Fuel effects on gas turbine combustion-liner temperature, pattern factor, and pollutant emissions

An anaytical study is made of the substantial body of experimental data acquired during recent Wright Patterson Aero Propulsion Laboratory sponsored programs on the effects of fuel properties on the performance and reliability of several gas turbine combustors, including J79-17A, J79 17C (Smokeless), F101, TF41, TF39, J85, TF33, and F100 Quantitative relationships are derived between certain key aspects of combustion, notably liner wall temperature, pattern factor, and exhaust emissions, and the relevant fuel properties, combustor design features and combustor operating conditions It is concluded that fuel chemistry, as indicated by hydrogen content and/or aromatics content, has a significant effect on flame radiation and liner wall temperature, but only a slight effect on the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) The physical properties that govern atomization quality and evaporation rates affect CO emissions, but other important performance parameters, such as NO X emissions and liner wall temperature, are sensibly independent of physical properties over the range of fuels studied