Combustion Fundamentals

Dr. Mike Klassen, P.E.

Combustion Science &
Engineering, Inc.
MKlassen@csefire.com
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What is NOx?
NOx stands for Nitrogen Oxides
NO, N2O, NO2, etc.

Some NOx will always be formed when fuel is

burned in air
There are several ways that NOx is formed
Most important path is the reaction of the N2 and
O2 to form NO the Zeldovich reaction

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NOx formation pathways

Zeldovich reaction (thermal NOx)

N2O reaction
Prompt NOx
Fuel NOx

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Zeldovich Reaction

Reaction 1: O + N2 =>
NO + N
Reaction 2: N + O2 => NO + O
Net reaction: N2 + O2 => 2NO
Reaction rate increases exponentially
with flame temperature
Often called thermal NOx
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Impact of GT Conditions on
Thermal NOx formation
The Zeldovich reaction also increases
with the square root of pressure, so gas
turbine designers are faced with a true
dilemma
Higher pressure ratios and higher firing
temperatures yield higher efficiencies
but also produce more thermal NOx
Which would you choose?
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Impact of GT Compressor Discharge

Conditions on NO Formation

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N2O Pathway

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Prompt NOx

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Impact of Fuel Nitrogen

Content

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NO2 Formation

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How is CO formed?
In a flame the carbon atoms in a fuel will
react with O2 in the air to form CO2
But this occurs in a two step process
Step 1: one oxygen atom reacts with a
carbon atom to form CO
Step 2: another oxygen atom reacts with
CO to form CO2

Without step 2 you get CO emissions

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Quenching causes CO
Step 2 will not happen if the combustion
products are quenched or cooled
prematurely
Typically this happens in regions where cooling air
is mixed into the flow

Step will also not happen if there is a

shortage of O atoms fuel-rich combustion
Typically not encountered in gas turbines

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Regions of High CO in a GT
combustor

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NO & CO
In general, hotter firing temperatures
produce more NOx and less CO
Conversely, lower firing temperatures
produce more CO and less NOx
Also, longer residence time in the flame
zone gives more time for NOx form and
for CO to be consumed
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Optimal Combustor Design

Now we will examine how to design a
combustor to minimize both NOx and
CO
But first, we need to go over some
combustion fundamentals

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Important Concepts

Air/Fuel Ratio (A/F)

Stoichiometric A/F Ratio (A/F)ST
Equivalence Ratio ()
Adiabatic Flame Temperature

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Air/Fuel Ratio
Ratio of air flow to fuel flow in a flame
Can be a volume (or mole) ratio or a
mass ratio (lbs-air/lbs-fuel)

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Stoichiometric A/F
The air/fuel ratio that results in all of the
fuel and oxygen being consumed
In air, for every mole (or molecule or
cubic foot) of O2 there are 3.77 moles
(or molecules or cubic feet) of N2
So after all the O2 has been consumed
you still have a lot of N2 in the exhaust
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Stoichiometric Combustion of
Methane
CH4 + 2x(O2 + 3.77N2) => CO2 + 2H2O +
7.54N2
(A/F)ST = 2x(1+3.77)/1 =
9.54 ft3-air/ft3-CH4
(A/F)ST = (2x32+2x3.77x28)/16 =
17.2 lbs-air/lb-CH4

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Equivalence Ratio ()
= (A/F)ST /(A/F)actual
= 1, stoichiometric combustion
< 1, fuel-lean combustion (excess air)
> 1, fuel-rich combustion (excess
fuel)
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Adiabatic Flame Temperature

The temperature the products of
combustion will reach if there is no heat
loss from the flame zone
Function of (A/F), fuel type, and the
temperature of the reactants
For CH4, with = 1 & 59F reactants,
AFT = 3565F (note: titanium melts at
3036F!!!)
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Combustion Properties of
some Gaseous Fuels
Fuel
Methane, CH4

(A/F)ST
(lb/lb)
17.2

Adia. Flame
Temp., F
3565

Ethane, C2H6

16.1

3579

Propane, C3H8

15.6

3590

Hydrogen, H2

34.2

3824

Carbon
Monoxide, CO

2.5

3832
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How will Adiabatic Flame T

change as changes?

AFT
CDT
0
(no fuel)

1
(stoich.)

2
(excess fuel)
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Adiabatic Flame T is
maximized around = 1
Thermal NOx formation is also
maximized around = 1

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vs NOx and AFT

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Optimal Conditions
To minimize NOx, must operate in fuellean conditions ( < 1)
Cannot be too lean or CO emissions will
become too high
Cannot operate fuel-rich because
unburned hydrocarbons and CO will be
too high
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Diffusion vs Pre-Mixed
70%

AIRFLOW
30%

4100F
2530 K

Conventional
FUEL

Solar Turbines Incorporated

FUEL
2900F
1870 K

Lean-Premixed
60%
AIRFLOW

Same
Turbine
Inlet
Temp

Solar Turbines Incorporated

40%
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Diffusion vs Pre-Mixed Flames

Fuel & air are separate
before flame zone
Fuel burns over range
of fuel/air mixtures
Burn rate depends on
rate of fuel & air supply
and degree of mixing
Over-ventilated flame
temps near max
No flammability limits

Fuel and air are wellmixed before flame

zone
Fuel burns at specific
air/fuel ratio,
Flame temperature
varies as function of
and fuel type
Flammability limits are a
function of and fuel
type
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Special Considerations for

Pre-mixed Flames

Good Mixing
Flammability limits
Blow-off & Flashback
Dynamic Instabilities or Humming
Auto-Ignition
Part-Load Operation
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 = 1.68

= 1.0

= 0.50

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Flammability Limits &

Materials Limits
The maximum adiabatic flame temperature a
turbine blade can withstand corresponds to
< 0.5 (typically 0.4 for modern designs)
The lower flammability limit of CH4 is at =
0.5 (and CO emissions would be too high at
that condition also)
Conclusion: some air must by-pass the flame
zone even in a pre-mixed combustor
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Blow-off and Flashback

If the flame speed does not match the
flow speed of the reactants, the flame
front will move
If flame speed is too high, you can get
flashback (flame moving upstream into
fuel nozzle)
If flame speed is too low, you can get
blow-off (flame pushed downstream)
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What determines flame

speed?
Flame speed is determined by the
combustion reaction rates and those
rates depend on:
Equivalence Ratio, (there is it again!)
Fuel type
Flow regime (laminar or turbulent)

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Flame speed vs fuel type

Methane, CH4

Max. flame speed

(cm/s)
37.3

Ethane, C2H6

44.2

Propane, C3H8

42.7

Hydrogen, H2

291.2

Carbon Monoxide, CO

42.9
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Pre-mixed Combustor with Diffusion Pilot Flame

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Dynamic Instabilities or
Humming
Combustion instabilities occur when a
forcing mechanism drives pressure
fluctuations at the resonant frequencies
of the the combustion chamber.
Combustion instabilities can lead to:
Excessive wear and eventually component
failure
Increased emissions of NOx and UHC
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What Can Cause Humming?

Combustion instabilities can be caused by
numerous mechanisms, but are generally
related to the coupling of heat release with
pressure (or acoustic) waves. Amplitudes
and frequencies of the instabilities can
depend on:

Inlet air and fuel temperatures

Fuel Type
Fuel Injector geometry
Combustor geometry
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Auto-Ignition
When fuel and air are pre-mixed, one
always has to worry about the mixture
igniting before it reaches a spark (or
flame)
The temperature above which a fuel-air
mixture can spontaneously ignite is
called the auto-ignition temperature.
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Part-Load Operation
As gas turbines reduce load, the turbine
rotor inlet temperature decreases, which
means that the overall fuel-air ratio must
decrease
This poses problems for pre-mixed flames
because of the lower flammability limit

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Part-Load Strategies
Some manufacturers only operate in premixed mode over a limited load range
At low loads the combustion switches to a
diffusion flame (with higher emissions)

Some manufacturers extend the load range

of pre-mixed operation by air-staging or
fuel-staging
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Fuel-Staging Example

Source: GE Report 3568E

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Annular Combustor
Fuel Staging

Source: GE Report 3568E

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Gas
Turbines
with AirStaging
(combustor
by-pass
valve)
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