Temporally resolved planar measurements of transient phenomena in a partially pre-mixed swirl flame in a gas turbine model combustor

This paper presents observations and analysis of the time-dependent behavior of a 10 kW partially pre-mixed, swirl-stabilized methane-air flame exhibiting self-excited thermo-acoustic oscillations. This analysis is based on a series of measurements wherein particle image velocimetry (PIV) and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of the OH radical were performed simultaneously at 5 kHz repetition rate over durations of 0.8 s. Chemiluminescence imaging of the OH^* radical was performed separately, also at 5 kHz over 0.8 s acquisition runs. These measurements were of sufficient sampling frequency and duration to extract usable spatial and temporal frequency information on the medium to large-scale flow-field and heat-release characteristics of the flame. This analysis is used to more fully characterize the interaction between the self-excited thermo-acoustic oscillations and the dominant flow-field structure of this flame, a precessing vortex core (PVC) present in the inner recirculation zone. Interpretation of individual measurement sequences yielded insight into various physical phenomena and the underlying mechanisms driving flame dynamics. It is observed for this flame that location of the reaction zone tracks large-scale fluctuations in axial velocity and also conforms to the passage of large-scale vortical structures through the flow-field. Local extinction of the reaction zone in regions of persistently high principal compressive strain is observed. Such extinctions, however, are seen to be self healing and thus do not induce blowout. Indications of auto-ignition in regions of unburned gas near the exit are also observed. Probable auto-ignition events are frequently observed coincident with the centers of large-scale vortical structures, suggesting the phenomenon is linked to the enhanced mixing and longer residence times associated with fluid at the core of the PVC as it moves through the flame.     

Thermo-acoustic velocity coupling in a swirl stabilized gas turbine model combustor

Limit-cycle thermo-acoustic velocity coupling mechanisms are studied in a perfectly-premixed swirl-stabilized combustor using data from 10 kHz repetition-rate stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (S-PIV) and OH planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF). Five cases over a range of thermal powers and equivalence ratios were investigated, each of which underwent different amplitude limit-cycle oscillations. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the velocity data showed that each case contained a dynamic helical vortex core (HVC) that rotated around the combustor and greatly affected the flame behavior. Flow and flame statistics were compiled as a function of both the phase in the thermo-acoustic cycle and a phase representing the azimuthal position of the HVC relative to the measurement plane. These data were used to determine the thermo-acoustic energy transfer field at each HVC azimuthal angle, as described by the Rayleigh integral. It was found that periodic deformations of the HVC caused large-scale flame motions, resulting in regions of positive and negative energy transfer. The deformation of the HVC was linked to a swirl number wave that propagated from the burner nozzle. While the mechanism of thermo-acoustic coupling was the same for all cases, the phase between heat release and pressure oscillations varied significantly. This phase relationship was determined by the interaction of the pressure field, swirl wave, HVC deformation, and flame response. It was shown that these can be described by the combination of a Helmholtz resonator and a convective disturbance.     

Flame dynamics of a meso-scale heat recirculating combustor

The dynamics of premixed propane–air flame in a meso-scale ceramic combustor has been examined here. The flame characteristics in the combustor were examined by measuring the acoustic emissions and preheat temperatures together with high-speed cinematography. For the small-scale combustor, the volume to surface area ratio is small and hence the walls have significant effect on the global flame structure, flame location and flame dynamics. In addition to the flame–wall thermal coupling there is a coupling between flame and acoustics in the case of confined flames. Flame–wall thermal interactions lead to low frequency flame fluctuations (∼100 Hz) depending upon the thermal response of the wall. However, the flame–acoustic interactions can result in a wide range of flame fluctuations ranging from few hundred Hz to few kHz. Wall temperature distribution is one of the factors that control the amount of reactant preheating which in turn effects the location of flame stabilization. Acoustic emission signals and high-speed flame imaging confirmed that for the present case flame–acoustic interactions have more significant effect on flame dynamics. Based on the acoustic emissions, five different flame regimes have been identified; whistling/harmonic mode, rich instability mode, lean instability mode, silent mode and pulsating flame mode.     

Combustion and heat transfer at meso-scale with thermal recuperation

Results are presented from successfully designed and fabricated meso-scale ceramic combustors that incorporate internal thermal energy recirculation. The combustor provided sustained operation using propane and air as the reactants. Flames could be obtained well below the normal quenching distance. The development required examination of several different combustor designs and materials. Flammability limits of these combustors have been determined experimentally. Experimental investigations have been performed on the effects of flame holder geometry, material conductivity, equivalence ratio, and inlet Reynolds number on the combustor performance. Measurement of the reactant preheating and product exhaust temperatures was performed using K-type thermocouples which were installed with minimal intrusion to the flow. The reactant preheating temperatures were observed to be in the range 700 K–1000 K. However, the combustor suffered significant overall heat loss (50–85%) which was implied by the low exhaust temperatures (500 K–750 K). For a constant fuel flow rate, the exhaust temperature increased monotonously with decrease in equivalence ratio until the blow-off condition implying that the combustor’s maximum thermal efficiency occurs at its lean blow-off limit. Thermal imaging of the combustor walls was performed using infrared camera to obtain the temperature distribution within the combustor. Numerical simulations were performed with the aid of CFD software using a heat loss coefficient chosen so as to give best correlation with experimental results. These CFD simulations helped to obtain better insight of the dependence of combustor performance on thermal conductivity of the material and heat load.     

Investigating the effect of local addition of hydrogen to acoustically excited ethylene and methane flames

While lean combustion in gas turbines is known to reduce NOx, it makes combustors more prone to thermo-acoustic instabilities, which can lead to deterioration in engine performance. The work presented in this study investigates the effectiveness of secondary injection of hydrogen to imperfectly premixed methane and ethylene flames in reducing heat release oscillations. Both acoustically forced and unforced flames were studied, and simultaneous OH and H atom PLIF (planar laser induced fluorescence) was conducted. The tests were carried out on a laboratory scale bluff-body combustor with a central V-shaped bluff body. Two-microphone method was used to estimate velocity perturbations from pressure measurements, flame boundary images were captured using high speed Mie scattering, while global heat release fluctuations were determined from OH* chemiluminescence.The results showed that hydrogen addition considerably reduced heat release oscillations for both methane and ethylene flames at all the forcing frequencies tested, with the exception of methane flames forced at 315 Hz, where oscillations increased with hydrogen addition. The addition of hydrogen reduced the extent of flame roll-up for both methane and ethylene flames, however, this reduction was larger for methane flames. NOx exhaust emissions were observed to increase with hydrogen addition for both methane and ethylene flames, with absolute NOx concentrations higher for ethylene flames, due to higher flame temperatures.     

Non-premixed acoustically perturbed swirling flame dynamics

An investigation into the response of non-premixed swirling flames to acoustic perturbations at various frequencies (f_p = 0-315 Hz) and swirl intensities (S = 0.09 and 0.34) is carried out. Perturbations are generated using a loudspeaker at the base of an atmospheric co-flow burner with resulting velocity oscillation amplitudes |u′/U_avg| in the 0.03-0.30 range. The dependence of flame dynamics on the relative richness of the flame is investigated by studying various constant fuel flow rate flame configurations. Flame heat release rate is quantitatively measured using a photomultiplier with a 430 nm bandpass filter for observing CH∗ chemiluminescence which is simultaneously imaged with a phase-locked CCD camera. The flame response is observed to exhibit a low-pass filter characteristic with minimal flame response beyond pulsing frequencies of 200 Hz. Flames at lower fuel flow rates are observed to remain attached to the central fuel pipe at all acoustic pulsing frequencies. PIV imaging of the associated isothermal fields show the amplification in flame aspect ratio is caused by the narrowing of the inner recirculation zone (IRZ). Good correlation is observed between the estimated flame surface area and the heat release rate signature at higher swirl intensity flame configurations. A flame response index analogous to the Rayleigh criterion in non-forced flames is used to assess the potential for a strong flame response at specific perturbation configurations and is found to be a good predictor of highly responsive modes. Phase conditioned analysis of the flame dynamics yield additional criteria in highly responsive modes to include the effective amplitude of velocity oscillations induced by the acoustic pulsing. In addition, highly responsive modes were characterized by velocity to heat release rate phase differences in the ±π/2 range. A final observed characteristic in highly responsive flames is a Strouhal number between 1 and 3.5 based on the burner co-flow annulus diameter (St = f_pU_avg/d_m). Finally, wavelet analyses of heat release rate perturbations indicate highly responsive modes are characterized by sustained low frequency oscillations which accompany the high amplitude velocity perturbations at these modes. Higher intensity low frequency heat release rate oscillations are observed for lean flame/low pulsing frequency conditions.     

Thermoacoustic combustion instability of propane-oxy-combustion with CO2 dilution: Experimental analysis

In this study, the effect of CO₂ dilution on the thermoacoustic stability of propane-oxyfuel flames is studied in a non-premixed, swirl-stabilized combustor. The results, obtained at a fixed combustor power density (4 MW/m³ bar) and global stoichiometric equivalence ratio (Φ = 1.0), show that the oxy-flame is stable at 0% and low CO₂ concentrations in the oxidizer. A self-amplifying coupling between heat release and pressure fluctuations was observed to occur at the CO₂ concentration of 45%, which matches the point of flame transition from a jet-like to a V-shaped flame resulting from the formation of inner recirculation zone. The observed frequency for both the pressure and heat release oscillations is 465 Hz and the ensuing thermoacoustic instability is believed to have been resulted from vortexes and flame interactions. Subsequent to the coupling of the oscillations at the CO₂ concentration of 45%, their amplitudes grew at 50% to 60% CO₂ dilution levels. The maximum amplitude was observed at 60% CO₂ concentration after which, as CO₂ dilution level increases, the acoustic amplitude and that of its counterpart in the heat release spectrum decreased due to damping (energy dissipation) arising from heat loss and viscous dissipation. An increase in hydrogen concentration in the fuel and a decrease in the combustor power density were observed to lower the acoustic amplitude. Furthermore, a frequency shift is observed with a change in the combustor firing rate, which shows that the mode scales with the flow velocity, and therefore, unlikely to be a natural acoustic mode of the combustor. This study, therefore, reveals thermoacoustic instability in non-premixed oxy-combustion driven by changes in flame dynamics and macrostructures as the CO₂ concentration in the oxidizer mixture varies.     

Investigations on the self-excited oscillations in a kerosene spray flame

A laboratory scale gas turbine type burner at atmospheric pressure and with air preheat was operated with aviation kerosene Jet-A1 injected from a pressure atomiser. Self-excited oscillations were observed and analysed to understand better the relationship between the spray and thermo-acoustic oscillations. The fluctuations of CH^∗ chemiluminescence measured simultaneously with the pressure were used to determine the flame transfer function. The Mie scattering technique was used to record spray fluctuations in reacting conditions with a high speed camera. Integrating the Mie intensity over the imaged region gave a temporal signal acquired simultaneously with pressure fluctuations and the transfer function between the light scattered from the spray and the velocity fluctuations in the plenum was evaluated. Phase Doppler anemometry was used for axial velocity and drop size measurements at different positions downstream the injection plane and for various operating conditions. Pressure spectra showed peaks at a frequency that changed with air mass flow rate. The peak for low air mass flow rate operation was at 220 Hz and was associated with a resonance of the supply plenum. At the same global equivalence ratio but at high air mass flow rates, the pressure spectrum peak was at 323 Hz, a combustion chamber resonant frequency. At low air flow rates, the spray fluctuation motion was pronounced and followed the frequency of the pressure oscillation. At high air flow rates, more effective evaporation resulted in a complete disappearance of droplets at an axial distance of about 1/3 burner diameters from the injection plane, leading to a different flame transfer function and frequency of the self-excited oscillation. The results highlight the sensitivity of the self-excited oscillation to the degree of mixing achieved before the main recirculation zone.     

Heat release and flame structure measurements of self-excited acoustically-driven premixed methane flames

An open-open organ pipe burner (Rijke tube) with a bluff-body ring was used to create a self-excited, acoustically-driven, premixed methane-air conical flame, with equivalence ratios ranging from 0.85 to 1.05. The feed tube velocities corresponded to Re = 1780-4450. Coupled oscillations in pressure, velocity, and heat release from the flame are naturally encouraged at resonant frequencies in the Rijke tube combustor. This coupling creates sustainable self-exited oscillations in flame front area and shape. The period of the oscillations occur at the resonant frequency of the combustion chamber when the flame is placed ∼¼ of the distance from the bottom of the tube. In this investigation, the shape of these acoustically-driven flames is measured by employing both OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) and chemiluminescence imaging and the images are correlated to simultaneously measured pressure in the combustor. Past research on acoustically perturbed flames has focused on qualitative flame area and heat release relationships under imposed velocity perturbations at imposed frequencies. This study reports quantitative empirical fits with respect to pressure or phase angle in a self-generated pressure oscillation. The OH-PLIF images were single temporal shots and the chemiluminescence images were phase averaged on chip, such that 15 exposures were used to create one image. Thus, both measurements were time resolved during the flame oscillation. Phase-resolved area and heat release variations throughout the pressure oscillation were computed. A relation between flame area and the phase angle before the pressure maximum was derived for all flames in order to quantitatively show that the Rayleigh criterion was satisfied in the combustor. Qualitative trends in oscillating flame area were found with respect to feed tube flow rates. A logarithmic relation was found between the RMS pressure and both the normalized average area and heat release rate for all flames.     

Development of high intensity CDC combustor for gas turbine engines

Colorless distributed combustion (CDC) has been demonstrated to provide ultra-low emission of NOx and CO, improved pattern factor and reduced combustion noise in high intensity gas turbine combustors. The key feature to achieve CDC is the controlled flow distribution, reduce ignition delay, and high speed injection of air and fuel jets and their controlled mixing to promote distributed reaction zone in the entire combustion volume without any flame stabilizer. Large gas recirculation and high turbulent mixing rates are desirable to achieve distributed reactions thus avoiding hot spot zones in the flame. The high temperature air combustion (HiTAC) technology has been successfully demonstrated in industrial furnaces which inherently possess low heat release intensity. However, gas turbine combustors operate at high heat release intensity and this result in many challenges for combustor design, which include lower residence time, high flow velocity and difficulty to contain the flame within a given volume. The focus here is on colorless distributed combustion for stationary gas turbine applications. In the first part of investigation effect of fuel injection diameter and air injection diameter is investigated in detail to elucidate the effect fuel/air mixing and gas recirculation on characteristics of CDC at relatively lower heat release intensity of 5 MW/m³ atm. Based on favorable conditions at lower heat release intensity the effect of confinement size (reduction in combustor volume at same heat load) is investigated to examine heat release intensity up to 40 MW/m³ atm. Three confinement sizes with same length and different diameters resulting in heat release intensity of 20 MW/m³ atm, 30 MW/m³ atm and 40 MW/m³ atm have been investigated. Both non-premixed and premixed modes were examined for the range of heat release intensities. The heat load for the combustor was 25 kW with methane fuel. The air and fuel injection temperature was at normal 300 K. The combustor was operated at 1 atm pressure. The results were evaluated for flow field, fuel/air mixing and gas recirculation from numerical simulations and global flame images, and emissions of NO, CO from experiments. It was observed that the larger air injection diameter resulted in significantly higher levels of NO and CO whereas increase in fuel injection diameter had minimal effect on the NO and resulted in small increase of CO emissions. Increase in heat release intensity had minimal effect on NO emissions, however it resulted in significantly higher CO emissions. The premixed combustion mode resulted in ultra-low NO levels (<1 ppm) and NO emission as low as 5 ppm was obtained with the non-premixed flame mode.     

Simulations of combustion oscillation and flame dynamics in a strut-based supersonic combustor

This paper numerically investigated the dynamic characteristics of combustion in a model scramjet. Three-dimensional compressible large eddy simulation was performed on a hydrogen fueled combustor and pressure fluctuations were recorded. The analysis of pressure data showed that the combustion processes are intrinsically unstable under supersonic air inflow conditions. Flame dynamics were convinced by the fluctuations in flame lift-off distance away from the strut base. Combined with the corresponding time interval, instantaneous flame speed was calculated. Results indicated that pressure oscillations at different locations show difference in amplitude, frequency, and the underlying control mechanism. Flame front oscillation analysis showed that the flame–shock interaction in the strut recirculation zone was responsible for the combustion instability. Flame dynamics were compared with low-speed turbulent lifted flames. The transition between flame propagation just after the strut and shock-induced combustion in the subsonic bubble at the intersection of two wall-reflected oblique shocks made for the flame stabilization.     

Visualisation of isothermal large coherent structures in a swirl burner

Lean premixed combustion using swirl flame stabilisation is widespread amongst gas turbine manufacturers. The use of swirl mixing and flame stabilisation is also prevalent in many other non-premixed systems. Problems that emerge include loss of stabilisation as a function of combustor geometry and thermo-acoustic instabilities. Coherent structures and their relationship with combustion processes have been a concern for decades due to their complex nature.This paper thus adopts an experimental approach to characterise large coherent structures in swirl burners under isothermal conditions so as to reveal the effects of swirl in a number of geometries and cold flow patterns that are relevant in combustion. Aided by techniques such as Hot Wire Anemometry, High Speed Photography and Particle Image Velocimetry, the recognition of several structures was achieved in a 100 kW swirl burner model.Several varied, interacting, structures developed in the field as a consequence of the configurations used. New structures never observed before were identified, the results not only showing the existence of very well defined large structures, but also their dependency on geometrical and flow parameters. The PVC is confirmed to be a semi-helical structure, contrary to previous simulations performed on the system. The appearance of secondary recirculation zones and suppression of the vortical core as a consequence of geometrical constrictions are presented as a mechanism of flow control. The asymmetry of the Central Recirculation Zone in cold flows is observed in all the experiments, with its elongation dependent on Re and swirl number used.     

Analysis of combustion instability of hydrogen fueled scramjet combustor on high-speed OH-PLIF measurements and dynamic mode decomposition

This paper investigated the combustion instability of spanwise positions in a hydrogen fueled scramjet combustor with a cavity flame holder. High-speed OH-PLIF technique was performed on a direct-connect supersonic combustion facility, and dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) as postprocessing. Combustion instability was investigated by characterizing the dominant frequencies and growth factors. By changing the equivalence ratio of hydrogen, the peak frequencies of scramjet mode and ramjet mode were obtained. Scramjet mode tended to have small oscillation at 150–200 Hz reflected by negative growth factors due to the stable flame structure. At ram-to-scram transition, oscillations at 80–120 Hz were remarkably enhanced due to the positive growth factors. In ramjet mode, the large differences of frequency characteristics in spanwise positions were observed. The dominant DMD modes near the cavity wall appeared to have negative growth factors leading to a stable flame with small oscillations. Besides, the characteristics of frequency-shift were affected by the positions of injector.     

Effect of syngas composition on high frequency combustion instability in a non-premixed turbulent combustor

An experimental investigation on the effect of syngas composition (H₂/CO) on thermodynamic instability of a bluff-body combustor is studied. Three syngas compositions, namely, 25%H₂–75%CO, 50%H₂–50%CO and 75%H₂–25%CO, and pure hydrogen and 75%H₂–25%CH₄ are acoustically characterized by varying the inlet Reynolds number, Re, in the range of 2200–8100. The combustor is observed to undergo two modes of thermo-acoustic instability across the above Re range for all syngas compositions and pure hydrogen, whereas for the H₂CH₄ composition, the instability manifests at a single frequency ∼130 Hz. For all the syngas compositions, the pressure oscillations exhibit low frequency (130 Hz) at low Re, and bifurcate to higher frequency (∼500 Hz) at mid-range Re values, while pure hydrogen exhibits bifurcation from the low frequency to the first harmonic (∼260 Hz). The high frequency observed with the syngas compositions is at the third harmonic natural acoustic mode of the combustor and matches thrice the Strouhal frequency of the hydrodynamic oscillations of the shear layer separating from the bluff body. Further investigation into the nature of the dynamic behaviour across the listed fuels is performed using simultaneous time resolved imaging of OH* and CO₂* chemiluminescence and two-component particle image velocimetry. The peak in the CO₂* chemiluminescent intensity is found to be axially staggered downstream of that of OH*. This is due to sequential oxidation of H₂ and CO, the former producing OH as an intermediate consumed by the latter. Spatio-temporal analysis of the time-resolved data reveals that the presence of the flame in the shear layer of the bluff-body plays a significant role in modulating the high frequency acoustic excitation. Further, a spatial Rayleigh map is derived based on both the OH* and CO₂* chemiluminescence, which reveals the bluff-body shear layer dynamics to yield the key driving and damping regions in the present study.     

Experimental study of vortex-flame interaction in a gas turbine model combustor

The interaction of a helical precessing vortex core (PVC) with turbulent swirl flames in a gas turbine model combustor is studied experimentally. The combustor is operated with air and methane at atmospheric pressure and thermal powers from 10 to 35 kW. The flow field is measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV), and the dominant unsteady vortex structures are determined using proper orthogonal decomposition. For all operating conditions, a PVC is detected in the shear layer of the inner recirculation zone (IRZ). In addition, a co-rotating helical vortex in the outer shear layer (OSL) and a central vortex originating in the exhaust tube are found. OH chemiluminescence (CL) images show that the flames are mainly stabilized in the inner shear layer (ISL), where also the PVC is located. Phase-averaged images of OH-CL show that for all conditions, a major part of heat release takes place in a helical zone that is coupled to the PVC. The mechanisms of the interaction between PVC and flame are then studied for the case P = 10 kW using simultaneous PIV and OH-PLIF measurements with a repetition rate of 5 kHz. The measurements show that the PVC causes a regular sequence of flame roll-up, mixing of burned and unburned gas, and subsequent ignition of the mixture in the ISL. These effects are directly linked to the periodic vortex motions. A phase-averaged analysis of the flow field further shows that the PVC induces an unsteady lower stagnation point that is not present in the average flow field. The motion of the stagnation point is linked to the periodic precession of the PVC. Near this point burned and unburned gas collide frontally and a significant amount of heat release takes place. The flame dynamics near this point is also coupled to the PVC. In this way, a part of the reaction zone is periodically drawn from the stagnation point into the ISL, and thus serves as an ignition source for the reactions in this layer. In total, the effects in the ISL and at the stagnation point showed that the PVC plays an essential role in the stabilization mechanism of the turbulent swirl flames. In contrast to the PVC, the vortices in the OSL and near the exhaust tube have no direct effect on the flame since they are located outside the flame zone.     

Comparison and extension of methods for acoustic identification of burners

The prediction and the control of combustion instabilities require the identification of the combustion chamber response. This identification is usually performed by forcing the combustor (for example, modulating its inlet velocity) and measuring its response. Two methods may be found in the literature to analyze this response: identification of transfer matrices (ITM) and flame transfer functions (FTF). In ITM approaches, the burner is considered as a “black box” and a two-port formulation (based on acoustic pressure and velocity perturbations) is used to construct a transfer matrix linking acoustic fluctuations on both sides of the burner. A drawback of this method is that in experiments, the measurement of unsteady pressure and velocity in burnt gases can be difficult. In FTF approaches, pressure measurements are replaced by a global heat release measurement (usually based on optical methods). The heat release fluctuations are then related to the flow velocity modulations at a reference point (usually the combustor inlet) through a transfer function. This paper uses a compressible numerical simulation of a forced laminar Bunsen flame to analyze FTF and ITM methods. Results show that FTF approaches lead to an ill-defined problem as soon as the reference point is not close enough to the chamber. This “compactness” limit is quantified here in terms of distance between the reference point and the local chamber. The source of the problem is that FTF approaches correlate heat release fluctuations to velocity oscillations only: extended FTF models are then proposed using the local unsteady pressure as well as the velocity upstream of the flame to predict the heat release oscillations. These models are tested numerically and provide consistent values when the reference point location changes or when upstream and downstream conditions are varied. These results lead to simple recommendations for system identification.     

Combustion characteristics of a lean premixed LPG–air combustor

Fuel/air mixing effects in a premixer have been examined to investigate the combustion characteristics, such as the emission of NO_x and CO, under simulated lean premixed gas turbine combustor conditions at normal and elevated pressures of up to 3.5 bar with air preheat temperature of 450 K. The results obtained have been compared with a diffusion flame type gas turbine combustor for emission characteristics. The results show that the NO_x emission is profoundly affected by the mixing between fuel and air in the combustor. NO_x emission is lowered by supplying uniform fuel/air gas mixture to the combustor and the NO_x emission reduces with decrease in residence time of the hot gases in the combustor. The NO_x emission level of the lean premixed combustor is a strong function of equivalence ratio and the dependency is smaller for a traditional diffusion flame combustor under the examined experimental conditions. Furthermore, the recirculation flow, affected by dome angle of combustor, reduces the high temperature reaction zone or hot spot in the combustor, thus reducing the NO_x emission levels.     

燃气轮机燃烧室预混燃烧不稳定性的数值研究

针对燃气轮机燃烧室内预混燃烧不稳定现象,应用湍流燃烧CFD的方法进行了数值研究,并着重对发生自激振荡时的火焰动态特性和燃烧室内的速度、压力和温度的振荡特性进行了分析.计算表明:非稳态雷诺平均Navier Stokes(URANS)方法和基于重整化群的RNG k-ε湍流模型以及有限速率/涡漩耗散(FR/EDM)燃烧模型对于燃烧不稳定性的研究是适用的.将预测结果与实验结果进行比较可以看出,数值计算精确地捕捉到了自激振荡燃烧过程中火焰的动态行为,还给出了燃烧室内速度、压力和温度值波动的幅值和频率.结果表明:燃烧室内低频压力振动主要是轴向的振动,热释放的波动与压力波动的频率是一致的,燃烧室内火焰的频率与燃烧室内压力和温度的波动频率也是一致的.     

进气参数对LPP燃烧室振荡燃烧特性和火焰结构的影响

为研究贫预混预蒸发(LPP)燃烧室振荡燃烧规律和LPP火焰结构,利用动态压力传感器测量了LPP燃烧室内不同进气参数下时域及频域上的压力脉动;利用激光诱导荧光(PLIF)测量系统研究了不同进气参数下的LPP火焰结构变化规律。结果表明:随着燃烧室入口流速的增加,激励出的振荡燃烧的当量比区域会减小;在一定的入口流速下,所激励的振荡燃烧主频会随着当量比的增加而增加;随着燃烧室入口空气温度的提高,激励出振荡燃烧的区域会减小,激励出的振荡燃烧的强度会下降,但振荡燃烧的主频均会增加;稳定燃烧时,LPP火焰为V型火焰;振荡燃烧则会将LPP火焰转化为平整型火焰。     

Modal dynamics of self-excited azimuthal instabilities in an annular combustion chamber

In this paper we describe the time-varying amplitude and its relation to the global heat release rate of self-excited azimuthal instabilities in a simple annular combustor operating under atmospheric conditions. The combustor was modular in construction consisting of either 12, 15 or 18 equally spaced premixed bluff-body flames around a fixed circumference, enabling the effect of large-scale interactions between adjacent flames to be investigated. High-speed OH^∗ chemiluminescence imaged from above the annulus and pressure measurements obtained at multiple locations around the annulus revealed that the limit cycles of the modes are degenerate in so much as they undergo continuous transitions between standing and spinning modes in both clockwise (CW) and anti-clockwise (ACW) directions but with the same resonant frequency. Similar behaviour has been observed in LES simulations which suggests that degenerate modes may be a characteristic feature of self-excited azimuthal instabilities in annular combustion chambers. By modelling the instabilities as two acoustic waves of time-varying amplitude travelling in opposite directions we demonstrate that there is a statistical prevalence for either standing m = 1 or spinning m = ±1 modes depending on flame spacing, equivalence ratio, and swirl configuration. Phase-averaged OH^∗ chemiluminescence revealed a possible mechanism that drives the direction of the spinning modes under limit-cycle conditions for configurations with uniform swirl. By dividing the annulus into inner and outer annular regions it was found that the spin direction coincided with changes in the spatial distribution of the peak heat release rate relative to the direction of the bulk swirl induced along the annular walls. For standing wave modes it is shown that the globally integrated fluctuations in heat release rate vary in magnitude along the acoustic mode shape with negligible contributions at the pressure nodes and maximum contributions at the pressure anti-nodes.