Gas Turbine Combustor Fuel Injection Nozzle Low-Boiling Liquid Atomization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Liquid-fueled gas turbine combustors face efficiency degradation due to the need for high-pressure air extraction, which increases thermal loss and power consumption, while existing nozzles either compromise on atomization performance or require complex air supply systems.
Innovation Solution
A gas turbine combustor design that uses a fuel injection nozzle to atomize liquid fossil fuel into fine droplets using low-boiling liquid fuel, such as alcohol, which is heated and gasified to enhance atomization through shear force, reducing the need for high-pressure air and minimizing efficiency loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If high-pressure air is extracted from the compressor and supplied to the combustor for atomization, then atomization performance is improved, but gas turbine efficiency deteriorates due to thermal loss and power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state of the atomizing fluid from liquid to vapor by heating the low-boiling liquid fuel to its vaporization point. This phase change enables the atomizing fluid to expand and provide sufficient shear force for atomization without requiring high-pressure compression, thus avoiding the energy loss associated with compressor operation while maintaining effective atomization performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical compression system (compressor) with a thermal processing system (heating means). Instead of using mechanical energy to compress air to high pressure for atomization, the invention uses thermal energy to vaporize low-boiling liquid fuel, which then expands and provides the necessary shear force for atomization, substituting a mechanical system with a thermal one.
2Manufacturing precision
If a two-fluid fuel nozzle is used to atomize liquid fuel with high-pressure air, then atomization performance and soot suppression are improved, but the system complexity and installation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the complex high-pressure air supply system from the atomization process. By using vaporized low-boiling liquid fuel instead of compressed air as the atomizing fluid, the invention removes the need for air extraction, cooling, and high-pressure supply systems, thereby simplifying the overall system while maintaining atomization performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces low-boiling liquid fuel as an intermediary substance that serves dual purposes: it acts as both the primary fuel and the atomizing fluid. This intermediary approach eliminates the need for a separate atomizing medium (high-pressure air), simplifying the system architecture while achieving effective atomization through the vaporization and expansion of the low-boiling liquid fuel.
3Device complexity
If a single-fluid fuel nozzle is used to atomize liquid fuel by increasing supply pressure, then system complexity is reduced, but atomization performance deteriorates under low supply pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the key parameter of the atomizing fluid from pressure (as in single-fluid nozzles) to temperature and phase state. By heating low-boiling liquid fuel to its vaporization point, the fluid undergoes phase change and expansion, providing sufficient shear force for atomization without requiring high supply pressure, thus maintaining good atomization performance while keeping the system simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes the phase transition of low-boiling liquid fuel from liquid to vapor through heating. This phase change causes significant volume expansion and provides the necessary kinetic energy and shear force for effective atomization, replacing the need for high-pressure supply systems while maintaining atomization performance, especially under low supply pressure conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution promotes effective atomization of liquid fossil fuel, reduces soot discharge, and maintains combustor efficiency by utilizing low-boiling liquid fuel, which can be heated using various energy sources, including exhaust heat, thereby improving overall gas turbine performance.
Implementation Method 1
The gas turbine combustor further includes means for heating the low-boiling liquid fuel
Implementation Method 2
a fuel injection nozzle that atomizes the liquid fuel into fine liquid droplets. The fuel injection nozzle includes a first system adapted to supply the liquid fuel and a second system adapted to supply a fluid for atomizing the liquid fuel. The fluid to be used is low-boiling liquid fuel
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An object of the present invention is to provide a gas turbine combustor 3 that has, as means for atomizing liquid fuel, a fuel injection nozzle 12 using a fluid other than liquid fuel to atomize the liquid fuel and that can suppress a reduction in power generation efficiency resulting from a heat loss while promoting the atomization of the liquid fuel. The gas turbine combustor 3 is adapted to mix liquid fuel 18 with combustion air led from a compressor 1, burn the mixture and supply combustion gas 17 generated to a gas turbine 2. The gas turbine combustor 3 includes, on the upstream side thereof, a fuel injection nozzle 12 that atomizes the liquid fuel 18 into fine liquid droplets. The fuel injection nozzle 12 includes a first system 100 adapted to supply the liquid fuel 18 and a second system 102 adapted to supply a fluid for atomizing the liquid fuel 18. Low-boiling liquid fuel 21 is supplied to the second system 102 as the fluid. The second system 102 is adapted to heat and supply the low-boiling liquid fuel 21.