Reaction of fuel NO_x formation for gas turbine conditions

Ammonia contained in coal-gasified fuel is converted to nitrogen oxides (NO_x) in the combustion process of a gas turbine in integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) system. Research data on fuel-NO_x formation are insufficient, and there still remains a wide explored domain. The present research aims at obtaining fundamental knowledge of fuel-NO_x formation characteristics by applying reaction kinetics to gas turbine conditions. An instantaneous mixing condition was assumed in the cross section of a gas turbine combustor and both gradual mixing condition and instantaneous mixing condition were assumed at secondary air inlet section. The results may be summarized as follows: (1) in the primary combustion zone under fuel rich condition, HCN and other intermediate products are formed as ammonia contained in the fuel decomposes; (2) formation characteristics of fuel-NO_x are affected by the condition of secondary air mixing; and (3) the conversion ratio from ammonia to NO_x declines as the pressure inside the combustor rises under the condition of gradual mixing at the secondary air inlet. These results obtained agreed approximately with the experimentation.