Numerical Investigation of Ignition Sequence in a Multi-Burner Methane-Air Swirl Combustor Using Flamelet Generated Manifold Combustion Model

Abstract

Abstract Low emission gas turbine engines, operating under fuel lean conditions, are susceptible to light-around issues. Traditionally, gas turbine manufacturers rely on experimentation and testing to understand the relight characteristics of a combustor. However, since the last decade, numerical simulations are gaining popularity in performance evaluation of the light-around characteristics of the gas turbine combustors. In the present work, assessment of the Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) combustion model is carried out to understand its performance for capturing the correct ignition sequence in a linear multi-burner methane-air swirl combustor designed by COmplexe de Recherche Interprof essionnel en Aérothermochimie (CORIA) in the context of Knowledge for Ignition, Acoustics, and Instabilities (KIAI) project. The present work uses linear five, four and two swirled injector configurations for the validation of the simulation results. Non-reacting and reacting Large Eddy Simulations (LES) are performed for three injector arrangements to predict the main flow structure, mixing, flame propagation and ignition sequence. Non-reacting time-averaged flow quantities such as mean axial and radial velocities are data-sampled and compared with the experimental results. The predicted results show a good comparison between simulation and experimental data. Ignition sequence and timing predicted from the reacting LES for all the three configurations studied in this work, also compare well with the experimental data. This numerical investigation confirms that the FGM combustion model used in the LES framework can be successfully employed for the prediction of the relight characteristics of the gas turbine engines.