Reaction of Fuel NOx Formation for Gas Turbine Conditions

Abstract

Ammonia contained in coal-gasified fuel is converted to nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the combustion process of a gas turbine in integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) system. Research data on fuel-NOx formation are insufficient, and there still remains a wide explored domain. The present research aims at obtaining fundamental knowledge of fuel-NOx formation characteristics by applying reaction kinetics to gas turbine conditions. An instantaneous mixing condition was assumed in the cross section of a gas turbine combustor and both gradual mixing condition and instantaneous mixing condition were assumed at secondary air inlet section. The results may be summarized as follows: (1) in the primary combustion zone under fuel rich condition, HCN and other intermediate products are formed as ammonia contained in the fuel decomposes; (2) formation characteristics of fuel-NOx are affected by the condition of secondary air mixing; and (3) the conversion ratio from ammonia to NOx declines as the pressure inside the combustor rises under the condition of gradual mixing at the secondary air inlet. These results obtained agreed approximately with the experimentation.