Study of the cold flow field of a multi- injection combustor

Multi-injection combustor (MIC) could extend the steady working range of the whole combustor and reduce emissions therefore, so it is one of the Gas Turbine Combustor (GTC) design direction of future. The cold flow character of MIC is the basic work for MIC designers. Because of the low cost nowadays, the CFD method is a very suitable tool for it. Thus, firstly realizable k-epsilon turbulent model (RKE) and Reynolds stress turbulent model (RSM) were used to simulate the downstream flow field of a double radial swirl-cup amongst a simple tube, and the prediction results are compared with the experimental data which are gained by another researcher in Beihang University. The comparison between the experimental data and the CFD prediction results are shown that in most regions, the prediction results quite agree with the experimental data, and the max error of RKE model and RSM model is about 5% and 3% respectively. So the RKE model can be used for swirl-cup combustor simulation for its low computing cost. Then the RKE model is applied in a single swirl-cup gas turbine combustor and two kinds of multi-injection GTC flow field simulation. In the comparison between one single swirl-cup and nine arranged swirl-cups which all are in the same lining structure, each swirl-cup in MIC has a recirculation zone after its exit. Gradually, the recirculation zones mixed and united together in the downstream region. Finally, the recirculation zones structure turns to be similar to the structure in the single swirl-cup GTC after the primary combustion holes. In the other comparison between two kinds of lining structures which all are fixed with the same multi-injection head, the primary combustion holes affect flow field obviously. All the recirculation zones finished before the former primary combustion holes of the MIC without the primary combustion holes, and the separated recirculation zones form a new recirculation zone close to the primary holes for the MIC with primary holes. So the MIC design should combine with the real combustor lining structure to make a high performance for the whole combustor.