Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), planar Mie scattering (Pmie), and linear)1-D) spontaneous Raman scattering are applied to flame tube and sector combustors that burn Jet-A fuel at a range of inlet temperatures and pressures that simulate conditions expected in future high-performance civilian gas turbine engines. Chemiluminescence arising from C2 in the flame was also imaged. Flame spectral emissions measurements were obtained using a scanning spectrometer. Several different advanced concept fuel injectors were examined. First-ever PLIF and chemiluminescence data are presented from the 60-atm gas turbine combustor facility.
Future gas turbine combustor designs for aerospace applications will be required to meet severe restrictions on environmentally harmful emissions. To meet the target emission reduction goals, these combustors will operate at temperatures and pressures greatly exceeding those of present day aero-powerplants. New diagnostic methods are required to provide insight into understanding the complex physical and chemical processes extant at these conditions because traditional diagnostic methods are either insufficient or incapable of providing this knowledge. At NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), several optically accessible combustor rigs have been built which allow the implementation of a suite of optical diagnostic techniques that are capable of providing just this type of crucial information. The techniques employed in the GRC combustion research laboratory include planar laser-induced fluorescence and planar Mie scattering. Research efforts have been quite successful probing both non-reacting and reacting flowfields of many kerosene-fueled combustor and combustor subcomponent design at pressures approaching 2.0 MPa, and temperatures near 2100 K. Images that map out combustion intermediate species such as OH distribution, fuel spray patternation, and fuel to air ratio contour mapping have been obtained for many different fuel injector designs and configurations. A novel combination of multiple planar images and computational analysis allows a 3D capability that greatly enhances the evaluation of the combustion processes and flowfields examined in this study.
The next generation of ga turbine combustors for aerospace applications will be required to meet increasingly stringent constraints on fuel efficiency, noise abatement, and emissions. The power plants being designed to meet these constraints will operate at extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, thereby generating unique challenges to the previously employed diagnostic methodologies. Current efforts at NASA Glenn Research Center GRC utilize optically accessible, high-pressure flametubes and sector combustor rigs to probe, via advanced nonintrusive laser techniques, the complex flowfields encountered in advanced combustor designs. The fuel-air mixing process is of particular concern for lowering NOx emissions generated in lean, premixed engine concepts. Using planar laser-induced fluorescence we have obtained real- time, detailed imaging of the fuel spray distribution for a number of fuel injectors over a wide range of operational conditions that closely match those expected in the proposed propulsion systems. Using a novel combination of planar imaging of fuel fluorescence and computational analysis that allows an examination of the flowfield from any perspective, we have produced spatially and temporally resolved fuel-air distribution maps. These maps provide detailed insight into the fuel injection process at actual conditions never before possible, thereby greatly enhancing the evaluation of fuel injector performance and combustion phenomena.
An optically accessible flame tube combustor is described which has high temperature, pressure, and air flow capabilities. The windows in the combustor measure 3.8 cm axially by 5.1 cm radially, providing 67% optical access to the square cross section flow chamber. The instrumentation allows one to examine combusting flows and combustor subcomponents, such as fuel infectors and air swirlers. These internal combustor subcomponents have previously been studied only with physical probes, such as temperature and species rakes. Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) images of OH have been obtained from this lean burning combustor burning Jet-A fuel. These images were obtained using various laser excitation lines of the OH A$IMPX (1,0) band for two fuel injector configurations with pressures ranging form 1013 kPa (10 atm) to 1419 kPa (14 atm), and equivalence ratios from 0.41 to 0.59. Nonuniformities in the combusting flow, attributed to differences in fuel injector configuration, are revealed by these images.
The flow field and fuel/air mixing patterns produced in an optically accessible, premixing/prevaporization section of a high pressure/high temperature combustor were examined via focused Schlieren high-speed photography. A focal plane, approximately 8 mm thick and centered within this section downstream of the fuel injectors, was imaged at a framing rate of 8,000 frames/second. High-speed focused Schlieren images were obtained for three different Venturi-type fuel injector configurations under identical experimental parameters. The results demonstrate the efficacy of this technique to discern fuel spray patternization, fuel-air mixing efficiencies, and mixing times of various fuel injector arrangements.
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