Experimental Characterization of Premixed Flame Instabilities of a Model Gas Turbine Burner

In recent years, the NO _x emissions of heavy duty gas turbine burners have been significantly reduced by introducing premixed combustion. These highly premixed burners are known to be prone to combustion oscillations. In this paper, investigations of a single model gas turbine burner are reported focusing on thermo-acoustic instabilities and their interaction with the periodic fluctuations of the velocity and pressure. Phase-locked optical measurement techniques such as LDA and LIF gave insight into the mechanisms.Detailed investigations of a gas turbine combustor rig revealed that the combustor as well as the air plenum oscillate in Helmholtz modes. These instabilities could be attributed to the phase lag of the pressure oscillations between the air plenum and the combustor, which causes an acceleration and deceleration of the air flow through the burner and, therefore, alternating patterns of fuel rich and lean bubbles. When these bubbles reach the reaction zone, density fluctuations are generated which in turn lead to velocity fluctuations and, hence, keep up the pressure oscillations.With increasing the equivalence ratio strong combustion oscillations could be identified at the same frequency. Similarly as with weak oscillations, Helmholtz mode pressure fluctuations are present but the resulting velocity fluctuations in the combustor can be described as a pumping motion of the flow. By the velocity fluctuations the swirl stabilization of the flame is disturbed. At the same time, the oscillating pressure inside the combustor reaches its minimum value. Shortly after the flame expands again, the pressure increases inside the combustor. This phenomenon which is triggered by the pressure oscillations inside the air plenum seems to be the basic mechanism of the flame instability and leads to a significant increase of the pressure amplitudes.     

预点火湍流对正戊烷云雾爆炸参数的影响

以正戊烷云雾为研究对象,进行预点火湍流对云雾爆炸参数影响规律的实验研究。首先通过不同气动压力进行喷雾,获得平均特征直径（SMD）分别为 21.21、14.51 和 8.64 μm 的正戊烷云雾,并得到不同气动压力预点火的湍流均方根速度;随后在 20 L 云雾爆炸参数测量系统中实验获得预点火湍流对正戊烷云雾蒸发速率、爆炸超压峰值、压力上升速率和火焰传播延迟时间的影响。结果表明:(1) 对于圆柱形罐体对称式双喷头分散系统,流场环境可近似认定为零平均速率湍流场;在0.4、0.6和0.8 MPa的气动压力喷雾50 ms的分散作用下,在100～250 ms内,湍流均方根速度在1.0～6.2 m/s范围内,平均湍流积分尺度在40～72 mm范围内,湍流最大湍流尺度的雷诺数在8 000～15 000范围内,柯尔莫哥洛夫微尺度在0.03～0.1 mm范围内;(2) 对于较小的液滴群,随湍流强度的增加,液滴群的蒸发速率有更为明显的提升;(3) 对比云雾三种SMD,粒径8.64 μm的超压峰值与最大压力上升速率随湍流强度增长趋势更显著,并发生爆炸强度显著提升现象,即存在“转变区域”（transition range）现象;(4) 对于SMD在8～22 μm范围内,湍流均方根速度处于1.0～4.0 m/s时为火焰传播延迟时间的低增长阶段,湍流均方根速度处于4.0～6.2 m/s时为火焰传播延迟时间的高增长阶段,湍流强度与火焰传播延迟时间在相应的两个湍流强度阶段范围内呈线性增长。     

Turbulence Intensity and Length Scale Effects on Premixed Turbulent Flame Propagation

The effects of varying turbulence intensity and turbulence length scale on premixed turbulent flame propagation are investigated using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). The DNS dataset contains the results of a set of turbulent flame simulations based on separate and systematic changes in either turbulence intensity or turbulence integral length scale while keeping all other parameters constant. All flames considered are in the thin reaction zones regime. Several aspects of flame behaviour are analysed and compared, either by varying the turbulence intensity at constant integral length scale, or by varying the integral length scale at constant turbulence intensity. The turbulent flame speed is found to increase with increasing turbulence intensity and also with increasing integral length scale. Changes in the turbulent flame speed are generally accounted for by changes in the flame surface area, but some deviation is observed at high values of turbulence intensity. The probability density functions (pdfs) of tangential strain rate and mean flame curvature are found to broaden with increasing turbulence intensity and also with decreasing integral length scale. The response of the correlation between tangential strain rate and mean flame curvature is also investigated. The statistics of displacement speed and its components are analysed, and the findings indicate that changes in response to decreasing integral length scale are broadly similar to those observed for increasing turbulence intensity, although there are some interesting differences. These findings serve to improve current understanding of the role of turbulence length scales in flame propagation.

     

Turbulence-Driven Blowout Instabilities of Premixed Bluff-Body Flames

Bluff-body flame instabilities are experimentally investigated under varying turbulence conditions during lean blowout. For all turbulence conditions, the blowout process is induced through a temporal reduction of the fuel flow rate to capture the flame-flow dynamics approaching blowout. Simultaneous high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV), stereoscopic PIV, and C₂*/CH* chemiluminescence imaging are employed, along with an independent CH* imaging system, to capture flame-flow instabilities. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) techniques are used to identify prominent flame oscillations and evaluate recurring spatiotemporal modes during blowout. The results reveal that the dominant flame oscillations and wrinkling characteristics are directly dependent on the turbulence conditions in the combustor. Specifically, the flame-flow oscillations are strongly coupled with the integral length scales, which were able to collapse the oscillation frequencies to a unified value. The turbulence-driven flame-flow oscillations are shown to largely impact the magnitude, temporal evolution, and oscillatory behavior of the flame strain rate. As the turbulence intensity is increased, the oscillation of the flame strain rate increases in frequency, making it more likely for localized extinctions to occur. Additionally, the magnitude of the flame strain rate increases at high turbulence intensities and accelerates the lean blowout process.

     

Effects of Unmixedness on Combustion Instabilities in a Lean-Premixed Gas Turbine Combustor

The present experimental study focuses on the effects of the degree of premixing and swirl strength on combustion instabilities occurring in a lean premixed gas turbine combustor burning natural gas and air. The combustor operated at pressurized conditions with heated air. Major measurements for the investigation of premixed combustion dynamics include pressure fluctuations, flame emissions in reacting flow, and acetone fluorescence in non-reacting flow to assess the degree of premixing between fuel and air. The acetone PLIF results revealed that the degree of premixing improves as mixing time increases. The first and second longitudinal acoustic modes were the dominant excited modes for most cases of interest. Combustion at a lean premixed condition becomes more susceptible to instabilities as the degree of premixing becomes poor, and self-excited pressure oscillations are obviously present under a fully premixed condition, even without equivalence ratio fluctuations in space. For incomplete premixing cases, local equivalence ratio fluctuations caused by poor premixing may initiate instabilities since reaction rate is sensitive to equivalence ratio fluctuations at lean conditions. Phase resolved chemiluminescence measurements show that pressure oscillations are strongly coupled with variations in flame structures.     

Flame Induced Flow Features in the Presence of Darrieus-Landau Instability

The onset of hydrodynamic or Darrieus-Landau (DL) instability can largely impact on premixed flame morphology, turbulent flame speed and induced flow field. In this work, we focus on the latter induced flow by means of two dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) of slot burner flames performed in a parametric fashion. Results from linear stability analysis are used to select the adequate parameter range to be investigated. The presence of DL instability is initially assessed using a recently proposed statistical marker related to flame morphology. The differences between stable and unstable flames are then statistically investigated, utilizing a single, laminar, DL-induced corrugation as a reference state. Such DL-induced effects are investigated at various turbulence intensities, in terms of local propagation, induced strain rate patterns and flow field as well as vorticity production and transformation. Using displacement speed as a measure of local propagation, no noticeable statistical difference is observed between stable and unstable flames while strain rate and vorticity patterns are shown to be largely influenced by the DL induced morphology. From the modeling point view, an enhancement of counter gradient type transport for turbulent scalar fluxes is observed for hydrodynamically unstable flames.     

乙烯燃料超燃燃烧室流动特性与燃烧稳定性研究

在低飞行马赫数条件下,乙烯燃料超燃冲压发动机为实现成功点火及稳定燃烧,常使用先锋氢引燃乙烯,本文通过试验研究了多种喷注方案下的超燃燃烧室流动特性、火焰传播特性及燃烧稳定性,喷注方案包括单先锋氢、单乙烯和组合喷注方式.超燃燃烧室入口马赫数为2.0,总温为953 K,总压为0.82 MPa.多种非接触光学测量手段被应用于超...     

障碍物对预混火焰特性影响的大涡数值模拟

障碍物在预混气体火焰传播过程中对其结构及传播特性造成较大影响,对火焰的加速和爆燃转爆轰过程(deflagration-to-detonation transition, DDT)起到直接的促进作用。通过障碍物条件下可视管道中甲烷/空气预混火焰传播实验,捕获其火焰微观结构变化。采用三维物理模型,采用壁面自适应局部涡黏模型(wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity, WALE)的大涡模拟(large eddy simulation, LES),并用火焰增厚化学反应模型(thickened flame model, TFM)对实验过程进行重现。分析开口管道中预混火焰翻越障碍物后的复杂流场变化,并分析层流向湍流转变过程的特点。揭示了在障碍物影响下预混火焰扰动失稳现象的直接原因,是由障碍物引发的3个气流涡团同时作用而形成Kelvin-Helmholtz不稳定及Rayleigh-Taylor不稳定现象耦合作用所导致。     

Non-linear Response of Turbulent Premixed Flames to Imposed Inlet Velocity Oscillations of Two Frequencies

This paper describes an experimental study investigating the non-linear response of lean premixed air/ethylene flames to strong inlet velocity perturbations of two frequencies. The combustor has a centrally-placed bluff body and a short quartz section. The annulus between the bluff body and the flow tube, which also housed the acoustic pressure transducers, allowed the reactants into the combustor. The inlet flow was perturbed using loudspeakers. High speed laser tomography, OH* chemiluminescence and OH Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) have been used for flow visualization, heat release and flame surface density (FSD) measurements respectively. The heat release fluctuations increased initially linearly with inlet velocity amplitude for a single frequency forcing, with saturation occurring after forcing amplitudes of around 15% of the bulk velocity, which was found to occur due to vortex roll up and subsequent flame annihilation. The introduction of energy at the second frequency (i.e, the harmonic) was found to change the vortex formation and shedding frequency, depending on the level of forcing. This resulted in a non-linear flame response transfer function (defined as the amplitude of unsteady heat release divided by the amplitude of velocity perturbation at the fundamental) whose amplitude depended greatly on the amount of harmonic content present in the perturbations. The introduction of higher harmonics reduced the flame annihilation events, which are responsible for saturation, thus reducing non-linearity in the amplitude dependence of the flame response. These results were further verified using sequential time-resolved OH PLIF measurements. The findings from this study suggest that the acoustic response of the flame was mostly due to flame area variation effected by modulation of the annular jet and evolution of the shear layers.     

AEROELASTICITY ANALYSIS OF AN INDUSTRIAL GAS TURBINE COMBUSTOR USING A SIMPLIFIED COMBUSTION MODEL

Lean premixed industrial gas turbine combustors are susceptible to flame instabilities, resulting in large unsteady pressure waves that may cause the discharge nozzle to experience excessive vibration levels. A detailed aeroelasticity analysis, aimed at investigating possible structural failure mechanisms, was undertaken using a time-accurate unsteady flow representation, a simplified combustion disturbance and a structural model of the discharge nozzle. The computational domain included the lower part of the combustor geometry as well as the nozzle guide vanes (NGVs) at the HP turbine inlet. A pressure perturbation, representing the unsteadiness due to the combustion process, was applied below the tertiary fuel inlet and its frequency was set to each structural natural frequency in turn. The propagation of the pressure perturbation through the combustor nozzle, its reflection from the NGVs and further reflections were monitored using two different models. The first one, the so-called “open” system, ignored the reflections from the upper part of the combustion chamber while the second one, the “closed” system, assumed full reflection with an appropriate time shift. The calculations have shown that the imposed excitation could generate unsteady pressure shapes that were correlated with the “flap” modes of the discharge nozzle. In addition, an acoustic resonance condition was observed when the forcing pressure wave had a frequency close to 550 Hz, the experimentally observed failure frequency of the nozzle. The co-existence of these two factors, i.e., excitation/structural-mode match and the possibility of acoustic resonance, was thought to have the potential of producing very high vibration response.     

Modelling of a Premixed Swirl-stabilized Flame Using a Turbulent Flame Speed Closure Model in LES

This paper proposes a combustion model based on a turbulent flame speed closure (TFC) technique for large eddy simulation (LES) of premixed flames. The model was originally developed for the RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations) approach and was extended here to LES. The turbulent quantities needed for calculation of the turbulent flame speed are obtained at the sub grid level. This model was at first experienced via an test case and then applied to a typical industrial combustor with a swirl stabilized flame. The paper shows that the model is easy to apply and that the results are promising. Even typical frequencies of arising combustion instabilities can be captured. But, the use of compressible LES may also lead to unphysical pressure waves which have their origin in the numerical treatment of the boundary conditions.     

Pressure-based method for combustion instability analysis

An improved pressure-based method has been applied to predict the two-dimensional instability analysis of liquid-fuelled rocket engines. This method is non-iterative for transient flow calculations and applicable to all-speed flows. Validation cases include the shock-tube problem, the blast flow field and unsteady spraycombusting flows. Computations for the combustion instability analysis were carried out for various combustion parameters such as spray initial conditions and combustor geometries. Unsteady behaviours of the stable and unstable spray flame fields and effects of acoustic oscillations on the fuel droplet vaporization and combustion process are studied in detail. The present numerical model successfully demonstrates the capability of predicting combustion instability as well as fast transient compressible flows at all speeds.     

Self-Turbulent Flame Speeds

This paper reports an experimental investigation of premixed propane and methane-air flames propagating freely in tubes 1.5?m long and with diameters ranging from 26 to 141?mm. The thermo-acoustic instability was eliminated by means of a novel acoustic absorber placed at the closed end of the tube. We first remark that the flame can adopt different shapes either quasi-axisymmetric and normal to the mean direction of propagation, or inclined with a larger propagation speed because of the increase in flame surface area. The minima of the propagation speeds, corresponding to non-tilted flame propagation, are then analyzed using analytical models for the self-turbulent flame propagation. The concept of a cut-off wavelength appears to be relevant to explain the different behaviors observed on the rich side of methane-air and propane-air flames.     

连续圆孔障碍物对油气泄压爆炸火焰特性影响大涡模拟

采用WALE模型和Zimont预混火焰模型对内置圆孔障碍物油气泄压爆炸火焰特性进行了大涡模拟,并将大涡模拟计算结果和RNG k-ε湍流模型计算结果以及实验结果进行对比分析,验证了大涡模拟的精确性。结果表明:（1）大涡模拟在预测油气爆炸超压、火焰传播速度以及火焰形态变化等方面比RNG k-ε湍流模型精确度更高,且能表现出更多流场的精细化结构;（2）障碍物诱导管道内形成湍流度较高的流场区域,导致火焰产生褶皱弯曲变形,增大火焰面积,加速火焰传播;（3）爆炸超压、火焰传播速度和火焰面积内在联系密切,具有显著的耦合性,且随时间的变化趋势存在高度的一致性。     

Flame Curvature Distribution in High Pressure Turbulent Bunsen Premixed Flames

The flame curvature statistics of turbulent premixed Bunsen flames have been analysed in this paper using a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) database of turbulent Bunsen flames at ambient and elevated pressures. In order to be able to perform a large parametric study in terms of pressure, heat release parameter, turbulence conditions and nozzle diameter, a single step Arrhenius type irreversible chemistry has been used for the purpose of computational economy, where thermo-chemical parameters are adjusted to match the behavior of stoichiometric methane-air flames. This analysis focuses on the characterization of the local flame geometry in response to turbulence and hydro-dynamic instability. The shape of the flame front is found to be consistent with existing experimental data. Although the Darrieus Landau instability promotes cusp formation, a qualitatively similar flame morphology can be observed for hydro-dynamically stable flames. A criterion has been suggested for the curvature PDF to become negatively skewed.     

Turbulent Flame Speeds of Premixed Supersonic Flame Kernels

It is unclear whether turbulent flame speed scalings established in low speed regimes are applicable to supersonic flames. To investigate this question, the canonical flame kernel is investigated in a scramjet-like channel having a one degree wall divergence. The growth, shape and internal kernel dynamics are investigated. Results are presented for three Mach numbers, four equivalence ratios, and three turbulence generators. Schlieren photography provides flame images for growth rate statistics and particle image velocimetry (PIV) provides turbulence statistics and investigation of internal kernel dynamics. Supersonic flame kernels are self-propagating and respond to the equivalence ratio in a fashion that is similar to low speed flames. However, supersonic flame kernels have features that are not present in subsonic flame kernels. Baroclinicity, resulting from pressure-density misalignment, creates a reacting vortex ring structure. Further, the mean kernel shape has a Mach number dependence and the vortex ring enhances the turbulent flame speed through entrainment of reactants and augmented flame surface growth. Hence, the previously established (low speed) flame speed scalings are inappropriate for supersonic flame kernels. Drawing motivation from vortex ring literature, the ring propagation velocity is used as the characteristic velocity and a new flame speed scaling is proposed.     

方形管内楔形障碍物对火焰结构与传播的影响

通过实验与数值模拟方法对CH4/空气预混火焰在有楔形障碍物的卧式燃烧方管内的传播进行了研究。采用多镜头Cranz Schardin高速摄像机和压力传感器等实验设备获得了高清晰度的障碍物诱导火焰失稳的分幅时序照片以及障碍物背风表面压力变化曲线。数值模拟则基于RANS方法与EDU-Arrhenius燃烧模型,计算结果与实验结果基本相符,反映了火焰在管内传播与变形的详细过程。通过综合分析实验与计算结果,得到了由楔形障碍物导致的火焰加速与变形的内在机理,揭示了火焰传播过程中由层流燃烧向湍流燃烧转捩的本质。     

模型超燃冲压发动机内着火过程分析

在燃烧室入口来流为Ma=2.64、T0=1483K、P0＝1.65MPa、T=724K、P=76.3kPa条件下,采用高速摄影和连续激光高速纹影对等截面型开窗燃烧室内氢气射流自燃过程、火花塞点燃氢气过程和引导氢气火焰点燃煤油过程进行了观测,获得了燃烧室内着火过程中火焰和流场波系结构的动态演化过程;观察到了初始火焰区首先起始于燃烧室下游,并逆流传播实现发动机着火的过程;分析表明燃料能否着火、以及着火位置与燃料着火时间、燃烧室流速和火焰稳定器安装情况相关,多火焰稳定区延长了燃料驻留时间,使燃料更容易着火。关键词 超燃冲压发动机,点火过程,火焰传播,火焰稳定器      

方管内汽油-空气混合气体密闭爆炸和泄爆特性研究

为研究汽油-空气混合气体密闭爆炸和泄爆特性,采用可视化方管进行了两种爆炸模式实验研究,并基于壁面自适应局部涡黏(wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity,WALE)模型和Zimont预混火焰模型进行了数值模拟研究。结果表明:（1）泄爆工况超压-时序曲线峰值数量多于密闭爆炸工况,且泄爆工况超压-时序曲线存在剧烈的类似简谐振动的振荡,而密闭爆炸工况的爆炸超压特征参数显著高于泄爆工况;（2）密闭爆炸工况最大火焰传播速度明显小于泄爆工况,但前者在火焰传播初期即达到最大值,而后者在火焰传播末期才达到最大值;（3）密闭爆炸工况出现郁金香形火焰,而泄爆工况出现蘑菇形火焰,郁金香火焰的形成与管道内火焰锋面、流场和流场动压三者之间耦合效应相关,蘑菇形火焰由外部流场湍流和斜压效应的共同作用引起。     

微小空间内丙烷/空气火焰传播特性与加氢爆燃实验

在内径150 mm的圆盘狭缝微型燃烧室内,实验探讨了在常温常压下,不同当量比的丙烷/空气预混气以及掺氢的丙烷/空气混合气在电火花点火后向外传播的特性,通过高速摄影方法获得了在狭缝间距为2.0、2.5、3.0、5.0 mm时微燃烧室内的火焰传播形态。实验中观察到火焰传播存在光滑、皱褶和断裂三种火焰锋面形态。当量比的增加和狭缝间距的减小会使火焰更容易发生褶皱。随着火焰的传播,火焰半径逐渐增大,火焰传播速度整体呈下降趋势。火焰传播速度随着间距的减小先增大后减小,在间距3 mm时最大。因为壁面散热的影响,微尺度效应在降低火焰传播速度和增加火焰不稳定性方面具有重要作用。掺入氢气能提高预混气的火焰传播速度,在间距2.5 mm的微燃烧腔中还观察到了爆燃现象。