System Level Analysis of Acoustically Forced Nonpremixed Swirling Flames

Author(s):  
Uyi Idahosa ◽  
Saptarshi Basu ◽  
Ankur Miglani

This paper reports an experimental investigation of dynamic response of nonpremixed atmospheric swirling flames subjected to external, longitudinal acoustic excitation. Acoustic perturbations of varying frequencies (fp = 0–315 Hz) and velocity amplitudes (0.03 ≤ u′/Uavg ≤ 0.30) are imposed on the flames with various swirl intensities (S = 0.09 and 0.34). Flame dynamics at these swirl levels are studied for both constant and time-dependent fuel flow rate configurations. Heat release rates are quantified using a photomultiplier (PMT) and simultaneously imaged with a phase-locked CCD camera. The PMT and CCD camera are fitted with 430 nm ±10 nm band pass filters for CH* chemiluminescence intensity measurements. Flame transfer functions and continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) of heat release rate oscillations are used in order to understand the flame response at various burner swirl intensity and fuel flow rate settings. In addition, the natural modes of mixing and reaction processes are examined using the magnitude squared coherence analysis between major flame dynamics parameters. A low-pass filter characteristic is obtained with highly responsive flames below forcing frequencies of 200 Hz while the most significant flame response is observed at 105 Hz forcing mode. High strain rates induced in the flame sheet are observed to cause periodic extinction at localized regions of the flame sheet. Low swirl flames at lean fuel flow rates exhibit significant localized extinction and re-ignition of the flame sheet in the absence of acoustic forcing. However, pulsed flames exhibit increased resistance to straining due to the constrained inner recirculation zones (IRZ) resulting from acoustic perturbations that are transmitted by the co-flowing air. Wavelet spectra also show prominence of low frequency heat release rate oscillations for leaner (C2) flame configurations. For the time-dependent fuel flow rate flames, higher un-mixedness levels at lower swirl intensity is observed to induce periodic re-ignition as the flame approaches extinction. Increased swirl is observed to extend the time-to-extinction for both pulsed and unpulsed flame configurations under time-dependent fuel flow rate conditions.

Author(s):  
Uyi Idahosa ◽  
Abhishek Saha ◽  
Navid Khatami ◽  
Chengying Xu ◽  
Saptarshi Basu

An investigation into the response of non-premixed swirling flames to acoustic perturbations at various frequencies (fp = 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′/Uavg| 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 is quantitatively measured and simultaneously imaged using a photomultiplier (PMT) and a phase-locked CCD camera. Both of which are fitted with 430nm bandpass filters for observing CH*chemiluminescence. The flame response is observed to exhibit a low-pass filter characteristic with minimal flame response beyond pulsing frequencies of 200Hz. 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). The Rayleigh criterion (R) is used to assess the potential for instability of specific perturbation configurations and is found to be a good predictor of unstable 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. Highly amplified responses were observed in pulsed flame configurations with Strouhal numbers (St = fpUavg/dm) in the 1–3.5 range. Heat release to velocity perturbation time delays on the order of the acoustic pulsing period also characterized the highly responsive flames. Finally, wavelet analyses of heat release perturbations indicate sustained low frequency oscillations that become more prominent for low acoustic pulsing frequencies in lean flame configurations.


Author(s):  
Hailin Li ◽  
W. Stuart Neill ◽  
Wally Chippior ◽  
Joshua D. Taylor

In this paper, cyclic variations in the combustion process of a single-cylinder HCCI engine operated with n-heptane were measured over a range of intake air temperatures and pressures, compression ratios, air/fuel ratios, and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rates. The operating conditions produced a wide range of combustion timings from overly advanced combustion where knocking occurred to retarded combustion where incomplete combustion was detected. Cycle-to-cycle variations were shown to depend strongly on the crank angle phasing of 50% heat release and fuel flow rate. Combustion instability increased significantly with retarded combustion phasing especially when the fuel flow rate was low. Retarded combustion phasing can be tolerated when the fuel flow rate is high. It was also concluded that the cyclic variations in imep are primarily due to the variations in the total heat released from cycle-to-cycle. The completeness of the combustion process in one cycle affects the in-cylinder conditions and resultant heat release in the next engine cycle.


Author(s):  
Tongxun Yi ◽  
Domenic A. Santavicca

Heat release rate responses to inlet fuel modulations, i.e., the flame transfer function (FTF), are measured for a turbulent, liquid-fueled, swirl-stabilized lean direct fuel injection combustor. Fuel modulations are achieved using a motor-driven rotary fuel valve designed specially for this purpose, which is capable of fuel modulations of up to 1 kHz. Small-amplitude fuel modulations, typically below 2.0% of the mean fuel, are applied in this study. There is almost no change in FTFs at different fuel-modulation amplitudes, implying that the derived FTFs are linear and that the induced heat release rate oscillations mainly respond to variations in the instantaneous fuel flow rate rather than in the droplet size and distribution. The gain and phases of the FTFs at different air flow rates and preheat temperatures are examined. The instantaneous fuel flow rate is determined from pressure measurements upstream of a fuel nozzle. Applications of the FTF to modeling and control of combustion instability and lean blowout are discussed.


Author(s):  
Tongxun Yi ◽  
Domenic A. Santavicca

Heat release rate responses to inlet fuel modulations, i.e. the flame transfer function (FTF), are measured for a turbulent, liquid-fueled, swirl-stabilized, LDI combustor. Fuel modulations are achieved using a motor-driven rotary fuel valve designed specially for this purpose, which is capable of fuel modulations up to 1 kHz. Small-amplitude fuel modulations, typically below 2.0% of the mean fuel, are applied in this study. There is almost no change in FTFs at different fuel modulation amplitude, implying that the derived FTFs are linear and that the induced heat release rate oscillations mainly respond to variations in the instantaneous fuel flow rate rather than in the droplet size and distribution. The gain and phases of the FTFs at different air flow rates and preheat temperature are examined. The instantaneous fuel flow rate is determined from pressure measurements upstream of a fuel nozzle. Applications of the FTF to modeling and control of combustion instability and lean blowout are discussed. Near-LBO stability enhancement using small-amplitude fuel modulation based on the output of a LQG controller is numerically demonstrated.


Author(s):  
Janith Samarasinghe ◽  
Wyatt Culler ◽  
Bryan D. Quay ◽  
Domenic A. Santavicca ◽  
Jacqueline O’Connor

Fuel staging, or fuel splitting, is a commonly used strategy for the suppression of combustion instabilities in gas turbine engines. In multi-nozzle combustor configurations, this is achieved by varying the fuel flow rate to the different nozzles. The effect of fuel staging on flame stabilization and heat release rate distribution (referred to as flame structure), and self-excited instability characteristics is investigated in a research can combustor employing five small-scale lean-premixed industrial nozzles. The nozzles are arranged in a “four-around-one” configuration and fuel staging is achieved by injecting additional fuel to the middle nozzle. An operating condition was identified where all five nozzles were fueled equally and the combustor was subject to a self-excited instability. At the operating condition considered, the self-excited instabilities are suppressed with fuel staging: this is true for cases where overall equivalence ratio is increased by staging (by only increasing the fuel flow rate to the middle nozzle) as well as cases where overall equivalence ratio is kept constant while staging (by simultaneously decreasing the fuel flow rate of the outer nozzles while increasing the fuel flow rate to the middle nozzle). Fuel staging causes variations in the distribution of time-averaged heat release rate in the regions where adjacent flames interact. The locations of highest heat release rate fluctuation are not altered with increased fuel staging but the fluctuation amplitude is reduced. A breakup in the monotonic phase behavior that is characteristic of convective disturbances is observed with increased fuel staging, resulting in a lower pressure fluctuation amplitude. In particular, the monotonic variation in phase in the middle flame and the region where adjacent flames interact is out-of-phase with that of the outer flames, resulting in a cancellation of the global heat release rate oscillations. The distribution of local Rayleigh integral within the combustor shows that during a self-excited instability, the regions of highest heat release rate fluctuation are in phase-with the pressure fluctuation. When staging fuel is introduced, these regions fluctuate out-of-phase with the pressure fluctuation, further illustrating that fuel staging suppresses instabilities by altering the phase relationship of convective disturbances that travel along the flame front.


Author(s):  
Hun Cha ◽  
Yoo Seok Song ◽  
Kyu Jong Kim ◽  
Jung Rae Kim ◽  
Sung Min KIM

An inappropriate design of HRSG (Heat Recovery Steam Generator) may lead to mechanical problems including the fatigue failure caused by rapid load change such as operating trip, start-up or shut down. The performance of HRSG with dynamic analysis should be investigated in case of start-up or shutdown. In this study, dynamic analysis for the HRSG system was carried out by commercial software. The HRSG system was modeled with HP, IP, LP evaporator, duct burner, superheater, reheater and economizer. The main variables for the analysis were the temperature and mass flow rate from gas turbine and fuel flow rate of duct burner for given start-up (cold/warm/hot) and shutdown curve. The results showed that the exhaust gas condition of gas turbine and fuel flow rate of duct burner were main factors controlling the performance of HRSG such as flow rate and temperature of main steam from final superheater and pressure of HP drum. The time delay at the change of steam temperature between gas turbine exhaust gas and HP steam was within 2 minutes at any analysis cases.


Author(s):  
Chi-Rong Liu ◽  
Hsin-Yi Shih

The purpose of this study is to investigate the combustion and emission characteristics of syngas fuels applied in a micro gas turbine, which is originally designed for a natural gas fired engine. The computation results were conducted by a numerical model, which consists of the three-dimension compressible k–ε model for turbulent flow and PPDF (presumed probability density function) model for combustion process. As the syngas is substituted for methane, the fuel flow rate and the total heat input to the combustor from the methane/syngas blended fuels are varied with syngas compositions and syngas substitution percentages. The computed results presented the syngas substitution effects on the combustion and emission characteristics at different syngas percentages (up to 90%) for three typical syngas compositions and the conditions where syngas applied at fixed fuel flow rate and at fixed heat input were examined. Results showed the flame structures varied with different syngas substitution percentages. The high temperature regions were dense and concentrated on the core of the primary zone for H2-rich syngas, and then shifted to the sides of the combustor when syngas percentages were high. The NOx emissions decreased with increasing syngas percentages, but NOx emissions are higher at higher hydrogen content at the same syngas percentage. The CO2 emissions decreased for 10% syngas substitution, but then increased as syngas percentage increased. Only using H2-rich syngas could produce less carbon dioxide. The detailed flame structures, temperature distributions, and gas emissions of the combustor were presented and compared. The exit temperature distributions and pattern factor (PF) were also discussed. Before syngas fuels are utilized as an alternative fuel for the micro gas turbine, further experimental testing is needed as the modeling results provide a guidance for the improved designs of the combustor.


Author(s):  
Gu Shan-Jian ◽  
Yang Mao-Lin ◽  
Li Xiang-Yi

A method to measure the fuel distribution and the percentage of fuel flow rate captured by a V-gutter flameholder in a high speed airstream has been developed. The effects of configuration and size of the probe and temprature of the sample mixture in the probe on measurement have been investigated. The detailed determination of isokinetic sampling condition is described. The effects of V-gutter geometry on flowfield have been considered. The total experimental error is of the order ±5%.


2016 ◽  
Vol 167 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew STĘPIEŃ

The paper aims at reviewing the evolution of the F1 engine technology and the associated regulatory framework governing the sport over the last 10 years. Technical regulations, in force since 2014, replaced the 2.4-liter V8 naturally aspirated engines with sophisticated hybrid units such as the 1.6-liter V6 turbocharged engines supported with energymanagement and recovery systems. Since 2014 the fundamental trend in the development of powertrains has been the advancement of their efficiency. Due to the fact that the fuel flow rate has been restricted, the maximum performance is now entirely dependent on the engine efficiency.


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