Numerical investigation on combustion flow characteristics of a micro gas turbine swirl combustor with different protruded bluff body structures

A micro gas turbine swirl combustor with protruded bluff body is proposed. Compared with no bluff body, the protruded bluff body can significantly improve the combustion performance. When the bluff body height is 40 mm and the length is 30 mm, the average outlet NO emission is reduced by 14.43%, the pressure loss is decreased by 5.96%, and the outlet temperature distribution factor (OTDF) is dropped by 31.93%. The influence of different bluff body lengths (15–30 mm) and heights (10–50 mm) on the combustion flow are numerically analyzed further. The results show that the change of bluff body structure will affect the performance of combustor. In the range of 15–25 mm, with the increase of the bluff body length, the scope of central recirculation zone becomes narrower, velocity near the inlet and pressure loss decrease, the OTDF and field synergy angle β both become larger. When the bluff body length grows from 15 mm to 30 mm, the average outlet NO emission increases by 36.74%. The range of the central recirculation zone is gradually widen, and the average reaction rate grows up with the increase of bluff body height. The synergistic effect becomes better, and the heat transfer capacity is enhanced. When the bluff body height grows from 30 mm to 50 mm, the average outlet NO emission reduces from 35.84 ppm to 25.65 ppm.