Influences of spray and operating parameters on penetration of vaporizing fuel droplets in a gas turbine combustor

The effects of inlet spray and operating parameters on penetration and vaporization histories of fuel droplets of a liquid fuel spray injected into a turbulent swirling flow of air through a typical can type gas turbine combustor, have been evaluated from numerical solutions of the conservation equations in gas and droplet phases. The computational scheme is based on the typical stochastic separated flow model of the gas-droplet flow within the combustor. A κ–ε model with wall function treatment for near wall region has been adopted for the solution of conservative equations in gas phase. The initial spray parameters are specified by a suitable PDF size distribution and a given spray cone angle. It has been recognized that the penetration of vaporizing droplets is reduced with an increase in inlet air swirl and spray cone angle. An increase in inlet air pressure or a decrease in inlet air temperature also results in a reduction in droplet penetration. The inlet air pressure and spray cone angle are found to be the most influencing parameters in this regard.