Abstract
Within the last three years, Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Ltd. and B&B-AGEMA have worked on a technology to
support experimental tests for development of the Micromix
combustor of pure hydrogen, allowing a very close online
visual (Visible and Infrared light) access to the burner. The
invented borescope has been designed by means of Conjugate
Heat Transfer (CHT) and Finite Element (FE) simulations.
Different design variations have been tested numerically.
Within this course, the internal cooling pathways have
been improved and the structure enhanced to ensure an acceptable
life time of the highly loaded borescope head located
directly downstream of the flame. Here, the local
temperature reaches values around 1600 K.
After digital development and manufacturing, the first
borescope prototype could have been successfully operated
in two low pressure and two high pressure tests (two times
with a visible light (VIS) and two times with an Infrared (IR)
camera).
In the paper, the development process as well as the operational
experience and the experimental test results are
presented. The information on the Micromix combustor
behavior revealed by the borescope technology help to better
understand the behavior of the combustor, improve the design
and plan the operation strategy within the real gas turbine.
