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The present work investigates a model combustor that approximates a full-scale segment of a high momentum jet stabilised combustion concept with the objective to broaden fuel flexibility limits. The rig features optical access for detailed laser based diagnostics. The current experiments are conducted at a pressure of 8 bar, constant jet velocity and adiabatic flame temperature. Three different injection systems are used to inject oil and oil / water blends. Droplet size distributions and turbulent droplet transport are quantified by means of phase Doppler interferometry. The injection system has a noticeable impact on the droplet size distribution. Water addition affects the fuel placement in radial direction significantly with distinct droplet transport into the reaction zone. The jet core and droplet transport is maintained as far as 7 x/d axial downstream from the nozzle exit. The shear layer shows a turbulent intensity of 12% of the main jet bulk velocity that drives the radial droplet transport into the recirculation zone. Mass flow and number density estimations illustrate the spatial distribution of the liquid loading in the combustion chamber. The present findings are complementary to the work in part A–D, support the development of fuel and load flexible high momentum jets based combustion concepts and the development and validation of numerical models.

A promising alternative to modern swirl combustors for gas turbines are high momentum jet stabilized combustors. This gas turbine burner concept consists of circular arranged jet nozzles through which partially premixed high momentum jets enter the combustion chamber in axial direction. Furthermore, it features fuel flexibility, load flexibility and low pollutant emissions. The investigated generic combustor consists of an eccentric single nozzle in a square chamber. This nozzle represents a full-scale segment of a concentrically arranged multi-nozzle configuration. All measurements were carried out at the high pressure combustion test rig (HBK-S) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Stuttgart. The generic single nozzle model combustor has been operated in a high-pressure test rig with large optical access in order to gain a detailed understanding of fuel distribution, droplet distribution, fuel air mixing and high temperature regions through various sections of the combustion chamber. For this purpose, different laser based measurement techniques have been applied simultaneously under gas turbine relevant conditions on liquid fuels (oil and oil/water). Other measurements in this combustor on gaseous fuels were presented in preceding (parts A and B) and current publications (part C). Mie scattering was used to visualize the liquid phase of oil and water downstream of the nozzle. In order to gain knowledge about the droplet velocity, a Nd:YAG double pulse laser at 532 nm was used for Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Additionally the gaseous and liquid phases of oil have been visualized through Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) by excitation of poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with a laser wavelength of 266 nm. To observe high temperature regions, OH and PAH PLIF was also performed with a low bandwidth at 283 nm from a Nd:YAG pumped dye laser. It was possible to separate the low-intensity OH signal of the hot gas regions from the PAH signal by collecting the different LIF signals simultaneously through a dual camera setup. Instantaneous PAH LIF images of the liquid and gaseous phase were compared with Mie scattering images for a qualitative impression of the evaporation. For this a structural comparison between the liquid phases of both images has been carried out. Results indicate, that the evaporation of most of the liquid fuel takes place near the hot gas region, as a large proportion of droplets are carried far downstream of the nozzle by the high momentum jet.

A novel concept for injection of gaseous hydrogen (fuel) into a stream of air (oxidant) with in low-NOx gas turbine combustion systems is proposed and tested experimentally in a laboratory bluff body (BB) burner. Instead of conventional injection nozzles, that represent undesired point sources of the highly reactive fuel, the injection concept presented in this paper employs porous steel components, with anticipation to achieve hydrogen injection into air in a compositionally diluted and spatially distributed fashion. The BB burner is tested with four different bluff bodies: three bluff bodies manufactured of solid steel and characterized by different diameters are used to chart the burner behavior in conventional, fully-premixed operation with respect to flame stoichiometry and bulk velocity; one bluff body of porous steel is used to implement and demonstrate the distributed fuel injection (BB-DFI) concept. The experimental setup consists of OH* chemiluminescence (CL) and luminescence of flame measured at kHz repetition rate (4 kHz OH* CL and 14 kHz luminescence of flame) using high-speed cameras. Stable operation of the BB-DFI burner configuration with distributed hydrogen injection is demonstrated in the equivalence ratio range of 0.3–0.5 for three bulk velocities of 15, 25 and 35 m/s with the flame anchoring downstream of the distributed injection section, on the tip of the bluff body, according to design. The flame shape observed during the initial tests suggests inadequate mixing between the fuel and carrier air in the mixing section. For comparison, three different arrangements of vortex generators are designed and manufactured to improve fuel-oxidant mixing. The effectiveness of the vortex generators in terms of mixing is investigated using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) technique and one of the vortex generator arrangement show promising improvement in fuel-oxidant mixing.

A liquid fuel combustor based on the FLOX® burner concept has been developed for application in a Micro Gas Turbine (MGT) Range Extender (REX) for next generation cars. The characterization of this combustor was performed at the High Pressure Optical Test rig (HIPOT) at DLR Stuttgart. The operability limits of the burner were mapped out for full load conditions at 3.5 bars by varying global lambda (λG) from 1.25–2.00 and bulk jet velocity (vBulk) from 80–140 m/s. Exhaust gas measurements show NOx and CO levels below 5 and 10 ppm respectively (corrected for reference 15% O2) at λG = 1.89. Optical and laser diagnostic measurement techniques have been employed to characterize the spray flames. The flames at stable burner operation points (BOPs) show a predominantly jet like flame shape irrespective of λG and vBulk. Droplets in the size range 2–40 μm have been measured close to the nozzle exit plane. Velocities conditioned on the droplet size show large droplets d > 15 μm transitioning from negative slip velocity at the exit plane to positive slip velocity at downstream location. The positive slip velocities and slow evaporation of large droplets lead to droplets travelling further into the combustion chamber and hence resulting in long flames. A comprehensive data set for the spray characteristic of the new liquid FLOX® burner is made available.

Gas turbine (GT) flames at lean operating conditions are susceptible to instabilities that can lead to unsteady operation, flame extinction, and thermoacoustic oscillations. High speed (10 kHz) laser and optical diagnostic techniques have been used to investigate the effect of fuel staging on the mechanisms involved in such instabilities and the overall performance of a gas turbine model combustor. The GT burner used in this study consists of coaxial swirlers which allow for fuel staging capability, where the fuel is varied from 100% to 20% fuel injection in the inner swirler. The burner is equipped with a combustion chamber with large quartz windows, allowing for the application of optical and laser diagnostics. Simultaneous high speed OH Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) and OH* chemiluminescence (CL) imaging, exhaust gas sampling and acoustic measurements were applied to characterize the flames and determine the operability limits of the combustor. Methane air flames at atmospheric pressure have been investigated at a constant thermal power of 58 kW. The global equivalence ratio was kept constant, while the fuel staging was varied. The bulk flow velocity at the exit plane was kept constant at 20 m/s. Simultaneous high speed particle image velocity (PIV) and OH PLIF measurements were performed at a repetition rate of 10 kHz on specifically chosen flames with a fixed staging and equivalence ratio. This paper will present the flame and the flow field structure resolved using the kHz measurement technique. The interaction between the velocity field and the flame front marked by the OH LIF will be presented. The mean PIV image provides the location of the inner and outer recirculation zones. The flame structure presented in this paper will also show the effectiveness of fuel mixing as the staging is varied. The changes in flame shape with variation in fuel staging is determined using the OH* chemiluminescence images. As the fuel flow in the inner swirler is reduced, the NOx and CO emissions also reduce and reach a minimum at a staging of 45% fuel being injected in the inner swirler. As fuel injection in the outer swirler increases beyond 60% the NOx and CO emissions start also increasing.

The auto-ignition of a pulsed methane jet issuing into a laminar coflow of hot exhaust products of a lean premixed hydrogen/air flat flame was examined using high-speed laser and optical measurement techniques with frame rates of 5 kHz or more. OH* chemiluminescence was used to determine the downstream location of the first auto-ignition kernel as well as the stabilization height of the steady-state lifted jet flame. OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) was used to determine further details of the auto-ignition with a higher spatial resolution. Simultaneous imaging of broadband luminosity from a viewing angle perpendicular to the OH* chemiluminescence was applied, to three-dimensionally reconstruct the ignition kernel location in space and to determine whether the first occurrence of the kernel was within or beyond the PLIF laser sheet. The development and expansion of the jet was characterized by high-speed Schlieren imaging. Statistics have been compiled for both the ignition time as well as the downstream location of the first auto-ignition kernel and the stabilization height of the steady-state lifted jet flame. From the PLIF images it was found that auto-ignition tended to occur at the interface between bulges of the inflowing jet and the coflow. For steady-state conditions, auto-ignition kernels were observed frequently below the flame base, emphasizing that the lifted jet flame is stabilized by auto-ignition.