Reference Area Investigation in a Gas Turbine Combustion Chamber Using CFD

Abstract

The gas turbine combustion chamber is one of the most critical components to be designed, because it must ensure a stable operation in a wide range of air/fuel ratio and load. Among several calculations involved in the design of a combustion chamber, the reference area is the most important physical parameter, especially by the great impact on other dimensions. In general, this parameter must be calculated from an analysis of the limitations imposed both chemical reactions and aerodynamics, i.e., based on combustion process requirements and maximum pressure drop allowable in the combustion chamber, respectively. So, the aim of this paper is investigate the influence of the reference area in the velocity profile, in the temperature distribution, in the mixing process and in the flame behavior, according to the reference area used in the combustion chamber. These numerical analyses were carried out using ANSYS CFX®, comparing them with the base value calculated by Lefebvre (5), for a thermodynamic cycle of 600 kW gas turbine engine, conduced in GateCycle® program. Finally, it can be concluded that some changes in the reference area calculated by Lefebvre (4) produces better results, especially by improving the burning process and the behavior of the flame.