Development of a State-of-the-Art Dry Low NOx Gas Turbine Combustor for IGCC with CCS

The successful development of the coal-based integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) with carbon capture and storage (CCS) requires gas turbines capable of achieving dry low nitrogen oxide (NOx) combustion of hydrogen-rich syngas fuels for low emissions and high plant efficiency. This chapter describes the development of a “multi-cluster combustor” as a state-of-the-art dry low NOx combustor for hydrogen-rich syngas fuels. The combustor consists of multiple clusters of pairs of one fuel nozzle and one air hole that are installed coaxially. The essence of the design concept is the integration of two key technologies: rapid mixing of fuel and air for low NOx and flame lifting for flashback-resistant combustion. The combustor has been developed in three steps: burner development, combustor development, and feasibility demonstration for practical plants. The combustor was tested with a practical syngas fuel in a multi-can combustor configuration in an IGCC pilot plant in the final step. The combustor achieved the dry low NOx combustion of the syngas fuel in the pilot plant and the test results demonstrated the feasibility for achieving dry low NOx combustion of the syngas fuel in practical plants