Low-Nox Premixed Combustion of MBtu Fuels Using the ABB Double Cone Burner (EV Burner)

Abstract

A novel combustion technique, based on the Double Cone Burner, has been developed and tested. NOx emissions down to very low levels are reached without the usual strong dilution of the fuel for MBtu syngases from oxygen-blown gasification of coal or residual oil. A limited amount of dilution is necessary in order to prevent ignition during the mixing of fuel and combustion air. The relevant properties of the fuel are reviewed in relation to the goal of achieving premixed combustion. The basic considerations lead to a fuel injection strategy completely different from that for natural gas. A high-speed premixing system is necessary due to the very short chemical reaction times of MBtu fuel. Fuel must be prevented from forming ignitable mixtures inside the burner for reliability reasons. A suitable fuel injection method, which can be easily added to the ABB double cone burner, is described. In common with the design of the standard EV burner, the MBtu EV burner with this fuel injection method is inherently safe against flashback. Three-dimensional flow field and combustion modeling is used to investigate the mixing patterns and the location of the reaction front. Two burner test facilities, one operating at ambient and the other at full gas turbine pressure, have been used for the evaluation of different burner designs. The full-pressure tests were carried out with the original gas turbine burner size and geometry. Combining the presented numerical predictive capabilities and the experimental test facilities, burner performance can be reliably assessed for a wide range of MBtu and LBtu fuels (residue oil gasification, waste gasification, coal gasification, etc.). The atmospheric tests of the burner show NOx values below 2 ppm at an equivalence ratio equal to full-load gas turbine operation. The NOx increase with pressure was found to be very high. Nevertheless, NOx levels of 25 vppmd (@ 15 percent O2) have been measured at full gas turbine pressure. Implemented into ABB’s recently introduced gas turbine GT13E2, the new combustion technique will allow a more straightforward IGCC plant configuration without air extraction from the gas turbine to be used.