Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler

Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rallabhandi, Aniketh S.
Language:English
Published: University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2018
Subjects:
Mechanical Engineering
Combustion
Flowfield Aerodynamics
Flame Visualization
Natural Gas
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin154409847287965
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin1544098472879652021-08-03T07:09:15Z Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler Rallabhandi, Aniketh S. Mechanical Engineering Combustion Flowfield Aerodynamics Flame Visualization Natural Gas The goal of this work is to experimentally study and analyze the flow field aerodynamics of a fuel injector designed for use in power generation gas turbines. One of the most important routes pursued to lower NOx emissions from a combustion process has been to burn at a lean equivalence ratio while ensuring better fuel-air mixing. Burning at a lean equivalence ratio would ensure that the excess air prevents the formation of NOx while good fuel-air mixing is important to prevent the formation of fuel rich pockets. The injector used in this work was designed to operate at lean conditions and maximize fuel-air mixing. To that effect, it incorporated a porous tube to inject the fuel into the air flow stream. Prior studies showed that fuel injected through a porous tube shows better atomization and also better mixing with air. The injector also has two sets of swirlers to maximize the fuel-air mixing.The injector was tested under atmospheric conditions with natural gas as the fuel and in an unconfined arrangement. The pressure difference maintained across the injector was 4%. The equivalence ratio of the flame studied was varied between 0.75 and 1.05, and in addition, a non-reacting case was studied. The air preheat temperature was varied between 505 K (450°F) and 616 K (650°F). Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to capture images of the flame and study the velocity vector field patterns for different flames. Contour maps were plotted for individual vector components to understand their role in the flow. The flame showed the presence of a central recirculation zone (CRZ) that anchored the flame. For a given air-preheat temperature, the velocity of the flame showed direct proportionality with increasing equivalence ratio. For a given equivalence ratio, the flame showed a linear relation with the air preheat temperature. Using the velocity data from the PIV, the velocity profiles at 3mm, 30mm and 50mm downstream of the injector were plotted for the above test cases and the trends in velocities compared.Lastly, a visual study of the flame was carried out to understand the variation of the flame size with increasing equivalence ratio and air preheat temperature. The flame height showed a direct variation with increase in air preheat temperature as well as equivalence ratio. The width of the flame however, showed a convergence in size with increase in equivalence ratio. 2018 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin154409847287965 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin154409847287965 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Mechanical Engineering
Combustion
Flowfield Aerodynamics
Flame Visualization
Natural Gas
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering
Combustion
Flowfield Aerodynamics
Flame Visualization
Natural Gas
Rallabhandi, Aniketh S.
Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler
author Rallabhandi, Aniketh S.
author_facet Rallabhandi, Aniketh S.
author_sort Rallabhandi, Aniketh S.
title Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler
title_short Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler
title_full Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler
title_fullStr Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler
title_full_unstemmed Experimental Investigation of the Reacting Flowfield of a Radial-Radial Swirler
title_sort experimental investigation of the reacting flowfield of a radial-radial swirler
publisher University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate 2018
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin154409847287965
work_keys_str_mv AT rallabhandianikeths experimentalinvestigationofthereactingflowfieldofaradialradialswirler
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