For natural gas combustion, there is a large amount of experience in the gas turbine industry. However, much of the design work is based on costly combustion tests due to insufficient accuracy of existing prediction tools for data such as emissions and effects due to fuel composition. In the present work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach is used to study partially premixed combustion in the 3rd generation DLE (Dry Low Emission) burner that is used in SGT-700 and SGT-800 gas turbines. The fuels that are studied here are natural gas and enriched hydrogen fuel. The CFD models which are used in this work are an axisymmetric and a 3D model and the softwares are ANSYS CFX and ANSYS FLUENT. One of the main objectives of this thesis is the study of flame shape and NOx emission in hydrogen enriched combustion. In the first study of the present work, effect of adding hydrogen to non-preheated gas combustion was investigated and the results were compared with the available measurement data. Calculated laminar burning velocity with CANTERA showed a good agreement with the experimental and numerical references. Also, the accuracy of generated flamelet libraries in CFD tools to calculate adiabatic flame temperature was compared with different available tools. Results showed good agreement between available tools for the ranges of interest. In addition, flame shape and NOx prediction was studied in the gas turbine burner. Adding hydrogen to the fuel increased significantly turbulent burning velocity and OH distribution in the domain. The effect of hydrogen on the central stagnation point was studied and the simulation results did not show a significant effect on the stagnation point location. Beside the flame shape, this study showed that although the CFD NOx prediction tools in ANSYS CFX and ANSYS FLUENT predict the trend of NOx and the flame propagation in the right manner, in order to use as a reliable prediction tool in the gas turbine industry they need to be improved.

Entre els accidents greus que poden ocórrer a les instal·lacions industrials o durant el transport de substàncies perilloses, els dolls de foc presenten un especial interès. Tot i que tenen una distància relativament més curta d'afectació que altres accidents greus, es caracteritzen per originar grans fluxos de calor i, en cas de contacte de la flama amb un equip, originen sovint un efecte domino, desencadenant una subseqüent explosió, incendi o altres esdeveniments amb greus conseqüències.Diversos estudis experimentals i teòrics han estat efectuats; no obstant això, la majoria d'aquests han estat enfocats a dolls de foc a escala de laboratori, flames subsòniques o torxes, les condicions de les quals difereixen significativament d'aquelles trobades en dolls de foc accidentals reals, que normalment assoleixen majors longituds de flama i velocitats de sortida sònica. Aquesta manca d'investigació és la raó per explicar perquè els dolls de foc eren encara molt mal coneguts i la predicció dels seus efectes i conseqüències era encara un problema. Aquesta tesi ha estat elaborada per a obtenir informació nova i útil sobre els dolls de foc, millorant la comprensió de la seva geometría i de les característiques tèrmiques, mitjançant l'anàlisi, l'experimentació i el modelatge matemàtic.Aquest estudi s'ha centrat alhora en dades existents i en noves dades experimentals, implicant Aixa dolls de foc verticals i horitzontals alliberats en absència de vent, implicant diversos combustibles (hidrogen, metà i propà). L'estudi comprèn una àmplia gamma de variables d'operació (velocitats de sortida del combustible, pressions en la canonada i diàmetres d'orifici de sortida). L'estudi experimental ha implicat dolls de foc amb flames de fins a 10.3 m de longitud i 1.5 m d'amplada. El combustible utilitzat ha estat propà, amb velocitats de sortida sònica i subsònica, utilitzant diversos diàmetres d'orifici de sortida. Els dolls de foc han estat filmats amb dues càmeres de vídeo (VHS) i una càmera termográfica d'alta velocitat (IR). Les principals característiques geomètriques de les flames (dimensions i forma) han estat analitzades en funció de la velocitat de sortida del combustible,del flux màssic i del diàmetre d'orifici de sortida. L'anàlisi i tractament d'imatges infraroges i de les mesures obtingudes amb tres sensors de flux de calor situats a diferents distàncies de la sortida del doll de foc han permès l'obtenció de les seves principals característiques de radiació: flux de calor irradiat als voltants (persones i instal·lacions) en funció de la distancia, poder emissiu i emisivitat de les flames. Diverses expressions han estat proposades per estimar les dimensions de la flama en funció de diverses variables (flux màssic, diàmetre d'orifici de sortida i nombres de Froude i Reynolds). Els resultats i expressions obtinguts en aquest estudi contribueixen a una millor comprensió dels dolls de foc, representant un avanç en les metodologies i l'establiment de noves mesures, normes i polítiques de planificació per a la prevenció i/o el control d'aquest tipus d'accident greu amb foc, tant en establiments industrials com en el transport de materials perillosos. / Among the major accidents that can occur in processing plants or in the transportation of hazardous materials, jet fires are of particular interest. Although they have a relatively shorter distance of influence than other major accidents, they are characterized by high heat fluxes and if there is flame impingement they can originate a domino effect, leading to a subsequent explosion, large fire, or other events with severe effects. Several experimental and theoretical studies have been carried out; however, most of those works have been focused on small-scale jet fires, subsonic flames or flares, the conditions of which significantly differ from those found in real accidental jet fires, usually reaching larger flame lengths and sonic exit velocities. This lack of research is the reason to explain why the current knowledge of jet fires was still rather poor and the accurate prediction of their effects and consequences was still a problem. The present thesis has been addressed to produce a significant amount of novel and useful information on jet fires, by improving understanding of jet fire structure, reach and radiative features, through analyses, experiment and mathematical modelling. This study has been focused on both existing and also new experimental jet flame data, comprising all together, turbulent non-premixed jet flames vertically and horizontally released into still air, involving several fuels (hydrogen, methane and propane), over a wide range of operational conditions (jet exit velocities, release pressures and pipe diameters). The experimental study developed in this thesis has concerned relatively large jet fires with flames of up to 10.3 m in length and 1.5 m in width. The fuel was propane, and both sonic and subsonic jet exit velocities were obtained from different outlet diameters. The jet fires were filmed with two videocameras registering visible light (VHS) and a thermographic camera (IR). The main geometrical features of the flames were analyzed as a function of the fuel velocity, mass flow rate and jet outlet diameter: jet flame size and flame shape. The treatment of infrared images and measurements obtained from three heat flow sensors located at different distances from the jet fire outlet also led the main radiative features of jet fires to be obtained: incident thermal radiation heat over a target, surface emissive power and emissivity of the flames.Expressions for estimating jet flame reach as a function of several variables (mass flow rate, orifice exit diameter, Froude and Reynolds numbers) have also been proposed. The results and the expressions obtained in this study contribute to a better understanding of jet fires for accurate risk assessment, allowing the obtention of important advances in risk assessment methodologies and the establishment of new measures, regulations, and risk planning policies for the prevention and/or control of this type of major fire, occurred world-wide in industrial establishments and in the transportation of hazardous materials.

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