John Luigi Battaglioli

Development of a Fuel and Air Mixer for an 11MW Gas Turbine Catalytic Combustion System

This paper describes a fuel and air mixer being developed for an 11 MW gas turbine catalytic combustion system. The fuel is natural gas. The mixer is based loosely on the radial-swirler design used in the XONON™-2.0 combustor, but has an axial swirler and inlet. Features have been incorporated in the design to make it resistant to flameholding. A combination of atmospheric testing and advanced CFD analysis have resulted in a design that is close to meeting its design targets of +/− 5% fuel to air uniformity, +/− 10°C thermal uniformity and 0.5% pressure loss. Modal and thermal stress finite element analyses have been incorporated in the development from its beginning phases to assure that the final design will meet life targets. This mixer is one of two alternative designs being considered for the production version of the catalytic combustion system.Copyright