Computational Study of Combustion Dynamics in a Single-Element Lean Direct Injection Gas Turbine Combustor

Abstract

Simulations of self-excited combustion instabilities in a model configuration of a lean direct injection (LDI) gas turbine combustor were performed and investigated with different operating conditions (air temperature and equivalence ratio). Concurrently, experimental data were obtained at the same conditions in a well-instrumented test combustor with the same configuration to validate the simulation results. The simulations are used to investigate the coupling between the acoustic and heat release modes and the important flow dynamics to understand the physics that lead to combustion instabilities in the LDI combustor. A Precessing Vortex Core (PVC) hydrodynamic instability was found to be significant in driving spray and flame responses. Detailed and systematic studies of the PVC instability are also performed using non-reacting simulations of an acoustically-open combustor to minimize the acoustic and combustion effects on the flow field.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA595795

Entities

People

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

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustics
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Air Temperature
  • Boltzmann Equation
  • Boundary Layer
  • Combustion
  • Combustors
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Decomposition
  • Dynamic Response
  • Dynamics
  • Equations
  • Flow
  • Flow Fields
  • Gas Turbines
  • Simulations
  • Turbines

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Technology.