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The combustion oscillation characteristics in the lean premixed prevaporized (LPP) combustor at different equivalence ratios and inlet velocities of the combustor were experimentally investigated. Acoustic modal analysis was carried out to identify the acoustic eigenmodes in the LPP combustor. The flame structures under different operating conditions were investigated. The evolution laws of flame structures, coordinates and velocities of the flame centers, and heat release rates throughout a combustion oscillation cycle were investigated by phase-locked OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF). The result shows that there is a periodical process of flame roll-up for the flame close to the LPP combustor axis and a periodical process of separation and consolidation for the flame far from the LPP combustor axis. The spatial distribution of the normalized Rayleigh index in the LPP combustor was calculated to determine the driving zones of the combustion oscillation. The mechanism of combustion oscillation ...

Diluted combustion is one of the main methods to reduce NOx emissions in syngas combustion. This work studies the performance of syngas non-premix combustion with N2 dilution under different air humidification conditions. OH-PLIF measurement is used to study the flame structure. Temperature and emission of the exhaust is also investigated in the experiment. The results show that in dry air conditions, as the amount of N2 dilution increases, the NOx emission is decreased obviously and CO emission remains lower than 10 ppm. In middle air humidification conditions, NOx emission is lower than all dry air conditions, and CO emission still keeps low. However, the effect of N2 dilution is limited significantly. When in high air humidification conditions, as the amount of N2 dilution increases, CO emission rises significantly, whereas NOx emission changes little. According to the PLIF measurement, the highest flame temperature and the area of reaction zone are reduced to a low level under this condition. The combustion becomes incomplete and results in a significant emission of CO.

This paper presents experimental study on self-excited combustion instability characteristics of premixed low-swirl flames in a multinozzle can combustor with counterswirl and coswirl arrays. Experiments were carried out over a wide range of inlet velocity from 4 m/s to 15.5 m/s and equivalence ratio from 0.5 to 0.85. Phase-locked OH planar laser-induced fluorescence was employed to measure flame shape and identify heat release rate. Four operation regions: stable combustion region, unstable combustion region, flashback region, and extinguish region are observed for both array burners. The amplitude of pressure fluctuation for counterswirl arrangement is less than the coswirl array, and the stable operating window of the counterswirl array is wider. In the unstable combustion region, the counterswirl flame triggers the 2L mode of the combustion system, while the coswirl flame incites three longitudinal modes with the highest amplitude near 3L. Rayleigh index distribution reveals neighboring flame interaction results in thermoacoustic coupling for multinozzle flames. Additionally, for the counterswirl array, thermoacoustic couplings also exit in the flame base region and shear region while, for the coswirl array, the instability driving zones also locate at the lip region and the tail of center flame which is totally different with counterswirl flame.

This paper presents experimental study on self-excited combustion instability characteristics of premixed low-swirl flames in a multi-nozzle can combustor with counter-swirl and co-swirl arrays. Experiments were carried out over a wide range of inlet velocity from 4 m/s to 15.5 m/s and equivalence ratio from 0.5 to 0.85. Phase-locked OH planar laser-induced fluorescence was employed to measure flame shape and identify heat release rate. Four operation regions: stable combustion region, unstable combustion region, flashback region and extinguish region are observed for both array burners. The stable operating window for counter-swirl array is wider compared to the co-swirl array. Pressure fluctuation amplitude for co-swirl burner is larger than the counter-swirl arrangement at the same operating condition. In the unstable combustion region, the counter-swirl flames trigger the 2L mode of the combustion system while co-swirl flames incite three longitudinal modes with the highest amplitude near 3L. Rayleigh index distribution reveals neighboring flame interaction results in thermoacoustic coupling for multi-nozzle flames. Additionally, for counter-swirl array, thermoacoustic couplings in flame base region and shear region are also the main reasons for inducing self-excited combustion instabilities. For co-swirl array, the instability driving zones also locate at the lip region and the tail of center flame.

This paper presents laser diagnostic experiments and large-eddy simulations (LES) of low-swirl lean premixed methane/air flames in a multi-nozzle combustor including five nozzles with the same structure. OH planar laser-induced fluorescence is used to observe flame shapes and identify main reaction zones. NOx and CO emissions are also recorded during the experiment. The flows and flames are studied at different equivalence ratios ranging from 0.5 to 0.8, while the bulk inlet velocity is fixed at 6.2 m/s. Results show that the neighboring swirling flows interact with each other, generating a highly turbulent interacting zone where intensive reactions take place. The flame is stabilized above the nozzle rim, and its liftoff height decreases with increasing equivalence ratio. The center flow is confined and distorted by the neighboring flows, resulting in instabilities of the center flame. Mean OH radical images reveal that the center nozzle flame is extinguished when equivalence ratio is equals to 0.5, which is successfully predicted by LES. In addition, NOx emissions show log-linear dependency on the adiabatic flame temperature, while the CO emissions remain lower than 10 ppm. NOx emissions for multi-nozzle flame are less sensitive to the flame temperature than that for single nozzle. These results demonstrate that the low-swirl multi-nozzle concept is a promising solution to achieve stable combustion with ultra-low emissions in gas turbines.

This paper presents large-eddy simulations (LES) and laser diagnostic experiments of low-swirl lean premixed methane/air flames in a multi-nozzle combustor including five nozzles with the same structure. OH Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) is used to observe flame shapes and identify main reaction zones. NOx and CO emissions are also recorded during the experiment. The flows and flames are studied at different equivalence ratios ranging from 0.5 to 0.8, while the inlet velocity is fixed at 6.2 m/s. Results show that the neighboring swirling flows interact with each other, generating a highly turbulent mixing zone where intensive reactions take place. The flame is stabilized above the nozzle rim and its liftoff height decreases with increasing equivalence ratio. The center flow is confined and distorted by the neighboring flows, resulting in instabilities of the center flame. Mean OH radical images reveals that the center nozzle flame is extinguished when equivalence ratio is equals to 0.5, which is successfully predicted by LES. In addition, NOx emissions show log-linear dependency on the adiabatic flame temperature, while the CO emissions remain lower than 10 ppm. NOx emissions for multi-nozzle flame are less sensitive to the flame temperature than that for single nozzle. These results demonstrate that the low-swirl multi-nozzle concept is a promising solution to achieve stable combustion with ultra-low emissions in gas turbines.Copyright © 2014 by ASME

The development of integrated, coal-gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems provides cost-effective and environmentally sound options for meeting future coal-utilizing power generation needs in the world. The combustion of gasified coal fuel significantly influences overall performance of IGCC power generation. This study focuses on investigating the nitrogen dilution effects on a double-swirled non-premixed syngas flame. As the references, investigations on the H2 and CO double-swirled flames with N2 dilution are presented. Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of OH-radical measurement is adopted to identify main reaction zones and burnt gas regions. Together with temperature and emission measurement during exhaust section, some important characteristics of the syngas flame are overall investigated. Experimental result shows that syngas flame root near the burner exit demonstrates double flame front structure. The existence of N2 expands the flame opening angle and enlarges the main reaction zone, and it may lead to lower NO emission and higher CO emission in exhaust gas.Copyright © 2012 by ASME