Abstract: A fuel nozzle assembly is provided. The assembly includes an outer nozzle body having a first end and a second end and at least one inner nozzle tube having a first end and a second end. One of the nozzle body or nozzle tube includes a fuel plenum and a fuel passage extending therefrom, while the other of the nozzle body or nozzle tube includes a fuel injection hole slidably aligned with the fuel passage to form a fuel flow path therebetween at an interface between the body and the tube. The nozzle body and the nozzle tube are fixed against relative movement at the first ends of the nozzle body and nozzle tube, enabling the fuel flow path to close at the interface due to thermal growth after a flame enters the nozzle tube.

Abstract: An injection nozzle having a main body portion with an outer peripheral wall is disclosed. The nozzle includes a plurality of fuel/air mixing tubes disposed within the main body portion and a fuel flow passage fluidly connected to the plurality of fuel/air mixing tubes. Fuel and air are partially premixed inside the plurality of the tubes. A second body portion, having an outer peripheral wall extending between a first end and an opposite second end, is connected to the main body portion. The partially premixed fuel and air mixture from the first body portion gets further mixed inside the second body portion. The second body portion converges from the first end toward said second end. The second body portion also includes cooling passages that extend along all the walls around the second body to provide thermal damage resistance for occasional flame flash back into the second body.

Abstract: A method of operating a gas turbine is provided, wherein the gas turbine engine is coupled to an electrical grid operating at a standardized grid frequency value, and the gas turbine includes a combustor coupled in flow communication with a plurality of independent fuel circuits and a compressor. The method includes determining a deviation of a grid frequency from the standardized grid frequency value and adjusting fuel flow from a portion of the plurality of fuel circuits while maintaining a substantially constant air flow from the compressor to facilitate controlling a fuel to compressor discharge pressure ratio such that a combustor state does not lag changes in airflow when the combustor responds to the grid frequency deviation.

Abstract: A fuel injector tube includes a one piece, unitary, polygonal tube having an inlet end and an outlet end. The fuel injector tube further includes a fuel passage extending from the inlet end to the outlet end along a longitudinal axis of the polygonal tube, a plurality of air passages extending from the inlet end to the outlet end and surrounding the fuel passage, and a plurality of fuel holes. Each fuel hole connects an air passage with the fuel passage. The inlet end of the polygonal tube is formed into a fuel tube. A fuel injector includes a plurality of fuel injector tubes and a plate. The plurality of fuel tubes are connected to the plate adjacent the inlet ends of the plurality of fuel injector tubes.

Abstract: A hybrid fuel combustion nozzle for use with natural gas, syngas, or other types of fuels. The hybrid fuel combustion nozzle may include a natural gas system with a number of swozzle vanes and a syngas system with a number of co-annular fuel tubes.

Abstract: A pre-mixing apparatus for a turbine engine includes a main body having an inlet portion, an outlet portion and an exterior wall that collectively establish at least one fluid delivery plenum, and a plurality of fluid delivery tubes extending through at least a portion of the at least one fluid delivery plenum. Each of the plurality of fluid delivery tubes includes at least one fluid delivery opening fluidly connected to the at least one fluid delivery plenum. With this arrangement, a first fluid is selectively delivered to the at least one fluid delivery plenum, passed through the at least one fluid delivery opening and mixed with a second fluid flowing through the plurality of fluid delivery tubes prior to being combusted in a combustion chamber of a turbine engine.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a lean direct injection (LDI) combustion system for a gas turbine using a shell and tube heat exchanger concept to construct a shell and tube lean direct injector (“LDI”) for the combustion system. One side of the LDI injector, either the shell side or the tube side, carries an oxidizer, such as air, to the combustor, while the other side of the LDI injector carries fuel to the combustor. Straight or angled holes drilled in an end plate of the combustor allow the fuel to enter the combustor and mix with air being injected into the combustor.

Abstract: Methods and systems for operating a gas turbine engine system include an electrical generator configured to provide electrical energy to a load, a gas turbine engine including at least one combustor that includes a plurality of fuel injection points configured to inject a fuel into the combustor at a plurality of different locations wherein the combustor configured to combust the fuel and the gas turbine engine is rotatably coupled to the generator through a shaft. The gas turbine engine system includes a control system including a plurality of sensors positioned about the gas turbine engine system and configured to measure at least one parameter associated with the sensor, a processor programmed to receive a signal indicative of a heating value of the fuel, and automatically control a fuel split between the fuel injection points on the combustor using the determined heating value.

Abstract: A method for operating a combustor is provided. The method includes supplying a predetermined amount of a first gaseous fuel to the combustor, wherein the first gaseous fuel has a first Modified Wobbe Index (MWI) and a first fuel reactivity, and supplying a predetermined amount of a second gaseous fuel to the combustor, wherein the second gaseous fuel has a second MWI that is lower than the first MWI and a second fuel reactivity that is higher than the first fuel reactivity. The method also includes mixing the first and second gaseous fuels together to form a blended gaseous fuel, and injecting the blended gaseous fuel into the combustor.

Abstract: Methods and systems for a dry low NOx gas turbine engine system include a gas turbine engine including at least one dry low NOx combustor. The combustor includes a plurality of injection points wherein at least some of the injection points are configured to inject a fuel into the combustor at a plurality of different locations. The system includes a water source coupled to the combustor and operable to inject water into others of the plurality of injection points. The system also includes a control system that includes a sensor configured to measure an exhaust gas concentration of the turbine, a processor programmed to receive a signal indicative of the turbine exhaust gas concentration, and to automatically control the water injection using the received exhaust gas concentration signal. Such systems in use together can mitigate visible emissions from the exhaust stack.

Abstract: A method for controlling NOx emissions from a gas turbine having a fuel adjustment system may include setting an outer nozzle fuel flow to achieve a desired level of combustion dynamics for at least one of a plurality of combustion chambers, determining a delta adjustment value for a center nozzle fuel flow that will result in a desired level of NOx emissions from the gas turbine, and adjusting the center nozzle fuel flow according to the determined delta adjustment value to obtain the desired level of NOx emissions from the gas turbine.

Abstract: A fuel delivery system for a gas turbine engine includes one or more subsets of combustors, and at least two fuel manifolds including a fuel manifold coupled to each combustor subset and configured to deliver fuel to only the subset of combustors during a predetermined gas turbine engine operating mode. A gas turbine engine assembly including a fuel delivery system and a method of operating a gas turbine engine is also described herein.

Abstract: A method for assembling a gas turbine combustor system is provided. The method includes providing a combustion liner including a center axis, an outer wall, a first end, and a second end. The outer wall is orientated substantially parallel to the center axis. The method also includes coupling a transition piece to the liner second end. The transition piece includes an outer wall. The method further includes coupling a plurality of lean-direct injectors along at least one of the liner outer wall and the transition piece outer wall such that the injectors are spaced axially apart along the wall.

Abstract: An embodiment may comprise a system for controlling NOx emissions from a turbine having combustion chambers. The system may comprise a center fuel flow and a plurality of outer fuel flows for each of a plurality of combustion chambers. An outer fuel flow is set to achieve a desired level of combustion dynamics for at least one of the plurality of combustion chambers. A delta adjustment value is determined for the center fuel flow that will result in a desired level of NOx emissions from the turbine, and for adjusting the center fuel flow according to the determined delta adjustment value to obtain the desired level of NOx emissions from the turbine.

Abstract: Conventional swozzle-type burners are modified so as to be capable of selectively running on liquid fuel without requiring water injection for NOx abatement or dedicated air supply for atomizing liquid fuel.

Abstract: A method of operating a gas turbine is provided, wherein the gas turbine engine is coupled to an electrical grid operating at a standardized grid frequency value, and the gas turbine includes a combustor coupled in flow communication with a plurality of independent fuel circuits and a compressor. The method includes determining a deviation of a grid frequency from the standardized grid frequency value and adjusting fuel flow from a portion of the plurality of fuel circuits while maintaining a substantially constant air flow from the compressor to facilitate controlling a fuel to compressor discharge pressure ratio such that a combustor state does not lag changes in airflow when the combustor responds to the grid frequency deviation.

Abstract: A method for predicting lean blow-outs (LBOs) in a gas turbine engine includes extracting a plurality of tones in pressure signals representative of pressure within monitored combustor cans, tracking a frequency of a hot tone in each monitored can, and utilizing the extracted tones and the tracked frequency to determine a probability of an LBO.

Abstract: A system for ranking combustion chambers in a gas turbine in order of chamber combustion temperature including: at least one fuel nozzle supplying fuel to the combustion chambers at a predetermined fuel rate abnormally near a lean blow out (LBO) condition of the chambers; at least one dynamic pressure sensor in each chamber sensing combustion dynamic pressures in said combustion chambers and generating dynamic pressure signals representative of the dynamic pressure in each of said combustion chambers, wherein the dynamic pressure signals provide information regarding the dynamic pressure at a plurality of frequencies; a signal band pass filter segmenting the signals into a plurality of predefined frequency bands comprising a lean blow out (LBO) precursor frequency band, a cold tone frequency band and a hot tone frequency band; a processor determining a value for each chamber representative of amplitudes of the signals in each of LBO precursor frequency band, the cold tone frequency band and the hot tone frequ

Abstract: A method of monitoring and controlling the combustion dynamics of a gas turbine engine system is provided. The system includes at least one gas turbine that includes at least one combustor can. The method includes receiving a signal from a gas turbine engine sensor that is indicative of combustion dynamics in at least one of the combustor cans, processing the received signal to determine a probability of lean blowout for at least one combustor can, and controlling the gas turbine engine system to facilitate reducing a probability of a lean blowout (LBO) event using the determined probability of lean blowout.

Abstract: A method for identifying combustion characteristics of a plurality combustion chambers in a gas turbine, the method including: supplying fuel to the combustion chambers at a predetermined fuel rate; sensing combustion dynamic pressure in said plurality of combustion chambers and generating dynamic pressure signals representative of the dynamic pressure in each of said combustion chambers, wherein the dynamic pressure signals provide information regarding the dynamic pressure at a plurality of frequencies; segmenting the signals into a plurality of predefined frequency bands; determining a characteristic value for each of the segmented signals, and identifying an order of combustion chambers based on the characteristic value.