Combustion Measurements Of Synthetic Fuels At Gas Turbine Conditions

Synthetic fuels are of interest as a replacement for aviation, diesel, and other petroleum-based fuels, and the present paper outlines a joint project to study the combustion behavior of Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthetic fuels. To this end, shock-tube kinetics, shock-tube spray, and high-recirculation combustion rig experiments are being utilized to study the ignition delay times, chemical kinetics, and the formation of soot and emissions of FT jet fuels. The conditions for the present ignition delay times and CH* profiles ranged from 1391 to 1680 K with an average pressure of 2 atm and equivalence ratio of 1, highly diluted in argon. Undiluted experiments were conducted using a recently developed heterogeneous technique wherein the fuel is sprayed directly into the test region of a shock tube. The high recirculation combustion rig is a complete gas turbine where syntroleum was combusted and soot formation and particulates measured. Reduction of soot and emissions was observed, agreeing with previous investigations