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Estimation of NOx emissions from the combustion chamber of heavy-

duty gas turbines
To cite this article: Qiaonan Zhao et al 2021 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 657 012004

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2020 International Symposium on Energy Environment and Green Development IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 657 (2021) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/657/1/012004

Estimation of NOx emissions from the combustion chamber of

heavy-duty gas turbines

Qiaonan Zhao, Guofeng Wang, Haonan Zhang, Youning Xu, Shuo Yang
Shenyang Institute of Engineering, Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Clean
Combustion Power Generation and Heating Technology, Shenyang, China
*Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: In order to study the estimation of NOx emission, numerical optimization and data
fitting methods are used to study the NOx emission law of the combustion chamber of heavy-
duty gas turbines. The inlet pressure Pin, air mass flow ma, and average temperature in the
combustion zone Tpz are used for the fitting of NOx emission estimation formula under the
multi-parameter impact. The results show that this is a fast and effective research method for the
estimation of NOx emissions in the combustion chamber under the condition of ensuring the
accuracy, which can obtain the NOx emission far below the average level under the condition of
optimal inlet pressure.

1. Introduction
Due to the importance attached to environmental protection, the requirements for the emission standards
of combustion chamber pollution have become more stringent in China. As one of the important
standards for examining gas turbine combustion chambers, NOx emission has become the main
monitoring parameter in the design stage of combustion chambers. Therefore, it is an important direction
for the development of the combustion chamber of gas turbines in China to develop the NOx emission
estimation model of strong universality[1].
The test of gas turbine combustion chambers has high demands on the environment and is also time-
consuming and of high cost, which poses a great challenge to the research on pollutant emission of
combustion chambers[2]. This paper uses the numerical simulation instead of part of experiments to
study and analyze the combustion chamber of heavy-duty gas turbines. Also, the numerical simulation
results of multi-parameter optimization are compared with traditional estimation models to study the
relationship between three main parameters, namely inlet pressure, air mass flow and the average
temperature in the combustion zone and NOx emission. The fitting formula suitable for these three
parameters is obtained based on the numerical simulation results and the multi-parameter impact
database of the pollutant emission of gas turbine combustion chambers is constructed and supplemented,
which provides a reference basis for the design of the same type of the combustion chamber of heavy-
duty gas turbines. Also, it provides a reliable research method for the quick estimation of NOx emissions
in the combustion chamber of heavy-duty gas turbines.

2. Physical Model and Calculation Method

The CFD calculation method is used in this paper to study the pollutant emission of the combustion
chamber of heavy-duty gas turbines and to calculate the change in parameters such as temperature and
pressure of combustion chambers under different operating conditions; the Latin square design[5] and
statistical analysis method are used to calculate the change law of different parameters to construct the
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2020 International Symposium on Energy Environment and Green Development IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 657 (2021) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/657/1/012004

pollutant emission database of the combustion chamber of heavy-duty gas turbines; the least square
method is used for the fitting of the research parameter and NOx emission formula in the database to
show the relationship between parameter change and NOx emission.

2.1 Boundary Conditions

In this paper, the numerical simulation of the combustion process in a single flame tube of a gas turbine
under the no-loading condition is performed. The calculation parameter of this gas turbine is shown in
Table 1.
Table 1. Parameter setting of flame tube
Parameter date
Fuel temperature/K 610.5
Inlet temperature/K 610.5
Operation pressure/Pa 1.2159×106
Fuel inlet/(kg/s) 1.525
Primary air inlet/(kg/s) 3.2895
Secondary air inlet/(kg/s) 5.3649

2.2 Physical Model and Mesh Generation

One of the 20 flame tubes of a heavy-duty gas turbine is selected as the calculation domain, and the full-
scale periodic numerical analysis model is established (as shown in Figure 1). This flame tube consists
of 20 primary air inlets, 6 secondary air inlets, 20 small holes of backup fuel and 8 rows of cooling holes.

Figure 1. Physical model of the flame tube

Figure 2 shows the simplified physical model and the computational grid of the flame tube. The
hybrid grid is selected. After the independent verification of grids, the final grid number is determined
as 5,920,786. On the basis of ensuring the calculation accuracy, it is necessary to minimize the use of
mesh to ensure efficient and accurate calculation. The global mesh generation of the flame tube is shown
in (a) in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Mesh model of the flame tube

3. Simulation Results and Formula Fitting

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2020 International Symposium on Energy Environment and Green Development IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 657 (2021) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/657/1/012004

X
Y
3.1 Numerical Results of Design Points
The basic design data of the combustion chamber is used for the numerical analysis of the combustion
chamber and the temperature distribution
Z
of the longitudinal section of the combustion chamber is
shown in Figure 3.
Temperature (K)
2100
1900
1800
1700
1600
1500
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
800
600
Figure 3. Total temperature distribution in the longitudinal section of the combustion chamber
It can be seen from Figure 3 that the jet depth of the secondary air is about one quarter of the height
of the flame tube, which cuts off the boundary of the recirculation zone of the head; the secondary
airflow generates a recirculation zone in the rear region of the flame tube, which plays the role of
supporting the combustion and blending so as to achieve sufficient combustion of fuels; with the increase
of pressure, the flame front becomes shorter and the flame boundary tends to be closer to the flame tube
wall[6][7].

3.2 NOx Estimation Experience / Semi-Empirical Formula

Through the reference to previous literature and comparison with numerical simulation calculation
results, it is found that the following six empirical formulas have significant reference value for the
research in this paper, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Experience / semi-empirical formulas of main studies
Author Experience formula
9  10-8 Pin1.25VC exp ( 0.01Tst )
Lefebvre[3] NOx = g / kg
maTpz

Odgers[8]  21670  0.66

NOx = 29 exp  −
  Pin 1 − exp ( −250 )  g / kg
 Tpz 

 71100 
0.15  1016 ( − 0.5 ev ) exp  −
0.5

Rizk[9] NOx =  Tst 
g / kg
0.5
0.05  P1 
Pin  
 Pin 

Rokke NOx = 18.1  Pin1.42 ma0.3 q 0.72  10 −6

Lewis[10] NOx = 3.3192  10−6 exp ( 0.0079775Tpz ) Pin0.5  10−6

Lin Qinghua[4] (
0.00258T4 + 0.00747 Tpz − 17.31927 X H O +16.95517 X N +17.69844 X CO )
NOx = e 2 2 2

The above six empirical formulas of NOx emission are used as a reference in this research. By
comparing these formulas with the NOx emission change under the impact of three main parameters in
this paper, namely inlet pressure, air mass flow, and the average temperature in the combustion zone,
the change law and its main reason are analyzed and relevant NOx emission law and estimation method
are summarized.

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2020 International Symposium on Energy Environment and Green Development IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 657 (2021) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/657/1/012004

3.3 NOx Prediction Based on Inlet Pressure

The relationship between NOx emission and inlet pressure is shown in Figure 4. This result indicates
that the impact of inlet pressure on NOx emission is not significant. Within the same pressure range, the
empirical formula trend of Odges and Lefebvre is similar. With the increase of inlet pressure, the NOx
emission also shows an increasing trend and the reason for this phenomenon is that these two empirical
formulas are greatly affected by the inlet pressure; the NOx emission obtained by the Odgers's empirical
formula is high at about 0.4g/kg, which is higher than the simulation result; the NOx emission obtained
by Lefebvre's empirical formula is low at about 0.25g/kg, which is lower than the simulation result,
indicating that the range selected for this numerical simulation is suitable. Under the condition of the
same inlet pressure, the numerical simulation results are similar to the empirical formula results of Rizk
and the trend is the same. The estimation formula of Rizk derives from the combustion chamber of
heavy-duty gas turbines. Also, the experimental verification proves that the calculation results of this
formula are approximately the same as the measured NOx emission of five 1.5-34MW natural gas-fired
industrial gas turbines, indicating that the use of numerical simulation for the research is reliable and
scientific.

Figure 4. Impact of inlet pressure on NOx emissions

3.4 NOx Estimation Based on Mass Flow

The relationship between the NOx emission and air mass flow is shown in Figure 5. The numerical
simulation results are opposite to the results obtained by the empirical formula of Rokke. The reason for
this formula is that Rokke has strictly stipulated that the experiment is performed at the optimal fuel-air
ratio (1: 14.7). With the increase of air mass flow, the fuel flow and the average temperature in the
combustion zone will increase accordingly, thus leading to the increase in NOx emission; the numerical
simulation results are consistent with the results obtained by the empirical formula of Lefebvre. The
NOx emission decreases with the increase of air mass flow, which indicates that the numerical
simulation has achieved good results and is reliable. The simulation results can be used as a reference
for the NOx emission in the combustion chamber of heavy-duty gas turbines.

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2020 International Symposium on Energy Environment and Green Development IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 657 (2021) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/657/1/012004

Figure 5. Impact of air mass flow on NOx emission

It can be seen from the comparison and analysis of the variation trend of the data curve of numerical
simulation and empirical formula that the results obtained from the numerical simulation are consistent
with the overall trend of the calculation results using Lefebvre's empirical formula, indicating that
replacement of experiment with numerical simulation and its results are of certain reference and research
value.

3.5 NOx Prediction Based on Average Temperature in the Combustion Zone

The relationship between the NOx emission and average temperature in the combustion zone is shown
in Figure 6. The fitting formula of Lin Qinghua is mainly based on the synthesis gas combustion chamber
and this formula is related to the outlet temperature and the percentage of diluent. Within the same
average temperature range in the combustion zone, the NOx emission increases with the average
temperature in the combustion zone, and the variation range is relatively large, indicating that this
prediction model is relatively sensitive to this parameter; the empirical formula of Lewis is applicable
to lean and homogeneous fuel combustion chambers. The NOx emission obtained within the same
temperature range is lower, which is more in line with national NOx emission standards, within the same
temperature variation range, the NOx emission obtained by the prediction formula of Lefebvre is similar
to the numerical simulation results but the overall trend is opposite. However, it can still be seen that the
NOx emission is affected by the average temperature in the combustion zone and the trend is consistent
with the calculation results based on the empirical formula of Lewis and Lin Qinghua, which indicates
that the NOx emission obtained using the numerical simulation method is of certain research value.

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2020 International Symposium on Energy Environment and Green Development IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 657 (2021) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/657/1/012004

Figure 6. Impact of average temperature in the combustion zone on NOx emission

3.6 NOx Emission Fitting Formula

The coefficient determination is obtained by the fitting of the variation curve between the NOx emission
obtained by the numerical simulation and three parameters. The least-square method is used for this
fitting formula, and the final formula is as follows.
NOx = 0.3704e −0.18 Pin + 1.2318e −0.299 ma + 0.1213e
0.0015Tpz
(1)
One of the application conditions of the fitting formula is the combustion chamber of heavy-duty gas
turbines. For formula (4), when the parameter selection range is consistent with the selection range in
this paper, the formula will be relatively reliable; when the parameter selection range is inconsistent, the
fitting formula needs to be further verified before using.

4. Conclusion
(1) The use of numerical simulation in the research on the pollutant emission of the combustion chamber
of heavy-duty gas turbines is an efficient estimation method, and the research results are scientific.
(2) In the study of pollutant emission of the combustion chamber of heavy gas turbines, the
optimization algorithm and least squares method are used to enrich the database content, which provides
convenient conditions for the database establishment.
(3) For the combustion chamber of heavy-duty gas turbines, with the increase of the average
temperature in the combustion zone, the NOx emission also increases accordingly. As the temperature
does not reach 1850K, the increase is mainly fast NOx.

Acknowledgments
The present work is respectively supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (51906163), the Doctoral Start-up Foundation of Liaoning (201801259) , the Liaoning province
Department of Education fund (JL-1914), the Doctoral Starting Foundation of Liaoning Province
(20180540120), and the Natural science foundation of Liaoning Province (20180550472),

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2020 International Symposium on Energy Environment and Green Development IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 657 (2021) 012004 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/657/1/012004

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