CFD Analysis of Jet Mixing in Low NOx Flametube Combustors

Abstract

The Rich-burn/Quick-mix/Lean-burn (RQL) combustor has been identified as a potential gas turbine combustor concept to reduce NOx emissions in High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) aircraft. To demonstrate reduced NOx levels, cylindrical flametube versions of RQL combustors are being tested at NASA Lewis Research Center. A critical technology needed for the RQL combustor is a method of quickly mixing bypass combustion air with rich-burn gases. In this study, jet mixing in a cylindrical quick-mix section was numerically analyzed. The quick-mix configuration was five inches in diameter and employed 12 radial-inflow slots. The numerical analyses were performed with an advanced, validated 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code named REFLEQS. Parametric varation of jet-to-mainstream momentum flux ratio (J) and slot aspect ratio was investigated. Both nonreacting and reacting analyses were performed. Results showed mixing and NOx emissions to be highly sensitive to J and slot aspect ratio. Lowest NOx emissions occurred when the dilution jet penetrated to approximately midradius. The viability of using 3-D CFD analyses for optimizing jet mixing was demonstrated.