Variable Swirl Fuel Nozzle for Gas Turbine Atomization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fuel nozzles for gas turbine engines fail to adequately atomize fuel at both low-power and high-power conditions due to fixed orifice sizes and limited fuel flow control, leading to inefficient combustion processes.
Innovation Solution
A fuel injector nozzle design featuring a mixing chamber with tangential and radial fuel inlets, along with a valve system that controls fuel flow, allowing for adjustable swirl and flow rates to optimize atomization at varying power conditions, including a pressure valve or electronic control for precise fuel distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a fixed orifice size is used in the fuel nozzle, then the nozzle structure is simple, but atomization performance deteriorates at both low-power and high-power conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel nozzle employs a variable orifice design where the effective flow area changes dynamically based on operating conditions. The nozzle includes a movable component (such as a pintle or adjustable orifice) that can alter the flow area in response to pressure differential changes, enabling optimal atomization across both low-power and high-power conditions without requiring multiple fixed orifices or complex external control systems.
2Manufacturing precision
If swirl is created using tangential inlets or vanes, then fuel atomization improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel nozzle divides the fuel flow into multiple separate streams through multiple inlets (including tangential and radial inlets) that feed into a mixing chamber. This segmentation allows each inlet to contribute differently to swirl generation and fuel atomization, achieving enhanced atomization performance while keeping individual inlet structures simple and avoiding the need for complex single-component swirlers.
3Quantity of substance
If fuel flow is limited during low-power conditions, then fuel consumption is reduced, but atomization quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel nozzle utilizes pressure differential changes as a control parameter to automatically adjust fuel flow and atomization quality. During low-power conditions, reduced pressure differential causes the variable orifice to close partially, limiting fuel flow while maintaining adequate atomization through the preserved swirl flow paths. During high-power conditions, increased pressure differential opens the orifice fully, allowing higher fuel flow with maintained atomization quality, eliminating the need for external flow control mechanisms.
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 design ensures effective fuel atomization across low and high power operations by adjusting fuel flow and swirl, enhancing combustion efficiency and reducing wear on components by removing moving parts from the nozzle.
Implementation Method 1
The fuel passes from the inlets into a chamber in the nozzle before being injected into the combustor. Some prior art nozzles also limit the fuel flow into the combustor during low-power conditions thereby providing a smaller flow of fuel into the nozzle during the low-power conditions than during high-power conditions.
Implementation Method 2
a pressure valve or electronic control for precise fuel distribution
Implementation Method 3
The fuel enters a nozzle which atomizes the fuel to allow for greater air-fuel mixing before the combustion process.
Implementation Method 4
A swirler is generally positioned around each fuel injector to admit combustion air and create turbulence in said combustion air to mix the combustion air and the fuel before the mixture is combusted.
Implementation Method 5
combusting that air with a fuel, and then forcing the exhaust from the combustion process out of the engine
Data Source
AI summary
A fuel injector providing a flow of fuel having a variable swirl and/or variable effective area is disclosed. The fuel injector may have a nozzle defining a mixing chamber having an outlet proximate a centerline of the mixing chamber, a first fuel line in fluid communication with the mixing chamber and a second fuel line in fluid communication with the mixing chamber. The first fuel line may terminate in a tangential fuel inlet positioned tangential to the centerline of the nozzle, while the second fuel line may terminate in a radial fuel inlet positioned radial to the centerline of the nozzle.