INVESTIGATING THE INFLUENCE OF NON-UNIFORM RADIAL INLET DISTORTION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF COUNTERFLOW MODEL COMBUSTOR

As gas turbine technology, design capabilities, and numerical simulation capabilities continue to advance, the boundary conditions at the inlet of the combustion chamber are no longer set as simple uniform inflow. Instead, the impact of upstream compressor exit flow distortion on combustion chamber performance is fully considered. Therefore, this study employs numerical simulation to analyze in-depth the variation patterns of radial distortion at the inlet of a swirl combustor. The research results indicate that radial distortion simultaneously increases the total pressure loss in both cold and hot flow fields. As the distortion peak shifts upward, the total pressure loss increases (by 0.54%), but it has little impact on combustion efficiency and thermal resistance loss. Changes in the distortion peak velocity position affect the separation vortex location in the diffuser section and the penetration depth of dilution holes, thereby influencing flame morphology and outlet temperature distribution. The increase in total pressure loss along the path becomes more pronounced as the flow turns from the diffuser to the combustor, especially under upper peak conditions. The diffuser exhibits the strongest suppression effect on the velocity peaks of the lower peak and middle peak conditions. This study provides valuable insights for establishing accurate boundary condition models that describe the inlet effects of combustion chambers in numerical simulations of gas turbine combustors. Keywords: Gas turbine; Combustion chamber; Inlet distortion; Performance parameters