Lean burn limit and time to light characteristics of laser ignition in gas turbines

Jonathan Griffiths; Mike Riley; Antony Kirk; Alexander Borman; Jonathan Lawrence; Colin Dowding

doi:10.1016/j.optlaseng.2013.11.016

Lean burn limit and time to light characteristics of laser ignition in gas turbines

Jonathan Griffiths
, Mike Riley
, Antony Kirk
, Alexander Borman
, Jonathan Lawrence
, Colin Dowding

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This work details a study of laser ignition in a low pressure combustion test rig, representative of an industrial gas turbine (SGT-400, Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd.) and for the first time investigates the effect of air mass flow rate on combustion characteristics at air/fuel ratios at the lean burn limit. Both the lean burn limit and time taken to light are essential in determining the suitability of a specified air/fuel ratio, especially in multi-chamber ignition applications. Through extension of the lean burn limit and reduction of the time taken to light, the operating window for ignition with regards to the air/fuel ratio can be increased, leading to greater reliability and repeatability of ignition. Ignition of a natural gas and air mixture at atmospheric pressure was conducted using both a standard high energy igniter and a laser ignition system utilizing a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser source operating at 1064 nm wavelength. A detailed comparison of the lean burn limit and time taken to light for standard ignition and laser ignition is presented.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	262-266
Number of pages	5
Journal	Optics and Lasers in Engineering
Volume	55
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.2013.11.016
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2014

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10.1016/j.optlaseng.2013.11.016

Cite this

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title = "Lean burn limit and time to light characteristics of laser ignition in gas turbines",

abstract = "This work details a study of laser ignition in a low pressure combustion test rig, representative of an industrial gas turbine (SGT-400, Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd.) and for the first time investigates the effect of air mass flow rate on combustion characteristics at air/fuel ratios at the lean burn limit. Both the lean burn limit and time taken to light are essential in determining the suitability of a specified air/fuel ratio, especially in multi-chamber ignition applications. Through extension of the lean burn limit and reduction of the time taken to light, the operating window for ignition with regards to the air/fuel ratio can be increased, leading to greater reliability and repeatability of ignition. Ignition of a natural gas and air mixture at atmospheric pressure was conducted using both a standard high energy igniter and a laser ignition system utilizing a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser source operating at 1064 nm wavelength. A detailed comparison of the lean burn limit and time taken to light for standard ignition and laser ignition is presented.",

author = "Jonathan Griffiths and Mike Riley and Antony Kirk and Alexander Borman and Jonathan Lawrence and Colin Dowding",

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doi = "10.1016/j.optlaseng.2013.11.016",

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AU - Griffiths, Jonathan

AU - Riley, Mike

AU - Kirk, Antony

AU - Borman, Alexander

AU - Lawrence, Jonathan

AU - Dowding, Colin

PY - 2014/4/1

Y1 - 2014/4/1

N2 - This work details a study of laser ignition in a low pressure combustion test rig, representative of an industrial gas turbine (SGT-400, Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd.) and for the first time investigates the effect of air mass flow rate on combustion characteristics at air/fuel ratios at the lean burn limit. Both the lean burn limit and time taken to light are essential in determining the suitability of a specified air/fuel ratio, especially in multi-chamber ignition applications. Through extension of the lean burn limit and reduction of the time taken to light, the operating window for ignition with regards to the air/fuel ratio can be increased, leading to greater reliability and repeatability of ignition. Ignition of a natural gas and air mixture at atmospheric pressure was conducted using both a standard high energy igniter and a laser ignition system utilizing a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser source operating at 1064 nm wavelength. A detailed comparison of the lean burn limit and time taken to light for standard ignition and laser ignition is presented.

AB - This work details a study of laser ignition in a low pressure combustion test rig, representative of an industrial gas turbine (SGT-400, Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd.) and for the first time investigates the effect of air mass flow rate on combustion characteristics at air/fuel ratios at the lean burn limit. Both the lean burn limit and time taken to light are essential in determining the suitability of a specified air/fuel ratio, especially in multi-chamber ignition applications. Through extension of the lean burn limit and reduction of the time taken to light, the operating window for ignition with regards to the air/fuel ratio can be increased, leading to greater reliability and repeatability of ignition. Ignition of a natural gas and air mixture at atmospheric pressure was conducted using both a standard high energy igniter and a laser ignition system utilizing a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser source operating at 1064 nm wavelength. A detailed comparison of the lean burn limit and time taken to light for standard ignition and laser ignition is presented.

U2 - 10.1016/j.optlaseng.2013.11.016

DO - 10.1016/j.optlaseng.2013.11.016

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JO - Optics and Lasers in Engineering

JF - Optics and Lasers in Engineering

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