The subject matter of the present invention relates generally to a gas turbine system. In particular, one or more aspects of the present invention relate to a premixing apparatus to premix fuel, oxidant, diluents, other gas mixture, or any combinations thereof prior to combustion in a combustor of the gas turbine system.
In gas turbine systems, fuel and air are combusted in a combustor of the system to generate high temperature, high pressure working gases. The turbine converts the expansion of the working gases over the turbine blades into mechanical energy, which then can be used to do useful work such as generating electricity.
It is generally known that increasing the temperature in the reaction zone of the combustor can enhance the efficiency of the gas turbine systems. It is also generally known that the formation of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) increases with the peak temperature in the combustor. Dry-low NOx (DLN) gas turbine systems minimize the undesirable NOx formation by premixing fuel and air before combustion so that the temperature stratification in the combustion zone is significantly reduced to reduce the peak temperature and the temperature field within the combustor is as uniform as possible.
One of the major constraints for advanced DLN combustor development is combustion dynamics, i.e. acoustics-related dynamic instability during combustion operation. High amplitudes of dynamics are often caused by the fluctuations in temperature fields (heat release) and pressure oscillations within the combustor chamber. Such high dynamics can impact hardware life and system operability of an engine, leading such problems as mechanical and thermal fatigue, which lead to hardware damage, system inefficiencies, unexpected flame blowout, and compromise in emission performances.
There have been multiple attempts to mitigate combustion dynamics, so as to prevent degradations of combustion performances. Conventionally, the basic methods in an industrial gas turbine combustion system include passive control and active control. Passive control refers to the usage of combustor hardware design features and characteristics to reduce either dynamic pressure oscillations or heat release levels or both. On the other hand, active control can be achieved through the introduction of pressure or temperature fluctuations, which are suitably controlled, to adjust the coupling between heat release and pressure oscillations so as to reduce amplitudes of combustion dynamics.
It is known that combustion dynamics are increased when the heat release and pressure fluctuations are in phase. Therefore, common solutions to mitigate dynamics are featured with dephasing the heat release and pressure fluctuations in the combustor. One representative apparatus used to address some dynamics concerns in gas turbine combustors is a resonator. However, its application has been limited to the attenuation of high frequency (i.e. greater than 1000 Hz) instabilities by pure absorption of acoustic energy. In addition, the installation of a resonator is accompanied with air management, which sometimes is not desirable for premixing designs for low emission performance.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a premixing apparatus that minimizes the combustion dynamics while retaining the low emission characteristics without introduction of pure dynamics-mitigation apparatus.
A non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to a premixing apparatus for a gas turbine system. The apparatus comprises a plurality of non-swirl elements distributed around a periphery of a face of the premixing apparatus. Each non-swirl element is arranged to premix a premixture prior to the premixture being delivered to a combustor of the gas turbine system for combustion. The apparatus also comprises a swirl assembly located substantially at a center of the face of the premixing apparatus so as to be surrounded by the plurality of non-swirl elements. The swirl assembly is arranged to disturb a flow of fluid prior to the fluid being delivered to the combustor. The swirl assembly includes a plurality of swirl vanes. The premixture includes fuel and oxidant, and the fluid disturbed by the swirl assembly includes the oxidant or the premixture.
Another non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to a premixing apparatus for a gas turbine system. The apparatus comprises one or more non-swirl elements distributed about a face of the premixing apparatus. Each non-swirl element is arranged to premix a premixture prior to the premixture being delivered to a combustor of the gas turbine system for combustion. The apparatus also comprises one or more swirl assemblies distributed about the face of the premixing apparatus. Each swirl assembly is arranged to disturb a flow of fluid prior to the fluid being delivered to the combustor. Each swirl assembly includes a plurality of swirl vanes. The premixture includes fuel and oxidant, and the fluid disturbed by each swirl assembly includes the oxidant or the premixture.
These and other features of the present invention will be better understood through the following detailed description of example embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
A premixing apparatus of a gas turbine combustor is described. The described apparatus achieves low dynamics with little to no sacrifice in low emissions performance. Due at least in part to the low-dynamics achieved by the novel premixing apparatus, the operation life of the combustor hardware can be maintained or increased.
In a non-limiting aspect, both swirl and non-swirl techniques are utilized to premix fuel, oxidant, diluents, other gas mixture, and their combinations.
The premixing apparatus 110 includes one or more non-swirl elements 220. The non-swirl elements 220 premix the fuel and oxidant prior to delivering the fuel and oxidant mixture to the combustion chamber 12. In addition to the fuel and oxidant, the non-swirl elements 220 may also premix diluents, other gas mixtures, or any combination thereof. For ease of reference, a phrase “premixture” will be used to refer to the fuel and oxidant along with zero or more liquids, zero or more diluents and zero or more other gas mixtures to be premixed. In other words, the premixture, in addition to the fuel and oxidant, can include any combination of liquids, diluents, and gas mixtures. Diluents can be inert. Also, some gas mixtures can be partially or wholly reacted.
While multiple non-swirl elements 220 are shown in the
Referring back to
The swirl assembly 230 disturbs the flow of fluid—oxidant, fuel, diluents, other gas mixtures, or their combinations—prior to the fluid being delivered to the combustion chamber 12. While not shown, the swirl vanes 232 may optionally be provided with one or more fuel injection ports from which fuel may be delivered. With the shroud 234, the swirl assembly 230 can act as a swirling fuel nozzle, also referred to as a swozzle—to premix the premixture. With or without the shroud 234, the swirl vanes 232 can disturb the flow to increase or enhance uniform reactants, oxidants, and diluents mixture exiting from the non-swirl elements 220.
Referring back to
In
The examples provided thus far demonstrate that the premixing apparatus 110 can include any number and any shape non-swirl elements 220, any number and any shape of swirl assemblies 230, and the non-swirl elements 220 and swirl assemblies 230 may be distributed on the face 210 in any manner. In addition, while not shown, the non-swirl elements 220 and the swirl assemblies 230 may have different intrusion on the flame side, i.e., they need not share the same end plane in the axial direction. When there are multiple non-swirl elements 220, they may have different intrusions from each other. The same is true when there are multiple swirl assemblies 230.
For much of this document, circularly shaped swirl assemblies 230 and non-swirl elements 220, with similar intrusions, distributed in a somewhat regular manner on a circular face 210 of a premixing apparatus 110 will be shown as examples. However, one should keep in mind that the scope of the disclosed subject matter is not to be limited by the illustrated examples unless otherwise specifically mentioned.
An example of a regular arrangement is a premixing apparatus 110 that includes a plurality of non-swirl elements 220 that are distributed around a periphery of the face 210 of the premixing apparatus 110 surrounding a swirl assembly 230 that is located substantially at a center of the face 210. Each non-swirl element 220 can premix the premixture prior to delivering the premixture to a combustor 14 of the gas turbine system 10. The swirl assembly 230 can include a plurality of swirl vanes 232 to disturb a flow of fluid, which can include the oxidant or the premixture, prior to delivering the fluid to the combustor 14. The swirl assembly 230 can be a swozzle.
In the above-described regular arrangement example, it is indicated that the premixing apparatus 110 includes “a” swirl assembly 230. This should not be taken to mean “only one” swirl assembly. Rather, this should be taken to mean “at least one” unless otherwise stated. Indeed, the term “a” should generally be taken to mean “at least one” unless otherwise stated.
The mini-tubes 410, the enclosure 430, and the resonator 440 are all shown to be circular, but as with the non-swirl elements 220 and swirl assemblies 230, the shapes and sizes of the elements 410, 430, 440 of the tube bundle 320 are not so limited. Also, there can be any number of resonators 440 including none at all. Further, the resonators 440 need not be centered. Indeed, there is little to no limitations on the distribution of the elements that make up the tube bundle 320.
Other tube bundle configurations are possible as illustrated in
Referring back to
Each RCL nozzle 520 comprises one or multiple conduits 522 within a trapezoidal shell 524. To minimize clutter, fuel injection holes and ports are not shown. The premixture is assumed to flow internal to the shell 524 and external to the conduits 522 in a direction normal to the plane the figure. The premixture may also flow within the swirl assembly 230. The conduits 522 and shells 524 are thickly shaded to indicate that the surfaces exposed to the premixture—the exterior surfaces of the conduits 522 and the interior surfaces of the shells 524—are coated with catalytic material such as platinum or palladium. Optionally, the conduits 522 can be used to carry a coolant.
While the shell 524 is shown to be trapezoidal in
It should come as no surprise that many variations in the premixing apparatus 110 are fully contemplated. The premixing apparatus 110 can include any number of non-swirl elements 220 and any number of swirl assemblies 230. While there should be at least one of each, the numbers of the non-swirl elements 220 and the swirl assemblies 230 need not correspond to each other in any way. The non-swirl elements 220 and the swirl assemblies 230 may be distributed about the face 210 of the premixing apparatus 110 in any manner, and the intrusions on the flame side of the non-swirl elements 220 and the swirl assemblies 230 may vary as well.
The swirl assemblies 230 can be of any shapes and sizes, and the shape and sizes need not correspond with each other. Among the swirl assemblies 230, there can be any number with the shrouds 234 (including zero) and any number without the shrouds 234 (including zero). The non-swirl elements 220 can also be of any shapes and sizes, and the shape and sizes need not correspond with each other. Among the non-swirl elements 220, there can be any number of micromixers 320 (including zero), RCL nozzles 520 (including zero) and sector nozzles 620 (including zero). These are not the only examples of non-swirl elements 220. The micromixers 320 need not all be the same. For example, some may include resonators 440 and others may not. The RCL nozzles 520 need not all be the same, e.g., some may carry coolant and others may not. Likewise, the sector nozzles 620 need not all be the same.
A non-exhaustive list of advantages of various aspects of the premixing apparatus includes low combustion dynamics, low emissions, enhanced lean flame holding margin, and a wide MWI operation range.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20130025284 A1 | Jan 2013 | US |