Power plants – Combustion products used as motive fluid – Combustion products generator
Patent
1993-04-13
1994-06-14
Casaregola, Louis J.
Power plants
Combustion products used as motive fluid
Combustion products generator
60737, 60746, 60748, 239403, F23R 314, F23K 334
Patent
active
053199359
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a gas turbine combustion chamber, and to a method of operating a gas turbine engine combustion chamber.
In order to meet emission level requirements for industrial low emission gas turbine engines, the engine combustion chamber volumes has been increased. Currently industrial gas turbine engines use annular or can-annular combustion chambers. The requirement to increase the volume of the combustion chamber assembly whilst incorporating the combustion chamber assembly in the same axial length has necessitated the use of a plurality of tubular combustion chambers, whose longitudinal axes are arranged in generally radial directions. The inlets of the tubular combustion chambers are at their radially outer ends, and transition ducts connect the outlets of the tubular combustion chambers with a row of nozzle guide vanes to discharge the hot exhaust gases axially into the turbine sections of the gas turbine engine.
Also in order to meet the emission level requirements, staged combustion is required in order to minimise the quantity of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) produced. Currently the emission level requirement is for less than 25 volumetric parts per million of NOx for an industrial gas turbine exhaust. The fundamental way to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides is to reduce the combustion reaction temperature, and this requires premixing of the fuel and all the combustion air before combustion takes place. The oxides of nitrogen (NOx) are commonly reduced by a method which uses two stages of fuel injection. Our UK patent no. 489339 discloses two stages of fuel injection to reduce NOx. In staged combustion, both stages of combustion seek to provide lean combustion and hence the low combustion temperatures required to minimise NOx. The term lean combustion means combustion of fuel in air where the fuel to air ratio is low i.e. less than the stoichiometric ratio.
The present invention seeks to provide a novel gas turbine combustion chamber, and a novel method of operating a gas turbine engine combustion chamber.
Accordingly the present invention provides a gas turbine engine combustion chamber comprising first air intake means, primary fuel injector means and a first fuel and air mixing zone, the first fuel and air mixing zone being defined by at least one annular wall and an upstream wall connected to the upstream end of the annular wall, the upstream wall having at least one aperture, the first air intake means comprising at least one first radial flow swirler and at least one second radial flow swirler, each first radial flow swirler being arranged to supply air into the first fuel and air mixing zone through said aperture, each second radial flow swirler being arranged to supply air into the first fuel and air mixing zone through said aperture, each first radial flow swirler being positioned axially downstream of the respective second radial flow swirler with respect to the axis of the combustion chamber, each first radial flow swirler being arranged to swirl air in the opposite direction to the respective second radial flow swirler, the primary fuel injector means being arranged to supply fuel into at least one of the passages defined between the vanes of each of the first radial flow swirlers and into at least one of the passages defined between the vanes of each of the second radial flow swirlers.
Preferably at least one pilot fuel injector is provided, each pilot fuel injector is aligned with a respective one of the apertures to supply fuel into the first fuel and air mixing zone.
Preferably the primary fuel injector means is arranged to supply fuel into all the passages defined between the vanes of the first radial flow swirler.
Preferably the primary fuel injector means is arranged to supply fuel into all the passages defined between the vanes of the second radial flow swirler.
Preferably the primary fuel injector means is arranged to supply fuel into the radially outer region of the passages between the vanes.
The primary fuel injector means may comprise a hollow cylin
REFERENCES:
patent: 3811278 (1974-05-01), Taylor et al.
patent: 3972182 (1976-08-01), Salvi
patent: 4112676 (1978-09-01), Decorso
patent: 4765146 (1988-08-01), Hellat et al.
patent: 4910957 (1990-03-01), Moreno et al.
patent: 5062792 (1991-11-01), Maghon
patent: 5069029 (1991-12-01), Kuroda et al.
Currin John H.
O'Dell Stephen J.
Toon Ian J.
Willis Jeffrey D.
Casaregola Louis J.
Rolls-Royce plc
Thorpe Timothy S.
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