Rayleigh/Raman/LIF measurements in a turbulent lean premixed combustor

Abstract

Much of the industrial electrical generation capability being added worldwide is gas-turbine engine based and is fueled by natural gas. These gas-turbine engines use lean premixed (LP) combustion to meet the strict NO{sub x} emission standards, while maintaining acceptable levels of CO. In conventional, diffusion flame gas turbine combustors, large amount of NO{sub x} forms in the hot stoichiometric zones via the Zeldovich (thermal) mechanism. Hence, lean premixed combustors are rapidly becoming the norm, since they are specifically designed to avoid these hot stoichiometric zones and the associated thermal NO{sub x}. However, considerable research and development are still required to reduce the NO{sub x} levels (25-40 ppmvd adjusted to 15% O{sub 2} with the current technology), to the projected goal of under 10 ppmvd by the turn of the century. Achieving this objective would require extensive experiments in LP natural gas (or CH{sub 4}) flames for understanding the combustion phenomena underlying the formation of the exhaust pollutants. Although LP combustion is an effective way to control NO{sub x}, the downside is that it increases the CO emissions. The formation and destruction of the pollutants (NO{sub x} and CO) are strongly affected by the fluid mechanics, the finite-rate chemistry, and their (turbulence-chemistry) interactions. Hence, a thorough understanding of these interactions is vital for controlling and reducing the pollutant emissions. The present research is contributing to this goal by providing a detailed nonintrusive laser based data set with good spatial and temporal resolutions of the pollutants (NO and CO) along with the major species, temperature, and OH. The measurements reported in this work, along with the existing velocity data on a turbulent LP combustor burning CH{sub 4}, would provide insight into the turbulence-chemistry interactions and their effect on pollutant formation.