System for reducing combustion dynamics by varying fuel flow axial distances

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9255711-B2
Application number	US-201314048252-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2013
Priority date	Aug 21, 2012
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

First and second combustors are provided, and each combustor includes a fuel nozzle and a combustion chamber downstream from the fuel nozzle. Each fuel nozzle includes an axially extending center body, a shroud that circumferentially surrounds at least a portion of the center body, and vanes that extend radially between the center body and the shroud. A first fuel port through at least one of the vanes is located at a first axial distance from the combustion chamber, a second fuel port through the center body is located at a second axial distance from the combustion chamber, and the vanes are located at a third axial distance from the combustion chamber. The system varies one or more of the first, second, and third axial distances from combustor-to-combustor to produce a combustion instability frequency in the first combustor that is different from the combustion instability frequency in the second combustor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for reducing combustion dynamics, the system comprising:
a. first and second combustors arranged about an axis, wherein each combustor comprises a fuel nozzle and a combustion chamber downstream from the fuel nozzle;
b. wherein each fuel nozzle comprises an axially extending center body, a shroud that circumferentially surrounds at least a portion of the axially extending center body, a plurality of vanes that extend radially between the center body and the shroud and that are curved to impart swirl to a working fluid flowing between the shroud and the center body; a first fuel port through at least one of the plurality of vanes being located at a first axial distance from a front end of the combustion chamber, a second fuel port through the center body being located at a second axial distance from the front end of the combustion chamber, and the plurality of vanes being located at a third axial distance from the front end of the combustion chamber the second axial distance being shorter than the first axial distance; and
c. wherein at least one of the first axial distance, the second axial distance, and the third axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from at least one corresponding first axial distance, second axial distance, and third axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor, and wherein the plurality of vanes of one of the fuel nozzles is located at an inlet of a corresponding shroud.

2. The system as in claim 1 , wherein at least two of: the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor, the second axial distance of the first fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor, and the third axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the third axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor.

3. The system as in claim 1 , wherein the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor, the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor, and the third axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the third axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor.

4. The system as in claim 1 , wherein each combustor comprises a plurality of fuel nozzles, and at least one of the first, second, and third axial distances of a first fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from at least one corresponding first, second, and third axial distance of a second fuel nozzle in the first combustor.

5. The system as in claim 1 , wherein each combustor comprises a plurality of fuel nozzles, and at least two of the first, second, and third axial distances of a first fuel nozzle in the first combustor are different from at least two corresponding first, second, and third axial distances of a second fuel nozzle in the first combustor.

6. The system as in claim 1 , wherein each combustor comprises a plurality of fuel nozzles, and the first, second, and third axial distances of a first fuel nozzle in the first combustor are different from corresponding first, second, and third axial distances of a second fuel nozzle in the first combustor.

7. A system for reducing combustion dynamics, the system comprising:
a. first and second combustors arranged about an axis, wherein each combustor comprises a fuel nozzle and a combustion chamber downstream from the fuel nozzle;
b. wherein each fuel nozzle comprises an axially extending center body, a shroud that circumferentially surrounds at least a portion of the axially extending center body, a plurality of vanes that extend radially between the center body and the shroud and that are curved to impart swirl to a working fluid flowing between the shroud and the center body; a first fuel port through at least one of the plurality of vanes being located at a first axial distance from a front end of the combustion chamber, and the plurality of vanes being located at a second axial distance from the front end of the combustion chamber; and
c. wherein at least one of: the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor and the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor, and wherein the plurality of vanes of one of the fuel nozzles is located at an inlet of a corresponding shroud.

8. The system as in claim 7 , wherein the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor and the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor.

9. The system as in claim 7 , wherein each combustor comprises a plurality of fuel nozzles, and at least one of the first or second axial distance for a first fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from a corresponding first or second axial distance for a second fuel nozzle in the first combustor.

10. The system as in claim 7 , wherein each combustor comprises a plurality of fuel nozzles, and the first and second axial distances for a first fuel nozzle in the first combustor are different from corresponding first and second axial distance for a second fuel nozzle in the first combustor.

11. A system for reducing combustion dynamics, the system comprising:
a. first and second combustors arranged about an axis, wherein each combustor comprises a fuel nozzle and a combustion chamber downstream from the fuel nozzle;
b. wherein each fuel nozzle comprises an axially extending center body having a first fuel port through the center body at a first axial distance from a front end of the combustion chamber, a shroud that circumferentially surrounds at least a portion of the axially extending center body, and a plurality of vanes that extend radially between the center body and the shroud and that are curved to impart swirl to a working fluid flowing between the shroud and the center body, the plurality of vanes being located at a second axial distance from the front end of the combustion chamber, the second axial distance being greater than the first axial distance; and
c. wherein at least one of: the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the first axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor and the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the first combustor is different from the second axial distance of the fuel nozzle in the second combustor, and wherein the plurality of vanes of one of the fuel nozzles is located at an inlet of a corresponding shroud.

12. The system as in claim 11 , wherein the first axial distance in the first combustor is different from the first axial distance in the second combustor and the second axial distance in the first combustor is different from the second axial distance in the second combustor.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Crothers Sarah Lori
• Kraemer Gilbert Otto

Classifications

• F23R3/34

  Feeding into different combustion zones · CPC title

• F23R2900/00014

  Reducing thermo-acoustic vibrations by passive means, e.g. by Helmholtz resonators · CPC title

• F23R3/42

  characterised by the arrangement or form of the flame tubes or combustion chambers · CPC title

• F02C7/24

  Heat or noise insulation (air intakes having provisions for noise suppression F02C7/045; turbine exhaust heads, chambers, or the like F01D25/30; silencing nozzles of jet-propulsion plants F02K1/00) · CPC title

• F02C7/22

  Fuel supply systems · CPC title