The Formation and Control of Nitric Oxide in a Regenerative Gas Turbine Burner

Two techniques were investigated to reduce the emissions of oxides of nitrogen from a conventional regenerative gas turbine burner that involved only minor changes to the burner configuration and did not impair overall burner and engine performances. These methods were to vary the primary zone equivalence ratio and to shorten the residence time of the gas in the primary zone. Significant reductions in nitric oxide emissions were obtained by applying both methods, singly and in various combinations with one another, to the burner of the General Motors GT-309 vehicular regenerative gas turbine. Reductions in emissions that were measured on a single burner test facility at simulated engine steady-state conditions were confirmed when operating a GT-309 gas turbine powered vehicle over the HEW passenger car emission test cycle. From these evaluations, a computer simulation program was developed to determine closed cycle true mass HEW emission values for typical gas turbine powered passenger cars. Computed results indicate that further changes in current burner design and operating practices will be needed to meet the Federal 1980 target for oxides of nitrogen without sacrificing engine performance and economy. In contrast, burner exhaust emissions of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide should be of less concern.