Reduced combustion time model for methane in gas turbine flow fields

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of the complex processes that occur within the burner of a gas turbine engine has become a critical step in the design process. However, due to computer limitations, it is very difficult to completely couple the fluid mechanics solver with the full combustion chemistry. Therefore, simplified chemistry models are required, and the topic of this research was to provide reduced chemistry models for CH4/O2 gas turbine flow fields to be integrated into CFD codes for the simulation of flow fields of natural gas-fueled burners. The reduction procedure for the CH4/O2 model utilized a response modeling technique wherein the full mechanism was solved over a range of temperatures, pressures, and mixture ratios to establish the response of a particular variable, namely the chemical reaction time. The conditions covered were between 1000 and 2500 K for temperature, 0.1 and 2 for equivalence ratio in air, and 0.1 and 50 atm for pressure. The kinetic time models in the form of ignition time correlations are given in Arrhenius-type formulas as functions of equivaience ratio, temperature, and pressure; or fuel-to-air ratio, temperature, and pressure. A single ignition time model was obtained for the entire range of conditions, and separate models for the low-temperature and high-temperature regions as well as for fuel-lean and rich cases were also derived. Predictions using the reduced model were verified using results from the full mechanism and empirical correlations from experiments. The models are intended for (but not limited to) use in CFD codes for flow field simulations of gas turbine combustors in which initial conditions and degree of mixedness of the fuel and air are key factors in achieving stable and robust combustion processes and acceptable emission levels. The chemical time model was utilized successfully in CFD simulations of a generic gas turbine combustor with four different cases with various levels of fuel-air premixing.