Pollutant Formation in Premixed Natural Gas Swirl Flames with Water Injection

Rising shares of renewable power producers in the European energy grid lead to increasing fluctuations in power generation. A measure to compensate for these fluctuations would be the use of gas turbines with an expanded operating range. For that reason, this thesis investigates power augmentation of gas turbines due to the injection of liquid water. The focus of this work especially lies on pollutant formation. Despite the power augmentation, operation of the gas turbine shall be possible within the boundaries of given emission legislation. At first the feasibility of water injection in premixed gas turbine combustors is shown using an atmospheric single burner test rig. Subsequently, heat release as well as pollutant formation are investigated with experimental and numerical methods. Finally, the influence of water injection on the combustion process is determined and favorable operating conditions of water injected premixed combustion are identified.