Expanding swirl combustor operability on methane-ammonia-air mixtures using a distributed fuel injection technique and inlet air preheating

The necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has prompted the search for carbon-free fuel alternatives. One such carbon-free fuel source that can be used for power generation in a gas turbine-based system is ammonia. Ammonia combustion poses challenges due to reduced flame speed and reactivity, which can be alleviated by addition of methane or natural gas. However, NOx emissions continue to be an issue, which needs resolution before practical consideration of ammonia as a fuel source. One of the potential solutions that has been proposed is a two-stage, rich-lean combustion process to minimize NOx while ensuring complete reactant consumption. This work evaluates the use of two stra-tegies to widen stability limits for swirl combustors operating on premixed methane-ammonia-air mixtures, which would facilitate the two-stage combustion approach. The first strategy involves the use of a distributed fuel injection approach utilizing a novel micro fuel injection swirler to facilitate homogeneous mixing in a highly compact manner while preventing flashback concerns. The second strategy involves use of inlet air pre-heating to increase flame stability and delay blow-off. The effectiveness of these strategies in expanding combustor operability limits is studied using experiments conducted in a model swirl-combustor setup designed to measure blow-off limits and evaluate exhaust NOx emissions. Complementary numerical simulations, particularly aimed at under -standing NOx production pathways, are carried out using a reactor network model, wherein key inputs pertaining to recirculation volume and mass fraction are generated through detailed reacting flow simulations. The influence of the proposed strategies on NOx emissions are studied and underlying reaction pathways leading to NOx production are analyzed. Results of the study indicate that a distributed fuel injection strategy is able to significantly expand stability limits of a swirl combustor operating on methane-ammonia-air mixtures. Inlet air preheating provides additional expansion of stability limits, z 7% for rich and lean blow-off, however, this is accompanied by increased NOx production, up to 14%, which is undesirable from an emissions standpoint. NOx is found to be significantly lower for rich fuel-air mixtures primarily through the effect of NHi reaction pathways responsible for NO consumption facilitated by the presence of excess NH3.(c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.