Session: 03-07 Methanol

Paper Number: 126663

126663 - Investigation of Viscor and Methanol Spray Dynamics Using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition in Siemens Energy Industrial Atomisers 

The demand to reduce carbon emissions has prompted research into alternative fuels that can replace conventional fuels like diesel in industrial gas turbines. Among different potential biofuels and e-fuels, methanol emerges as a sustainable and high-performance alternative to diesel for gas turbine applications. It is well established that the fuel physical properties, spray dynamics and degree of atomisation are strongly correlated and affect the engine performance. In this study, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) was applied on spatio-temporally resolved images to characterise Viscor, here used as diesel surrogate, and methanol sprays of pressure-swirl atomisers employed in Siemens Energy industrial gas turbine (SGT-400) combustors. The methanol experimental results were then compared against Viscor results at analogous operating conditions, including density adjusted atomiser pressure drop and ambient pressures. Results confirmed that methanol spray cone angle is slightly wider than Viscor at corresponding operating conditions. The POD analysis allowed to identify dominant spatial oscillation modes and characterise them in terms of oscillation amplitude, wavelength and onset distance from the atomiser edge for both fuels.  A correlation between the SMD diameter and jet axial velocity with the oscillation amplitude of the first spatial mode was found. This was obtained for Viscor, but given the wave dynamics similarities obtained for the two fuels, could potentially be extended to methanol.

Presenting Author: Ali Alshahrani University College London

Presenting Author Biography: Ali Alshahrani is a PhD student in the Mechanical Engineering department at University College London. He received a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from King Khalid University and a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. He also received an additional Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from KTH in Stockholm, Sweden. He has experience in the design and testing of gas turbine engines. His current research activity is in combustion dynamics, spray analysis, and machine learning. His areas of interest include aerodynamics, propeller design, and sustainable energy.

Authors:

Ali Alshahrani University College London
Izwan Mohni University College London
Adesile Ajisafe University College London
Marc Furi Siemens Energy Canada Limited
Michel Houde Siemens Energy Canada Limited
Suresh Sadasivuni Siemens Energy Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd
Geoffrey Engelbrecht Siemens Energy Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd
Ghenadie Bulat Siemens Energy Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd
Midhat Talibi University College London
Ramanarayanan Balachandran University College London
Andrea Ducci University College London