Effects of a Three-Dimensional-Printed Atomizer Component on Fuel-Spray and Flame Characteristics of a Jet-Stabilized Compact Gas Turbine Combustor Fed With Liquid Fuels

Abstract In this work, the effects of replacing an atomizer component of a confined jet-stabilized gas turbine combustor with a three-dimensional (3D)-printed part have been studied. The part is called airblast, and it serves as a wall that collects and flows liquid droplets for a secondary atomization. Therefore, the liquid–surface interaction on the rough surface of the 3D-printed part was of interest. The combustor was operated under various conditions with either a conventionally machined airblast or the 3D-printed airblast. Flames with two liquid fuels were studied for fuel flexibility, and the position of a primary fuel injection was varied to study the influence of the liquid-surface interaction length. Load flexibility was investigated with air jet velocity settings, and flame equivalence ratios of ϕ = 0.8 and 1.0 were tested. Shadowgraphy-based particle tracking analyses presented a reduced atomization performance with the 3D-printed airblast, showing large droplet size distributions. However, no significant change in the combustor performance was observed from OH* chemiluminescence images and emission data, which confirms the versatility of the combustor and assures the compatibility of 3D-printed components with the combustor of this study.