Multi-swirl lean direct injection burner for enhanced combustion stability and low pollutant emissions

Control of emissions is a big challenge plaguing the gas turbine industry for years. This necessitates new combustor designs addressing the problem. This paper discusses the characterization of a novel burner∗ employing Lean Direct Injection (LDI) technology for reduced pollutant emissions and improved combustion. The burner is an array of multiple swirlers arranged closely, facilitating distributed mixing of fuel and air at each swirler throughout the length of the burner. This results in a uniform and rapid mixing, thus eliminating hot spots and enabling efficient combustion. The burner thus developed is capable of operating at very lean conditions of fuel, leading to overall temperatures being low. The burner is characterized in terms of lean blow out equivalence ratio, pressure drop, average exit temperature of the burnt mixture, pattern factor and emissions- CO, CO2, unburned hydrocarbon (UHC), NOx and soot. Results show very low NOx emissions. Enhanced combustion also results in reduction in overall emissions. It overcomes the drawback of flame flashback encountered in lean premixed pre-vaporized concept. LDI is also less susceptible to combustion instability. Pressure drop across the burner is observed to be very less compared to the conventional gas turbine combustors. Thus, this concept of multi-swirl LDI burner can be a potential contender to be employed in the combustors of gas turbine engines.