Air-Fuel Micromix Injector Having Multibank Ports for Adaptive Cooling of High Temperature Combustor
AssigneeSouthwest Research Institute
InventorsShane B. Coogan, Klaus Brun
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of using a combustor for high temperature combustion. The combustor is equipped with a showerhead type micromix air-fuel injector. The injector faceplate has its ports concentrically arranged into “banks”, to which delivery of fuel can be controlled on a bank-by-bank basis. During combustor operation, the temperature of the air into the combustor is monitored. If the temperature is above a predetermined threshold, fuel is delivered to fewer than all banks of ports. As a result, the bank(s) of ports to which fuel is not delivered inject only air into the combustion chamber, and the other bank(s) of ports inject the air-fuel mixture as usual.
Claims18
A method of using a combustor for high inlet temperature combustion, the combustor having an input end for receiving the air-fuel mixture, and having an output end for outputting the exhaust product of combustion within the combustion chamber, the method comprising:
- providing the combustor with an injector at the input end, the injector having a faceplate with at least two concentrically arranged banks of ports operable to deliver the air-fuel mixture into the combustion chamber;
- determining the temperature of the air into the input end of the combustor;
- and
- if the temperature is above a predetermined threshold, delivering fuel to less than all banks of ports, such that only air is injected into the combustion chamber from the bank(s) of ports to which fuel is not delivered and the air-fuel mixture is injected into the combustion chamber from bank(s) of ports to which fuel is delivered.
A combustor that combusts an air-fuel mixture, comprising:
- a combustion chamber having an input end for receiving the air-fuel mixture, and having an output end for outputting the exhaust product of combustion within the combustion chamber;
- an injector at the input end of the combustion chamber, the injector having a faceplate with at least two concentrically arranged banks of ports for delivery of the air-fuel mixture into the combustion chamber;
- means for delivery of fuel to the injector, operable to turn fuel delivery on or off to the banks of ports;
- an igniter for igniting the air-fuel mixture within the combustion chamber;
- and
- a control unit operable to receive data representing the temperature of the air at the input to the combustor and to turn fuel delivery on or off, on a bank-by-bank basis, in response to the temperature data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.