Enabling cost effective mean of reducing pollutant emissions from gas turbines

碳氢化合物燃料是发电的主要能源。燃烧过程排放的污染物对环境和人类健康都有影响。为了限制这些影响，世界范围内实施了严格的立法，对燃烧系统的设计提出了相互矛盾的要求。本提案的目的是开发一种新的方法，用于湍流燃烧环境下的排放预测，并应用于工业燃气轮机。***燃烧过程的详细模拟仍然超出计算能力。模型假设、参数和边界条件定义中的不确定性的影响使问题进一步复杂化。因此，依靠昂贵的实验测试是燃气轮机燃烧系统发展的唯一选择。***不确定性量化理论（UQ）在过去几十年中得到了广泛的发展，并在许多科学和工程学科中得到了应用。昆士兰大学提供了一个严格的方法来推动数值模拟分析的各个方面的改进。这种范式转变为系统地研究其他未确定问题提供了一个新的框架。这项发现基金的目标是建立一个UQ框架，以帮助解决当前排放预测方法的局限性。我们研究的长期目标是开发具有低不确定性的预测能力，用于燃气轮机的所有重要燃烧过程。***三个综合项目构成提案的核心；减少包括氮氧化物化学在内的天然气化学动力学机制的不确定性，开发用于化学反应器网络（CRN）模拟的新型湍流化学相互作用模型，以及开发用于量化不确定性排放预测的一致CRN方法。UQ是计算建模的一个重大变革，它将科学研究、模型验证和工程设计整合到一个通用框架中，从而实现更好的决策制定。受过此技能培训的HQP将在工程和科学的所有分支中都有很高的需求。这项研究计划将有利于燃气轮机制造商目前在加拿大，因此对加拿大经济。

Hydrocarbon fuels are the main energy source for power generation. Pollutant emissions from combustion processes have environmental and human health impacts. Stringent legislation enforced worldwide to limit these impacts imposes conflicting requirements on the design of combustion system. The aim of this proposal is to develop a novel methodology for emissions predictions in turbulent combustion environment with application to industrial gas turbines. ***Detailed simulation of the combustion process still exceeds computational capabilities. The influence of the uncertainties in the model assumptions, in their parameters, and in the definitions of the boundary conditions further complicates the problem. As a consequence, reliance on costly experimental testing is the only alternative for the development of gas turbine combustion systems. ***The theory of uncertainty quantification (UQ) has been in intense development in the last few decades and has found applications in many scientific and engineering disciplines. UQ provides a rigorous methodology to drive improvements in all aspect of numerical modeling analysis. This paradigm shift provides a new framework to systematically study otherwise undetermined problems. The objective of this Discovery Grant is to build an UQ framework that will help to address the limitations of current emissions prediction methods. The long term goal of our research is to develop predictive capability, with low level of uncertainty, for the all combustion processes of importance for gas turbines. ***Three integrated projects form the core of the proposal; reduction uncertainty of natural gas chemical kinetics mechanism including NOx chemistry, development of novel turbulence chemistry interaction model for use in chemical reactor networks (CRN) simulations, and development of a consistent CRN methodology for emissions predictions with quantified uncertainty.***UQ is a step change in computational modeling that brings together scientific investigation, model validation, and engineering design into a common framework that will enable better decision making. HQP trained with this skill will be in high demand in all branches of engineering and science. This research program will benefit gas turbines manufacturer present in Canada and therefore to the Canadian economy.