Book Description

Lean premixed combustion provides a means to reduce pollutant formation and increase combustion efficiency. However, fuel-air mixing is rarely uniform in space and time. This nonuniformity in concentration will lead to relative increases in pollutant formation and decreases in combustion efficiency. The nonuniformity of the concentration at the exit of the premixer has been defined by Lyons (1981) as the ''unmixedness.'' Although turbulence properties such as length scales and strain rate are known to effect unmixedness, the exact relationship is unknown. Evaluating this relationship and the effect of unmixedness in premixed combustion on pollutant formation and combustion efficiency are an important part of the overall goal of US Department of Energy's Advanced Turbine System (ATS) program and are among the goals of the program described herein. The information obtained from ATS is intended to help to develop and commercialize gas turbines. The contributions to the program which the University of California (Irvine) Combustion Lab (UCICL) will provide are: (1) establish the relationship of inlet unmixedness, length scales, and mean strain rate to performance, (2) determine the optimal levels of inlet unmixedness, length scales, and mean strain rates to maximize combustor performance, and (3) identify efficient premixing methods for achieving the necessary inlet conditions. The program during this reporting period is focused on developing a means to measure and qualify different degrees of temporal and spatial unmixedness. Laser diagnostic methods for planer unmixedness measurements are being developed and preliminary results are presented herein. These results will be used to (1), aid in the design of experimental premixers, and (2), determine the unmixedness which will be correlated with the emissions of the combustor. This measure of unmixedness coupled with length scale, strain rate and intensity information is required to attain the UCI goals.