Comparing Different Solutions for the Micro-Gas Turbine Combustor

Abstract

This paper compares different types of combustion chambers for a micro-gas turbine which operates with both different fuels and variations in the inlet air conditions. The combustor types examined cover a wide variety of conditions for the primary combustion, whose fuel/air equivalence ratio ranges from typical lean-premixed levels up to dramatically rich values. The latter is attained in a combustion chamber of the RQL type, while the lean mixture burns in a tubular swirled combustor also equipped with a pilot igniter. The comparison is completed by including an annular combustor with a primary diffusive burner. The CFD based analysis highlights the main differences among the three types of combustors, in terms of temperature and pollutant distributions, and by focusing the attention on the self-ignition occurrence.