LARGE-EDDY SIMULATION OF TURBULENT COMBUSTION IN MULTI COMBUSTORS FOR L30A GAS TURBINE ENGINE

When designing a combustor, numerical analysis should be used to effectively predict different performances, such as flame temperature, emission, and combustion stability. However, even with the use of numerical analysis, several problems cannot be solved by investigating single combustors because, in an actual engine, interactions occur between multiple combustors. Therefore, to evaluate the detailed phenomenon in an actual combustor, the interactions between all combustors should be considered in any numerical analysis. On the other hand, a huge amount of computational cost is required for this type of analysis. Here a large-eddy simulation employing a flamelet/progress variable approach is applied to the numerical analysis of industrial combustors. The combustor used for this study is the L30A from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Computations are conducted with a supercomputer (referred to as the "K-computer") in the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science. All combustors in the L30A engine (from the compressor outlet to the turbine inlet) are simulated, including the fuel manifold. This engine has eight can combustors that are connected through the fuel manifold and compressed air housing unit. The total number of elements is approximately 140 million. The flow patterns for each combustor are similar in all cans. A swirling flow from the main burner is formed and accelerated by the supplemental burner. There is a high-temperature region before the supplemental burner. The flow field and temperature distribution in an actual combustor interacting with other combustor cans are simulated adequately. The mass flow rate of the air and those of the fuels are distributed equally for each can. Therefore, the outlet temperature difference for each can is also very small.