Vortex driven flame dynamics and combustion instability

Combustion instability in premixed combustors mostly arises due to the coupling between heat release rate dynamics and system acoustics. It is crucial to understand the instability mechanisms to design reliable, high efficiency, low emission gas turbine combustors. In this thesis, elementary processes acting as a source of unsteady heat release rate are described. These elementary processes are acoustic wave-flame interactions, flame-vortex interactions, equivalence ratio fluctuations, flame-wall interactions and the unsteady stretch rate. To investigate the flame- vortex interaction mechanism, a parametric study is performed in single and double expansion dump combustors. 2-D simulations are performed using the random vortex method combined with thin flame model of premixed combustion. The inlet velocity of the combustor is forced sinusoidally at various amplitudes and frequencies, and the heat release rate response is evaluated. It is shown that the heat release rate dynamics are governed by the cyclical formation of a large wake vortex and its interaction with the flame. Maximum heat release rate in a cycle is reached a short time after the breakup of the vortex, which causes rapid burning of the reactants trapped within the structure. The geometry and operating conditions of the combustor control the mechanism by which the vortex breakup is initiated. For short cavities, the impingement of the large wake vortex onto the forward facing step is responsible from the vortex breakup.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Altay, Hurrem Murat

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ahmed F. Ghoniem.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32379

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32379