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OwnerRalph A. Dalla Betta, Sarento G. Nickolas +4inventors
InventorsRalph A. Dalla Betta, Sarento G. Nickolas, Timothy J. Caron, Jon G. McCarty, Mark J. Spencer, Robert A. Corr, II
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Methods and apparatus for control of NOx in catalytic combustion systems, and more particularly to control of thermal or/and prompt NOx produced during combustion of liquid or gaseous fuels in the combustor sections of catalytic combustor-type gas turbines, by controlled injection of water in liquid or vapor form at selected locations, orientations, amounts, rates, temperatures, phases, forms and manners in the compressor and combustor sections of gas turbines. The ratio of thermal NOx ppm reduction to water addition, in weight %, is on the order of 4-20, with % NOx reduction on the order of up to about 50-80% and NOx of below 2 ppm. Liquid water, steam or superheated steam can be used to reduce NOx in combustion systems operating at reaction zone temperatures above 900° C., preferably 1400° C. to 1700° C. The amount of water added is sufficient to provide a concentration of water in the range of from about 0.1% to about 20% by weight of the total air and fuel mixture flowing into the post catalyst reaction zone. Water is introduced simultaneously or sequentially in a plurality of locations, at selected rates, amounts, temperatures, forms, and purity, preferably in accord with a suitable control algorithm.
In a method of operating a catalytic combustion system wherein fuel is introduced into and are mixed with process air flowing through a combustor or/and compressor, upstream of a catalyst module in said combustor to form a fuel/air mixture, a portion of the fuel in said fuel/air mixture is combusted in said catalyst module, and a portion of the fuel is combusted in a post catalyst reaction zone downstream of said catalyst module to provide a hot gases stream of a preselected output temperature value, the improvement comprising the step of introducing water from an external source into at least one of said process air, said fuel and said fuel/air mixture in an amount sufficient to reduce NOx produced in said post catalyst reaction zone.
Apparatus for reduction of NOx produced in a combustor section of a gas turbine downstream of a compressor section, which combustor section includes a catalytic combustion system, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.