Date of Award
2014-01-01
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Mechanical Engineering
Advisor(s)
Norman D. Love
Second Advisor
Ahsan R. Choudhuri
Abstract
Over 92% of the coal consumed by power plants is used to generate electricity in the United States (U.S.). The U.S. has the world's largest recoverable reserves of coal, it is estimated that reserves of coal will last more than 200 years based in current production and demand levels. Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plants aim to reduce the amount of pollutants by gasifying coal and producing synThesis gas. SynThesis gas, also known as syngas, is a product of coal gasification and can be used in gas turbines for energy production. Syngas is primarily a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide and is produced by gasifying a solid fuel feedstock such as coal or biomass. The objective of the Thesis is to create a flame stability map by performing various experiments using high-content hydrogen fuels with varying compositions of hydrogen representing different coal feedstocks. The experiments shown in this Thesis were performed using the High-Pressure Combustion facility in the Center for Space Exploration Technology Research (CSETR) at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The combustor was fitted with a novel Multi-Tube fuel Injector (MTI) designed to improve flame stability. This Thesis presents the results of testing of syngas fuels with compositions of 20, 30, and 40% hydrogen concentrations in mixtures with carbon monoxide. Tests were completed for lean conditions ranging from equivalence ratios between 0.6 and 0.9. The experimental results showed that at an equivalence ratio of 0.6, a stable flame was not achieved for any of the fuel mixtures tested. It was also observed that the stability region of the syngas flame increased as equivalence ratio and the hydrogen concentration in syngas fuel increases with the 40% hydrogen-carbon monoxide mixture demonstrating the greatest stability region. Design improvements to the MTI are also discussed as part of the future work on this topic.
Language
en
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
Copyright Date
2014
File Size
94 pages
File Format
application/pdf
Rights Holder
Sergio Elzar Maldonado
Recommended Citation
Maldonado, Sergio Elzar, "Experimental Investigation Of Syngas Flame Stability Using A Multi-Tube Fuel Injector In A High Pressure Combustor" (2014). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 1288.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/1288