Catalytic gas turbine combustor with a fuel-air premix chamber

A combustor arrangement for a gas turbine including:

• a combustor shell having an upstream portion in fluid flow communication with high pressure incoming air and a discharge end for discharging the products of combustion;
• means for delivering fuel to said shell adjacent the upstream portion;
• a catalytic reactor element disposed within said shell intermediate said upstream portion and in a confined fluid flow path to said discharge end;
• and,
• means within said shell for generally uniformly mixing the air and fuel delivered to said catalytic member, said mixing means comprising:
• a tubular member defined by a cylindrical wall having a major axis generally parallel to the air flow through said shell and spaced from the wall of said shell to form an annular space therebetween;
• an end wall closing the upstream end of said cylindrical wall, the opposite end of said cylindrical wall defining a confined fluid flow path for discharging directly into said catalytic element for combustion therein;
• flame arrester means within said tubular member generally intermediate of said upstream end and said catalytic element to prevent combustion moving from said catalytic element to said upstream end;
• and
• A plurality of apertures in the cylindrical wall of said tubular member generally adjacent the upstream end thereof whereby air and fuel entering the upstream end of said shell must initially flow axially into said annular space then radially to enter said tubular member through said apertures and again axially to flow through said catalytic element whereby said air and fuel must flow in a tortuous flow path including the upstream end of said clindrical wall producing thorough mixing of the air-fuel prior to entering said catalytic element.