Flow Fluctuation at the Start of Injection in the Supply Pipe of a Liquid Ammonia Combustor

Abstract

A gaseous ammonia supply system was used in gas turbine combustors developed in the previous research and development. As the gaseous ammonia supply system requires a liquid ammonia vaporizer and a gas compressor, the initial costs of the system and electric consumption for powering the vaporizer and compressor are expensive and thus must be minimized. Therefore, the direct supply of liquid ammonia to the gas turbine combustor is considered more desirable. Although most studies show those phenomena mainly at stable injection periods, one of the most significant problem associated with the start of injection was because of the residual gas in the liquid supply line, which leads to a two-phase flow thereby encouraging a fluctuation in flow rate, and consequently the power output and rotating speed of the gas turbines. It can be inferred that the fluctuation of the flow rate arises from upstream pressure fluctuation before the pump. The amplitude of the fluctuation of pressure before the pump is not the same, assigned to the random phenomena before the pump, and it is the effect of the gas-liquid mixing phase..