U.S. patent number 3,831,854 [Application Number 05/335,312] was granted by the patent office on 1974-08-27 for pressure spray type fuel injection nozzle having air discharge openings.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Hitachi, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Tadahisa Masai, Isao Sato.
United States Patent |
3,831,854 |
Sato , et al. |
August 27, 1974 |
PRESSURE SPRAY TYPE FUEL INJECTION NOZZLE HAVING AIR DISCHARGE
OPENINGS
Abstract
A fuel injection nozzle of the type which injects fuel from a
nozzle opening with pressure in the form of a conical spray of fuel
particles, in which air discharge openings are provided around the
nozzle opening. The air discharge openings each have an angle of
inclination and an angle of torsion to the axis of the nozzle
opening and cause a spiral flow of air which contacts from the
outside the outer periphery of the conical spray of fuel particles
injected into a combustion chamber and thereby divides coarse fuel
particles at the outer periphery of the conical spray into smaller
particles. These air discharge openings are communicated with a
flow passage of combustion air inside a combustion element.
Inventors: |
Sato; Isao (Hitachi,
JA), Masai; Tadahisa (Hitachi, JA) |
Assignee: |
Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo,
JA)
|
Family
ID: |
23311244 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/335,312 |
Filed: |
February 23, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
239/406; 60/748;
60/756; 60/760; 431/352 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F23R
3/14 (20130101); F23D 11/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F23R
3/14 (20060101); F23R 3/04 (20060101); F23D
11/00 (20060101); F23d 015/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;239/400,403,405,406,424.5 ;431/352 ;60/39.69,39.74R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Wood, Jr.; M. Henson
Assistant Examiner: Mar; Michael Y.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Craig and Antonelli
Claims
We claim:
1. A pressure spray type fuel nozzle comprising a fuel discharge
opening located at one end of a fuel passage for injecting fuel
into a combustion chamber therethrough to form a conical spray of
fuel particles, and an air discharge opening provided exteriorly of
said fuel passage and adapted to form a spiral air flow within said
combustion chamber which contacts from the outside the outer
periphery of said conical spray of fuel particles,
in which there are provided a plurality of said air discharge
openings which are arranged on a circle concentric with said fuel
discharge opening and each of which has an angle of inclination and
an angle of torsion to the axis of said fuel discharge opening,
in which with 2 .phi. representing the spray angle of fuel
particles discharged from said fuel discharge opening, R.sub.1 =
.+-. (h - t) tan .phi. representing the radial distance from the
axis of said fuel discharge opening of the fuel particles present
at the outer periphery of said conical spray at a point distance h
spaced axially downstream from said air discharge openings and
R.sub.2 = .+-. .sqroot.(htan.theta.) .sup.2 + (a -
htan.alpha.).sup.2 representing the radial distance from the axis
of said fuel discharge opening of said spiral air flows at said
point, wherein a and t are the radial distance and axial distance
of said air discharge openings from the axis of said fuel discharge
opening respectively, each of said air discharge openings has an
angle .alpha. of inclination and an angle .theta. of torsion to the
axis of said fuel discharge opening which satisfy the
conditions
R.sub.1 = R.sub.2 and (d.sup.R 1/ dh) = (d.sup.R 2/ dh)
when R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are both plus or minus values.
2. A pressure spray type fuel nozzle according to claim 1, in which
there is provided means for leading to said air discharge opening
part of the combustion air passing in a space formed between a
liner defining said combustion chamber therein and an outer
cylinder of a combustion element surrounding said liner and being
supplied into said combustion chamber.
3. A pressure spray fuel type nozzle according to claim 2,
comprising a nozzle body having said fuel discharge opening and
connected to a supporting member, a cap connected to said
supporting member in a manner to surround said nozzle body other
than the portion of said fuel discharge opening and to form an
annular air passage between it and said nozzle body and formed with
apertures for leading said combustion air into said air passage
therethrough, and a plurality of said air discharge openings
provided at the forward end of said air passage.
4. A pressure spray fuel type nozzle according to claim 2,
comprising a nozzle body having said fuel discharge opening and
connected to a supporting member, a cap connected to said
supporting member in a manner to surround said nozzle body other
than the portion of said fuel discharge opening and to form an
annular air passage between it and said nozzle body, said
supporting member being formed with apertures for leading the
combustion air into said annular passage therethrough, and a
plurality of said air discharge openings provided at the end of
said air passage closer to said fuel discharge opening.
5. A pressure spray type fuel nozzle according to claim 1,
comprising a nozzle body having said fuel discharge opening and
connected to a supporting member, a cap connected to said
supporting member in a manner to surround said nozzle body other
than the portion of said fuel discharge opening and to form an
annular air passage between it and said nozzle body and formed with
apertures for leading said combustion air into said air passage
therethrough, and a plurality of said air discharge openings
provided at the forward end of said air passage.
6. A pressure spray type fuel nozzle according to claim 1,
comprising a nozzle body having said fuel discharge opening and
connected to a supporting member, a cap connected to said
supporting member in a manner to surround said nozzle body other
than the portion of said fuel discharge opening and to form an
annular air passage between it and said nozzle body, said
supporting member being formed with apertures for leading the
combustion air into said annular passage therethrough, and a
plurality of said air discharge openings provided at the end of
said air passage closer to said fuel discharge opening.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a pressure spray type fuel injection
nozzle used with gas turbines.
Combustion elements used in gas turbines and boilers are becoming
larger and larger in capacity to meet economical demands. On the
other hand, fuels used in such combustion elements are changing
from more volatile oils, such as kerosine and light oil, to less
volatile oils, such as heavy oil, containing a large amount of
residual oil, in consideration of effective use of the petroleum
resources. These tendencies are aggravating air pollution by the
unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, smoke and
dusts contained in the exhaust gases from the combustion elements.
In this view, removal of the air polluting substances contained in
the exhaust gases is an important problem in increasing the
capacity of the combustion elements and in using less volatile
oils, and countermeasures are required.
The combustion element of gas turbine, as compared with that of
boiler, is extremely narrower in the size of combustion chamber and
is used under severer operational conditions, such as quick
starting and stopping. Therefore, even if light oil is used as
fuel, carbon contained in the fuel is separated in the combustion
chamber and the separated carbon is released directly into the
atmosphere, which imparts a sufficiently visible black color to the
exhaust gas. For the gas turbines which are considered as
discharging less amounts of air polluting substances than other
heat engines, the suppression of smoke generation is an important
problem.
For the suppression of smoke generation, there are known two
methods. Namely, one is an indirect method in which a desmoking
agent is added to fuel and the other one is a direct method in
which the construction of the combustion element is designed best
to suppress the generation of smoke. In the former method,
manganese and manganese compounds are chiefly used as the desmoking
agents. However, since the desmoking agent must be mixed in fuel
beforehand, this method has some defects, such as that mixing means
is required for mixing the desmoking agent with fuel, that the
desmoking agent cannot be mixed uniformly in the fuel, and that the
secondary products of the desmoking agent resulting from the
combustion are discharged into the atmosphere, causing secondary
air pollution, and is rarely being used at the present time.
The generation of smoke, as is well known, is attributable to the
presence of local excess fuel regions in the primary combustion
region within the combustion chamber, and therefore, can be
prevented by eliminating such local excess fuel regions. In order
to eliminate directly the source of smoke generation, it is only
necessary to encourage mixing of air and fuel and thereby to
promote complete combustion of fuel and prevent separation of
carbon. As a method, there can be considered to increase the area
of a primary air supply opening of the combustion element. This
method aims to encourage fuel-air mixing by supplying a large
amount of primary air and thereby to eliminate the excess fuel
regions. However, the generation of smoke cannot be prevented,
simply by supplying the primary air in a large amount, and this is
the very fact which makes the subject of combustion complicated and
difficult to deal with. In case of a liquid fuel, the evaporation
stage of the liquid fuel droplets is important and the diameter of
the droplets has a significant influence on the combustion of fuel.
It is well known that the evaporation time of a liquid droplet is
proportional to the square of the diameter thereof. Therefore, it
will be understood that the evaporation time of the fuel particle
sprayed into the combustion element becomes longer and the interior
thereof is contacted more hardly by air, as the size of said fuel
particle (hereinafter referred to as sprayed particle size) becomes
larger. A larger sprayed particle size facilitates the occurrence
of excess fuel regions in the combustion chamber and is a cause of
smoke generation. The sprayed particle size is influenced by the
fuel atomizing characteristic of the fuel injection nozzle.
Fuel injection nozzles are classified broadly into two types in
terms of spray method. Namely, one is a type of fuel injection
nozzle which sprays fuel with pressure (hereinafter referred to as
pressure spray type fuel nozzle) and the other one is a type of
fuel injection nozzle which sprays fuel by making use of air
pressure (hereinafter referred to as air spray type fuel nozzle).
In case of the air spray type fuel nozzle, the sprayed particle
size is smaller than in case of the pressure spray type fuel
nozzle. However, the air spray type fuel nozzle has the serious
disadvantage that it calls for a compressor solely for compressing
the air used for spraying fuel. Further, with the air spray fuel
nozzle, there must be provided, in addition to a fuel flow control
system, an air flow control system and an air piping which render
the construction of the gas turbine complicated.
In gas turbines, the pressure spray type fuel nozzle is generally
being used at the present time, As one type of the pressure spray
type fuel nozzle, there is known a spiral spray type fuel nozzle
which sprays fuel particles in the form of a spiral flow. This type
of fuel nozzle includes a fuel nozzle having dual nozzle openings
consisting of a small opening from which fuel is constantly sprayed
and relatively large openings which are not opened at the time of
ignition (hereinafter referred to as dual opening type spiral fuel
nozzle). This duel opening spiral type fuel nozzle has the
advantages that the time required from the start of a gas turbine
to the rated speed can be shortened, and that the flow rate of fuel
can be regulated simply by varying the spray pressure by means of a
fuel pump. On the other hand, with the duel opening type spiral
fuel nozzle, the fuel particles are sprayed in a conical shape and
most of them are concentrated at the peripheral portion of said
conical shape, substantially no fuel particles being present in the
central portion of the conical shape. Practically speaking, the
numbers of fuel particles at the peripheral portion is about 27
times that of fuel particle present in the central portion, with
respect to the unit area of the conical shape. Further, the mean
sprayed particle size is as large as about 320 microns, and even
larger and about 370 microns especially at the peripheral portion.
Thus, it will be understood that fuel particles of large diameters
are present in a large number at the peripheral portion of the
conical spray of fuel. In consideration of the air and fuel
concentrations at this portion, it will be readily understood that
excess fuel regions occur locally in the combustion chamber, which
are obviously the major cause of incomplete combustion and high
smoke concentration. For eliminating the excess fuel regions, only
increasing the primary air is insufficient and the fuel atomizing
characteristic of the fuel nozzle needs to be improved. Such a
tendency can be said on all of pressure spray type fuel
nozzles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a novel
pressure spray type fuel nozzle which overcomes the disadvantages
of the conventional ones and is capable of reducing the sprayed
fuel particles.
Another object of the invention is provide a pressure spray type
fuel nozzle which suppresses the generation of smoke even when used
with a combustion element of gas turbine.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a pressure
spray type fuel nozzle which enables even a less volatile oil, such
as heavy oil, used as fuel to be burned satisfactorily.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a pressure
spray type fuel nozzle which is capable of dividing into smaller
particles the coarse fuel particles concentrating to the outer
peripheral portion of a conical spray of fuel injected from the
nozzle opening and enables a uniform distribution of fuel particles
to be obtained.
A further object of the invention is to provide a pressure spray
type fuel nozzle which divides the sprayed fuel particles by making
use of part of the combustion air being supplied into a combustion
chamber and, therefore, is very simple in construction and
inexpensive, without requiring an additional air supply source.
The present invention is characterized in that air discharge
openings are provided around the opening of a fuel injection nozzle
connected to one end of a fuel passage facing the combustion
chamber of a combustion element, and each of said air discharge
opening is of such construction that air discharged therefrom forms
a spiral air flow which contacts from the outside the outer
periphery of a conical spray of fuel particles injected into the
combustion chamber from the fuel injection nozzle. Therefore, with
the fuel injection nozzle of the invention, the outer peripheral
portion of the conical spray is disturbed by the spiral air flows.
with the result that the coarse fuel particles concentrating to
said portion are divided into smaller particles and dispersed
uniformly in the combustion chamber, providing for satisfactory
combustion of fuel. Further, the spiral air flows are formed by
making use of part of the combustion air supplied into the
combustion chamber and hence, a special air supply source is not
required. This is advantageous in rendering the fuel injection
nozzle of the invention very simple in construction and
inexpensive.
The objects, set forth above, other objects and the unique features
of the present invention will be more fully understood from the
following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the
drawings are only illustrative and not limitative to the scope of
the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an embodiment of the
pressure spray type fuel injection nozzle according to the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view showing in detail the air
discharge opening unit shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the air discharge opening unit,
looking in the direction of the arrow III in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating diagrammatically spiral air
flows and fuel particle flow, formed by the nozzle of the
invention, relative to the axis of the nozzle opening;
FIG. 5 is a characteristic graph showing the flow rate
distributions of sprayed fuel, of a conventional dual opening type
spiral fuel nozzle and the pressure spray type fuel nozzle of the
invention;
FIG. 6 is a characteristic chart showing the particle size
distributions in the radial direction of fuel particles sprayed by
the conventional dual opening type spiral fuel nozzle and the
pressure spray type fuel nozzle of the invention; and
FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of another embodiment of the
fuel nozzle according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an embodiment of the pressure
spray type fuel nozzle according to the invention generally
indicated by numeral 11, as mounted in a combustion element
(hereinafter thr pressure spray type fuel nozzle of the invention
will be referred to simply as fuel nozzle, to distinguish it from
conventional pressure spray type fuel nozzles). The fuel nozzle 11
comprises a nozzle body 12 having a fuel passage (not shown) formed
therein and a fuel discharge opening 27 provided at the forward end
of said fuel passage, a cap 14 surrounding said nozzle body 12 to
form an annular air passage 23 therebetween, a spiral passage unit
18 provided at the forward end of the air passage 23 defined by
said nozzle body 12 and cap 14 and having air discharge openings
20, and a supporting member 21. The fuel discharge opening 27 is
located on the axis 29 of the nozzle body 12 and is of the ordinary
one capable of spraying fuel in a conical shape coaxial with the
axis 29. The nozzle body 12 is connected to the supporting member
21 by the ordinary means, e.g., screws. The forward end of the cap
14 is so shaped as to define an air discharge openings 20 between
the inner surface thereof and the outer surface of the spiral
passage unit 18. The cap 14 is connected to the supporting member
21 through screw engagement between external threads formed on the
outer surface of the rear end portion of said cap 14 and internal
threads formed on the inner surface of the forward end of said
supporting member 21. The spiral passage unit 18 is secured between
the nozzle body 12 and the cap 14 at the same time when the cap 14
is connected to the supporting member 21. The spiral passage unit
18 may alternatively be connected to the nozzle body 12 by means of
screws. The spiral passage unit 18, as shown in FIG. 2, has a
plurality of grooves formed in the conical outer surface thereof
which form air discharge openings 20 together with the inner
surface of the cap 14. Each of the air discharge openings 20 has an
angle .alpha. of inclination to the axis 29 of the nozzle body 12
as shown in FIG. 1, and an angle .theta. of torsion to the axis 29
as shown in FIG. 3. The upper and lower surfaces of the air
discharge opening 20 are parallel to the air flowing direction, but
not necessarily and one of them may be inclined relative to the
other so that said air discharge opening may be progressively
reduced in cross section toward the downstream of the fuel nozzle
11. The air discharge openings 20 and the fuel discharge opening 27
do not have a common passage at any point within the fuel nozzle
11.
An outer cylinder, generally indicated by numeral 35, of the
combustion element is composed of a cylinder 36 and an end plate 37
perpendicular to said cylinder 36. The supporting member 21
supporting the fuel nozzle 11 is fixed to the end plate 37 by means
of bolts. In the outer cylinder 35 is disposed a liner 39 which
defines a combustion chamber 45 therein and is provided with
primary air inlet openings 41, secondary air inlet openings (not
shown) and slit-like louvers 43. The outer cylinder 35 and the
liner 39 form therebetween a passage 26 for combustion air 51. One
end of the liner 39 is closed and the forward end of the fuel
nozzle 11 is projecting into the combustion chamber 43, with the
cap 14 located at the center of said closed end of the inner 39, to
spray fuel into said combustion chamber. The other end of the liner
39 is open for discharging the combustion gas. The cap 14 has a
number of apertures 16 formed through that portion thereof which is
exposed in the passage 26. The air discharge openings 20 are
communicated with the passage 26 through the passage 23 and the
apertures 16. The total cross sectional area of the air discharge
openings 20 is made smaller than the cross sectional area of the
passage 23 and the total cross sectional area of the apertures 16.
Between the nozzle body 12 and the spiral passage unit 18 is formed
an annular passage 25 which is in communication with the passage 23
and open at the forward end for discharging air along the forward
end face of the nozzle body 12.
The coarse fuel particle dividing effect of the present invention
is achieved by spiral flows of air discharged from the air
discharge openings 20 which contact from the outside the outer
periphery of the conical spray of atomized fuel particles injected
from the fuel discharge opening 27, where the coarse fuel particles
are present in a large number. Namely, the coarse fuel particles
are divided into smaller particles by taking advantage of the
velocity energy of the spiral air flows. This principle will be
described hereunder with reference to FIG. 4.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view diagrammatically showing in side
elevation the conical spray 57 of fuel particles injected from the
fuel discharge opening 27 and the spiral flows 55 of air discharged
from the air discharge openings 20, relative to the axis 29 of the
fuel nozzle. The centers of the air discharge openings 20 are
located on a circle concentric with the axis 29 of the fuel nozzle,
which is a distance t spaced axially from the fuel discharge
opening 27 and has a radius a (hereinafter all distances from the
air discharge openings 20 are with reference to this circle). At a
point a distance h spaced axially downstream from the air discharge
openings 20, the coarse fuel particles discharged from the fuel
discharge opening 27 at an angle 2.phi. of injection and being
present at the outer peripheral portion of the conical spray 57 of
fuel particles, are spaced radially from the axis 29 of the fuel
discharge opening by a distance R.sub.1 which is represented by the
following formula:
R.sub.1 = .+-. (h - t) tan.phi. 8
Here, it should be understood that in FIG. 4 axial distances
measured downstream from the fuel discharge opening 27 are regarded
as + and radial distances measured upwardly from the axis 29 of the
fuel nozzle are regarded as +. At the point the distance h spaced
axially downstream from the air discharge openings 20, the spiral
flows 55 of air discharged from said air discharge openings pass
the points spaced radially from the axis 29 of the fuel nozzle by a
distance R.sub.2 which is represented by the following formula:
R.sub.2 = .+-..sqroot.(htan.theta.).sup.2 + (a = htan.alpha.).sup.2
2
wherein .alpha. is the angle of inclination of the air discharge
openings to the axis of the fuel nozzle, and
.theta. is the angle of torsion of the air discharge openings to
the axis of the fuel nozzle.
The spiral air flows 55 contact the outer periphery of the conical
spray 57 of fuel particles at the point the distance h spaced
axially downstream from the air discharge openings 20, when
equations (3) given below are satisfied:
R.sub.1 = R.sub.2, (dR.sub.1 /dh) = (dR.sub.2 /dh) 3
In the event when the axial position of the air discharge openings
20 are changed with respect to the fuel discharge opening 27, the
radius a from the axis 29 of the fuel nozzle is adjusted such that
the spiral air flows will not interfere with the conical spray 57
of fuel particles sprayed from the fuel discharge opening 27.
On the contrary, the positions of contact between the spiral air
flows 55 and the outer periphery of the conical spray 57 of fuel
particles can be optionally changed by selectively changing the
angle .alpha. of inclination and angle .theta. torsion of the air
discharge openings 20 to the fuel discharge opening 27 which has a
specific spray angle.
In formulae (1) and (2), the angle .alpha. of inclination and the
angle .theta. of torsion which satisfy equation (3) are subjected
to certain limitations in respect of the selectable ranges thereof,
for the following reason: namely, when the angle .alpha. of
inclination is extremely large or the angle .theta. of torsion is
extremely small, the spray angle of the fuel particles 57 becomes
undesirably small, with the result that the fuel particles
concentrate to the axis 29 of the fuel nozzle and the finely
atomized fuel particles join again, forming particles of large
diameters. Conversely, when the angle .alpha. of inclination is
extremely small, the points of contact between the spiral air flows
55 and the conical spray 57 of the fuel particles move away axially
downstream from the air discharge openings 20, so that the velocity
energy possessed by the spiral air flows 55 cannot be used
effectively for the division of fuel particles into smaller
particles. Further, when the angle .theta. of torsion is extremely
large, the spiral air flows 55 do not contact the conical spray 57
of fuel particles.
With the spray angle of the fuel discharge opening 27 being
80.degree., a satisfactory result can be obtained when the angle
.alpha. of inclination of the air discharge openings 20 is in the
range of 30.degree. - 65.degree. and the angle .theta. of torsion
thereof in the range of 15.degree. - 50.degree., and the best
result can be obtained when the angle .alpha. of inclination is
45.degree. and the angle .theta. of torsion is 25.degree.. Using a
fuel nozzle having air discharge openings 20 of which .alpha. =
45.degree. and .theta. = 25.degree., the flow rate distribution and
particle size of sprayed fuel were measured at the point of contact
between the spiral air flows 55 and the conical spray 57 of fuel
particles, namely at a point 140 mm spaced axially downstream from
the air discharge openings 20, with the results shown in FIGS. 5
and 6.
FIG. 5 shows the radial distribution of the sprayed fuel particles.
It will be seen that, with the fuel nozzle of the invention, the
number of fuel particles present in the vicinity of the nozzle axis
is larger than with the conventional dual opening type spiral fuel
nozzle, and that the number of fuel particles at the portion where
the fuel particles concentrate most is only about eight times that
at the nozzle axis, with respect to unit area and thus the fuel
particles are distributed considerably uniformly.
FIG. 6 shows the particle size distribution of fuel particles in
the radial direction. It will be seen that, with the fuel nozzle of
this invention, the mean particle size becomes as small as about
230 microns and the particle size difference in the radial
direction decreases. Thus, the fuel nozzle of the invention is
advantageous in respect of particle size distribution as well as
flow rate distribution of sprayed fuel.
The spiral air flows are formed by making use of part of the
combustion air passing in the space between the liner 39 defining
the combustion chamber and the outer cylinder 35 of the combustion
element surrounding said liner 39, to be supplied into said
combustion chamber. This part of the combustion air is injected
into the combustion chamber from the air discharge openings by
virtue of a pressure difference between the interior and exterior
of the liner, to form the spiral air flows. Therefore, it is
unnecessary to provide an additional compressor which has been
required by the conventional air spray type fuel nozzle solely for
spraying fuel. With the fuel nozzle of the invention, the
atomization of fuel into fine particles is possible, only with the
compressor provided for a gas turbine as a combustion air
source.
The process in which the fuel is atomized by the fuel nozzle of the
invention will be described in greater detail hereunder with
reference to FIG. 1. The fuel nozzle of the invention is provided
with the air discharge openings 20 each having an angle .alpha. of
inclination and an angle .theta. of torsion to the axis of the fuel
discharge opening 27 from which the fuel injected in the form of a
conical spray having a spray angle .phi.. Now, let it be supposed
that the angle of inclination and the angle of torsion to satisfy
equations (1) and (2) are x and y respectively, i.e., .alpha. = x
and .theta. = y, and the spray angle is .beta., i.e., .phi. =
.beta..
The combustion air 51 supplied from the compressor (not shown) of
the gas turbine and passing in the passage 26 flows into the
combustion chamber 45 from the primary air inlet openings 41, the
secondary air inlet openings (not shown) and the louvers 43 formed
in the liner 39. In this case, part of the combustion air 51 flows
into the passage 23 from the apertures 16 as the air 53 discharged
into the combustion chamber 45 from the air discharge openings 20
to form the spiral air flows 55 each having the angle .alpha. of
inclination, that is the angle x, and the angle .theta. of torsion,
that is the angle y, to the axis 29 of the fuel discharge opening
27. In the conical spray 57 of atomized fuel discharged from the
fuel discharge opening 27, the number of fuel particles is small at
the portion adjacent the axis 29 and is large at the outer
peripheral portion of the conical spray, and the majority of the
fuel particles at the outer peripheral portion of the conical spray
are large in particle size. The spiral air flows 55 contact the
outer periphery of the conical spray 57 of fuel particles at points
downstream of the fuel nozzle 11. The large fuel particles present
at the outer peripheral portion of the conical spray 57 are further
divided by the actions of these spiral air flows 55 into finer
particles. The spiral air flows 55 also act to disperse uniformly
the fuel particles concentrating to the outer peripheral portion of
the conical spray 57. Thus, fine fuel particles and uniform
distribution of the fine fuel particles are obtained downstream of
the contacts between the conical spray 57 of fuel and the spiral
air flows 55, and excess fuel regions are reduced. It is also to be
noted that mixing of fuel and air is promoted by the spiral air
flows 55. By the action of the spiral air flows 55, the fuel
particles are also caused to make a spiral motion, so that the
retention time of the fuel particles within the combustion chamber
45 is prolonged and accordingly, the time in which the fuel
particles receive heat from the combustion gas formed in said
combustion chamber 45 is prolonged, whereby the evaporation of the
fuel particles is promoted. As a result, stable combustion is
obtained within the combustion chamber 45 and the smoke
concentration in the exhaust gas is reduced to an invisible
degree.
Part of the air 53 passing in the passage 23 flows into the annular
passage 25 formed between the nozzle body 12 and the spiral passage
unit 18, at a point upstream of the air discharge openings 20, and
discharges along the forward end face of said nozzle body 12 to
prevent carbon from attaching to said end face of the nozzle body
12.
In the embodiment described above, the apertures 16 for leading the
combustion air 51 into the passage 23 therethrough are formed in
the cap 14, it should be understood that these apertures 16 may
alternatively be formed in the supporting member 21. In this case,
as shown in FIG. 7, the supporting member is provided with a cap
mounting portion 61 projecting into the passage 26 through the end
plate 37 of the combustion element and a cap 14' is connected to
said cap mounting portion 61. The apertures 16 are formed in the
cap mounting portion 61 at points upstream of the cap 14', for
leading part of the combustion air 51 therethrough into the passage
23. The same effect as has been described above can also be
obtained with such construction.
In order to impart the maximum velocity energy to the spiral air
flows 55 by taking advantage of the pressure difference between the
interior and exterior of the liner 39, it is necessary to locate
the air discharge openings 20 as close to the combustion chamber 45
as possible and to make tht total cross sectional area thereof
smaller than the total cross sectional area of the passage 23 and
the apertures 16. The total cross sectional area of the air
discharge openings 20 is preferably 1.0 - 1.5 percent of the total
area of the primary air inlet openings 41, the secondary air inlet
openings (not shown) and the louvers 43 provided in the liner 39. A
larger proportion of the area will result in an instable state of
combustion during the transition period from the ignition to the
rated output operation phase of the gas turbine. Namely, since the
temperature of the combustion air 51 is low during the transition
period, supplying an excessively large amount of air from the air
discharge openings 20 will promote cooling of the fuel particles
sprayed from the fuel discharge opening 27 and retard the
evaporation of the fuel particles.
* * * * *