On the influence of fuel sulfur induced stable negative ion formation on the total concentration of ions emitted by an aircraft gas turbine engine: comparison of model and experiment

Abstract. A model which considers the formation and evolution of combustion ions in a combustor of an aircraft engine in dependence on the electron detachment efficiency from negative ions is presented. It is a further development of the model reported by (Sorokin et al., 2003). The model allows to consider the effect of the transformation of primary negative ions to more stable secondary negative ions with a much higher electron affinity and as a consequence a greater stability with respect to electron thermal detachment. The formed stable negative ions most probably are sulfur-bearing ions. This effect slows down the charged particle neutralization rate leading to an increase of the concentration of positive and negative ions at the combustor exit. The results of the simulation and their comparison with the ground-based experimental data obtained within the framework of the project PartEmis (Particle emission, measurements and predictions of emission of aerosols and gaseous precursors from gas turbine engines; coordinator: C. Wilson) at the QinetiQ test facility at Pyestock, UK (Wilson et al., 2003) support the above hypothesis, i.e. the increase of the fuel sulfur content leads to an increase of the ion concentration at the combustor exit.