A Lean Premixed Prevaporised (LPP) low-emission combustor with a staged lean combustion technology was developed. In order to study cold-flow dynamics in the LPP combustor, both experimental tests using the particle image velocimetry (PIV) to quantify the flow dynamics and numerical simulation using the commercial software (FLUENT) were conducted, respectively. Numerical results were in good agreement with the experimental data. It is shown from the observation of the results that: there is a Primary Recirculation Zone (PRZ), a Corner Recirculation Zone (CRZ) and a Lip Recirculation Zone (LRZ) in the LPP combustor, and the exchanges of mass, momentum and energy between pilot swirling flow and primary swirling flow are contributed by the velocity gradients, and the shear flow is transformed into a mixing layer exhibiting the higher Reynolds stresses, which suggests the mixing process is strictly affected by the Reynolds stresses.

A cannular combustor with a 100-KW thermal power was designed with a swirler, primary holes, dilution holes, and cooling holes based on an original gas turbine of a practical application. Further, the combustion process in this combustor was numerically simulated by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). A methane-reduced chemical mechanism was applied to CFD to simulate the combustion process. The combustion performance, product concentrations, and flow field were analyzed. Experimental data of airflow distribution obtained in previous study were applied in the design process. The present work was reported to verify that the experimental data can be regarded as a guide and optimization basis in the aerodynamic design process. Additionally, the consistency of numerical results and design data indicates that the design in this paper could satisfy the design requirements.