Hydrogen Injection for Gas Turbine Combustion Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gas turbine systems face instability issues due to lean combustion, leading to combustor pressure oscillations and mechanical damage, which can be attributed to insufficient uniformity in fuel combustion, resulting in reduced operational performance and shorter component lifespan.
Innovation Solution
Injecting hydrogen into the combustion chamber at high velocities, specifically into the first wake region, where it interacts with secondary wake regions, stabilizes combustion by initiating a flame-stabilizing chain reaction, reducing oscillations and enhancing mixing, thereby lowering NOx emissions and preventing nozzle overheating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If lean combustion is used to reduce NOx emissions, then environmental performance is improved, but combustion stability deteriorates leading to pressure oscillations and mechanical damage
Solution Approach 1:
Hydrogen is introduced as an intermediary substance that facilitates stable combustion in the lean burn regime. The hydrogen forms a pilot flame that acts as a mediator between the fuel injection system and the lean air-fuel mixture, providing a reliable ignition source that maintains combustion stability without compromising the low NOx emissions benefit of lean combustion.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the chemical composition parameter of the combustion mixture by adding hydrogen to the lean air-fuel mixture. This parameter change enables the combustion process to maintain stability at lower equivalence ratios, allowing the system to operate in the lean combustion regime for reduced NOx emissions while avoiding combustion instabilities through the presence of hydrogen.
2Reliability
If hydrogen is injected at high velocity into the combustion chamber, then combustion stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hydrogen injection system is merged with the existing fuel injection infrastructure. The hydrogen injection ports are integrated into the same manifold and injection system architecture used for delivering fuel to the combustion chamber, combining multiple functions into a unified system rather than creating a separate complex injection system.
Solution Approach 2:
The injection system is designed with multi-functionality, serving both fuel delivery and hydrogen injection purposes. The same injection manifold and control architecture are used for both functions, allowing the system to perform multiple roles without proportionally increasing complexity. The injection system can switch between or simultaneously deliver fuel and hydrogen through shared hardware.
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 hydrogen injection stabilizes lean combustion, reduces combustor-driven oscillations, lowers NOx emissions, and prolongs the life of gas turbine system components by improving mixing and heat management within the combustion chamber.
Implementation Method 1
Injecting hydrogen into the combustion chamber at high velocities
Implementation Method 2
enhancing mixing
Implementation Method 3
combustion of the injected hydrogen
Implementation Method 4
combustion of hydrogen interacting with combustion gases
Implementation Method 5
injected into a first wake region within a combustion chamber
Implementation Method 6
flow of hydrogen gas can be injected into a first wake region
Data Source
AI summary
A hydrogen injection scheme can be employed via use of one or more injectors for injecting hydrogen to help entrain local mass while also generating local turbulence that can enhance mixing with a mixture of air and fuel to facilitate enhanced lean combustion, lower peak flame temperatures of combustion, and reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions from the combustion of fuel. In some embodiments, the hydrogen can be injected to help transport heat released during combustion away from the injector to help avoid injector overheating as well. Different injectors can be utilized to provide a desired hydrogen injection scheme for a particular set of design and operational criteria for a gas turbine system or at least one combustion system that can be utilized in a gas turbine system.