Soot formation in gas turbines using heavy fuels. 1

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the broadening of fuel specifications on the performance of a gas turbine combustor, particularly on soot formation and oxidation, and flame tube durability. Tests were conducted with a fully-developed combustor system, the main measurements comprising total radiation, exhaust smoke and temperatures at different locations. Five fuels were used: kerosine, as aviation fuel; gas oil, as the current industrial gas turbine fuel and possible future aviation fuel; R25 (where 25 is the volume percentage of residual fuel oil in the blend with gas oil), as equivalent to crude oil now in use in many utility gas turbines; and also R50 and R70 to represent future heavier fuels. Combustor pressures were 0.3, 0.7 and 1.0 MPa. Inlet air temperatures were 313, 390 and 460 K. Primary zone air/fuel mass ratios were 12, 15 and 25. Total air/fuel ratios were 60 and 120. Attempts were made to develop a mathematical model of the soot formation-oxidation processes that occur in the system, and to include in the model some parameters to represent the change in fuel properties. In this paper, comparison of the soot formation predictions of the model with the experimental data is seen to be favourable, particularly at full power conditions.