Mixture-Forced Flame Transfer Function Measurements and Mechanisms in a Single-Nozzle Combustor at Elevated Pressure

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Bunce ◽  
Jong Guen Lee ◽  
Bryan D. Quay ◽  
Domenic A. Santavicca
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Velocity Fluctuation ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Modulation Frequency ◽  
Shear Layers ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Phase Curve ◽  
Destructive Interference ◽  
Resultant Velocity

The mixture-forced flame transfer function of a lean fully premixed single-nozzle research combustor operating on natural gas is determined experimentally at combustor pressures from 1 to 4 atm. Measurements are made over a range of inlet temperatures (100–300°C), mean velocities (25–35 m/s), and equivalence ratios (0.5–0.75). A rotating siren device, located upstream of the nozzle, is used to modulate the flow rate of the premixed fuel-air mixture. The amplitude and phase of the resultant velocity fluctuation are measured near the exit of the nozzle using the two-microphone method. The measured normalized velocity fluctuation serves as the input to the flame transfer function. In this study, the amplitude of the normalized velocity fluctuation is fixed at 5% and the modulation frequency is varied from 100 to 500 Hz. The output of the flame transfer function is the normalized global heat release fluctuation, which is measured using a photomultiplier tube and interference filter which captures the CH* chemiluminescence from the entire flame. In addition, two-dimensional CH* chemiluminescence images are taken for both forced and unforced flames. Forced flame images are phase-synchronized with the velocity fluctuation. The flame transfer functions for all of the operating conditions tested exhibit similar behavior. At low frequencies, the gain is initially greater than one, but then decreases as the frequency increases. After reaching a minimum, the gain increases with increasing frequency to a second peak and then again decreases. At certain operating conditions, the gain exhibits a second minimum. At frequencies corresponding to the minima in gain the phase curve exhibits inflection points. Regions of maximum and minimum gain are explained in terms of the constructive and destructive interference of vorticity fluctuations generated in the inner and outer shear layers. Phase-synchronized images are analyzed to isolate the fluctuating component of heat release. At frequencies where the gain is amplified, this analysis shows that the heat release fluctuations caused by the vorticity fluctuations generated in the inner and outer shear layers are in phase. While when the gain is at its minimum value, the heat release fluctuations are out of phase and therefore destructively interfere.

Transfer Function Measurements on a Swirl Stabilized Premix Burner in an Annular Combustion Chamber

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaas Kunze ◽  
Christoph Hirsch ◽  
Thomas Sattelmayer
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Combustion Chamber ◽  
Acoustic Waves ◽  
Velocity Fluctuation ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Annular Combustor

A generic swirl stabilized premix burner for natural gas is experimentally investigated in both a single burner test rig and in an annular combustion chamber. Flame transfer functions are measured relating the fluctuation of the flame heat release to the axial velocity fluctuation at the burner outlet. The OH-chemiluminescence signal of the flame, captured with a photomultiplier tube, is taken as an estimate for flame heat release, whereas the velocity fluctuation is measured with a hot wire probe. As integral measurements of the entire flame reveal important differences between the single burner and the annular combustor, locally resolved measurements are performed observing slices of the flame that are perpendicular to the main flow direction at a variable distance from the burner outlet. In both the single and the annular combustor a near field and a far field of the dynamic flame behavior can be distinguished. The annular combustor flame has a larger near field than the single combustor flame and a different shape in the presence of circumferential acoustic waves. Variation of swirl, thermal power and mass flow and comparison of the steady state heat release distribution within the flames lead to the result that the effective swirl in the annular combustor is lower than for the identical burner in the single burner combustor. When the difference in swirl is compensated for by modifying the burner configuration in the annular combustion chamber the flame transfer function is still not equal to the single combustor flame. The remaining difference can be attributed to the circumferential acoustic waves in the annular combustor which influence the flame shape.

Flame Response Mechanisms Due to Velocity Perturbations in a Lean Premixed Gas Turbine Combustor

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Jones ◽  
Jong Guen Lee ◽  
Bryan D. Quay ◽  
Domenic A. Santavicca ◽  
Kwanwoo Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Velocity Fluctuation ◽  
Modulation Frequency ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Velocity Fluctuations ◽  
Inlet Velocity ◽  
Lean Premixed ◽  
Flame Response

The response of turbulent premixed flames to inlet velocity fluctuations is studied experimentally in a lean premixed, swirl-stabilized, gas turbine combustor. Overall chemiluminescence intensity is used as a measure of the fluctuations in the flame’s global heat release rate and hot wire anemometry is used to measure the inlet velocity fluctuations. Tests are conducted over a range of mean inlet velocities, equivalence ratios and velocity fluctuation frequencies, while the normalized inlet velocity fluctuation (V′/Vmean) is fixed at 5% to ensure linear flame response over the employed modulation frequency range. The measurements are used to calculate a flame transfer function relating the velocity fluctuation to the heat release fluctuation as a function of the velocity fluctuation frequency. At low frequency, the gain of the flame transfer function increases with increasing frequency to a peak value greater than one. As the frequency is further increased, the gain decreases to a minimum value, followed by a second smaller peak. The frequencies at which the gain is minimum and achieves its 2nd peak are found to depend on the convection time scale and the flame’s characteristic length scale. Phase-synchronized CH* chemiluminescence imaging is used to characterize the flame’s response to inlet velocity fluctuations. The observed flame response can be explained in terms of the interaction of two flame perturbation mechanisms, acoustic velocity fluctuations and vorticity fluctuations. Analysis of the phase-synchronized flame images show that when both perturbations arrive at the flame at the same time (or phase) they constructively interfere, producing the 2nd peak observed in the gain curves. And when the perturbations arrive at the flame 180 degrees out-of-phase, they destructively interfere, producing the observed minimum in the gain curve.

Optical Measurement of Local and Global Transfer Functions for Equivalence Ratio Fluctuations in a Turbulent Swirl Flame

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard C. Bobusch ◽  
Bernhard Ćosić ◽  
Jonas P. Moeck ◽  
Christian Oliver Paschereit
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Heat Release Rate ◽  
Release Rate ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Optical Measurement ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Fuel Flow ◽  
Calibration Measurement

Equivalence ratio fluctuations are known to be one of the key factors controlling thermoacoustic stability in lean premixed gas turbine combustors. The mixing and thus the spatio-temporal evolution of these perturbations in the combustor flow is, however, difficult to account for in present low-order modeling approaches. To investigate this mechanism, experiments in an atmospheric combustion test rig are conducted. To assess the importance of equivalence ratio fluctuations in the present case, flame transfer functions for different injection positions are measured. By adding known perturbations in the fuel flow using a solenoid valve, the influence of equivalence ratio oscillations on the heat release rate is investigated. The spatially and temporally resolved equivalence ratio fluctuations in the reaction zone are measured using two optical chemiluminescence signals, captured with an intensified camera. A steady calibration measurement allows for the quantitative assessment of the equivalence ratio fluctuations in the flame. This information is used to obtain a mixing transfer function, which relates fluctuations in the fuel flow to corresponding fluctuations in the equivalence ratio of the flame. The current study focuses on the measurement of the global, spatially integrated, transfer function for equivalence ratio fluctuations and the corresponding modeling. In addition, the spatially resolved mixing transfer function is shown and discussed. The global mixing transfer function reveals that despite the good spatial mixing quality of the investigated generic burner, the ability to damp temporal fluctuations at low frequencies is rather poor. It is shown that the equivalence ratio fluctuations are the governing heat release rate oscillation response mechanism for this burner in the low-frequency regime. The global transfer function for equivalence ratio fluctuations derived from the measurements is characterized by a pronounced low-pass characteristic, which is in good agreement with the presented convection–diffusion mixing model.

Measurement and Analysis of Flame Transfer Function in a Sector Combustor Under High Pressure Conditions

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. S. Cheung ◽  
G. J. M. Sims ◽  
R. W. Copplestone ◽  
J. R. Tilston ◽  
C. W. Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Acoustic Waves ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Unsteady Pressure

Lean premixed prevaporised (LPP) combustion can reduce NOx emissions from gas turbines, but often leads to combustion instability. A flame transfer function describes the change in the rate of heat release in response to perturbations in the inlet flow as a function of frequency. It is a quantitative assessment of the susceptibility of combustion to disturbances. The resulting fluctuations will in turn generate more acoustic waves and in some situations self-sustained oscillations can result. Flame transfer functions for LPP combustion are poorly understood at present but are crucial for predicting combustion oscillations. This paper describes an experiment designed to measure the flame transfer function of a simple combustor incorporating realistic components. Tests were conducted initially on this combustor at atmospheric pressure (1.2 bar and 550 K) to make an early demonstration of the combustion system. The test rig consisted of a plenum chamber with an inline siren, followed by a single LPP premixer/duct and a combustion chamber with a silencer to prevent natural instabilities. The siren was used to induce variable frequency pressure/acoustic signals into the air approaching the combustor. Both unsteady pressure and heat release measurements were undertaken. There was good coherence between the pressure and heat release signals. At each test frequency, two unsteady pressure measurements in the plenum were used to calculate the acoustic waves in this chamber and hence estimate the mass-flow perturbation at the fuel injection point inside the LPP duct. The flame transfer function relating the heat release perturbation to this mass flow was found as a function of frequency. The same combustor hardware and associated instrumentation were then used for the high pressure (15 bar and 800 K) tests. Flame transfer function measurements were taken at three combustion conditions that simulated the staging point conditions (Idle, Approach and Take-off) of a large turbofan gas turbine. There was good coherence between pressure and heat release signals at Idle, indicating a close relationship between acoustic and heat release processes. Problems were encountered at high frequencies for the Approach and Take-off conditions, but the flame transfer function for the Idle case had very good qualitative agreement with the atmospheric-pressure tests. The flame transfer functions calculated here could be used directly for predicting combustion oscillations in gas turbine using the same LPP duct at the same operating conditions. More importantly they can guide work to produce a general analytical model.

Experimental Development of On-Line Flame Transfer Function Measurements for Fielded Gas Turbines

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin Matthews ◽  
Anna Cobb ◽  
Subodh Adhikari ◽  
David Wu ◽  
Tim Lieuwen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Fuel Injector ◽  
Experimental Development ◽  
On Line

Abstract Understanding thermoacoustic instabilities is essential for the reliable operation of gas turbine engines. To complicate this understanding, the extreme sensitivity of gas turbine combustors can lead to instability characteristics that differ across a fleet. The capability to monitor flame transfer functions in fielded engines would provide valuable data to improve this understanding and aid in gas turbine operability from R&D to field tuning. This paper presents a new experimental facility used to analyze performance of full-scale gas turbine fuel injector hardware at elevated pressure and temperature. It features a liquid cooled, fiber-coupled probe that provides direct optical access to the heat release zone for high-speed chemiluminescence measurements. The probe was designed with fielded applications in mind. In addition, the combustion chamber includes an acoustic sensor array and a large objective window for verification of the probe using high-speed chemiluminescence imaging. This work experimentally demonstrates the new setup under scaled engine conditions, with a focus on operational zones that yield interesting acoustic tones. Results include a demonstration of the probe, preliminary analysis of acoustic and high speed chemiluminescence data, and high speed chemiluminescence imaging. The novelty of this paper is the deployment of a new test platform that incorporates full-scale engine hardware and provides the ability to directly compare acoustic and heat release response in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment to determine the flame transfer functions. This work is a stepping-stone towards the development of an on-line flame transfer function measurement technique for production engines in the field.

Flame Response Mechanisms Due to Velocity Perturbations in a Lean Premixed Gas Turbine Combustor

2010 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Jones ◽  
Jong Guen Lee ◽  
Bryan D. Quay ◽  
Domenic A. Santavicca
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Velocity Fluctuation ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Velocity Fluctuations ◽  
Inlet Velocity ◽  
Lean Premixed ◽  
Flame Response ◽  
Second Peak

The response of turbulent premixed flames to inlet velocity fluctuations is studied experimentally in a lean premixed, swirl-stabilized, gas turbine combustor. Overall chemiluminescence intensity is used as a measure of the fluctuations in the flame’s global heat release rate, and hot wire anemometry is used to measure the inlet velocity fluctuations. Tests are conducted over a range of mean inlet velocities, equivalence ratios, and velocity fluctuation frequencies, while the normalized inlet velocity fluctuation (V′/Vmean) is fixed at 5% to ensure linear flame response over the employed modulation frequency range. The measurements are used to calculate a flame transfer function relating the velocity fluctuation to the heat release fluctuation as a function of the velocity fluctuation frequency. At low frequency, the gain of the flame transfer function increases with increasing frequency to a peak value greater than 1. As the frequency is further increased, the gain decreases to a minimum value, followed by a second smaller peak. The frequencies at which the gain is minimum and achieves its second peak are found to depend on the convection time scale and the flame’s characteristic length scale. Phase-synchronized CH∗ chemiluminescence imaging is used to characterize the flame’s response to inlet velocity fluctuations. The observed flame response can be explained in terms of the interaction of two flame perturbation mechanisms, one originating at flame-anchoring point and propagating along the flame front and the other from vorticity field generated in the outer shear layer in the annular mixing section. An analysis of the phase-synchronized flame images show that when both perturbations arrive at the flame at the same time (or phase), they constructively interfere, producing the second peak observed in the gain curves. When the perturbations arrive at the flame 180 degrees out-of-phase, they destructively interfere, producing the observed minimum in the gain curve.

Application of Transfer Functions to Canned Tuna Fish Thermal Processing

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R. Ansorena ◽  
C. del Valle ◽  
V.O. Salvadori
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Thermal Processing ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Sampling Interval ◽  
Computational Effort ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tuna Fish ◽  
External Conditions

Design and optimization of thermal processing of foods need accurate dynamic models to ensure safe and high quality food products. Transfer functions had been demonstrated to be a useful tool to predict thermal histories, especially under variable operating conditions. This work presents the development and experimental validation of a dynamic model (discrete transfer function) for the thermal processing of tuna fish in steam retorts. Transfer function coefficients were obtained numerically, using commercial software of finite elements (COMSOL Multiphysics) to solve the heat transfer balance. Dependence of transfer function coefficients on the characteristic dimensions of cylindrical containers (diameter and height) and on the sampling interval is reported. A simple equation, with two empirical parameters that depends on the container dimensions, represented the behavior of transfer function coefficients with very high accuracy. Experimental runs with different size containers and different external conditions (constant and variable retort temperature) were carried out to validate the developed methodology. Performance of the thermal process simulation was tested for predicting internal product temperature of the cold point and lethality and very satisfactory results were found. The developed methodology can play an important role in reducing the computational effort while guaranteeing accuracy by simplifying the calculus involved in the solution of heat balances with variable external conditions and emerges as a potential approach to the implementation of new food control strategies leading not only to more efficient processes but also to product quality and safety.

Thermoacoustic Modeling of a Gas Turbine Using Transfer Functions Measured Under Full Engine Pressure

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Schuermans ◽  
Felix Guethe ◽  
Douglas Pennell ◽  
Daniel Guyot ◽  
Christian Oliver Paschereit
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Optical Technique ◽  
Optical Techniques ◽  
Acoustic Technique

Thermoacoustic transfer functions of a full-scale gas turbine burner operating under full engine pressure have been measured. The excitation of the high-pressure test facility was done using a siren that modulated a part of the combustion airflow. Pulsation probes have been used to record the acoustic response of the system to this excitation. In addition, the flame’s luminescence response was measured by multiple photomultiplier probes and a light spectrometer. Three techniques to obtain the thermoacoustic transfer function are proposed and employed: two acoustic-optical techniques and a purely acoustic technique. The first acoustical-optical technique uses one single optical signal capturing the chemiluminescence intensity of the flame as a measure for the heat release in the flame. This technique only works if heat release fluctuations in the flame have only one generic source, e.g., equivalence ratio or mass flow fluctuations. The second acoustic-optical technique makes use of the different response of the flame’s luminescence at different optical wavelengths bands to acoustic excitation. It also works, if the heat release fluctuations have two contributions, e.g., equivalence ratio and mass flow fluctuation. For the purely acoustic technique, a new method was developed in order to obtain the flame transfer function, burner transfer function, and flame source term from only three pressure transducer signals. The purely acoustic method could be validated by the results obtained from the acoustic-optical techniques. The acoustic and acoustic-optical methods have been compared and a discussion on the benefits and limitations of each is given. The measured transfer functions have been implemented into a nonlinear, three-dimensional, time domain network model of a gas turbine with an annular combustion chamber. The predicted pulsation behavior shows a good agreement with pulsation measurements on a field gas turbine.

Pressure Influence on the Flame Transfer Function of a Premixed Swirling Flame

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Freitag ◽  
H. Konle ◽  
M. Lauer ◽  
C. Hirsch ◽  
T. Sattelmayer
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Transfer Function ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Ambient Pressure ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Phase Lag ◽  
Operating Pressure ◽  
Common Procedure ◽  
Wide Range

In order to assess the stability of gas turbine combustors measured flame transfer functions are frequently used in thermoacoustic network models. Although many combustion systems operate at high pressure, the measurement of flame transfer functions was essentially limited to atmospheric conditions in the past. With the test rig employed in the study presented in the paper transfer function measurements were made for a wide range of combustor pressures. The results show similarities of the amplitude response in the entire pressure range investigated. However, the increase of the pressure leads to a considerable amplitude gain at higher frequencies. In the low frequency regime the phase is also independent of pressure, whereas above this region the pressure increase results in a considerably smaller phase lag. These observations are particularly important when evaluating Rayleigh’s criterion: Interestingly, the choice of the operating pressure can render a system stable or unstable, so that the common procedure of applying flame transfer functions measured at ambient pressure for the high pressure engine case may not always be appropriate. The detailed analysis of high speed camera images, which were recorded to get locally resolved information on the flame response reveal different regions of activity within the flame that change in strength, size and location with changing operating conditions. The observed transfer function phase behavior is explained by the interaction of those regions and it is shown that the region of highest dynamic activity dominates the phase.

scholarly journals Effects of the Injector Design on the Transfer Function of Premixed Swirling Flames

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gatti ◽  
R. Gaudron ◽  
C. Mirat ◽  
T. Schuller
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Heat Release ◽  
Heat Release Rate ◽  
Release Rate ◽  
Bluff Body ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Phase Lag ◽  
Swirl Number ◽  
Injector Design

This article reports a series of experiments on the dynamics of lean-premixed swirl-stabilized flames submitted to harmonic flowrate modulations. The flame transfer function is analyzed for different injector designs with a specific focus on conditions leading to the lowest heat release rate response for a given flowrate perturbation. Experiments are carried out at a fixed equivalence ratio and fixed thermal power. Transfer functions are measured for radial swirling vanes by modifying the diameter of the swirler injection holes, the diameter of the injection tube at the top of the swirler and the end piece diameter of a central insert serving as a bluff body. It is found that the lowest response depends on the forcing frequency and is obtained when the injector design features the largest swirl number. The transfer function of the studied flames features a minimum gain value which decreases for increasing swirl levels. This minimum value is found to be independent of the velocity forcing level and is only controlled by the level of swirl. An excessive swirl level however leads to flash-back of the perturbed flames inside the injector. The way the flame behaves at this forcing frequency is analyzed for a set of injectors featuring the same radial swirling vane design and different injection tube diameters or conical end pieces. It is found that at the condition corresponding to the lowest FTF gain, i.e. the injector with the largest swirl number, the upper and lower parts of the flame contribute to out of phase heat release oscillations, but they also both feature a reduced level of fluctuations. When the swirl number decreases, the FTF gain increases due to a reduction of the phase lag between heat release rate oscillations in the lower and the upper parts of the flame and more importantly due to a general increase of the level of heat release oscillations in both parts of the flame.

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