Combustor stability and emissions research using a well-stirred reactor

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2815564· OSTI ID:483753

Zelina, J; Ballal, D R ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Dayton, OH (United States). Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The design and development of low-emissions, lean premixed aero or industrial gas turbine combustors is very challenging because it entails many compromises. To satisfy the projected CO and NO{sub x} emissions regulations without relaxing the conflicting requirements of combustion stability, efficiency, pattern factor, relight (for aero combustor), or off-peak loading (for industrial combustor) capability demands great design ingenuity. The well-stirred reactor (WSR) provides a laboratory idealization of an efficient and highly compact advanced combustion system of the future that is capable of yielding global kinetics of value to the combustor designers. In this paper, they have studied the combustion performance and emissions using a toroidal WSR. It was found that the toroidal WSR was capable of peak loading almost twice as high as that for a spherical WSR and also yielded a better fuel-lean performance. A simple analysis based upon WSR theory provided good predictions of the WSR lean blowout limits. The WSR combustion efficiency was 99% over a wide range of mixture ratios and reactor loading. CO emissions reached a minimum at a flame temperature of 1,600 K and NO{sub x} increased rapidly with an increase in flame temperature, moderately with increasing residence time, and peaked at or slightly on the fuel-lean side of the stoichiometric equivalence ratio. Finally, emissions maps of different combustors were plotted and showed that the WSR has the characteristics of an idealized high-efficiency, low-emissions combustor of the future.

• Sponsoring Organization: Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 483753
• Report Number(s): CONF-950629--
• Journal Information: Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Journal Name: Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 119; ISSN JETPEZ; ISSN 0742-4795
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
CARBON MONOXIDE
COMBUSTION KINETICS
COMBUSTORS
GAS TURBINE ENGINES
NITROGEN OXIDES