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Effects of Pilot Fuel Ratio on Combustion Process: Flow Field Structure and Pollutant Emissions

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Abstract

As the only controllable means of a micro gas turbine (MGT) combustor during unit operation, pilot fuel ratio (PFR) is the key to achieving stable combustion and low pollutant emission. This paper discusses the influence of PFR on the inner flow field structure and pollutant emissions. The steady-state three-dimensional RANS method with a 40-step reduced methane-air kinetics mechanism is used to study the reaction flow field and species field with PFR of 9.0%, 12.7%, 15.2% and 17.6%. Results show that, with the decrease in PFR, the axial velocity and temperature near the central axis of the combustion chamber show a tendency to decrease. A similar separation phenomenon occurred in the core pyrolysis reaction zone (measured by HCO) and oxidation zone (measured by OH), which is more conducive to promoting the oxidation of CO. The quantitative effect of the pilot flame on nitrogen oxides (NOx) was separated by using inert gas instead of nitrogen in combustion air. It was found that the NOx produced by the pilot flame under the operation condition with a PFR of 9.0% was 3.2×10−6, accounting for 17.4% of the total NOx emission, which was twice that of PFR.

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Abbreviations

CCHP:

combined cooling heating and power

DOM:

discrete ordinate method

EDC:

eddy dissipation concept

LES:

large eddy simulation

MGT:

micro gas turbine

NOx :

nitrogen oxides

PFR:

pilot fuel ratio

RTE:

radiative transfer equation

UHC:

unburned hydrocarbons

WSGG:

weighted-sum-of-gray-gases

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (20dz1204902).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Postdoctoral Station of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China

    Chao Zong

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China

    Chao Zong, Chenzhen Ji, Jiaying Cheng & Tong Zhu

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  1. Chao Zong
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Correspondence to Tong Zhu.

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Zong, C., Ji, C., Cheng, J. et al. Effects of Pilot Fuel Ratio on Combustion Process: Flow Field Structure and Pollutant Emissions. J. Therm. Sci. 32, 2321–2335 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-023-1837-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-023-1837-4

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