Research Projects:
- Hydrogen Exhaust Modelling Project:
Flame out scenarios in Hydrogen based Gas turbine engines are associated with concomitant operational safety issues. Undetected flame-outs can result in excessive injection of hydrogen resulting in conditions close to the lean explosive limit (LEL) of hydrogen. It is important to ensure that the fuel mixture, if above LEL does not detonate. This LES investigation models the downstream region of a gas turbine engine for a range of mixture compositions and exhaust temperatures. The geometry, currently in design stage, essentially consists of a rectangular duct of varying cross-section terminating into the ambient atmosphere via a vertical cylindrical duct. The mixture composition ranges from 8%-12% of H2 by volume of mixture and the temperature ranges from 600 K - 800 K. Effect of geometry on flame-propagation, such as the cross-sectional area and the obstacles in the form of an MxN array of rod and tube bundles comprising the heat-exchanger unit is studied. The effect of ignition location on flame-propagation is also investigated. The LES results are expected to guide the design of the downstream duct via suggestions of safe operating envelopes (mixture composition and temperature) as well as instrumentation locations for the early detection of local wall pressure exceeding a predefined threshold to ensure safe shutoff of fuel injection.