Numerical and experimental analysis of the temperature distribution in a hydrogen fuelled combustor for a 10 MW gas turbine

Proper cooling of the hot components and an optimal temperature distribution at the turbine inlet are fundamental targets for gas turbine combustors. In particular, the temperature distribution at the combustor discharge is a critical issue for the durability of the turbine blades and the high performance of the engine. At present, CFD is a widely used tool to simulate the reacting flow inside gas turbine combustors. This paper presents a numerical analysis of a single can type combustor designed to be fed both with hydrogen and natural gas. The combustor also features a steam injection system to restrain the NOx pollutants. The simulations were carried out to quantify the effect of fuel type and steam injection on the temperature field. The CFD model employs a computationally low cost approach, thus the physical domain is meshed with a coarse grid. A full-scale test campaign was performed on the combustor: temperatures at the liner wall and the combustor outlet were acquired at different operating conditions. These experimental data, which are discussed, were used to evaluate the capability of the present CFD model to predict temperature values for combustor operation with different fuels and steam-fuel ratios.