Investigation of the Characteristics of a Low-Emission Gas Turbine Combustion Chamber Operating on a Mixture of Natural Gas and Hydrogen

This article is devoted to the investigation of the characteristics of a low-emission gas turbine combustion chamber, which can be used in Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels and operates on a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen. A new approach is proposed for modelling the processes of burning out a mixture of natural gas with hydrogen under preliminary mixing conditions in gaseous fuel with an oxidizer in the channels of radial-axial swirlers of flame tubes. The proposed kinetic hydrocarbon combustion scheme is used in three-dimensional calculations for a cannular combustion chamber of a 25 MW gas turbine engine for two combustion models: the Finite-Rate/Eddy-Dissipation and the Eddy Dissipation Concept. It was found that, for the investigated combustion chamber, the range of stable operations, without the formation of a flashback zone in the channels of radial-axial swirlers, is determined by the hydrogen content in the mixture, which is less than 25-30% (by volume). For the operating modes of the chamber without the formation of a flashback zone inside the swirler channels, the emissions of nitrogen oxide NO and carbon monoxide CO do not exceed the values corresponding to modern environmental requirements for emissions of toxic components by gas turbine engines.