Coupling between Hydrodynamics, Acoustics, and Heat Release in a Self-Excited Unstable Combustor
Abstract
The unsteady gas dynamic field in a closed combustor is determined by the nonlinear interactions between chamber acoustics, hydrodynamics, and turbulent combustion that can energize these modes. These interactions are studied in detail using hybrid RANS/large eddy simulations (RANS = Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) of a non-premixed, high-pressure laboratory combustor that produces self-excited longitudinal instabilities. The main variable in the study is the relative acoustic length between the combustion chamber and the tube that injects oxidizer into the combustor. Assuming a half-wave (closed-closed) combustion chamber, the tube lengths approximately correspond to quarter-, 3/8-, and half-wave resonators that serve to vary the phasing between the acoustic modes in the tube and the combustion chamber. The simulation correctly predicts the relatively stable behavior measured with the shortest tube and the very unstable behavior measured with the intermediate tube. Unstable behavior is also predicted for the longest tube, a case for which bifurcated stability behavior was measured in the experiment. In the first (stable) configuration, fuel flows into the combustor uninterrupted, and heat release is spatially continuous with a flame that remains attached to the back step. In the second (unstable)configuration, a cyclic process is apparent comprising a disruption in the fuel flow, subsequent detachment of the flame from the back step, and accumulation of fuel in the recirculation zone that ignites upon arrival of a compression wave reflected from the downstream boundary of the combustion chamber. The third case (mixed stable/unstable) shares features with both of the other cases.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 07, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1001525
Entities
People
- Charles L. Merkle
- Cheng Huang
- Douglas G. Talley
- Matthew E. Harvazinski
- Thomas W. Feldman
- Venkateswaran Sankaran
- William E Anderson
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory