Challenges in Gas Turbine Combustor Design for Emissions
Land-based (stationary) Gas Turbines for power generation are subject to strict emission standards per local governments and regulations. It is common to have maximum 10 ppm NOx (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) and 100 CO (carbon monoxide) ppm limit for the exhaust gas. Other types of hazardous combustion products may be soot and ultra high carbons (UHC). Such regulations clearly pose engineering challenges for the design and operation of the combustor.
Engineering Solution
Numerous approaches are available to control gas turbine emissions such as:
1. injection of water or steam into the burning zone of a conventional combustor
2. catalytic clean-up of NOx and CO from the gas turbine exhaust
3. utilizing pre-mixed combustion technology
4. employ new fuels, such as hydrogen
Computational methods are crucial to understand formation and reduction of emissions. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods are the most common physics based approaches to model the highly complex, reacting turbulent flow field present in Combustors. Manufacturers routinely use such simulations to predict combustion products, and improve components' features to reduce emissions.
Ansys Solution Benefits
Ansys CFD software such as Fluent, offers high fidelity combustion and turbulence models. Besides, sophisticated models for NOx, soot (see Fig.1 below) and CO (see Fig. 2 below) are available to ensure accurate combustion emission prediction. Fast turn around for design iterations is supported by highly scalable solver on hundreds of thousands of cores. By collaborating with leading researchers, Ansys is helping to advance the state of the art in hydrogen fuels (see Fig.3 below).
Fig. 1 Soot prediction using Methods of Moments (MoM) model for different flames
Fig. 2 CO predictions using FGM model for Cabra lifted flame
Fig. 3 Qualitative flame shape prediction and comparison with the test data
Ozen Engineering Expertise
Ozen leverages its extensive consulting expertise in CFD, FEA, optics, photonics, and electromagnetic simulations to achieve exceptional results across various engineering projects, addressing complex challenges like multiphase flows, erosion modeling, and channel flows using Ansys software.
We offer support, mentoring, and consulting services to enhance the performance and reliability of your hydraulic systems. Trust our proven track record to accelerate projects, optimize performance, and deliver high-quality, cost-effective results for both new and existing water control systems. For more information, please visit https://ozeninc.com.
Suggested blogs
- Ozen Engineering Inc. Blog: Gas Turbine Combustor: Heat Transfer and Life Prediction
- Ozen Engineering Inc. Blog: Gas Turbine Combustor: Combustion Dynamics
- Ansys Blog: How Simulation Addresses Hydrogen Fuel Challenges
- Ansys Blog: 5 best practices for hydrogen gas turbine combustor meshing
- Ansys Blog: 5 best practices for gas turbine combustor meshing
