QUANTIFYING UNMIXEDNESS IN LEAN PREMIXED COMBUSTORS OPERATING AT HIGH-PRESSURE, FIRED CONDITIONS

Lean premixed combustor manufacturers require premixer concepts that p rovide homogeneity (mixedness) of the fuel that burns in the main flam e. Ideally, premixer evaluation would be conducted under realistic com bustor operating conditions. However, current techniques typically are limited to cold-flow, moderate-pressure (<15 atm) conditions or compa rison of measured NOx emissions with others obtained in premixed syste ms. Thus, a simple, consistent method for quantifying unmixedness in l ean premixed combustors operating at high-pressure, fired operating co nditions is proposed here, using the characteristic time model develop ed in a previous paper.