CFD predictions of swirl burner aerodynamics with variable outlet configurations

Baej, Hesham, Valera Medina, Agustin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1580-7133, Syred, Nicholas, Marsh, Richard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2110-5744 and Bowen, Philip John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3644-6878 2015. CFD predictions of swirl burner aerodynamics with variable outlet configurations. Presented at: Global Conference on Energy and Sustainable Development (GCESD2015), Coventry University Technology Park, 24-26 February 2015. pp. 2307-2312.

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Abstract

Swirl stabilised combustion is one of the most widely used techniques for flame stabilisation in gas turbine combustors. Lean premixed combustion systems allow the reduction of NOx coupled with fair flame stability. The swirl mechanism produces an aerodynamic region known as central recirculation zone (CRZ) providing a low velocity region where the flame speed matches the flow velocity, thus anchoring the flame whilst serving to recycle heat and active chemical species to the root of the former. Another beneficial feature of the CRZ is the enhancement of the mixing in and around this region. However, the mixing and stabilisation processes inside of this zone have shown to be extremely complex. The level of swirl, burner outlet configuration and combustor expansion are very important variables that define the features of the CRZ. Therefore, in this paper swirling flame dynamics are investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with commercial software (ANSYS). A new generic swirl burner operated under lean-premixed conditions was modelled. A variety of nozzles were analysed using several gaseous blends at a constant power output. The investigation was based on recognising the size and strength of the central recirculation zones. The dimensions and turbulence of the Central Recirculation Zone were measured and correlated to previous experiments. The results show how the strength and size of the recirculation zone are highly influenced by the blend and infer that it is governed by both the shear layer surrounding the Central Recirculation Zones (CRZ) and the gas composition.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Engineering
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2022 08:39
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/71652

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