THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

345 E. 47th St., New York, N.Y. 10017

The Society shall not be responsible for statements or opinions advanced in 94-GT- 261
papers or discussion at meetings of the Society or of its Divisions or Sections,
m ® or printed in its publications. Discussion is printed only if the paper is pub-
lished in an ASME Journal. Papers are available from ASME for 15 months
after the meeting.
Printed in U.S.A. Copyright © 1994 by ASME

VARIATIONS IN THE NOx EMISSION OF GAS TURBINES:

Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-pdf/GT1994/78859/V003T06A016/2404672/v003t06a016-94-gt-261.pdf by guest on 06 October 2022

EFFECTS OF AIR TEMPERATURE, AIR HUMIDITY
AND NATURAL GAS COMPOSITION

B. Martien Visser and Fred C. Bahlmann

Gasunie Research
N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie
Groningen, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION
The NOx emission, produced by gas turbines varies with ambient Worldwide, stringent legislation with respect to pollutant
conditions and with fuel gas composition. Often, legislation emissions from gas turbines has been introduced. Often, the
requires that the NOx emissions of gas turbines has to be corrected legislation follows the "state of the art" of combustion technology.
to standard conditions. The EPA formula may be used for the This implies that many gas turbines are operated at emission levels
correction for ambient temperature and humidity. In the close to the allowed limits, so that relatively small variations in the
Netherlands, the correction for fuel-gas composition is based on NOx emission may affect the judgment as to whether a particular
the observation that for natural gases, NOx emission varies linearly installation satisfies the requirements.
with the Lower Calorific Value (LCV). Variations in the NOx emission of gas turbines as large as 15%
It is concluded that both the EPA and LCV correction formulas may be due to variations in the ambient conditions. Therefore, in
are equivalent to the following relation between flame temperature many countries, legislation requires the measured NOx emission
and NOx emission: to be corrected to standard ambient conditions. The "classical"
EPA correction formula may be used for this purpose.
NOxa = NOxb * ( 1.0(J65)Ta Th - The NOx emission of a gas turbine is also dependent on the
LCV value of the fuel gas. Generally, a high calorific fuel gas
where Ta and Th represent characteristic flame temperatures under produces more NOx (in g/GJ) than a fuel gas with a lower
conditions a and b. In the paper, the utility of the EPA and the calorific value. In the Netherlands, the NOx limit is corrected
LCV correction formulas for gas turbines equipped with modem (within certain limits) for the fuel gas composition using a linear
lean-premixed combustors is discussed. relation between the NOx emission and the LCV value of the gas.
Both the EPA formula and the correction for fuel gas have been
NOMENCLATURE developed using data from conventional diffusion-type combustors.
F air fraction to primary air Their validity for modem premixed combustors is the subject of
hm water content in air kg/kg dry air ongoing discussion between government and industry.
Hw Constant in relation (7) - The objective of this study is twofold. Firstly, a relation between
Lo stoichiometric dry air requirement kg air/kg gas NOx emission and flame temperature, derived from experimental
P combustor pressure kPa data from lean-premixed combustion systems is presented. This
T temperature °C relation is in remarkable agreement with the existing correlations
y H2O/fuel ratio kg/kg between the NOx emission of conventional diffusion type
T residence time ms combustors and air temperature, air humidity and fuel gas
¢ equivalence ratio - composition. Secondly, the EPA correction formula and the LCV
correction for gas composition are evaluated in order to judge their
subscripts reliability for modem lean-premixed combustors.
amb ambient This paper focuses on natural-gas-fired combustors. So, the
fl flame effects of fuel-bound nitrogen on the NOx emission are neglected.

Presented at the International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exposition
The Hague, Netherlands — June 13-16, 1994
 The outline of the paper is as follows: in section 2, the relation Discussion
between flame temperature and NOx emission is introduced. The factor in the exponent presented by Lefebvre (= 0.01) is
In section 3, this relation will be compared with the EPA larger compared to the factors given by the other authors.
correction formula for diffusion type combustors. It will be shown However, Lefebvre's correlation also includes residence time (r),
that this EPA formula is equivalent with this relation between NOx fraction of air in the primary zone (F) and system pressure (P).
emission and flame temperature. The validity of the EPA formula These factors are also affected by the flame temperature. For
with respect to lean-premixed combustion systems is discussed in instance, the residence time (r) is dependent on the flame
section 4. Effects of fuel gas composition on NOx emission are temperature and on the ignition distance from the fuel injector.
Thus, Lefebvre's relation between NOx emission and flame

Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-pdf/GT1994/78859/V003T06A016/2404672/v003t06a016-94-gt-261.pdf by guest on 06 October 2022

discussed in section 5. Conclusions drawn from this study are
presented in section 6. temperature is more complex than it appears on first sight.
Therefore, it is difficult to compare the exponential factors
2. NOx EMISSION VERSUS FLAME TEMPERATURE presented by Lefebvre (1984) and the other authors (1993).
The NOx emission of gas turbine combustors is affected by a The coefficient in the exponent (8.28 10-3) as presented by Lewis
range of parameters including temperature, oxygen concentration, (1981) is approximately 25% higher compared to that obtained by
fuel composition, residence time and pressure. In the recent Visser and Levinsky (1993). Lewis used the NOx "as measured"
decades, significant progress has been made in the understanding instead of the NOx, corrected to 0% 0 2 , but this can not explain
and modeling of NOx formation mechanisms. Nevertheless, the the relative large difference in this coefficient. Instead, it is
prediction of the NOx emission of gas turbine combustors is still believed that this difference is due to the effect of pressure on the
a difficult task. data used by Lewis. In his analyses in 1981, Lewis has assumed
To assist designers in the short term, engineering correlations a square root relation between NOx and pressure. At present, there
have been formulated. These are mainly based on the knowledge is evidence that the effect of pressure on NOx in premixed com-
that NOx emission is strongly dependent on flame temperature. bustion systems varies with air factor (Correa 1991). Thus, the
Correlations between flame temperature and NOx emission have data used by Lewis are unequally affected by pressure, leading to
been given by (amongst others) Lewis (1981), Lefebvre (1984), an overestimation of the coefficient in the exponent in relation (1).
Leonard and Stegmaier (1993) and Visser and Levinsky (1993). Figure 1 contains the correlations by Leonard and Stegmaier
(1993) and Visser and Levinsky (1993). The figure contains
NOx emission correlations in the literature experimental data from a variety of experiments employing lean-
The relation presented by Lewis (1981) has been derived using premixed combustion which were used by Visser and Levinsky
experimental data from Anderson (1975) with premixed propane (1993) to derive their correlation. It may be concluded that the
combustion under 5.5 bar and an air factor > 1.25 (0 < 0.8): correlation by Leonard and Stegmaier is well within the large
experimental data base considered by Visser and Levinsky.
NOx (ppm, as measured)= 7.5 10-6 e(8.2810-3 (rfl + 273)) (1) Relation (4) will be used in this paper. It will be shown that this
relation is in good agreement with the correction terms for
Lefebvre (1984) has used experimental data of diffusion type humidity and ambient air temperature as expressed in the EPA
combustors. The relation between NOx emission and primary zone correction formula. The relation may be rewritten as:
flame temperature equals:
NOxa = NOxb * ( 1.0065) Fa-Th)
(
(5)
NOx (g/kg) = 4.59 10 -9 P0-25 F r e(0.01('rfl + 273)) (2)
where Ta and Th represent the flame temperatures under
Recently, relation (2) has been successfully applied and extended conditions "a" and "b". Relation (5) implies that the NOx emission
to include the effects of evaporation and mixing by Rizk and of a flame increases with 0.65% when the flame temperature
Mongia (1992). Leonard and Stegmaier (1993) present data of increases with 1 °C.
premixed combustion with operating pressures, in the range 1 to
30 bar and flame temperatures between 1430 and 1650 °C. From Reference flame temperature
these data, the following relation may be deduced between NOx In premixed combustion, there is a fixed fuel/air ratio in the
emission and flame temperature. whole flame area. Thus, the adiabatic flame temperature may be
calculated using an enthalpy balance for the fuel/air ratio
NOx (ppm, 15% 0 2 ) = 1.6 10-6 a {8.o 10-3 (Tfl + 273)) (3) considered. In diffusion flames, combustion occurs in a variety of
mixtures of air, fuel and combustion products and consequently,
The relation by Visser and Levinsky (1993), very similar to that a distribution of "flame temperatures" exist. The properties of this
obtained by Lewis and Leonard and Stegmaier, is: distribution are generally not known, but, it may be assumed that
(small) changes in air composition (humidity), air temperature and
NOx (ppm, 0% 02) = 8 10 -5 e (6.5 10-3 (Tfl + 273)) (4) fuel gas LCV will not significantly alter this distribution. In that
case, a reference flame temperature may be used.
Relation (4) has been obtained using experimental data from The authors believe that in diffusion flames, the majority of the
various sources and applications of lean-premixed natural gas NOx is formed in flame regions with a local stoichiometry close
combustion. to unity. In premixed combustion systems, the maximal NOx
 NOx (ppm, 0% 02)

.......... 100
° ......
oS o^^ o

Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-pdf/GT1994/78859/V003T06A016/2404672/v003t06a016-94-gt-261.pdf by guest on 06 October 2022

o °o
----................. ...................
10 .................. ...

Visser a Levinsky
Leonard: & 8tegmaier
Correa
❑ Altemark & Knauber
— Visser & Levinsky

1 1

1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Adiabatic flame temperature ( C)

FIGURE 1: NOx EMISSION VERSUS FLAME TEMPERATURE (PREMIXED COMBUSTION)

emission occurs at an air factor of approximately 1.05. In the case Protection Agency (EPA) in the Code of Federal Regulations
of diffusion flames, the reference flame temperature with respect (1989):
to NOx emission is therefore chosen to be the (adiabatic) flame
NOxco = NO xmeasured * e
{19*(hm-0.0063)} (6)
temperature at an air factor of 1.05. The choice of a different
reference flame temperature will not significantly alter the results
of this study. It may be noted that there is excellent agreement between the
results obtained with relation (5) and with the humidity correction
3. DIFFUSION TYPE COMBUSTORS in the EPA formula (6).
The effect of air humidity and ambient air temperature on the
NOx emission of diffusion type combustors may be estimated using
the "classical" EPA correction equation as recommended by the TABLE 1: EFFECTS OF AIR HUMIDITY ON FLAME
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Code of TEMPERATURE AND NOx EMISSION
Federal Regulations (1989). On the other hand, air humidity and
ambient air temperature affect the reference flame temperature.
ambient air reference NOx emission
The effect of variations in the reference flame temperature on NOx flame temperature relative to ISO difference
emission may be estimated using relation (5). In this chapter, both temp. humidity air factor = 1.05 EPA T-flame
methods to estimate the effect of ambient conditions on NOx (6) (5)
emission will be compared.
°C % kg/kg °C %

Air humidity 15 0 0 2227.3 1.127 1.129 0.2

The humidity of the combustion air affects the flame 15 20 0.0021 2221.0 1.083 1.084 0.1
temperature. Adiabatic flame temperatures at an air factor of 1.05 15 40 0.0042 2214.8 1.040 1.042 0.2
15 60 0.0063 2208.5 1 1 0
and at different values of ambient humidity have been calculated
15 80 0.0085 2202.3 0.959 0.961 0.2
assuming a temperature increase of 400 °C during compression 15 100 0.0106 2196.1 0.921 0.923 0.2
and usage of a standard Groningen natural gas (LCV 38 MJ/kg).
Some results are shown in table 1. The effect of humidity on NOx
emission has been estimated using both relation (5) and the compressor temperature rise : 400 °C
fuel: Groningen gas LCV : 38 MJ/kg
correction equation as recommended by the U.S. Environmental

3
 Lewis (1981) has demonstrated a similar agreement between the TABLE 2: EFFECTS OF AMBIENT AIR TEMPERATURE
humidity correction in the EPA formula and relation (2). Although, ON FLAME TEMPERATURE AND NOx EMISSION
the coefficient in (1) is about 25 % higher than that used in the
ambient air reference NOx emission
present study. The difference is that Lewis used the peak flame
flame temperature relative to ISO difference
temperature, while in the present study, a reference flame tempera- temp. humidity air factor = 1.05 EPA T-flame
ture is defined at an air factor of 1.05. (8) (5)

Water and steam infection °C % °C %

Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-pdf/GT1994/78859/V003T06A016/2404672/v003t06a016-94-gt-261.pdf by guest on 06 October 2022

Using the same line of thought, the authors have related the EPA 0 2217.1 0.921 0.936 0.5
0
correlation between the humidity and the NOx emission to the 10 0 2223.9 0.974 0.978 0.4
effect of water and steam injection into the combustion chamber. 15 0 2227.3 1 1 0
This resulted in the following model (Visser and Bahlmann, 1993): 20 0 2230.7 1.027 1.022 0.5
30 0 2237.5 1.081 1.068 1.3

NOx"t = NOxd'y * e{19*y*Hw /(1.05*Lo)) (7)

40 0 2144.4 1.136 1.117 1.7

where: NOxa'a = NOx emission including effect of water or compressor temperature rise : 400 °C
steam injection (g/GJ) fuel: Groningen gas => LCV : 38 MJ/kg

NOx"O' = NOx emission without water or steam injection

(g/GJ)
Combined effect of ambient air temperature and humidi
In this relation, the factor 1.05 refers to the air factor. Hw is a Figure 2 presents the combined effect of ambient air temperature
constant with a value of 1 for steam injection and a value of 1.6 and humidity on the NOx emission for three compressor
for water injection. Relation (7) has been evaluated using a large temperature rises of 300, 400 and 500 °C. The horizontal axis
range of experimental data from various diffusion type gas-fired denotes the calculated reference flame temperature, which is
gas turbine systems, and for the majority of the installations a very affected by the compressor temperature rise and the ambient
good agreement with the measured (EPA-corrected) NOx emission conditions. The vertical axis represents the NOx emission.
was obtained (Visser and Bahlmann, 1993). The relative NOx emission has been calculated as follows: for
In his study in 1981, Lewis has observed a similar relationship, each considered compressor temperature rise, a reference flame
but he mentioned that an additional factor of 0.9 had to be applied temperature (T 1so has been calculated at the ISO-conditions (15° C
)

to the water/fuel ratio, to obtain the best fit. In the present study, and 60% humidity). Then, for a given set of ambient conditions
using a 25% smaller effect of flame temperature on NOx emission (a), the reference flame temperature (T a) is calculated. Using
and a reference flame temperature at an air factor of 1.05, such relation (5), the relative NOx emission may be calculated from:
an additional empirical factor is apparently not necessary.
NOx t1°O = ( 1.0065) (Ts TIS& (9)
Ambient air temperature
Variations in the ambient air temperature cause variations in the The curves in figure 2 have been derived using relation (9). The
air temperature after compression and therefore, variations in the data have been calculated using the EPA formula at the conditions:
flame temperature. In the EPA correction formula the effect of
ambient temperature (T b) on NOx emission is described as:
,,
- ambient air temperatures: 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 °C;
- humidity: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%;
NOxCO1 = NOxm` ' * {T mb + 273)/288)} -1.53 (8) - compressor temperature rise: 300, 400 and 500 °C.

Table 2 presents results of calculations of the effect of ambient From Figure 2, it may be concluded that for the wide range of
air temperature on the NOx emission using relations (5) and the conditions considered, the correlation between the EPA formula
EPA formula (8). The reference flame temperatures have been and relation (5) is excellent.
calculated using a zero ambient humidity to exclude the effect of
the water content in the air. The temperature rise during 4. LEAN-PREMIXED COMBUSTORS
compression is 400°C. The relative NOx emission has been In the case of premixed combustors, the situation is different
normalised to the NOx emission at 15 °C and 0% humidity. There from conventional diffusion type combustors. This will be
is (again) an excellent agreement between the EPA formula illustrated using the following example of a fully premixed
and relation (5). combustor with conditions:
For the derivation of table 2, it has been assumed that the
compressor temperature rise is independent of ambient air - turbine inlet temperature of 1200 °C;
temperature. For single-shaft industrial engines, connected to the - 40% of the engine air being used as dilution air;
electric grid and running at constant speed, this is approximately - compressor temperature rise 400 °C;
valid. But, for double-shaft gas turbines, it is generally not. In
these cases the effect of ambient temperature on NOx emission The conclusions, derived in this chapter are insensitive to the
may be different than predicted with the EPA correction formula. choice of these conditions.

4
 NOx relative to I80 conditions
140%
O Calculated with EPA
0. 41
.••• Tcomp - 300: C
1 20%........ :......... --
CQ:.... V. ..........
--- Tcomp - 400 : C Q• G'^

I.
— Tcomp - 500: C

Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-pdf/GT1994/78859/V003T06A016/2404672/v003t06a016-94-gt-261.pdf by guest on 06 October 2022

100% .......... :: .. ..y...........

a^ p
804
0-: ,/': .
O .

60% ............. ........

40%
2000 2050 2100 2150 2200 2250 2300 2350
Reference flame temperature ( C)

FIGURE 2: COMPARISON OF RELATIVE NOx EMISSION CALCULATED USING EPA

AND USING REFERENCE FLAME TEMPERATURE

The flame temperature in this example is calculated as follows: Ambient air temperature
it is assumed that the engine control of the gas turbine will The turbine inlet temperature is determined by the mixture of
maintain a constant turbine inlet temperature of 1200°C. Thus, the relative hot combustion gases of the premixed flame and relative
total air factor of the gas turbine may be calculated from the cold dilution air. With increasing ambient air temperature, the
ambient conditions, the compressor temperature rise, the gas temperature of the dilution air increases. Maintaining a constant
composition, and the turbine inlet temperature. The " flame air turbine inlet temperature, the control system will then decrease the
factor" is a fraction of the total air factor. In this example, 60% fuel flow to generate cooler combustion gases.
enters the combustion zone and thus, the flame air factor is 60% Thus, the ambient air temperature will affect the NOx emission
of the total air factor in the engine. The flame temperature is for premixed systems. The effects of the ambient temperature on
calculated at that flame air factor. the flame temperature and, using relation (5), on the NOx emission
are illustrated in table 4. The calculated NOx emission in this
Air humidity example decreases by 12% when ambient temperature increases
Table 3 shows the calculated total air factor, the flame air factor from 0 °C to 40 °C. The application of the EPA formula would
and the flame temperature, and the NOx emission relative to ISO lead to an estimated increase in the NOx emission by 20%.
conditions (15°C and 60% relative humidity). The relative NOx This implies that, for premixed combustors, an increase in the
emission has been calculated using both relation (5) and the EPA ambient air temperature results in a decrease in the flame
correction formula. temperature and thus in a decrease of the NOx emission. This
From table 3, it may be noted that the combined effect of air effect is opposite to the effect encountered with conventional
humidity and engine control, maintaining a constant turbine inlet diffusion combustors.
temperature, results in a fairly constant flame temperature.
Therefore, the NOx emission, calculated from the flame 5. FUEL GAS COMPOSITION
temperature, is approximately independent of air humidity. The The NOx emission of a gas turbine is dependent on the fuel
same conclusion has been deduced by Lewis (1981). composition. Experience at Gasunie has shown that the NOx
This implies that for gas turbines with lean-premixed emission of natural gas fired gas turbines varies approximately
combustors, the correction factor for humidity in the EPA formula linearly with the LCV value (in MJ/kg) of the natural gas used.
should be omitted. In the Netherlands, the NOx limit for gas turbines varies according
to this rule of thumb:
 (10)
TABLE 3: EFFECT OF AMBIENT HUMIDITY ON NOx NOXC0Ir = NOx Gr- * LCV/ 38
EMISSION FROM A LEAN-PREMIXED COMBUSTOR
where: NOx°O1r = corrected NOx emission limit (g/GJ ISO)
NOxG1O° • = NOx emission limit for Groningen gas
ambient relative total flame flame NOx emission
difference
(LCV = 38 MJ/kg)
air humidity air air temp. relative to ISO
temp. factor factor T-flame EPA LCV = Lower Calorific Value of the fuel gas applied
(5) (6) (in MJ/kg)
oC % oC %
Although this rule of thumb has been derived using data of

Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-pdf/GT1994/78859/V003T06A016/2404672/v003t06a016-94-gt-261.pdf by guest on 06 October 2022

15 60 2.882 1.729 1623.7 1 1 0
natural gas fired systems, it is also used for other gaseous fuels.
15 0 2.919 1.751 1623.8 1.001 1.127 -12.5 The maximum correction of the NOx limit allowed for gas
15 100 2.857 1.714 1623.2 0.997 0.921 +7.6 composition is 10%.

Diffusion-tune combustors
compressor temperature rise : 400 °C
fuel: Groningen gas LCV : 38 MJ/kg
Table 5 presents calculated effects of gas composition on the
NOx emission for the commercial Groningen and H-gas, as well
as a Norwegian Ekofisk gas and gases from De Lier, Sleen and
K15 (North sea). The latter three gases are source gases with
extreme LCV values and/or Wobbe indices. For the wide range
TABLE 4: EFFECT OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE ON NOx
of natural gases considered, there is a good correlation between
EMISSION FROM A LEAN-PREMIXED COMBUSTOR
the NOx emission based on the LCV value and the NOx emission,
based on the flame temperature.
ambient relative total flame flame NOx emission Table 5 contains also results for a refinery gas, containing large
air humidity air air temp. relative to ISO difference fractions of ethene and hydrogen (but no fuel-bound nitrogen). For
temp. factor factor T-flame EPA
this gas, there is a significant discrepancy between the NOx
(5) (8)
emission, calculated using the LCV correction and the NOx
oC o^ oC % emission calculated using the reference flame temperature. A
limited set of emission data from a gas turbine, firing this refinery
0 0 2.868 1.721 1630.9 1.048 0.936 +10.7
gas, shows approximately 75% higher NOx emission values
20 0 2.919 1.762 1621.7 1.013 1.022 - 0.9
1.117 - 19.6
compared to the NOx emission from an identical gas turbine fired
40 0 3.009 1.805 1613.7 0.934
with G-gas. This suggests that the NOx / flame temperature
correlation is more generally applicable than the LCV correlation.
compressor temperature rise : 400 °C Nevertheless, for natural gases, which do not contain large
fuel: Groningen gas LCV : 38 MJ/kg
fractions of higher hydrocarbons and/or hydrogen, the LCV
correlation provides a good guideline.
Lewis (1981) has also shown that the flame temperature could
be used effectively for the prediction of the effect of gas
TABLE 5: EFFECT OF FUEL GAS TYPE ON FLAME composition on the NOx emission. Although, an extra empirical
TEMPERATURE AND NOx EMISSION constant (2/3) had to be introduced. With the NOx/temperature
correlation used in this paper this additional constant is not
LCV reference NOx emission
necessary.
fuel gas type
flame temperature relative to difference
at air factor 1.05 Groningen gas Lean-premixed combustors
(5) LCV In the case of premixed combustors, the flame temperature will
be balanced by the engine control to obtain a constant turbine inlet
MJ/kg °C %
temperature. The effect of gas composition on the NOx emission
Groningen gas 38 2208.5 1 1 is similar to that of humidity: a change in gas composition does
G-gas 38.1 2209.7 1.008 1.003 0.5 not lead to a significant change in the flame temperature and
H-gas 43.8 2227.3 1.130 1.153 2.1
consequently, it might be expected that the effect of changes in the
Ekofisk gas 46.9 2242.6 1.247 1.234 1.1
1.343 1.255 7.2
gas composition on the NOx emission is small.
De Lier gas 47.7 2254.0
Steen gas 16.7 2061.3 0.385 0.438 12.0 Practical data from gas turbines equipped with lean-premixed
K15 gas 29.7 2175.5 0.807 0.782 3.1 combustors, which are necessary to prove this conclusion, are not
yet available.
Refinery gas 38.7 2289.5 1.690 1.222 38.0

6. CONCLUSIONS
compressor temperature rise : 400 °C The present study focuses on the use of natural gas, which does
ISO ambient conditions : 15 °C and 60% relative humidity not contain any fuel-bound nitrogen. The effects of air
temperature, air humidity and fuel gas composition on the NOx

6
emission of both diffusion-type combustors and lean-premixed REFERENCES
combustors have been discussed. Code of Federal Regulations, "Standards of Performance for
From the study, the following conclusions may be derived: Stationary Gas Turbines," 1989.
Altemark, D., and Knauber, R., 1987, "Ergebnisse von
Diffusion type combustors Untersuchungen an einem Vormischbrenner unter Druck mit
The relation between flame temperature and NOx emission, extrem niedriger NOx-Emission". VDI Berichte 645 (German).
presented in this paper, is in very good agreement with existing Anderson, D.N., 1975, "Effects of equivalence ratio and dwell
engineering correlations between NOx emission and humidity and time on exhaust emissions from an experimental premixing,
ambient air temperature (the EPA correction equation) and gas prevaporised burner," NASA TP X-71592.

Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-pdf/GT1994/78859/V003T06A016/2404672/v003t06a016-94-gt-261.pdf by guest on 06 October 2022

composition (the LCV correction equation). Correa, S.M., 1991, "Lean-Premixed Combustion for Gas
A study, presented by Lewis (1981) and showing similar Turbines: Review and Required Research," ASME Fossil Fuel
relations, has been evaluated. It is suggested that Lewis' relation Combustion, PD-Vol. 33, pp. 1-9.
between NOx emission and flame temperature is structurally Lefebvre, A.H., 1984, "Fuel effects on Gas Turbine Combustion
affected by the effect of pressure on the data which were used to Ignition, Stability and Combustion Efficiency," Trans ASME
derive it. This resulted in an overestimation of the effect of flame Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 21, No. 11, pp 887-898.
temperature on NOx emission. This may explain why Lewis had Leonard, G. and Stegmaier, J., 1993, "Development of an
to introduce some additional empirical constants in his study. In Aeroderivative Gas Turbine Dry Low Emissions Combustion
the present study these factors are no longer necessary. System", Diesel & Gas Turbine Worldwide, May 1993.
Nevertheless, the ideas of Lewis regarding the presence of a Lewis, G.D., 1981, "Prediction of NOx emissions" ASME Paper
simple engineering relation between NOx emission and flame 81-GT-119.
temperature were fully confirmed. Rizk, N. K., and Mongia, H.C., 1992, "Semi-analytical
Correlations for NOx, CO, and UHC Emissions", ASME Paper
Lean premixed combustors
- 92-GT-130.
It is concluded that there will be hardly any effect of humidity Visser, B.M. and Bahlmann, F.C., 1993, "NOx abatement in
and/or fuel gas composition on the NOx emission, because of the gas turbines", ErdOl & Kohle and Erdgas - Petrochemie Vol 46,
engine control, which regulates the turbine inlet temperature. The September 1993.
effect of ambient temperature on the NOx emission is opposite to Visser, B.M. and Levinsky, H.B., 1993, "Premixed combustion
that for conventional diffusion combustors: with increasing air in gas fired equipment", VDI Berichte 1090.
temperature, NOx emission decreases. This implies that the EPA
correction formula should not be used for gas turbines equipped
with lean-premixed combustors.