# US 10,480,792 B2 · Fuel staging in a gas turbine engine

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- Number: US 10,480,792 B2
- Document ID: US10480792B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/059,143
- Filed: 2016-03-02
- Published: 2016-09-08
- Granted: 2019-11-19
- Earliest claimed: 2015-03-06
- Assignees: General Electric Company; ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
- Applicants: General Electric Company; ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
- Inventors: Ilya Aleksandrovich Slobodyanskiy; Igor Petrovich Sidko; Derrick Walter Simons
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10480792B2

## CPC

- F23R 3/286: {having fuel-air premixing devices (F23R3/30 takes precedence)}
- F02C 3/34: with recycling of part of the working fluid, i.e. semi-closed cycles with combustion products in the closed part of the cycle
- F02C 9/26: Control of fuel supply (F02C9/48 takes precedence; fuel valves F02C7/232)
- F23L 7/00: Supplying non-combustible liquids or gases, other than air, to the fire, e.g. oxygen, steam
- F23N 1/022: {using electronic means}
- F23N 5/003: {using detectors sensitive to combustion gas properties (F23N5/02, F23N5/18 - F23N5/26 take precedence)}
- F23R 3/346: {for staged combustion}
- F02C 7/222: {Fuel flow conduits, e.g. manifolds}
- F02C 9/28: Regulating systems responsive to plant or ambient parameters, e.g. temperature, pressure, rotor speed (F02C9/30 - F02C9/38, F02C9/44 take precedence)
- F05D 2270/31: Fuel schedule for stage combustors
- F23L 2900/07002: Injecting inert gas, other than steam or evaporated water, into the combustion chambers
- F23L 2900/07003: Controlling the inert gas supply
- F23R 3/002: {Wall structures (F23R3/02 and F23R3/007 take precedence)}
- F23R 3/283: {Attaching or cooling of fuel injecting means including supports for fuel injectors, stems, or lances}
- F23R 3/34: Feeding into different combustion zones
- Y02E 20/16: Combined cycle power plant [CCPP], or combined cycle gas turbine [CCGT]
- Y02T 50/60: Efficient propulsion technologies, e.g. for aircraft
- F23R: GENERATING COMBUSTION PRODUCTS OF HIGH PRESSURE OR HIGH VELOCITY, e.g. GAS-TURBINE COMBUSTION CHAMBERS (fluidised bed combustion apparatus specially adapted for operation at superatmospheric pressures F23C10/16)
- F02C: GAS-TURBINE PLANTS; AIR INTAKES FOR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS; CONTROLLING FUEL SUPPLY IN AIR-BREATHING JET-PROPULSION PLANTS (construction of turbines F01D; jet-propulsion plants F02K; construction of compressors or fans F04; generating combustion products of high pressure or high velocity F23R; using gas turbines in compression refrigeration plants F25B11/00)
- F23L: SUPPLYING AIR OR NON-COMBUSTIBLE LIQUIDS OR GASES TO COMBUSTION APPARATUS IN GENERAL ({air-supply arrangements for fluent fuels F23C;} firebridges with means for feeding air or steam F23M3/04; baffles or shields with air supply passages F23M9/04); VALVES OR DAMPERS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR CONTROLLING AIR SUPPLY OR DRAUGHT IN COMBUSTION APPARATUS {(dampers and throat restrictors for open fire-places F24; air inlet valves for open fire fronts F24)}; INDUCING DRAUGHT IN COMBUSTION APPARATUS; TOPS FOR CHIMNEYS OR VENTILATING SHAFTS; TERMINALS FOR FLUES
- F23N: REGULATING OR CONTROLLING COMBUSTION (control devices specially adapted for combustion apparatus in which combustion takes place in a fluidised bed of fuel or other particles F23C10/28; condition responsive controls for regulating combustion in domestic stoves with open fires for solid fuel F24B1/187)
- F05D: INDEXING SCHEME FOR ASPECTS RELATING TO NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES OR ENGINES, GAS-TURBINES OR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION

## Abstract

A gas turbine system includes a turbine combustor. The turbine combustor includes one or more first fuel injectors coupled to a head end of the turbine combustor and configured to deliver a first portion of a fuel to a first axial position of a combustion section of the turbine combustor. The turbine combustor also includes one or more second fuel injectors coupled to the turbine combustor axially downstream of the head end and configured to deliver a second portion of the fuel to a second axial position of the combustion section of the turbine combustor, the second axial position being downstream of the first axial position. The gas turbine system also includes a controller configured to deliver the first and the second portions of the fuel such that combustion of the fuel and oxidant within the overall combustion section of the turbine combustor is at a defined equivalence ratio.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A gas turbine system comprising:
a turbine combustor, comprising:
one or more first fuel injectors coupled to a head end of the turbine combustor and configured to deliver a first portion of a fuel to a first axial position of a combustion section of the turbine combustor; and
one or more second fuel injectors coupled to the turbine combustor axially downstream of the head end, wherein the one or more second fuel injectors are configured to deliver a second portion of the fuel to a second axial position of the combustion section of the turbine combustor, the second axial position being downstream of the first axial position;
an oxidant supply system configured to provide an oxidant to the head end of the turbine combustor;
a fuel supply system configured to supply the fuel to the one or more first and second fuel injectors;
a sensor configured to measure a parameter of soot and/or ammonium in an exhaust gas from the turbine combustor; and
a controller configured to cause the one or more first fuel injectors to deliver the first portion of the fuel such that combustion of the fuel and oxidant at the first axial position is oxidant-rich, and to cause the one or more second fuel injectors to deliver the second portion of the fuel such that combustion of the fuel and oxidant within the overall combustion section of the turbine combustor is at a defined equivalence ratio between 0.95 and 1.05, wherein the second portion of the fuel corresponds to between 5% and 30% of a total amount of the fuel provided to the turbine combustor by the first portion and the second portion, and the controller is configured to adjust a ratio of the first portion to the second portion of the fuel based on the measured parameter of the soot and/or ammonium.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The gas turbine system of claim 1, comprising a flow distributor coupled to the fuel supply system, wherein the controller is configured to control the flow distributor to adjust a ratio of the first portion to the second portion of the fuel, while maintaining the combustion of the fuel and oxidant at the defined equivalence ratio.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The gas turbine system of claim 1, comprising one or more valves coupled to the respective one or more second fuel injectors, wherein the controller is configured to control the one or more valves to adjust respective fuel flow rates of the one or more second fuel injectors.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The gas turbine system of claim 1, wherein the turbine combustor comprises one or more diluent injectors disposed downstream of the head end of the turbine combustor and configured to inject a diluent into the turbine combustor, and at least one of the one or more second fuel injectors is coupled to the one or more diluent injectors.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The gas turbine system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the second portion of the fuel to correspond to between 10% and 20% of the total amount of the fuel provided to the turbine combustor by the first and second portions.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The gas turbine system of claim 1, wherein the one or more second fuel injectors are configured to deliver the second portion of the fuel in any one or more of a single axial stage, multiple axial stages, a single axial circumferential stage, and multiple axial circumferential stages.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The gas turbine system of claim 1, comprising:
a turbine driven by combustion gases from the turbine combustor, wherein the turbine outputs an exhaust gas generated from the combustion gases; and
an exhaust gas compressor driven by the turbine, wherein the exhaust gas compressor is configured to compress and route the exhaust gas to the turbine combustor.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The gas turbine system of claim 7, wherein the gas turbine system is a stoichiometric exhaust gas recirculation (SEGR) gas turbine engine.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The gas turbine system of claim 8, comprising an exhaust gas processing system coupled to the gas turbine system, and a hydrocarbon production system coupled to the exhaust gas extraction system.

### Claim 10

A method comprising:
supplying a first portion of a fuel to a first axial position of a combustion section of a turbine combustor via one or more first fuel injectors coupled to a head end of the turbine combustor, wherein the one or more first fuel injectors are configured to receive the first portion of the fuel from a fuel supply system, and wherein a controller is configured to cause the one or more first fuel injectors to deliver the first portion of the fuel such that combustion of the fuel and an oxidant at the first axial position is oxidant-rich;
measuring a parameter of soot and/or ammonium in an exhaust gas from the turbine combustor using one or more sensors disposed along a flow path of the exhaust gas;
supplying a second portion of the fuel to a second axial position of the combustion section of the turbine combustor via one or more second fuel injectors coupled to the turbine combustor and positioned axially downstream of the head end and the first axial position, wherein the second portion is determined by the controller based on the measured parameter of the soot and/or ammonium, wherein the one or more second fuel injectors are configured to receive the second portion of the fuel from the fuel supply system, and wherein the controller is configured to cause the one or more second fuel injectors to deliver the second portion of the fuel such that combustion of the fuel and the oxidant within an overall combustion section of the turbine combustor is at a defined equivalence ratio between 0.95 and 1.05;
supplying an oxidant from an oxidant supply system to the head end of the combustion section of the turbine combustor at a controlled rate using the controller; and
adjusting, with the controller, a ratio of the first portion to the second portion of the fuel based on the measured parameter of the soot and/or ammonium and on the defined combustion equivalence ratio of the fuel and oxidant within the overall combustion section of the turbine combustor, and wherein the second portion of the fuel corresponds to between 5% and 30% of a total amount of the fuel provided to the turbine combustor by the first portion and the second portion.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein supplying the second portion of the fuel comprises controlling an independent fuel flow rate to each of the one or more second fuel injectors.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein supplying the second portion of the fuel comprises supplying the second portion of the fuel via at least one of the one or more second fuel injectors coupled to a diluent injector disposed downstream of the head end of the turbine combustor.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein supplying the second portion of the fuel comprises supplying the second portion of the fuel in an amount that is between approximately 10% and 20% of the total amount of the fuel provided to the turbine combustor by the first and second portions, while maintaining a combustion equivalence ratio of between 0.95 and 1.05 for the turbine combustor as a whole.