Brayton has worked with Vericor, MTU, and Honeywell for over two years leading the design team to introduce an ultra-low emissions, lean-premixed combustor for Vericor’s TF50F aero-derivative industrial gas turbine. Vericor Power Systems’s gas turbine engines have a venerated reputation, earned from years of service in industrial power generation, mechanical drive, and marine applications. The aero-derivative two-shaft engine produces from 3800 to 4200 kW in its wide range of packages for diesel and natural gas fuels. Brayton’s work focused on the analysis, design, and testing of a new ultra-low emissions combustor which reduces NOx emissions to roughly one tenth of their former levels, in compliance with EPA regulations.
Vericor’s legacy combustor design, which can be traced back to the Lycoming T55 helicopter engine, employed an annular diffusion flame combustor. This design operates with a very rich front end, providing superior operability, but produces relatively high NOx emissions. The industrial market generally carries strict emissions regulations for NOx and CO emissions. Brayton’s new design achieved an 80% reduction in NOx emissions. Brayton performed intensive research & analysis leading to the new design. Brayton tested the combustor at various stages of the design at our facilities in Hampton. The final engine testing was performed at Pax River Naval Air Station. An IGTI TurboExpo 2020 paper will document some of the work.