Hydrogen use in a gas turbine engine has many benefits. Chief among these is the elimination of carbon based emissions. The only products and emissions from the combustion process are water vapor and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). However due to the lower flammability limit of hydrogen, it can be burned at much lower equivalence ratios that typical hydrocarbon fuels, and thus reducing the emissions of NOx. Multiple efforts have been made for the design of premixing injectors for gaseous hydrocarbon fuels, but very few attempts have been made for hydrogen. To this end a premixing hydrogen injector was designed for the cruise engine condition for a PT6-20 turboprop engine. Swirl generated by tangential entry was utilized as a means to enhance mixing and as a convenient means to stabilize the flame. A prototype was designed to prevent flashback and promote a high degree of mixing, as well as a test combustor to evaluate the performance of the injector at scaled engine conditions. Numerical simulations were also performed to analyze the flowfield at the engine conditions. Performance and emissions data are used to draw conclusions about the feasibility of the injectors in the PT6 engine. / Master of Science

The continued use of fossil fuels along with a rise in energy demand has led to increasing levels of carbon emissions over the past years. The purpose of this research was to design a lean premixed hydrogen fuel system that could be readily retrofit into an existing gas turbine engine to provide a clean renewable energy solution to this growing problem. There were major hurdles that had to be overcome to develop a hydrogen fuel system that would be practical, stable, and would fit into the existing space. High flame temperatures coupled with high flame speeds are major concerns when switching from jet fuel or natural gas to hydrogen. High temperatures lead to formations of pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and can potentially cause damage to critical engine components. High flame speeds can lead to dangerous flashbacks in the fuel premixers. Past researches have developed various hydrogen premixers to combat these problems. This research designed and developed new hydrogen premixers using information gathered from these designs and utilized new ideas to address their shortcomings. A gas turbine engine was modified using 14 premixers and a matching combustor liner to provide lean operation with the existing turbomachinery. The engine was successfully operated using hydrogen while maintaining normal internal temperatures and practically eliminating the NOx emissions when compared to normal Jet-A operation. Even though full power operation was never achieved due to flashbacks in two premixers, this research demonstrated the feasibility of using lean-premixed hydrogen in gas turbine engines. / Master of Science

Hydrogen, as an alternative to conventional aviation fuels, has the potential to increase the efficiency of a gas turbine as well as reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. In addition to significantly reducing the number of pollutants due to the absence of carbon, burning hydrogen at low equivalence ratios can significantly reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Because hydrogen has a wide range of flammability limits, fuel lean combustion can take place at lower equivalence ratios than those with typical hydrocarbon fuels. Numerous efforts have been made to develop gas turbine fuel injectors that premix methane/natural gas and air in fuel lean proportions prior to the reaction zone. Application of this technique to hydrogen combustion has been limited due to hydrogen's high flame rate and the concern of the reaction zone propagating into the premixing injector, commonly referred to as flashback. In this investigation, a lean-premixing hydrogen injector has been developed for application in small gas turbines. The performance of this injector was characterized and predictions about the injector's performance operating under combustor inlet conditions of a PT6-20 Turboprop have been made. / Master of Science

As a result of growing concerns about the carbon emissions associated with the combustion of conventional hydrocarbon fuels, hydrogen is gaining more attention as a clean alternative. The combustion of hydrogen in air produces no carbon emissions. However, hydrogen-air combustion does have the potential to produce oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which are harmful pollutants. The production of NOx can be significantly curbed using lean premixed combustion, wherein hydrogen and air are mixed at an equivalence ratio (the ratio of stoichiometric to actual air in the combustion process) significantly less than 1.0 prior to combustion. Hydrogen is a good candidate for use in lean premixed systems due to its very wide flammability range. The potential for the stable combustion of hydrogen at a wide range of equivalence ratios makes it particularly well-suited to application in gas turbines, where the equivalence ratio is likely to vary significantly over the operating range of the machine. The strong lean combustion stability of hydrogen-air flames is due primarily to high reaction rates and the associated high turbulent burning velocities. While this is advantageous at low equivalence ratios, it presents a significant danger of flashback — the upstream propagation of the flame into the premixing device — at higher equivalence ratios. An investigation has been conducted into the operation of a specific hydrogen-air premixer design in a gas turbine engine. Laboratory tests were first conducted to determine the upper stability limits of a single premixer. Tests were then carried out in which eighteen premixers and a custom-fabricated combustor liner were installed in a modified Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-20 turboprop engine. The tests examined the premixer and engine operability as a result of the modifications. A computer cycle analysis model was created to help analyze and predict the behavior of the modified engine and premixers. The model, which uses scaled component maps to predict off-design engine performance, was integral in the analysis of premixer flashback which limited the operation of the modified engine. / Master of Science

Hydrogen-powered engines have been gaining increasing interest due to the global concerns of the effects of hydrocarbon combustion on climate change. Gas turbines are suitable for operation on hydrogen fuel. This thesis reports the results of investigations of the special requirements of the fuel controller for a hydrogen gas turbine. In this investigation, a digital fuel controller for a hydrogen-fueled modified Pratt and Whitney PT6A-20 turboprop engine was successfully designed and implemented. Included in the design are safety measures to protect the operating personnel and the engine. A redundant fuel control is part of the final design to provide a second method of managing the engine should there be a malfunction in any part of the primary controller. Parallel to this study, an investigation of the existing hydrogen combustor design was performed to analyze the upper stability limits that were restricting the operability of the engine. The upstream propagation of the flame into the premixer, more commonly known as a flashback, routinely occurred at 150 shaft horsepower during engine testing. The procedures for protecting the engine from a flashback were automated within the fuel controller, significantly reducing the response time from the previous (manual) method. Additionally, protection measures were added to ensure the inter-turbine temperature of the engine did not exceed published limits. Automatic engine starting and shutdown procedures were also added to the control logic, minimizing the effort needed by the operator. The tested performance of the engine with each of the control functions demonstrated the capability of the controller. Methods to generate an engine-specific fuel control map were also studied. The control map would not only takes into account the operability limits of the engine, but also the stability limits of the premixing devices. Such a map is integral in the complete design of the engine fuel controller. / Master of Science

The utilization of lean premixed combustors has become attractive to designers of industrial gas turbines as a means of meeting strict emissions standards without compromising efficiency.  Mixing the fuel and air prior to combustion allows for lower temperature flame zones, creating the potential for drastically reduced nitrous oxide emissions.  While effective, these systems are commonly plagued by combustion driven instabilities.  These instabilities produce large pressure and heat release rate fluctuations due to a resonant interaction between the combustor acoustics and the flame.  A primary feedback mechanism responsible for driving these systems is the propagation of Fuel/Air Ratio (FAR) fluctuations into the flame zone.  These fluctuations are formed inside of the premixing chamber when fuel is injected into and mixed with an oscillating air flow. The research presented here aimed to develop new technology for premixer designs, along with an application strategy, to avoid resonant thermo-acoustic events driven by FAR fluctuations.  A passive fuel control technique was selected for investigation and implementation. The selected technique utilized fuel injections at multiple, strategically placed axial locations to target and inhibit FAR fluctuations at the dominant resonant mode of the combustor.  The goal of this research was to provide an understanding of the mixing response inside a realistic premixer geometry and investigate the effectiveness of the proposed suppression technique. The mixing response was investigated under non-reacting flow conditions using a unique modular premixer.  The premixer incorporated variable axial fuel injection locations, as well as interchangeable mixing chamber geometries.  Two different chamber designs were tested: a simple annular chamber and one incorporating an axial swirler.  The mixing response of the simple annular geometry was well characterized, and it was found that multiple injections could be effectively configured to suppress the onset of an unstable event at very lean conditions. Energy dense flame zones produced at higher equivalence ratios, however, were found to be uncontrollable using this technique. Additionally, the mixing response of the swirl geometry was difficult to predict. This was found to be the result of large spatial gradients formed in the dynamic velocity field as acoustic waves passed through the swirl vanes. / Ph. D.

The predictive design of fuel injection hardware used for active combustion control is not well established in the gas turbine industry. The primary reason for this is that the underlying mechanisms governing the flow rate authority downstream of the nozzle are not well understood. A detailed investigation of two liquid fuel flow modulation configurations is performed in this thesis: a piston and a throttle-valve configuration. The two systems were successfully built with piezoelectric actuation to drive the prime movers proportionally up to 800 Hz. Discussed in this thesis are the important constituents of the fuel injection system that affect heat release authority: the method of fuel modulation, uncoupled dynamics of several components, and the compressibility of air trapped in the fuel line. Additionally, a novel technique to model these systems by way of one-dimensional, linear transmission line acoustic models was developed to successfully characterize the principle of operation of the two systems. Through these models, insight was gained on the modes through which modulation authority was dissipated and on methods through which successful amplitude scaling would be possible. At high amplitudes, it was found that the models were able to successfully predict the actual performance reasonably well for the piston device. A proportional phase shifting controller was used to test the authority on a 40-kW rig with natural longitudinal modes. Results show that, under limited operating conditions, the sound pressure level at the limit cycle frequency was reduced by about 26 dB and the broadband energy was reduced by 23 dB. Attenuation of the fuel pulse at several combustor settings was due to fluctuating vorticity and temporal droplet distribution effects. / Master of Science

La combustion prévaporisée prémélangée pauvre est une piste de choix pour réduire les émissions polluantes des moteurs d'avions mais peut conduire à l'apparition d'instabilités thermo-acoustiques. Afin d'améliorer la stabilité de telles flammes, l'étagement du combustible consiste à contrôler la distribution spatiale du carburant. Une telle procédure s'accompagne cependant d'une complexité accrue du système pouvant déboucher sur des phénomènes inattendus.Un brûleur à l'échelle de laboratoire alimenté par du dodécane liquide est utilisé dans cette thèse. Le combustible est injecté dans deux étages séparés, permettant ainsi de contrôler sa distribution. Cette particularité permet l'observation de différentes formes de flammes et notamment de points bistables pour lesquels deux flammes différentes peuvent exister malgré des conditions opératoires identiques.L'utilisation de diagnostics optiques à haute cadence (diffusion de Mie des gouttes de combustible et émission spontanée de la flamme) est couplée à des méthodes de post-traitement avancées comme la Décomposition en Modes Dynamiques. Ainsi, des mécanismes pilotant la stabilisation des flammes ainsi que leurs changements de forme sont proposés. Ils mettent notamment en lumière les interactions entre l'écoulement gazeux, les gouttes de combustible et la flamme. / A promising way to reduce jet engines pollutant emissions is the use of lean premixed prevaporized combustion but it tends to trigger thermo-acoustic instabilities. To improve the stability of these flames, a procedure called staging consists in splitting the fuel injection to control its spatial distribution. This however leads to an increased complexity and unexpected phenomena can occur.In the present work, a model gas turbine combustor fed with liquid dodecane is used. It is equipped with two fuel injection stages to control the fuel distribution in the burner. Different flame stabilizations can be observed and a bistable case where two flame shapes can exist for the same operating conditions is highlighted.High-speed optical diagnostics (fuel droplets Mie scatering and chemiluminescence measurements) are coupled with advanced post-processing methods like Dynamic Mode Decomposition. The results enable to propose mechanisms leading to flame stabilization and flame shape transitions. They show a strong interplay between the gaseous flow, the fuel droplets and the flame itself.

Master of Science / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Kirby S. Chapman / The increased emissions monitoring requirements of industrial gas turbines have created a demand for less expensive emissions monitoring systems. Typically, emissions monitoring is performed with a Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS), which monitors emissions by direct sampling of the exhaust gas. An alternative to a CEMS is a system which predicts emissions using easily measured operating parameters. This system is referred to as a Parametric Emissions Monitoring System (PEMS). A review of the literature indicates there is no globally applicable PEMS. Because of this, a PEMS that is applicable to a variety of gas turbine manufacturers and models is desired. The research presented herein includes a literature review of NOx reduction techniques, NOx production mechanisms, current PEMS research, and combustor modeling. Based on this preliminary research, a combustor model based on first-engineering principles was developed to describe the NOx formation process and relate NOx emissions to combustion turbine operating parameters. A review of available literature indicates that lean-premixed combustion is the most widely-used NOx reduction design strategy, so the model is based on this type of combustion system. A review of the NOx formation processes revealed four well-recognized NOx formation mechanisms: the Zeldovich, prompt, nitrous oxide, and fuel-bound nitrogen mechanisms. In lean-premixed combustion, the Zeldovich and nitrous oxide mechanisms dominate the NOx formation. This research focuses on combustion modeling including the Zeldovich mechanism for NOx formation. The combustor model is based on the Siemens SGT-200 combustion turbine and consists of a series of well-stirred reactors. Results show that the calculated NOx is on the same order of magnitude, but less than the NOx measured in field tests. These results are expected because the NOx calculation was based only on the Zeldovich mechanism, and the literature shows that significant NOx is formed through the nitrous oxide mechanism. The model also shows appropriate trends of NOx with respect to various operating parameters including equivalence ratio, ambient temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure. Model refinements are suggested with the ultimate goal being integration of the model into a PEMS.

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