Investigation on combustion characteristics of acetone-butanol-ethanol/Jet A-1 mixture in a Swirl-stabilized combustor for its potential application in gas turbine engines

Abstract

The projected growth of the energy demand due to domestic energy security, diversity of fuel supplies, and long-term fuel costs has attracted the scientific community to search for new alternative gas turbine fuels. Alcohol-based fuel could be a potential candidate for alternative fuel. The acetone-butanol-ethanol mixture with existing fossil fuels may be another prospect for alternative fuels that can drive gas turbine engines for clean combustion. However, well-suited alternatives to micro gas turbine fuel are still in the initial stages of growth. At present, the combustion characteristics of Jet A-1, ABE, and their mixtures in a swirl-stabilized combustor have been experimentally investigated. To compare the outcome of these fuels, visualization of true flame images, combustor exit temperature, and exhaust gas emission have been carried out. ABE1J9 has shown a 5 % reduction in pollutant emissions (e.g. CO2, NOx, compared to Jet A-1 whereas a 20 % reduction for the case of ABE3J7 and an almost 25–30 % reduction for the case of ABE5J5 are observed. Overall ABE blended fuel has shown better combustion performance in terms of the flame temperature profile, chemiluminescence, and pollutant emissions.