas Turbine Combustor - Part 2 : NOx/CO emission Characteristics, Temperature Characteristics and Flame Structures

This paper describes on the NOx/CO emission characteristics, temperature characteristics and flame structures when firing coal derived synthetic gas especially for gases of Buggenum and Taean IGCC. These combustion characteristics were observed by conducting ambient-pressure elevated-temperature combustion tests in GE7EA model combustor when varying heat input and nitrogen dilution ratio. Nitrogen addition caused decrement in adiabatic flame temperature, thus resulting in the NOx reduction. At low heat input condition, nitrogen dilution raised the CO emission dramatically due to incomplete combustion. These NOx reduction and CO arising phenomena were observed at certain flame temperature of and , respectively. As increasing nitrogen dilution, adiabatic flame temperature and combustor liner temperature were decreased and singular points were detected due to change in flame structure such as flame lifting. From the results, the effect of nitrogen dilution on the NOx/CO and flame structure was examined, and the test data will be utilized as a reference to achieve optimal operating condition of the Taean IGCC demonstration plant.

Study of Flame Structure by Chemiluminescence and Laser Diagnostics in Model Gas Turbine Combustor

To eliminate the onset of combustion instabilities and develop effective approaches for control, flame structure is very important. In this study, we conducted experiments under various operating conditions with a model gas turbine combustor to examine the relation of combustion instability and flame structure by OH chemiluminescence and laser diagnostics of He-Ne laser absorbtion system. The swirling LNG()/air flame was investigated with overall equivalence ratio of 1.2 and dump plane fuel-air mixture velocity 25 ~ 70 m/s. We founded that the combustion instability phenomenon occurs at lower mixing velocity and higher mixing velocity conditions. We also concluded that fluid dynamical vortex frequency has major effects on the combustion instability characteristics at lower mixing velocity condition.

An Experimental Study on Combustion Instability Characteristics of Various Fuel-Air Mixing Section Geometry in a Model Dump Shape Combustor

The main objective of this study was investigation of natural gas flames in a lean premixed swirl-stabilized dump combustor with an attention focused on the effect of the various fuel-air mixing section geometry on the combustion instability characteristics. The combustor and mixing section length was varied in order to have different acoustic resonance characteristics from 800 to 1800 mm in combustor and 470, 550, 870 mm in mixing section. We observed two dominant instability frequencies in this study. Lower frequencies were associated with a fundamental longitudinal mode of combustor length. Higher frequencies were related to secondary longitudinal mode of coupled with the combustor and mixing section. As a result, combustion instability was strongly affected by acoustic characteristics of combustor and mixing section geometry.