Numerical study of blended fuel natural gas-hydrogen combustion in rich/quench/lean combustor of a micro gas turbine

In this work, an investigation of the effect of natural gas-hydrogen blended fuel on the combustion performance of a Rich/Quench/Lean (RQL) can combustor. Actually, a CFD numerical simulations have been performed for various volumetric fractions of hydrogen addition varying from 0% to 90% with a step of 10%. Therefore, a reduced GRIMECH 3.0 mechanism was adopted as the reaction scheme of the combustion process. When the blended fuel is injected at a constant mass flow rate, the outlet temperature becomes higher. However, the distribution of outlet temperature may not satisfy the turbine blades thermal resistance. Otherwise, when the blended fuel is injected at a constant velocity, the distribution of outlet temperature becomes more uniform. Additionally, the pollutant emissions as CO and NO decrease continually. However, the decreasing in the average outlet temperature may decreases the power output of the micro gas turbine. Furthermore, modifications in the design of the can combustor are necessary, especially in the dilution zone and the fuel injector. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.