Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2008: Power for Land, Sea and Air

GT2008
June 9-13, 2008, Berlin, Germany

GT2008-50116

COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS OF A CAN COMBUSTOR WITH A ROTATING CASING FOR

AN INNOVATIVE MICRO GAS TURBINE

Hsin-Yi Shih and Chih-Zong Liu

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

ABSTRACT power, propulsive thrust, or the combination of these two.

A can type combustor with rotating casing for the innovative
micro gas turbine has been modeled, and the combustion
characteristics were investigated. The simulations were
performed using commercial code STAR-CD, in which three-
dimensional compressible k-ε turbulent flow model and one-
step overall chemical reaction between methane/air were used.
The results include the detailed flame structure at different
rotation speed of outside casing, ranging from stationary to the
maximum speed of 58000 rpm of the design point. The airflows
are baffled when entering the combustor through the linear
holes due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotating casing
and the inlet flow angle is inclined. When the rotation is in the
opposite direction of the swirling flows driven by the designed
swirler, a shorter but broader recirculation zone and a concave
shape flame are found at higher rotating speed. At maximum
rotating speed, the swirling flows are dominated by the rotating
flows caused by the casing, especially downstream of the
combustor. The combustor performance were also analyzed,
indicating higher combustion efficiency and higher exit
temperature when casing rotates, which benefits the
performance of gas turbine, but the cooling and possible hot
spots for turbines are the primary concerns.
Keywords: Gas turbine combustion, can combustor, micro gas
turbine.
INTRODUCTION
The gas turbine engine operates on the Brayton cycle,
which begins with compression, heat addition and terminates in
expansion. The intake air is compressed in a compressor and
delivered through the diffuser to the combustor, where fuel is
injected and burned to raise gas temperature to a higher value.
The hot, high-pressure combustion gases then expand through
the rotating turbines where work is extracted to produce shaft
Recently, micro gas turbines, with a power range of 25-300
kW, have gained a lot interests due to the market potential for
distributed power generation. A lot of research programs have
been initiated since late 1999 [1]. For a high-speed micro gas
turbine, it is difficult to improve the rigidity of the core shaft
with limited diameter. The vibration due to resonance is a
serious problem and it is more apparent in micro gas turbine at
high speed operations. One of the inventions related to the
engine core rotor shaft structure for use in the gas turbine
engine is to greatly enlarge the diameter of the shaft to increase
in the rigidity and avoid vibration from resonance of the shaft.
This invention has granted the U.S. and R.O.C patents [2, 3]
and the idea is schematically shown in Fig. 1. As illustrated, the
innovative engine core rotor is mounted inside a casing, which
has a compression section, a combustion section and a turbine
section. The shaft of the engine core rotor comprises an outer
annular shaft body, an inner annular shaft body, a front annular
shaft body, compressor and turbine blades, and a combustor.
The innovation is to attach the turbine blades inside an enlarged
outer annular shaft. Therefore, the shaft body has a high
rigidity, and can be operated under a high critical speed to
improve the stability of the system and prolong the service life.
Also, the hollow shaft accommodates a can-type combustor for
compactness, so as to reduce heat dissipation and increase the
thermal efficiency of the gas turbine engine.
However, unlike the conventional gas turbine engine, the
stationary combustor is mounted inside the rotating shaft of the
innovative gas turbine engine, and the hollow shaft becomes
the casing of the combustor. During operation, the entrance air
between the combustor liner and the casing then flows both
axially and circumferentially due to the centrifugal effect as the
shaft rotates, causing a swirling flow outside the combustor
liner. This is quite different from the conventional flow patterns
for a gas turbine combustor, where entrance air moves

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 downstream most axially until it meets the liner holes and flows Hollow Shaft
into the combustor. Although the swirling flows have been Turbine
Can Combustor
widely used in gas turbine combustors for promoting rapid Compressor
mixing, improving flammability limits, shortening flame size, Air
and reducing pollutant emissions [4, 5], it was produced for the
combustion zone, which is inside the liner, not outside the liner.
So far, there is no study for such combustor with a rotating
casing. It apparently set the purpose of this work to investigate Fig. 2 The schematic of proposed innovative micro gas turbine.
the combustion characteristics of the can combustor with a
rotating casing and the subsequent influence on the innovative
micro gas turbine.

Table 1. The cycle analysis data of the proposed micro gas

turbine (British unit).

THE CAN COMBUSTOR

Fig. 1. The schematic of innovative rotor shaft structures.
THE INNOVATIVE MICRO GAS TURBINE
According to the present invention, a micro gas turbine with
a power output of 60 kW was proposed, and the feasibility
study of the system has been made [6]. The schematic of the
engine is shown in Fig. 2, which includes the centrifugal
compressor, can combustor, axial turbine and the enlarged
hollow shaft. Because the combustor is mounted directly inside
the shaft, the proposed system greatly reduces the dimensions
and weight of the engine core rotor, in comparison with
conventional designs of equal power. Based on the feasibility
study, the dimensions and weight of the invention can be about
80% of a convectional gas turbine engine.
The thermodynamic cycle analysis and the gas turbine
performance were simulated by the software GasTurbTM [7].
The results are shown in table 1, where the flow rate W (in
lbm/s), temperature T (in R), and pressure P (in psia) at each
station (the inlet and outlet of the component) are listed. For the
proposed micro gas turbine engine to have power output near
81.9 hp (60 kW), the total airflow rate is 1.080 lbm/s (0.49
kg/s) and the fuel supply rate (natural gas) is 0.02113 lbm/s
(0.0096 kg/s). The designed efficiency for compressor,
combustor and turbine are 0.81, 0.9, and 0.84 respectively. The
compression ratio is 3.28, and the expansion ratio is 1.73. The
overall thermal efficiency without any heat recuperation will be
12.8% at nominal speed of 58000 rpm. Here the target
combustion efficiency of 90% is set lower than the normal
application in gas turbine engine because a conservative design
was considered for the newly proposed system in compact size.
Figure 3 shows the picture of the can combustor inside the
rotating shaft, which was designed using the in-house
preliminary design code PRECOMB [8] based on the design
method for conventional combustor. From the previous cycle
analysis for the proposed micro gas turbine, the airflow rate at
the inlet of the combustor is 1.042 lbm/s (0.473 kg/sec) at
775.99R (431K) and 47.282 psia (3.2 atm). The fuel is natural
gas (methane, CH4) with a flow rate of 0.02113 lbm/s (0.0096
kg/sec). The overall equivalence ratio is 0.35, and the Reynolds
number is around 3.4 × 105. The design criteria for the can
combustor is to achieve the combustion performance of 90%
combustion efficiency with exit gas temperature of 2160R
(1200K) and 6% pressure drop.
Transition Duct
Rotating Shaft
Dilution Hole
Secondary Hole
Swirler Vane Primary Hole
Fig. 3. The designed can combustor inside the rotating shaft.
The combustor, made in stainless steel, is 75 mm in
diameter and 180 mm in length, consisting of primary,

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 secondary and dilution zones, followed by a bullet nosed cap to assumed non-adiabatic with ambient temperature at 300K.
form a transition duct. The diameter of the rotating casing is 95 Besides, an angular velocity that describes the rotation speed of
mm. The air admission holes are determined by evaluating the the casing is required. In this work, computations were made
air distribution to achieve the highest flame temperature in the for casing rotating between 0 to 58000 rpm, the maximum
primary zone, weaker reaction zone in the secondary zone and nominal speed.
extinction region in the dilution zone. The air holes are
distributed equally around the combustor, eight for primary
zone, each 7 mm in diameter, eight for secondary zone, each 5
mm in diameter, and six for dilution zone, each has a diameter
of 11 mm. Most of the main air stream flows through the gap
between casing and combustor liner and then enter the
combustor through the holes. Only about 10% of the entrance
air flow directly into the combustor through a swirler.
To accommodate the combustor inside the shaft, a simple
and compact design with heavy combustion loading was made.
Therefore, the swirler was simply designed as twelve
rectangular slots circling around the inlet of the combustor,
with a vane angle of 30o. The swirl number is estimated near 1. Fig. 4. The grid structure of the model.
The film cooling was replaced with two rows of small cooling
holes located at the combustor dome and dilution zone just
ahead of the dilution holes. We think the swirling outside the
liner could contribute the cooling by circulating around the
combustor. The gaseous fuel nozzle is inserted axially, and the
fuel is injected radially from the small holes that equally spaced
around the circumference of the nozzle.
Viewing toward downstream, the swirling flows caused
by the swirler rotates counter-clockwise, and the rotating
direction of the casing is in opposite.

THE MODELING
The commercial CFD software STAR-CD [9] is used to
model the combustor. The computation domain includes the
interior of the can-combustor, combustor liner and the space
between liner and rotating casing. The girds are generated using
multi-block method. The meshes for fuel injection holes and
the liner holes are created and refined in centric coordinates.
Finer cells are located in the primary zone where strong
reaction is expected, and also around the air entrance holes
where the physical properties change more dramatically.
One layer of zero-thickness cells called “Baffles” simulates
the liner of the combustor. The baffles are assumed to be
smooth, stationary, impermeable walls with no-slip condition.
Thermal resistance is also specified at the baffle, so the amount
of heat transferred across the liner can be calculated. Total
amount of grids are 302139, which is shown in Fig. 4, and the
baffle representing the combustor linear is shown in Fig. 5.
The theoretical model consists of three-dimensional
compressible k-ε/high Reynolds number turbulent flow model
and one step overall reaction between methane and air. The
steady-state Navier-Stokes equations are solved using finite-
volume method and SIMPLE algorithm [10]. The chemical
reaction mechanism adopts the Presumed Probability Density
Function (PPDF) for diffusion flames in the chemical module
to simulate the combustion process. Gravitational effect is
ignored. Although the model does not represent the state-of-art
in modeling gas turbine reacting flows, it could provide a
qualitative trend prediction of the casing rotation effects in the
early developing stage.
The boundary conditions for the casing wall need to be
specified. Except no-slip, smooth, impermeable, the wall is
Fig. 5. The combustor liner represented by baffle.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Cold Flow Field
The cold flow fields for the combustor with and without
rotating casing are compared first to demonstrate the change of
flow pattern. In Fig. 6, the whole flow field inside and outside
the combustor liner is shown on the axial centerline plane
through the middle of the primary holes. As you can see, there
is a flow recirculation in the primary zone; it is induced by the
vortex breakdown in swirling flows when the rotation imparted
to the flow is high. The swirling flows are produced by the
swirler, which is sitting around the fuel injector. This type of
recirculation promotes better mixing and has been widely used
in industrial burners and gas turbine combustor.
With the rotation of the casing (at 58000 rpm), the axial
flow velocity is smaller and the recirculation zone seems to be
shorter but a little broader. Interestingly, there is a second
recirculation region downstream near the dilution zone for the
case with a stationary casing. However, it disappears when
casing rotates. It is believed that as casing rotates; the flows
outside the liner also rotate. Consequently, the flows entering
the combustor are not going straight toward the center, but with
an angle into the liner holes. It is illustrated in Fig. 7, where the
velocity profiles are shown on the radial plane through the eight
primary holes. Viewing toward downstream, the swirling flows

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Fig. 6. The velocity profiles on the axial centerline for 0 (top)
and 58000 rpm (bottom).
Fig. 7. The velocity profiles on the radial planes through the
primary holes for 0 (top) and 58000 rpm (bottom).
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produced by the swirler rotate counter-clockwise and the inlet
flows between combustor liner and casing enter vertically into
the combustor through the air holes. However, with the casing
rotating clockwise at 58000 rpm, it is very obvious that flows
outside the liner rotate clockwise with high speed. Due to the
rotation, the flows enter the combustor with an angle, and it
dominates the flow motion inside the combustor. As a result,
the flows inside the combustor also rotate in clockwise
direction, a reversal from the case without rotating casing. The
motion of rotation increases further downstream, and
diminishes the second recirculation zone. Besides, the
centrifugal force caused by the rotation prohibits the air stream
from penetrating into the middle of the combustor. Compared
to the case without rotating casing, less amount of air admitted
in the primary zone, but more air going to the rear part of the
combustor.
Effects of Rotating Casing on Combustion
The three-dimensional combustion simulation for the
combustor was then performed to study the influence of the
rotating casing on combustion behaviors. Fig. 8 shows velocity
stream lines and temperature profiles on three selected planes
of the combustor for the cases at 0 rpm (stationary casing) and
58000 rpm. As we can see, near the primary zone upstream, the
swirling flows caused by the swirler at 0 rpm are much stronger
than that at 58000 rpm. When casing rotates at 58000 rpm, the
recirculation flow is a little bit twisted and the entrance air
basically flow downstream spirally because of the rotating
motion of the outer casing. More entrance air flows into the
combustor downstream near the dilution zone. In addition, the
temperature profiles indicate that the combustion zone is in the
primary zone upstream. Near the air holes and going
downstream, the temperature is lower due to air cooling.
However, high temperature region is wider, but shorter when
casing rotates at 58000 rpm compared to that at 0 rpm.
Fig. 8. The three-dimensional combustion simulation of the
combustor.
The combustion characteristics of the can combustor with
casing rotating at different speed are then investigated. Fig. 9
shows the temperature profiles on the axial centerline plane
sliced through one of the primary holes for the rotating speed of
0, 20000, 40000 and 58000 rpm. The flame is stabilized in the
core region of the primary zone since the fuel and air mixes
rapidly in the recirculation zone there. The highest temperature
is around 2400K, which is close to the adiabatic flame
temperature for methane-air mixture at equivalence ratio near 1.
 Going downstream, temperature decreases due to air-cooling
and dilution. However, when casing begins to rotate, the flame
shape alters. As we can see, when the rotating speed increases
from 0 to 20000 rpm, the high temperature zone seems to be a
little wider, and the maximum temperature is increased 10 K.
As the rotating speed increases further to 40000 rpm, the high
temperature zone in the core region shrinks and the flame is
shorter, but it expands wider and becomes longer on the side.
As a result, the flame changes to a concave shape toward
downstream. At the maximum rotating speed of 58000 rpm, the
flame shape is basically similar to that at 40000 rpm, but the
high temperature zone is enlarged, especially on the side of
primary zone. The flow patterns in the primary zone are shown
and compared in Fig. 10. The recirculation zone seems to be
shorter but shift on the side when the rotating speed increases.

Fig. 9. The temperature Profiles on the centerline planes for 0, Fig. 10. The velocity profiles on the centerline planes for 0,
20000, 40000, 58000 rpm (from top to the bottom). 20000, 40000, 58000 rpm (from top to bottom).

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 Besides, the flows move upstream in the middle of the primary
zone, which push flame backward. Consequently, a shorter, but
wider concave flame is observed at higher rotating motion.
However, near the secondary zone, the axial flow velocity
increases tremendously because of the thermal expansion of the
hot combustion products, and the velocity is larger when the
rotating speed is higher. Even for the case at 0 rpm, the flow
acceleration going downstream due to thermal expansion
suppresses the second flow recirculation near the dilution zone,
which appeared in the cold flow case.
The corresponding velocity profiles on the radial planes
through primary holes are shown in Fig. 11. It can help to
understand why the flame shape and the flow recirculation
change in the primary zone. For the 0 rpm case, we can see the
air flows enter straight into the combustor through the liner
holes. The flows then rotate counter-clockwise in the core of
the combustor in the primary zone due to the designed swirler.
As mentioned earlier, the casing rotates in the opposite
direction and the driven flows counters the swirling flows
inside the combustor. The inlet-flows then slant to the right
slightly and affect the swirling flows. The swirling in the core
region is depressed by the motion; therefore the flows move
upstream and push the recirculation aside. The impact is more
pronounced downstream at higher rotating speed.
Consequently, the flame shape becomes concave and the flame
is long on the side due to the rotating. At the maximum speed
of 58000 rpm, the rotating flows caused by the casing seem to
neutralize the swirling flows inside the combustor.
Apparently, the rotating speed, as well as the rotating
direction of the casing affect flow structure and flame behavior.
Here we make a calculation that the casing rotates in the same
direction of the swirling flows caused by the swirler. That is,
viewing downstream, the casing rotates counter-clockwise as
that of designed swirler. The results of temperature profiles on
axial planes are shown in Fig. 12 (the rotating speed is shown
in negative value to represent counter-clockwise). As the
rotation speed increases, flame seems to be narrower in the core
region and the high temperature zone moves asides
downstream. However, at maximum rotation speed of -58000
rpm, the flame just stabilizes between primary and secondary
zone. Further examinations on the flow profiles at -58000 rpm
are shown in Fig. 13. It indicates that the recirculation in the

Fig. 11. The velocity profiles on radial planes through the

primary holes for 0, 20000, 40000, and 58000 rpm (from top to
bottom).

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 primary zone is split into two small recirculation flows. The
flame moves downstream and stabilizes over the second
recirculation zone. The radial velocity profile in the plane
through the primary holes shows the rotation in counter-
clockwise direction is more severe by the augmentation of the
rotating casing.
Fig. 12. The temperature Profiles on the centerline planes for 0,
-20000, -40000, -58000 rpm (from top to the bottom).
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Fig. 13. The velocity profiles on radial planes through the
primary holes for -58000 rpm (from top to bottom).
Combustor Performance
Generally speaking, the combustion performance
parameters of prime importance to the gas turbine are
combustion efficiency, stability, and ignition. The stability
map, which involves a wide range of equivalence ratios, is not
studied in this work. Also, the ignition is not an issue for
steady-state simulation. So only the combustion efficiency of
the combustor will be discussed. Besides, in order to achieve a
satisfactory and consistent distribution of temperature in the
efflux gases discharging into the turbines, the most important
parameters are the turbine inlet temperature (T4avg) and the
pattern factor. In Fig. 14, the T4avg, which is calculated by the
mass-flow-weighted mean of all the exit temperature and the
corresponding combustion efficiency at different rotating speed
of casing are shown. The positive mark (+) represents the
results with casing rotating clockwise (but in opposite direction
of the swirler), and the negative sign (-) indicates otherwise.
We can see that the average exit temperature is around 1160K
when casing is stationary. As casing rotates, the average exit
temperature jumps to 1198K at 10000 rpm, which is close to
the target exit temperature of 1200K. When the rotating speed
increases further, the exit temperature drops a little bit, but the
values are rather close for different rotating speeds and
directions, except for the case of maximum rotating speed in
clockwise direction (+58000 rpm), which is approximately 15K
 lower than the others. The higher average exit temperature stationary casing, indicating a severe temperature fluctuation at
means the combustion efficiency is better, since the efficiency combustor exit and worse condition for turbine. The
is defined as the ratio of the heat released over the heat temperature distribution at combustor exit is shown in Fig. 16.
available. So the profile of combustion efficiency resembles Six hot spots are clearly found at several places near the outside
that of average exit temperature in Fig. 14, which is expected. circumference, and the temperature can be as high as 1900K.
The combustion efficiency can reach 90% with relatively This demonstrates the serious problem of cooling for current
higher exit temperature at 10000 rpm, but the combustion combustor design with six large dilution holes. However, with
efficiency is lowest (86.5%) for stationary casing. casing rotating, the pattern factor first decreases and then
increase as the rotating speed increases. The cooling problem is
improving, but the values are still too high for a combustor in
0.94
1200 satisfaction. The corresponding temperature distribution at exit
0.93 for 58000 rpm is shown in Fig. 17. The higher temperature
regions now shift to the inside circumference due to the

Combustion Efficiency (η)

0.92
swirling flows caused by the rotating casing, and the highest
1175
0.91 temperature drops to 1700K. The temperature continually
decreases from inner periphery outward.
T4,avg (K)

0.9
1150
0.89

0.88
T4, avg(+)
1125 T4, avg(-) 0.87
η(+)
η(-)
0.86

1100 0.85
0 20000 40000 60000
Rotating Speed (rpm)
Fig. 14. The exit temperature and combustion efficiency of the
combustor.

1.4 12

1.3

1.2
11.5
Fig. 16. The exit temperature distribution at 0 rpm.
Pattern Factor (PF)

Pressure Drop (%)

1.1

1 PF(+)
PF(-) 11
pressure drop(+)
0.9 pressure drop(-)

0.8

10.5
0.7

0.6

0.5 10
0 20000 40000 60000
Rotating Speed (rpm)

Fig. 15. Pattern factor and pressure drop of the combustor.

However, too high a temperature or too severe a

temperature fluctuation at the exit is a problem for turbine.
Therefore, the pattern factor, which highlights the maximum
exit temperature is normally defined as (T4max-T4avg) / (T4avg- Fig. 17. The exit temperature distribution at 58000 rpm.
T3avg) to indicate the temperature fluctuation or the possible hot
spots at exit. The pattern factor and the pressure drop through Two things are noticed in the performance analysis. First,
the combustor at different rotating speeds are shown in Fig. 15. even with the stationary casing like the convectional gas turbine
The pressure drop is continually decreasing with increasing combustor, the exit temperature, combustion efficiency and
rotating speeds, but the values (near 11%) are larger than the pressure drop are not reaching the target values for the current
designed target of 6%. The pattern factor is greater than 1 for combustor designs, and the severe temperature fluctuation at

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 the exit could cause the damage of the turbine since the pattern
factor is high. This indicates the combustion loading of the
compact size of the combustor is too heavy, and the cooling
strategy in the dilution zone needs to be reconsidered. It is the
consequence of trying to minimize the size of the combustor in
order to fit in the hollow shaft. Within the limited space, the
performance can be improved in the future with a longer
combustor, more dilution holes and film cooling in the dilution
zone. Second, with rotating casing, the combustion efficiency
and pattern factor are better than those with stationary casing,
no matter what direction the casing rotates. It shows the
swirling flows circulating outside the liner could help the
mixing, combustion and cooling. However, the effects and
benefits are varied at different rotating speeds. From 10000 to
45000 rpm, the flames first shrink, become concave shape and
then enlarge again with increasing rotating speeds as shown in
previous flame temperature profiles (Fig. 9 and Fig. 12).
Consequently, the combustion efficiency (and exit temperature)
and pattern factor first decrease and then increase with
increasing rotating speed, exhibiting a non-monotonic behavior
with a minimum value at a certain rotating speed (near 30000
rpm). In this study, the direction of the rotation begins to take
effects over 50000 rpm. When the casing rotates clockwise and
counters the swirler, the swirling flows were depressed and
even reversed so that the combustion efficiency drops. On the
other hand, when the casing rotates in the same direction as the
designed swirler, the flame is stabilized much downstream (in
Fig. 12). As a result, the combustion efficiency (and exit
temperature) is higher than the case of clockwise rotation at the
maximum rotation speed of 58000 rpm.
CONCLUSIONS
The can type combustor has been modeled and the effects
of rotating casing on combustion performance are studied and
characterized qualitatively. Compared to the conventional gas
turbine combustor, the centrifugal force caused by the rotation
makes the air flows more difficult to enter the liner holes in the
primary zone. This alters the air distribution and also the
combustion behavior. Not only the amount of air changed, the
inclined angle that the air flows into the combustor, makes the
flow pattern inside the combustor really complex. A shorter but
wider recirculation zone and a concave shape were found in the
primary zone. At the higher speed of rotation, the influence of
the swirling flows outside the combustor can exceed the effect
of the designed swirler.
The rotating casing produces centrifugal force on airflows.
The effects of centrifugal acceleration on combustion have
been previously studied [11]. The flame speed increases with
increasing acceleration up to approximately 800g. Yonezawa et
al. [12] applied the concept to design a swirl-stabilized
combustor by using a series of injection ducts inclined both
axially and circumferential to drive a swirling flows within the
combustor liner. It demonstrated that the rate of combustion
could be sufficiently enhanced, so that the swirl combustor had
higher efficiency with extremely short flame. This effect is
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similar to what we have here. However, the situation in our
combustor is more complicated if the outer swirling flows
driven by the rotating casing are in the opposite direction of the
inner swirling flows induced by a designed swirler. The flow
interactions at different rotating speeds plus the combustion
phenomenon are of both fundamental and practical interests.
The combustor performance was also analyzed with the
modeling results. The exit temperature and the combustion
efficiency are increased with casing rotating. This will benefit
the performance of gas turbine. However, the cooling and the
possible hot spots for turbine are the primary concerns,
although the pattern factors are decreased compared to the case
with a stationary casing. Further design modifications or
redesigns for the combustor are needed, especially for the
cooling strategy in the dilution zone. Before the invention can
be employed in the future, the experimental testing of this
combustion concepts is required. The comparisons of the
simulation results and the performance measurements of the
combustor should be done first for the case with a stationary
casing to validate the model quantitatively.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was funded by NSC, Taiwan under the grant
NSC95-13231. The authors would like to thank all the ex-
colleagues in ITRI for their valuable suggestions.
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