Characterization of a Novel Additive Manufacturing Micromix Nozzle Burning Methane to Hydrogen

As the energy landscape transitions to low/zero-carbon fuels, gas turbine manufacturers are targeting fuel flexible operation with natural gas, syngas, and hydrogen-enriched mixtures. Having a single geometry that can support the different fuel blends requested by clients can accelerate the transition to cleaner energy generation and mitigate the environmental impact of gas turbines. Toward this goal, micromix combustion technology has received significant interest, and when coupled with additive manufacturing, novel injector geometries with unique configurations may be capable of stabilizing premixed, partially-premixed, and diffusion flames using fuel mixtures ranging from pure methane to pure hydrogen. In this work, a preliminary investigation of this micromix concept is performed in the Atmospheric Combustion Rig at the National Research Council (NRC) Canada. Flame stability maps are obtained for fuel lean mixtures of H2/CH4 ranging from 0/100, 70/30, 90/10, to 100/0%, by volume. Multiple flame shapes are observed depending on the fuel mixture and combustion mode selected. Particle image velocimetry (PIV), OH, and acetone planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), and acoustic measurements provide additional insights into the combustion process of these novel burners to better understand the stability mechanisms. The quality of the fuel–air mixing from the premixed and micromix injectors is assessed using acetone as a tracer for the fuel, while simultaneous OH-PLIF measurements provide an indication of the postflame regions in the flow. Acoustic measurements complete the current dataset and provide combustion dynamics maps measuring the normalized pressure amplitudes and identifying the dominant frequencies. The preliminary characterization of this additive manufacturing (AM) micromix nozzle shows promising fuel flexibility with wide stability margins and low combustion dynamics for this single nozzle burner.