MUHAMMAD NASIM AKHTER

Dry Low Nox System

The significant products of combustion for gas turbine emissions are oxides of nitrogen (NO and NO2,
collectively called NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (UHC; these are usually
expressed as equivalent methane - CH4 - particles, and arise from incomplete combustion), oxides of
sulfur (SO2 and SO3), and particulates. There are two sources of NOx emissions in the exhaust of a gas
turbine. Most of the NOx is generated by the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in the flame. This is called
thermal NOx. Other NOx are also generated by the conversion of a fraction of any nitrogen chemically
bound in the fuel (called fuel-bound nitrogen or FBN).

Thermal NOx is generally regarded as being generated by a chemical reaction sequence. This set of
well-verified chemical reactions postulates that the rate of generation of thermal NOx is an exponential
function of the temperature of the flame. It, therefore, follows that the amount of NOx generated is a
function not only of the temperature but also of the time the hot gas mixture is at flame temperature. It
turns out to be a linear function of time.

In response, GE ENERGY PRODUCTS - EUROPE recommends staged combustors use. The dry low
NOx combustion system operates in four distinct modes (illustrated in fig.1) during natural gas fuel
operation:

Mode Operating Range

(A) Primary Ignition, acceleration and
operation to 30% load (fuel to
first stage)
(B) Lean-lean 30% load to approximately
50%* load (fuel to both stages,
flame in both stages)
(C) Secondary (transfer) Staging at 50%* load (fuel to
second stage only)
(D) Premixed 50%* to 100% load (fuel to both
stages, flame in second stage
only)

*50 % for the gas turbines equipped with a bleed heating system.
*70 % for the gas turbines not-equipped with a bleed heating system.

Natural gas operation

The combustion chamber operates in the following way (figure 2):

100 % of the fuel is injected (during the start-up), through valve VGS-3, by the primary nozzles and burns
as a propagation flame (A mode).

This combustion (with a lean mixture of fuel/air) is the normal operating mode during ignition acceleration
of the turbine up to its nominal speed, synchronization and load pick up, up to 30 % of the nominal load
(emissions of NOx and CO are then comparable to the emissions of classical combustion chambers,
equipped with only one fuel nozzle). The percentage of NOx remains low during that phase (lower than
100 ppmvd).

During the load-up, more and more fuel (up to 30 % of the base nominal flow) is injected, through valve 3
way VGS-3, in the secondary combustion zone and is ignited by the high temperature combustion
products coming from the primary combustion zone (B mode). At this stage, valve VGD-1 sends the gas
in the "internal" part of the secondary nozzle, i.e. through the peripheral nozzles, standing back from the
 MUHAMMAD NASIM AKHTER

central nozzle.

A "clean" combustion is maintained in a wide range of loads (up to 70 % of base load for turbines not
equipped with a bleed heating system and up to 50 % for equipped turbines), burning a lean fuel mixture
in the primary zone in a first time, then in the two zones (primary and secondary) in a second time.

At 50 % or 70 % of the base load, the fuel flow in the primary zone is shut and the fuel is totally injected,
for a brief period, in the secondary zone (C mode), this with the help of the second circuit of the
secondary zone : the transfer circuit. Through this circuit, the gas is injected at the end of the secondary
nozzle.

This "transfer" mode extinguishes the flame in the primary zone.

When no flames are detected by the flame detectors, the fuel is sent again in the primary zone and
simultaneously its flow is reduced in the secondary zone. The injected fuel in the primary zone is
thoroughly mixed to the combustion air to obtain a low fuel/air ratio and an unvarying mixture.

The mixture goes to the secondary zone where it is ignited. The transfer nozzle maintains the flame
during the transfer and the premixed operation, it's being used as a pilot nozzle. The aerodynamics of the
combustion chamber has been conceived so that the flame cannot go back to the primary zone.

The NOx emission rate is extremely low owing to the lean and unvarying fuel/air mixture.

This final operating form is called premixed mode (D mode).

Combustion Chamber Operating on Natural Gas Fuel