GAS TURBINE COMBUSTOR SOOT AND RADIATION STUDIES
Abstract
Gas turbine combustor soot and radiation are studied using two distinct methods which depend on experimental measurements of soot concentration and flame radiation in a model gas turbine combustor. The first study concludes that there is a strong empirical relationship between the primary zone radiation intensity and two fuel properties--percent hydrogen and percent polycyclic aromaticity. These two properties are combined in a single parameter, called effective hydrogen content, which is then used to correlate radiation intensities from seven different fuels, burning under a variety of operating conditions. The explanation for the empirical relationship is that effective hydrogen content is a measure of the soot forming tendency of a fuel. The second study uses temperature and soot concentration mappings of the combustor flowfield to make predictions of radiation intensity and emissivity for a DF-2 flame. A comparison of the predicted and measured intensities and emissivities shows that they agree poorly, and the lack of agreement is attributed to errors in soot mass concentration measurements. Two later experiments confirm that the soot measurement error probably originates in the probe. Nonetheless, the radiative transfer equation is used to deduce the approximate average soot concentration, and from this deduction the magnitude of soot error is estimated.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Mechanical engineering
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