Enhancement of ignition of a gas turbine by the addition of small amounts of H 2 O 2

Abstract

A novel ignition system was studied experimentally, in which small volumes of hydrogen peroxide – of the order of µL/s – were injected at the site of ignition, during the firing of a focus discharge igniter. Experiments were made at an atmospheric testing facility using an industrial Rolls-Royce olympus combustion chamber with kerosene Jet A₁ as the fuel and atmospheric air as the oxidizer. The study concentrated on the determination of the lean ignition limits of the Jet A₁–air mixture at various air mass flowrates with and without the addition of H₂O₂. Notable improvements, from 6.5 per cent to 44 per cent, in the ignition limits of the kerosene–air mixture were attainable using only a small amount of H₂O₂ during the ignition process. The study suggests that these improvements are directly related to the increase in the ignition efficiency of the igniter.