Study of Numerical Modeling of Swirl-Premix Burner for Simulation of Gas Turbine Combustion

The flow and combustion characteristics in a premixed swirl combustor with a double cone burner are numerically analyzed to adopt a swirler model. The internal recirculation zone formed at the burner exit can be realized by a swirler with inner and outer diameters of 56 and 152 mm, respectively, and accordingly, the flow rate and radial velocity were determined. To select the tangential velocity, swirl and recirculation angles are introduced. A tangential velocity of 40 m/s produces an internal recirculation zone similar to that in a combustor. At the liner exit, the errors in temperature and velocity are 2.8% and 0%, respectively, and they are negligibly small. However, NOx emissions are underestimated by 67% in the numerical results obtained using the swirler model. Although considerable quantitative errors are induced by the swirler model, it can be useful numerical model for the EV burner because it can approximately simulate the essential flow and combustion characteristics in a premixed swirl combustor with a double cone burner and it is expected to make combustion analysis efficient in a gas turbine combustor with complex geometries.