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Numerical Modeling of Flows Related to Gas Turbine Combustors

Szász, Robert-Zoltán LU (2004)
Abstract
The thesis focuses on the numerical simulation of the flow field in gas turbine burners.



Due to tougher and tougher requirements on low levels of emission of pollutants there is a need for new combustion technologies. In gas turbines one method to attain low pollutant levels is the use of lean premixed combustion. However, in lean combustion, problems related to the flame stability can arise. Swirling jets can be used to assure flame holding by forming an internal recirculation zone which helps to re-ignite the eventually extincted flame. Additionally, the swirl is enhancing the mixing process. This is important not only for flame stability and efficiency of combustion, but also the NOx levels have been proved to be... (More)
The thesis focuses on the numerical simulation of the flow field in gas turbine burners.



Due to tougher and tougher requirements on low levels of emission of pollutants there is a need for new combustion technologies. In gas turbines one method to attain low pollutant levels is the use of lean premixed combustion. However, in lean combustion, problems related to the flame stability can arise. Swirling jets can be used to assure flame holding by forming an internal recirculation zone which helps to re-ignite the eventually extincted flame. Additionally, the swirl is enhancing the mixing process. This is important not only for flame stability and efficiency of combustion, but also the NOx levels have been proved to be highly dependent on the local mixture composition. Swirling flows, however, are difficult (but not impossible) to examine experimentally because of the high sensitivity of the flow field to external conditions. In addition, experimental approaches cannot be used to study the effects of individual parameters. Consequently, the use of accurate numerical methods is preferred for analysis and design. Of course, the accuracy of the numerical tools and the design must be verified by experiments.



Here, the flow field downstream of a burner providing three swirling coaxial jets is studied numerically. The turbulence is accounted for by the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach because RANS-based models have been proved to fail to account accurately for some characteristics of the swirling flows, like large streamline curvature, flow reversal and flow dynamics.



Since only limited experimental data exists for the given combustion chamber, the computational approach is tested first on a test case involving a single swirling jet. Further, the flow fields obtained by altering different parameters (Reynolds number, swirl number, inlet velocity profile, confinement) are compared with the base case in order to evaluate the importance of each parameter in the present set-up. These parameters are important for an efficient flow control. A study of the turbulent mixing in the combustion chamber is also presented. The effect of Schmidt number has been studied and the presence of counter gradient diffusion is established. The acoustic field generated by the swirling jet has been evaluated in order to identify resonant frequencies of the flow. (Less)
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author
supervisor
opponent
  • Prof Paschereit, Christian, Hermann-Föttinger Institut fur Strömningsmechanik, Berlin, Germany
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
plasma, fluid dynamics, plasmas, Gaser, fluiddynamik, Gases, vortex breakdown, swirl, CFD, gas turbine
pages
209 pages
publisher
Department of Heat and Power Engineering, Lund university
defense location
Room M:B, M-building, Lund Institute of Technology
defense date
2004-04-30 10:15:00
external identifiers
  • other:ISRN:LUTMDN/TMHP-04/1022-SE
ISBN
91-628-6040-2
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Article: Szasz, R.Z., Caraeni, D.A., Fuchs, L. Study of mixing in swirling turbulent jets. In: IUTAM Symposium on Turbulent Mixing and Combustion, Pollard,A. and Candel,S.(Eds), Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 221-232, 2001 Article: Szasz, R.Z., Fuchs, L. Numerical modeling of flow and mixing of single and interacting swirling co-annular jets. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena, Kasagi, N. et al. (Eds), Vol. 2, pp. 663-668, 2003 Article: Szasz, R.Z., Revstedt,J., Fuchs, L. Comparison of some SGS models for turbulent fluxes of momentum and a passive scalar in swirling co-annular jets. In: Proceedings of the 5th ERCOFTAC Workshop on Direct and Large Eddy Simulation, (to appear), 2003 Article: Szasz, R.Z., Duwig, C., Fuchs, L. Numerical simulation of reacting flows in gas turbine burners with flame surface density model and LES. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Modeling Fluid Flow (CMFF'03), Lajos, T., Vad, J.(Eds.), Budapest University of Technology, Dep. of Fluid Mechanics, pp. 155-162, 2003 Article: Gherman, B.G., Szasz, R.Z., Fuchs, L. LES of swirling flows in gas turbine combustion chambers. Accepted for publication at ASME Turbo Expo 2004, GT2004-53711, 2004
id
7a765120-97e3-4ae3-bae3-c6dbf46151a3 (old id 466978)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:59:50
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:37:59
@phdthesis{7a765120-97e3-4ae3-bae3-c6dbf46151a3,
  abstract     = {{The thesis focuses on the numerical simulation of the flow field in gas turbine burners.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Due to tougher and tougher requirements on low levels of emission of pollutants there is a need for new combustion technologies. In gas turbines one method to attain low pollutant levels is the use of lean premixed combustion. However, in lean combustion, problems related to the flame stability can arise. Swirling jets can be used to assure flame holding by forming an internal recirculation zone which helps to re-ignite the eventually extincted flame. Additionally, the swirl is enhancing the mixing process. This is important not only for flame stability and efficiency of combustion, but also the NOx levels have been proved to be highly dependent on the local mixture composition. Swirling flows, however, are difficult (but not impossible) to examine experimentally because of the high sensitivity of the flow field to external conditions. In addition, experimental approaches cannot be used to study the effects of individual parameters. Consequently, the use of accurate numerical methods is preferred for analysis and design. Of course, the accuracy of the numerical tools and the design must be verified by experiments.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Here, the flow field downstream of a burner providing three swirling coaxial jets is studied numerically. The turbulence is accounted for by the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach because RANS-based models have been proved to fail to account accurately for some characteristics of the swirling flows, like large streamline curvature, flow reversal and flow dynamics.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Since only limited experimental data exists for the given combustion chamber, the computational approach is tested first on a test case involving a single swirling jet. Further, the flow fields obtained by altering different parameters (Reynolds number, swirl number, inlet velocity profile, confinement) are compared with the base case in order to evaluate the importance of each parameter in the present set-up. These parameters are important for an efficient flow control. A study of the turbulent mixing in the combustion chamber is also presented. The effect of Schmidt number has been studied and the presence of counter gradient diffusion is established. The acoustic field generated by the swirling jet has been evaluated in order to identify resonant frequencies of the flow.}},
  author       = {{Szász, Robert-Zoltán}},
  isbn         = {{91-628-6040-2}},
  keywords     = {{plasma; fluid dynamics; plasmas; Gaser; fluiddynamik; Gases; vortex breakdown; swirl; CFD; gas turbine}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Heat and Power Engineering, Lund university}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Numerical Modeling of Flows Related to Gas Turbine Combustors}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}