Computational Investigation of Combustion Dynamics in a Lean-Direct Injection Gas Turbine Combustor

Abstract

Combustion dynamics is investigated using an integrated computational/experimental approach for a laboratory-scale, single-element lean direct injection model combustor in which self-excited pressure oscillations are produced. The present study focuses on physics based computational simulations that fully describe the turbulence, spray, combustion and acoustics phenomena in the combustion chamber. Baseline three-dimensional results at an equivalence ratio = 0.47 confirm the self-excitation of acoustic modes in the chamber and also indicate the presence of precessing vortex core instabilities. Preliminary comparisons of the pressure oscillations with experimental measurements are also presented. Further, the effects of multi-dimensionality, equivalence ratio and secondary atomization are computationally investigated. In contrast to the 3D simulations, two-dimensional models capture the pressure oscillations with reasonably similar amplitudes, but show inherent limitations in describing the vortex breakdown process. Pressure oscillations are also shown to be intensified when the equivalence ratio is increased and damped when the secondary atomization effects are included.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA588412

Entities

People

  • Changjin Yoon
  • Rohan Gejji
  • Venkateswaran Sankaran
  • William E Anderson

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustics
  • Aerodynamic Characteristics
  • Boundary Layer
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Chambers
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Energy Transfer
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Three Dimensional
  • Turbines
  • Turbulent Mixing
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Electrical Engineering