Low $NOx$ Advanced Vortex Combustor

A lean-premixed advanced vortex combustor (AVC) has been developed and tested. The natural gas fueled AVC was tested at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, WV. All testing was performed at elevated pressures and inlet temperatures and at lean fuel-air ratios representative of industrial gas turbines. The improved AVC design exhibited simultaneous $NOx∕CO$∕unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions of $4∕4∕0ppmv$ (all emissions corrected to 15% $O2$ dry). The design also achieved less than $3ppmv$$NOx$ with combustion efficiencies in excess of 99.5%. The design demonstrated marked acoustic dynamic stability over a wide range of operating conditions, which potentially makes this approach significantly more attractive than other lean-premixed combustion approaches. In addition, the measured 1.75% pressure drop is significantly lower than conventional gas turbine combustors, which could translate into an overall gas turbine cycle efficiency improvement. The relatively high velocities and low pressure drop achievable with this technology make the AVC approach an attractive alternative for syngas fuel applications.