Fuel Property Effects on Combustor Performance

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Abstract
Two combustor rigs have been used to study the sensitivities of combustor operation to the physical and chemical properties of fuels. Nineteen fuels including synfuels were used to accentuate the properties of concern: composition, viscosity, and boiling-point distribution. Flame radiation and smoke were best correlated by hydrogen content rather than hydrocarbon structure; the soot formation was due to gas-phase reactions. Lean-blowout conditions were about the same for all fuels except that gasoline could be burned leaner at idle conditions. Ignition limits were more sensitive to volatility than viscosity. Gaseous emissions and combustion efficiency were not significantly affected by fuel properties although some sensitivity to boiling point distribution was evident. In all performance areas, the syncrude fuels correlated in the same ways as the petroleum-derived fuels except for the NOx emissions from the nitrogen containing shale oil fuel.

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