Patent Grant
9366442
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel injector used in, for example, a gas turbine engine and including a combined fuel injector configured by combining a plurality of fuel injectors, and particularly to a pilot injector.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in consideration of the environment, there is a need for a reduction of NOx (nitrogen oxide) emitted from gas turbine engines. The NOx to be emitted from the gas turbine engine is generated mainly by oxidization of nitrogen in inflow air when fuel is supplied to the inflow air and combusted at high temperature. Meanwhile, the amount of CO2 emission of the gas turbine engine, that is, fuel consumption decreases as an exhaust gas at an exit of a combustor increases in temperature. Therefore, to reduce the CO2, the fuel needs to be combusted at high temperature by increasing a fuel-air ratio. According to a fuel nozzle of a combustor of a conventional gas turbine engine, the fuel is directly sprayed to a combustion chamber without premixing the fuel with the air. Therefore, before the fuel is adequately mixed with the air, the fuel combusts, and regions where a flame temperature is significantly higher than an average value are generated locally. The amount of NOx generation increases exponentially with the flame temperature. Therefore, a large amount of NOx is generated from the local regions where the flame temperature is high. On this account, according to the conventional combustion method, when the temperature of the exhaust gas at the exit of the combustor is increased, the amount of NOx emission increases sharply.
To reduce the local regions where the flame temperature is high, a lean premix combustion method is effective. According to this method, the fuel and the air are premixed, and a fuel-air mixture in which the fuel in the form of a mist is dispersed in the air is supplied to the combustion chamber and combusted therein. Meanwhile, according to the lean premix combustion method, in a case where the output of the gas turbine engine is low and the fuel-air ratio is low, the flame is unstable and incomplete combustion tends to occur as compared to a case where the fuel is directly sprayed to the combustion chamber. Here, a concentric fuel injector has been devised. This fuel injector is configured such that a pilot injector and a main injector provided outside the pilot injector are provided coaxially. When the output of the gas turbine engine is low, the fuel is directly sprayed from only the pilot injector to the combustion chamber to maintain stable combustion. When the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate or high, that is, when the amount of NOx emission is large, the amount of fuel injected directly from the pilot injector is reduced, and a pre-mixture generated by the main injector is also injected to the combustion chamber. With this, the amount of NOx emission is reduced. Regarding a gas turbine engine for aircrafts, the output of the gas turbine engine is substantially low (lower than about 40% of the rated output) in a state of each of ground idle, flight idle, and approach, the output of the gas turbine engine is substantially intermediate (about 40 to 80% of the rated output) in a cruising state, and the output of the gas turbine engine is substantially high (about 80 to 100% of the rated output) in a state of each of climb and takeoff.
According to the concentric fuel injector, when the output of the gas turbine engine is low, that is, when only the pilot injector is operating, the air flow not containing the fuel flows from the main injector into the combustion chamber. Therefore, the pilot fuel in the form of a mist may interfere with the air flow injected from the main injector, and this may deteriorate the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance. To avoid this, a fuel injector has been proposed, in which: a pilot combustion region and a main combustion region are largely separated from each other to prevent the pilot fuel in the form of a mist from interfering with the air flow injected from the main injector (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2007-162998).
When the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate, that is, when the output of the gas turbine engine is gradually increased from the low output and the supply of the pre-mixture from the main injector is started in addition to the fuel injection from the pilot injector, the temperature of the air flowing into the combustor is not yet adequately high. Therefore, to achieve stable combustion of the main pre-mixture, a flame holding effect by the pilot flame with respect to the main pre-mixture is important. According to the fuel injector of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2007-162998, the pilot combustion region and the main combustion region are largely spaced apart from each other. Therefore, when the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate as above, the flame holding effect by the pilot flame with respect to the main pre-mixture is small, and the combustion efficiency of the main injector lowers. On this account, the fuel can be supplied to the main injector only when the output of the gas turbine engine is adequately increased, the temperature of the air flowing into the combustor is high, and the combustion stabilizes only by the main pre-mixture. When the output of the gas turbine engine is less than the above, only the pilot injector is used. Therefore, when the pilot combustion region and the main combustion region are largely spaced apart from each other and the flame holding effect by the pilot flame with respect to the main pre-mixture is small, a gas turbine engine operation range in which the NOx reduction can be realized by using the premix combustion of the main injector narrows.
The present invention addresses the above described conditions, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel injector capable of improving the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector when the output of the gas turbine engine is low, without largely separating the pilot combustion region and the main combustion region from each other.
To achieve the above object, a fuel injector according to the present invention includes: a pilot injector configured to spray fuel so as to form a first combustion region in a combustion chamber; and a main injector provided coaxially with the pilot injector so as to surround the pilot injector and configured to supply a fuel-air mixture that is a mixture of the fuel and air to form a second combustion region in the combustion chamber, wherein the pilot injector includes: a center nozzle configured to eject air jet flowing straight in an axial direction on a central axis of the pilot injector; an inside swirler provided on a radially outer side of the center nozzle and configured to cause inflow air to swirl around the central axis; and a pilot fuel injecting portion configured to inject the fuel from between the center nozzle and the inside swirler to air flow in the center nozzle.
According to this configuration, the fuel injected from the pilot fuel injecting portion does not diffuse in a radially outward direction but flows straight to the vicinity of the central axis in the combustion chamber together with the air jet flowing straight on the central axis. Then, most of the fuel gathers in the vicinity of the central axis located downstream of the fuel injector, that is, at a center portion of the first combustion region. With this, when the output of the gas turbine engine is low, that is, when the main injector is not operating, the outside main air flow is prevented from interfering with the pilot fuel in the form of a mist. Thus, the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector when the output of the gas turbine engine is low can be improved.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the fuel injector further include a diffuser type outside swirler provided on a radially outer side of the inside swirler and shaped such that an air channel thereof widens toward a downstream side. Regarding the air flow immediately after the exit of the concentric fuel injector, negative pressure is generated in the vicinity of the central axis by strong swirling of the air mainly from the main injector, and a radially inward pressure gradient and a radially outward centrifugal force are balanced. However, the strong swirling air flow from the main injector spreads, decays, and weakens as it flows toward the downstream side. Therefore, the pressure in the vicinity of the central axis gradually recovers toward the downstream side. On this account, on the central axis located downstream of the fuel injector, an adverse pressure gradient is generated, that is, the pressure is higher on the downstream side than on the upstream side. As a result, a recirculation region in which reverse flow from the downstream side toward the upstream side on the central axis occurs is formed. In this recirculation region, the pilot fuel in the form of a mist stays for a comparatively long period of time. Therefore, the recirculation region significantly contributes to the improvements of the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector.
Meanwhile, in a case where the center nozzle configured to eject the air jet flowing straight in the axial direction is provided in the vicinity of the central axis of the pilot fuel injecting portion, and the momentum of the air jet ejected from the center nozzle is large, the recirculation region is shaped to be concave in the vicinity of the central axis toward the downstream side. This may deteriorate the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector. Even in this case, if the outside swirler is provided on the radially outer side of the inside swirler as in the above configuration, the air velocity at the exit of the outside swirler becomes lower than that of a normal swirler. Therefore, the recirculation region spreads toward the upstream side in the vicinity of the exit of the outside swirler. As a result, the flame of the pilot injector stabilizes, so that the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector can be prevented from being deteriorated.
It is preferable that the outside swirler include swirler vanes configured to give to inflow air a swirl velocity component stronger than that of the inside swirler. According to this configuration, since the swirl flow generated by the outside swirler spreads in the radially outward direction, the interference of the swirl flow generated by the outside swirler with the swirl flow generated by the inside swirler and flowing on a radially inner side of the swirl flow generated by the outside swirler is reduced. Then, by appropriately spreading these swirl flows in the radially outward direction, the stable, large recirculation region can be secured. With this, since the stable, wide region where the pilot fuel can vaporize and combust is secured in the combustion chamber, the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector improve.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the fuel injector further include an annular dividing wall configured to define a boundary between the pilot injector and the main injector, wherein a radially inner surface of the dividing wall includes: a pilot flare portion provided in a vicinity of an exit end of the radially inner surface and configured to increase in diameter toward a downstream side; and a pilot reduced-diameter portion provided upstream of the pilot flare portion and configured to reduce in diameter toward the downstream side. According to this configuration, the air channel of the main injector is shaped to get close to the pilot injector once at the inside reduced-diameter portion and then widen at the inside flare portion in the vicinity of the exit end thereof. As a result, in the vicinity of the downstream side of the exit end of the pilot injector, the pre-mixture injected from the main injector gets close to the first combustion region, and the flame holding effect by the pilot flame with respect to the main pre-mixture increases. Therefore, high combustion efficiency of the main injector when the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate is maintained.
Moreover, it is preferable that an outer peripheral surface of an air channel of the main injector be shaped to widen toward an exit end thereof. According to this configuration, since the air from the main injector spreads in the radially outward direction, the recirculation region can moderately spread in the radially outward direction. With this, the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector improve.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the fuel injector further include an annular dividing wall configured to define a boundary between the pilot injector and the main injector, wherein a virtual extended inner peripheral surface extending from an exit end of an inner peripheral surface of the dividing wall in a downstream direction and a virtual extended outer peripheral surface extending from an exit end of an outer peripheral surface of the dividing wall in the downstream direction extend in parallel with each other in the downstream direction or gradually separate from each other as they extend in the downstream direction. According to this configuration, when the output of the gas turbine engine is low, that is, when the main injector is not operating, on the downstream side of the exit end of the fuel injector, the air flow from the main injector is always located on an outer side of the air flow from the pilot injector. Therefore, the interference of the main air flow with the combustion region of the pilot injector is suppressed. Thus, the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector improve.
In the present invention, it is preferable that a position of an exit end of the pilot injector coincide with or be upstream of a position of an exit end of the main injector in the axial direction, and it is preferable that a ratio W/Dm that is a ratio of an axial distance W between the exit ends to an inner diameter Dm of the exit end of the main injector be 0.25 or less. According to this configuration, the pre-mixture ejected from the main injector promptly contacts the first combustion region in the vicinity of the exit of the pilot injector. Therefore, when the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate, the pre-mixture of the main injector starts combusting from a further upstream side, so that the combustion efficiency improves.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the fuel injector further include an annular dividing wall configured to define a boundary between the pilot injector and the main injector, wherein a ratio T/Dp that is a ratio of a radial width T of an exit end of the dividing wall to an inner diameter Dp of an exit end of the pilot injector is 0.02 to 0.15. According to this configuration, since the dividing wall is adequately small (thin), the pre-mixture ejected from the main injector easily contacts the first combustion region when the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate. As a result, the flame holding of the main pre-mixture is easily realized by the pilot flame of the first combustion region. Thus, the combustion efficiency of the main injector can be improved.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the pilot fuel injecting portion be a pre-filmer type configured to inject the fuel in an annular film shape. According to this configuration, a shear surface area of the air with respect to the fuel increases, and the atomization of the fuel is promoted. As a result, the NOx reduction when the output of the gas turbine engine is low can be realized. Instead of this, the pilot fuel injecting portion may be a plane jet type configured to inject the fuel toward the air flow in the center nozzle from a plurality of portions arranged in a circumferential direction.
According to the fuel injector of the present invention, the fuel injected from the pilot fuel injecting portion does not diffuse in the radially outward direction and flows straight to the vicinity of the central axis in the combustion chamber together with the air jet flowing straight on the central axis and is sprayed to the recirculation region of the combustion chamber. With this, most of the fuel can gather in the vicinity of the central axis located downstream of the fuel injector, that is, at the center portion of the recirculation region. Thus, without deteriorating the combustion efficiency by largely separating the pilot combustion region and the main combustion region from each other when the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate, the interference of the pilot fuel in the form of a mist with the main air flow can be prevented. Thus, the combustion efficiency, ignitability, and flame holding performance of the pilot injector when the output of the gas turbine engine is low can be improved.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in reference to the drawings.
The combustor 1 is an annular type, and an annular outer casing 5 and an annular inner casing 7 provided inside the annular outer casing 5 constitute a combustor housing 3 including an annular internal space. The annular outer casing 5 and the annular inner casing 7 are provided coaxially with an engine rotation central axis C. In the annular internal space of the combustor housing 3, an annular combustor liner 9 is provided coaxially with the combustor housing 3. The combustor liner 9 is configured such that: an annular outer liner 11 and an annular inner liner 13 provided inside the annular outer liner 11 are provided coaxially with each other; and an annular combustion chamber 4 is formed in the combustor liner 9. A plurality of fuel injectors 2 configured to inject the fuel to the combustion chamber 4 are arranged on an upstream wall of the combustor liner 9 coaxially with the engine rotation central axis C, that is, in a circumferential direction of the combustor liner 9 at regular intervals. Each of the fuel injectors 2 includes a pilot injector 6 and a main injector 8. The main injector 8 is provided coaxially with a central axis C1 of the pilot injector 6 so as to surround an outer periphery of the pilot injector 6 and generates a fuel-air mixture. Each fuel injector 2 is supported on the combustor housing 3 by a stem portion 27 attached to the combustor housing 3 by fastening members 19. An ignition plug 1G configured to perform ignition is provided so as to extend in a radial direction of the combustor liner 9 and penetrate the outer casing 5 and the outer liner 11, and a tip end of the ignition plug 1G is located close to the fuel injector 2.
Compressed air CA is supplied from the compressor through an annular air induction passage 21 to the annular internal space of the combustor housing 3. This compressed air CA is supplied to the fuel injector 2 and is also supplied to the combustion chamber 4 through a plurality of air introducing holes 23 formed on the outer liner 11 and inner liner 13 of the combustor liner 9. The stem portion 27 forms a fuel pipe unit U. The fuel pipe unit U includes a first fuel supply system F1 configured to supply the fuel to the pilot injector 6 and a second fuel supply system F2 configured to supply the fuel to the main injector 8.
A downstream portion of the fuel injector 2 is supported by an outer support 29 via a flange 25A and a supporting body 25B. The flange 25A and the supporting body 25B are provided on an outer peripheral portion of the downstream portion of the fuel injector 2, and the outer support 29 is formed integrally with the outer liner 11. The outer liner 11 is supported by the outer casing 5 using a liner fixing pin P. The outer support 29 projects in a radially inward direction of the fuel injector 2 and is protected from high temperature of the combustion chamber 4 by a heat shield 17 internally fitted in the outer support 29. A first-stage nozzle TN of the gas turbine engine is connected to a downstream end portion of the combustor liner 9.
The inside tubular body 12 of the pilot injector 6 shown in
The inside swirler 30 is provided upstream of the outside air channel 24, and an outside swirler 32 is provided upstream of the supplemental air channel 26. The inside swirler 30 swirls the air around the central axis C1 of the pilot injector 6. The outside swirler 32 is a diffuser type which more strongly swirls the air than the inside swirler 30. To be specific, swirling directions of the swirlers 30 and 32 are the same as each other, and a swirling angle of the outside swirler 32 is larger than that of the inside swirler 30. The swirling angle is an exit attachment angle of a blade with respect to a flat surface including the central axis C1. As above, the pilot injector 6 includes the outside air channel 24, the supplemental air channel 26, the central body 10, the strut 28, and the swirlers 30 and 32. It is preferable that the swirling angle of air jet that is air flow ejected from the center nozzle 20 be less than 10° at an exit of the center nozzle. For example, in a case where air flow field on an upstream side of the fuel injector 2 is stable or in a case where there are limitations regarding manufacture, the central body 10 and the strut 28 may be simplified by devising an inside shape of the inside tubular body 12. The exit swirling angle of the inside swirler 30 is, for example, 30° and preferably 20 to 50°. The exit swirling angle of the outside swirler 32 is, for example, 50° and preferably 40 to 60°.
As shown in
The pilot fuel channel 22 of
The pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18 is formed by an inner peripheral surface of a downstream portion of the inner shroud (dividing wall) 15, the downstream portion being located downstream of the outside swirler 32. The pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18 includes a pilot flare portion 18b and a pilot reduced-diameter portion 18c. The pilot flare portion 18b is provided in the vicinity of an exit end 18a of the pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18 and increases in diameter toward the downstream side. The pilot reduced-diameter portion 18e is provided upstream of the pilot flare portion 18b and reduces in diameter toward the downstream side. To be specific, the inner diameter of the pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18 becomes minimum at a narrow portion 18d that is a boundary between the pilot flare portion 18b and the pilot reduced-diameter portion 18c. As above, the pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18 is shaped to narrow once and then widens toward the downstream side. The pilot flare portion 18b inclines at a tilt angle θ1 with respect to the direction of the central axis C1. In the present embodiment, the tilt angle θ1 is 20° and preferably 15 to 30°. As long as the tilt angle θ1 is in this range, a pilot combustion region A1 that is a below-described first combustion region can appropriately spread in a radially outward direction. Thus, high combustion efficiency can be maintained.
The downstream end 16a of the outer peripheral portion 16 of the inside tubular body 12 and the downstream end 14a of the outside cylindrical body 14 are located slightly upstream of the narrow portion 18d of the pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18. As described above, the downstream portion 14b of the outside cylindrical body 14 tapers toward the downstream side. To correspond to this tapered shape, the pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18 includes the pilot reduced-diameter portion 18c which narrows once toward the downstream side. With this, the channel area of the supplemental air channel 26 does not drastically increase on a radially outer side of the downstream portion 14b of the outside cylindrical body 14. Therefore, the separation of the air flow along an outer peripheral surface of the outside cylindrical body 14 can be suppressed, and the outer peripheral surface of the outside cylindrical body 14 can be prevented from burning out by the combustion gas in the combustion chamber 4.
The air having flowed through the pilot injector 6 except for the air jet flowing through the center nozzle 20 diffuses toward an outer peripheral side by the swirling. Regarding the air flow immediately after the exit of the fuel injector 2, negative pressure is generated in the vicinity of the central axis C1 by strong swirling of the air mainly from the main injector 8, and a radially inward pressure gradient and a radially outward centrifugal force are balanced. However, the strong swirling air flow from the main injector 8 spreads, decays, and weakens as it flows toward the downstream side. Therefore, the pressure in the vicinity of the central axis C1 gradually recovers toward the downstream side. On this account, on the central axis C1 located downstream of the fuel injector 2, an adverse pressure gradient is generated, that is, the pressure is higher on the downstream side than on the upstream side. As a result, a recirculation region X (
Meanwhile, the pilot fuel injecting portion 22a injects fuel F to the air flowing through the center nozzle 20. The air jet from the center nozzle 20 flows substantially straight in an axially downstream direction, is mixed with ambient air in the recirculation region X, and disappears. Then, the fuel in the form of a mist reaches a center portion of the recirculation region X and vaporizes and combusts in the recirculation region X to form the pilot combustion region A1. If the momentum of the air jet having been emitted from the center nozzle 20 is large, a concave portion Xa may be formed on the recirculation region X in a process in which the air jet gets into the recirculation region X and disappears.
The air having flowed through the pilot injector 6 spreads in the radially outward direction while swirling along the pilot flare portion 18b. With this, the recirculation region X (
Referring back to
The first air channel 38 extends from an entrance of a below-described main inside swirler 46 up to an inner peripheral rear end edge 34a of the ring portion 34. The second air channel 42 extends from an entrance of a below-described main outside swirler 48 up to the inner peripheral rear end edge 34a of the ring portion 34. A premixing chamber 58 where the air flow from the first air channel 38 and the air flow from the second air channel 42 meet is located downstream of these two channels 38 and 42 and is formed between the outer shroud 36 and the inner shroud 15. A main channel 56 is constituted by the first air channel 38, the second air channel 42, and the premixing chamber 58.
An annular main fuel injecting portion 40 connected to the second fuel supply system F2 is formed in the ring portion 34 which defines a boundary between the first air channel 38 and the second air channel 42. When the output of the gas turbine engine is low, the fuel is not supplied to the main injector 8. Only when the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate or high, the fuel is supplied from the second fuel supply system F2 to the main injector 8. The main fuel injecting portion 40 injects the fuel only to the second air channel 42. The injected fuel is mixed with the air flow from the main outside swirler 48 and the air flow from the main inside swirler 46 in the premixing chamber 58. Thus, a pre-mixture is produced. The pre-mixture is supplied to and combusted in the combustion chamber 4. With this, a premix combustion region A2 shown in
As shown in
A downstream portion of the inner peripheral surface 37 of the outer shroud 36 shown in
As clearly shown in
A plurality of main fuel injection holes 44 are formed on the main fuel injecting portion 40 so as to be located at a portion of the second air channel 42 and arranged in the circumferential direction at regular intervals, the portion of the second air channel 42 being located upstream of the intersection point J. The plurality of main fuel injection holes 44 inject the fuel to the second air channel 42 from the upstream side (left side in
The fuel-air mixture generated by injecting the fuel from the main fuel injection holes 44 toward the air flow CA2 in the second air channel 42 meets the air CA1 flowing in the axial direction in the first air channel 38. Since the fuel-air mixture meets the air CA1 at a certain angle, the air turbulence further promotes the mixing of the air and the fuel. After the fuel-air mixture and the air CA1 meet, the fuel-air mixture is further mixed in the premixing chamber 58 and then sprayed to the combustion chamber 4.
Here, a ratio Q1/Q2 is preferably 3/7 to 7/3, the ratio Q1/Q2 being a ratio of a flow quantity Q1 of the air CA1 flowing through the first air channel 38 to a flow quantity Q2 of the air CA2 flowing through the second air channel 42. If the flow quantity ratio is out of this range, the fuel and the air are unlikely to be mixed with each other, and the generation of the NOx may not be adequately suppressed. In addition, the possibility of the damages on the wall surface by flashback or auto ignition under high temperature and pressure may increase.
The main inside swirler 46 that is a first swirling unit is attached to an entrance of the first air channel 38. The main outside swirler 48 that is a second swirling unit is attached to an entrance of the second air channel 42. The main outside swirler 48 includes a first swirler 50 and a second swirler 52, which are swirling portions arranged in the axial direction of the main injector 8. Swirl blades of the first swirler 50 provided close to the main fuel injection holes 44 is set such that the air having passed through the first swirler 50 simply flows straight in the substantially radially inward direction. Swirl blades of the second swirler 52 provided away from the main fuel injection holes 44 is set such that the air having passed through the second swirler 52 is swirled around the central axis C1.
When the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate, that is, when the flow quantity of the fuel from the main fuel injection holes 44 is small and the momentum of the fuel of the main fuel inject holes 44 is small, most of the injected fuel just reaches the air flow having flowed through the first swirler 50 in the radially inward direction. Therefore, the fuel is not diffused in the radial direction by the swirling of the second swirler 52 and flows in the radially inward direction. Thus, the fuel-air mixture is generated on a radially inward side of the main channel 56.
Meanwhile, when the output of the gas turbine engine is high, that is, when the flow quantity of the fuel from the main fuel injection holes 44 is large and the momentum of the fuel of the main fuel injection holes 44 is large, a part of the injected fuel flows in the radially inward direction together with the air flow in the radially inward direction as with when the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate, but the remaining fuel reaches the swirl flow having flowed through the second swirler 52 and generates the fuel-air mixture, which flows in the radially outward direction together with the swirl flow. As a result, when the output of the gas turbine engine is high, the fuel-air mixture is generated uniformly in the entire main channel 56.
The main outside swirler 48 may be a single swirler. In this case, the main outside swirler 48 includes swirl blades, each of which is formed in such a twisted shape that: the air flowing through a portion, closest to the main fuel injection holes 44, of the swirl blade flows straight in the substantially radially inward direction; and the swirling component increases as the portion where the air flows is away from the main fuel injection holes 44. It should be noted that each of the first swirler 50 and the second swirler 52 may be constituted by a plurality of swirlers arranged in the axial direction.
A main inside flare portion 54b which increases in diameter toward the downstream side is formed in the vicinity of an exit end 54a of a radially inner surface 54 of the first air channel 38 shown in
As shown in
A radial thickness of an exit end surface 15a of the inner shroud 15 is set to be thin. As shown in
The exit end 18a of the pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18 of
According to the above configuration, when the output of the gas turbine engine is low, the fuel is supplied from the first fuel supply system F1 only to the pilot injector 6 in the fuel injector 2 in
Moreover, the virtual extended inner peripheral surface VP1 extending from the exit end 18a of the inner peripheral surface of the inner shroud 15 in the downstream direction and the virtual extended outer peripheral surface VP2 extending from the exit end 54a of the outer peripheral surface of the inner shroud 15 in the downstream direction gradually separate from each other as they extend in the downstream direction. Therefore, the interference of the main air flow E with the pilot combustion region A1 can be suppressed, and the ignitability, flame holding performance, and combustion efficiency of the pilot injector 6 when the output of the gas turbine engine is low can be further improved.
The outside swirler 32 provided on a radially outer side of the inside swirler 30 includes the diffuser vanes 32a (
Further, the reverse flow region can be moderately spread in the radially outward direction by swirl flow S generated by the outside swirler 32 configured to generate a swirl velocity component stronger than that of the inside swirler 30 of the pilot injector 6 in
Since the pilot fuel injecting portion 22a is a pre-filmer type configured to inject the fuel in an annular film shape, a shear surface area of the air with respect to the fuel increases, and the atomization of the fuel is promoted. As a result, the NOx reduction when the output of the gas turbine engine is low can be realized.
When the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate or high, the fuel is supplied to both the pilot injector 6 and the main injector 8. As shown in
The main fuel injecting portion 40 of
The main inside swirler 46 is attached to the entrance of the first air channel 38, and the main outside swirler 48 is attached to the entrance of the second air channel 42. By the first swirler 50, located close to the main fuel injection holes 44, of the main outside swirler 48, as shown in
When the output of the gas turbine engine is high, that is, when the flow quantity of the fuel is large and the injection velocity of the fuel is high, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Since the ratio T/Dp is 0.02 to 0.15, the ratio T/Dp being a ratio of the radial width T of the exit end surface 15a of the annular inner shroud 15 which defines a boundary between the pilot injector 6 and the main injector 8 to the inner diameter Dp of the exit end 18a of the pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18, the main pre-mixture promptly contacts the pilot combustion region A1 in the vicinity of a region located downstream of the exit end 18a of the pilot outer peripheral nozzle 18. Therefore, the combustion efficiency when the output of the gas turbine engine is intermediate can be further improved.
As shown in
Further, since the main exit flare 43 of the main injector 8 is shaped to widen toward its exit end, the air from the main injector 8 spreads in the radially outward direction. Therefore, the recirculation region X can moderately spread in the radially outward direction while avoiding the interference of the air from the main injector 8 with the air from the pilot injector 6. Thus, high combustion efficiency can be obtained even when the output of the gas turbine engine is low.
In addition, since the ratio Q1/Q2 is in a range from 3/7 to 7/3, the ratio Q1/Q2 being a ratio of the flow quantity Q1 of the air flowing through the first air channel 38 to the flow quantity Q2 of the air flowing through the second air channel 42, the flow quantity ratio does not become unbalanced. As a result, the fuel concentration does not become high locally. On this account, the flame temperature at the time of the combustion can be suppressed to a low level, and the generation of the NOx can be suppressed. In addition, the damages on the wall surface by the flashback or auto ignition under high temperature and pressure can be avoided.
In the above embodiment, the pilot fuel injecting portion 22a shown in
The foregoing has explained a preferred embodiment of the present invention in reference to the drawings. However, various additions, modifications, and deletions may be made within the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, such modified embodiments are included within the range of the present invention.
As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiments are therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims.
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