Gas Turbine Combustor Serpentine Fuel Conditioner
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gas turbine combustors face issues with non-uniform fuel injection, leading to inadequate mixing of fuel and air, which affects combustion efficiency and increases NOx levels.
Innovation Solution
A combustor design featuring a nozzle with a serpentine fuel flow path and a partitioned nozzle casing that separates fuel and air plenums, ensuring uniform fuel distribution and mixing, along with a fuel conditioner that guides fuel flow to maintain consistent pressure and flow rate across multiple fuel injection ports.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional fuel injection holes are used in the combustor, then the structure is simple, but the fuel injection uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel conditioner is installed upstream of the fuel injection holes to pre-regulate the fuel flow before it reaches the injection points. This preliminary action ensures that fuel pressure and flow rate are uniformized before injection, achieving consistent fuel distribution without requiring complex injection hole designs
Solution Approach 2:
The fuel conditioner acts as an intermediary component between the fuel supply source and the fuel injection holes. It mediates the fuel flow by providing conditioning functions (pressure regulation, flow distribution) that ensure uniform fuel injection, thereby decoupling the simplicity of the injection holes from the requirement for uniform injection
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple fuel injection holes are used to supply fuel, then the fuel distribution can be improved, but the fuel flow uniformity across different holes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel conditioner provides localized fuel flow regulation at different positions along the fuel supply path. By having multiple fuel supply ports distributed around the combustor and conditioning each locally, the system achieves uniform fuel distribution to multiple injection holes while maintaining ease of flow control through the conditioner's design
3Productivity
If the nozzle structure is made more complex to improve mixing, then the mixing efficiency improves, but the maintenance difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle assembly is segmented into modular components including the nozzle body, fuel conditioner, and swirler that can be independently accessed and maintained. The fuel conditioner is positioned such that it can be serviced separately from the combustion chamber, allowing maintenance without complete disassembly and reducing maintenance difficulty while maintaining combustion efficiency
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
This design ensures uniform fuel injection, enhances combustion efficiency, reduces NOx levels, and simplifies maintenance by allowing regional disassembly of the nozzle unit, while minimizing fuel leakage and improving air-fuel mixing.
Implementation Method 1
a fuel conditioner that includes a fuel flow path having a serpentine shape and is disposed between the fuel supply section and the nozzle
Implementation Method 2
a nozzle supplied with fuel and air to produce a mixed gas of the fuel and the air and configured to inject the mixed gas into the combustion chamber
Implementation Method 3
The combustor mixes the compressed air with a supply of fuel and ignites the mixture, thereby producing high-temperature and high-pressure combustion gas
Data Source
AI summary
A combustor includes a combustion chamber; a nozzle supplied with fuel and air to produce a mixed gas of the fuel and the air and configured to inject the mixed gas into the combustion chamber; a fuel supply section coupled to the nozzle casing and configured to supply the fuel to the nozzle; a fuel conditioner that includes a fuel flow path having a serpentine shape and is disposed between the fuel supply section and the nozzle, the fuel conditioner configured to guide the fuel supplied from the fuel supply section to the nozzle along the fuel flow path; and a nozzle casing having an opening into which the nozzle is inserted. The fuel conditioner extends from a first side of the nozzle casing toward a second side. The fuel conditioner and the nozzle casing form a first passage through which fuel may flow to the nozzle.