Design and Performance of a Low Btu Fuel Rich-Quench-Lean Gas Turbine Combustor

General Electric Company is developing gas turbines and a high temperature desulfurization system for use in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants. High temperature desulfurization, or hot gas cleanup (HGCU), offers many advantages over conventional low temperature desulfurization processes, but does not reduce the relatively high concentrations of fuel bound nitrogen (FBN) that are typically found in low Btu fuel. When fuels containing bound nitrogen are burned in conventional gas turbine combustors, a significant portion of the FBN is converted to NO{sub x}. Methods of reducing the NO{sub x} emissions from IGCC power plants equipped with HGCU are needed. Rich-quench-lean (RQL) combustion can decrease the conversion of FBN to NO{sub x} because a large fraction of the FBN is converted into non-reactive N{sub 2} in a fuel rich stage. Additional air, required for complete combustion, is added in a quench stage. A lean stage provides sufficient residence time for complete combustion. Objectives General Electric has developed and tested a rich-quench-lean gas turbine combustor for use with low Btu fuels containing FBN. The objective of this work has been to design an RQL combustor that has a lower conversion of FBN to N{sub x} than a conventional low Btu combustor and is suitable for use in a GE heavy duty gas turbine. Such a combustor must be of appropriate size and scale, configuration (can-annular), and capable of reaching ``F`` class firing conditions (combustor exit temperature = 2550{degrees}F).