Investigation of the performance characteristics of a miniature catalytic gas turbine combustor

Catalytically stabilized combustion concept is applied to the design of a miniature gas turbine combustor to stabilize the overall-lean combustion (reaction) in the combustor with the expectation that the problems of NO_X/CO pollutions, hot spots and ill pattern factors can be effectively alleviated and the high-temperature durability and reliability of the catalyst can also be effectively improved. In this work, noble metal, Pt honeycomb catalyst is used to stabilize the ultra-lean propane-air combustion. Experimental parameters such as fuel-air ratio, flow velocity, catalyst size, and pressure ratio are varied to gain more insight into the catalytic gas-turbine combustor performance. Results of the performance tests show that the miniature catalytic gas turbine combustor of the current design has several advantages: higher combustor efficiency, lower NOX pollution emission, and more uniform outlet temperature profile with better pattern factor over the original engine of traditional combustor design.