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 (ø)
• 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 (Ø)

• Ø = (A/F)ST /(A/F)actual

• Ø = 1, stoichiometric combustion

• Ø < 1, fuel-lean combustion (excess air)

• Ø > 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 Ø = 1 & 59°F reactants,
AFT = 3565°F (note: titanium melts at
3036°F!!!)

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 Combustion Properties of
some Gaseous Fuels
Fuel (A/F)ST Adia. Flame
(lb/lb) Temp., °F
Methane, CH4 17.2 3565
Ethane, C2H6 16.1 3579
Propane, C3H8 15.6 3590
Hydrogen, H2 34.2 3824
Carbon 2.5 3832
Monoxide, CO
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How will Adiabatic Flame T

change as Ø changes?

AFT

CDT
Ø
0 1 2
(no fuel) (stoich.) (excess fuel)
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 Adiabatic Flame T is
maximized around Ø = 1
Thermal NOx formation is also
maximized around Ø = 1

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Ø vs NOx and AFT

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 Optimal Conditions
• To minimize NOx, must operate in fuel-
lean conditions (Ø < 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
AIRFLOW 70%

30%
4100°F
2530 K
Conventional
FUEL Same
©Solar Turbines Incorporated Turbine
Inlet
FUEL
Temp

2900°F
Lean-Premixed 1870 K

60% ©Solar Turbines Incorporated

AIRFLOW 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 well-
mixed before flame
zone
• Fuel burns at specific
air/fuel ratio, Ø
• Flame temperature
varies as function of Ø
and fuel type
• Flammability limits are a
function of Ø 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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Ø = 1.68

Ø = 1.0

Ø = 0.50

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Flammability Limits &

Materials Limits
• The maximum adiabatic flame temperature a
turbine blade can withstand corresponds to Ø
< 0.5 (typically 0.4 for modern designs)
• The lower flammability limit of CH4 is at Ø =
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, Ø (there is it again!)
– Fuel type
– Flow regime (laminar or turbulent)

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Flame speed vs fuel type

Max. flame speed
(cm/s)
Methane, CH4 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 pre-
mixed 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 Air-
Staging
(combustor
by-pass
valve)

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