Joint numerical and experimental study of thermoacoustic instabilities

From small scale energy systems such as domestic boilers up to rocket motors, combustion chambers are often prone to combustion instabilities. These instabilities stem from the coupling of unsteady heat release rate and acoustic waves. This coupling is two sided: flame front perturbations generate acoustic waves while acoustic waves impinging on flame holders can disturb flames attached on them. Important pressure and velocity oscillations can be reached during unstable regimes, that can alter its efficiency or even damage the entire combustion chamber. One major challenge is to understand, predict, and prevent from these combustion instabilities. The objectives of this thesis are twofold: (1) take into account acoustic dissipation and (2)analyze flame/acoustic coupling to obtain Reduced Order Model (ROM) for combustion instabilities. This work is divided into three parts. First, the concept of ROM that gives the acoustic modes of a combustion chamber is introduced. This modeling strategy is based on the acoustic network theory and may take into account flame/acoustic coupling as well as acoustic dissipation. An efficient numerical algorithm dedicated to solve ROMs was designed on purpose and validated on several academical configurations. Second, an experimental rig was commissioned to study mean and acoustic pressure losses across a diaphragm and two swirl injectors. Results show that these two phenomena are linked and can be simply incorporated into ROMs. Finally, flame/acoustic coupling is investigated by using both direct numerical simulations and experiments: a lean premixed V-shaped laminar flame is anchored on a cylindrical bluff-body and we show that its temperature greatly influences the flame mean shape as well as its dynamics

On the experimental determination of growth and damping rates for combustion instabilities

This paper presents four experimental methods for the evaluation of growth rates of combustion insta- bilities. A systematic investigation is conducted on a laminar slot burner with five operating points (two stable and three unstable). The accuracy of the methods is assessed by cross comparison and the use of three different flow variables as input: velocity, pressure and heat release rate fluctuations. Finally, the experimental determinations of the growth rates are compared to the prediction of a low-order acoustic model fed with a Flame Transfer Function

Accounting for Acoustic Damping in a Helmholtz Solver

Thermoacoustic Helmholtz solvers provide a cheap and efficient way of predicting combustion instabilities. However, because they rely on the inviscid Euler equations at zero Mach number, they cannot properly describe the regions where aerodynamics may interact with acoustic waves, in the vicinity of dilution holes and injectors, for example. A methodology is presented to incorporate the effect of non-purely acoustic mechanisms into a three- dimensional thermoacoustic Helmholtz solver. The zones where these mechanisms are important are modeled as two-port acoustic elements, and the corresponding matrices, which notably contain the dissipative effects due to acoustic–hydrodynamic interactions, are used as internal boundary conditions in the Helmholtz solver. The rest of the flow domain, where dissipation is negligible, is solved by the classical Helmholtz equation. With this method, the changes in eigenfrequency and eigenmode structure introduced by the acoustic–hydrodynamic effects are captured, while keeping the simplicity and efficiency of the Helmholtz solver. The methodology is successfully applied on an academic configuration, first with a simple diaphragm, then with an industrial swirler, with matrices measured from experiments and large-eddy simulation

Influence of flame-holder temperature on the acoustic flame transfer functions of a laminar flame

The occurrence of combustion instabilities in high-performance engines such as gas turbines is often affected by the thermal state of the engine. For example, strong bursts of pressure fluctuations may occur at cold start for operating conditions that are stable once the engine reaches thermal equilibrium. This observation raises the question of the influence of material temperature on the response of flames to acoustic perturbations. In this study, we assess the influence of the temperature of the flame holder for a laminar flame. Both experiments and numerical simulations show that the Flame Transfer Function (FTF) is strongly affected by the flame-holder temperature. The key factors driving the evolution of the FTF are the flame-root location as well as the modification of the flow, which affects its stability. In the case of the cooled flame-holder, the formation of a recirculation zone is identified as the main impact on the FT

Joint experimental and numerical study of the influence of flame holder temperature on the stabilization of a laminar methane flame on a cylinder

The mechanisms controlling laminar flame anchoring on a cylindrical bluff-body are investigated using DNS and experiments. Two configurations are examined: water-cooled and uncooled steel cylinders. Comparisons between experimental measurements and DNS show good agreement for the flame root locations in the two configurations. In the cooled case, the flame holder is maintained at about 300 K and the flame is stabilized in the wake of the cylinder, in the recirculation zone formed by the products of combustion. In the uncooled case, the bluff-body reaches a steady temperature of about 700 K in both experiment and DNS and the flame is stabilized closer to it. The fully coupled DNS of the flame and the temperature field in the bluff-body also shows that capturing the correct radiative heat transfer from the bluff-body is a key ingredient to reproduce experimental results

Experimental and numerical investigation of flames stabilised behind rotating cylinders: interaction of flames with a moving wall

Steady methane/air laminar premixed flames stabilised on a cylindrical bluff body subjected to a continuous rotation are analysed using joint direct numerical simulations (DNS) and experiments. DNS are carried out using a 19 species scheme for methane/air combustion and a lumped model to predict the cylinder temperature. Rotation of the cylinder induces a symmetry breaking of the flow, and leads to two distinct flame branches in the wake of the cylinder. DNS are validated against experiments in terms of flame topologies and velocity fields. DNS are then used to analyse flame structures and thermal effects. The location and structure of the two flames are differently modified by rotation and heat transfer: a superadiabatic flame branch stabilises close to the hot cylinder and burns preheated fresh gases while a subadiabatic branch is quenched over a large zone and anchors far downstream of the cylinder. Local flame structures are shown to be controlled to first order by the local enthalpy defect or excess due to heat transfer between the cylinder and the flow. An analysis of the local wall heat flux around the cylinder shows that, for low rotation speeds, the superadiabatic flame branch contributes to wall heat fluxes that considerably exceed typical values found for classical flame/wall interactions. However, for high rotation speeds, fluxes decrease because the cylinder is surrounded by a layer of burned gases that dilute incoming reactants and shield it from the flame

A Mesh Adaptation Strategy to Predict Pressure Losses in LES of Swirled Flows

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement ERC-AdG 319067-INTECOCIS

Etude conjointe numérique et expérimentale des instabilités thermoacoustiques

Les instabilités thermo-acoustiques se rencontrent fréquemment au sein des chambres de combustion de toute taille, de la petite chaudière au moteur de fusée. Ces instabilités sont causées par le couplage entre ondes acoustiques et dégagement de chaleur instationnaire. En effet, le passage d'une onde acoustique au travers d'une flamme va moduler son dégagement de chaleur qui, en retour, va générer de nouvelles ondes acoustiques. Lorsqu'une chambre de combustion entre en instabilité, d'importantes variations de pression sont observées ; ces fluctuations peuvent user prématurément le système ou altérer ses performances. L'étude des instabilités thermo-acoustiques a pour but d'améliorer notre compréhension de ces phénomènes complexes afin de les prévenir. L'objectif de ce travail est d'obtenir et d'intégrer au sein de modèles réduits des descriptions précises de la dissipation acoustique – effet stabilisant - et d'interaction flamme/acoustique – effet déstabilisant. Cette étude se décompose en trois axes : La première partie développe le concept de « modèle acoustique réduit » qui permet de prédire les modes acoustiques d'une chambre de combustion. Pour cela, sont prises en compte les dissipations inhérentes à certaines pièces(diaphragmes, injecteurs, ...) ainsi que le couplage flamme/acoustique. Une fois le modèle établi, il convient d'en chercher les solutions à l'aide d'un solveur numérique spécialement conçu pour cette tâche. Dans une deuxième partie, un banc expérimental est utilisé pour caractériser le lien entre perte de charge et dissipation acoustique. Il est montré de manière théorique et expérimentale que la connaissance des pertes de charge au travers d'un élément permet de prédire son comportement acoustique à basse fréquence. La dernière partie concerne le couplage flamme/acoustique et plus spécifiquement l'influence de la température de l'accroche-flamme :une flamme pauvre pré-mélangée air/méthane est stabilisée sur un cylindre dont la température peut être contrôlée. Ainsi, il est montré que l'influence de la température du cylindre sur la flamme – position d'équilibre, dynamique et stabilité - est remarquable.From small scale energy systems such as domestic boilers up to rocket motors, combustion chambers are often prone to combustion instabilities. These instabilities stem from the coupling of unsteady heat release rate and acoustic waves. This coupling is two sided: flame front perturbations generate acoustic waves while acoustic waves impinging on flame holders can disturb flames attached on them. Important pressure and velocity oscillations can be reached during unstable regimes, that can alter its efficiency or even damage the entire combustion chamber. One major challenge is to understand, predict, and prevent from these combustion instabilities. The objectives of this thesis are twofold: (1) take into account acoustic dissipation and (2)analyze flame/acoustic coupling to obtain Reduced Order Model (ROM) for combustion instabilities. This work is divided into three parts. First, the concept of ROM that gives the acoustic modes of a combustion chamber is introduced. This modeling strategy is based on the acoustic network theory and may take into account flame/acoustic coupling as well as acoustic dissipation. An efficient numerical algorithm dedicated to solve ROMs was designed on purpose and validated on several academical configurations. Second, an experimental rig was commissioned to study mean and acoustic pressure losses across a diaphragm and two swirl injectors. Results show that these two phenomena are linked and can be simply incorporated into ROMs. Finally, flame/acoustic coupling is investigated by using both direct numerical simulations and experiments: a lean premixed V-shaped laminar flame is anchored on a cylindrical bluff-body and we show that its temperature greatly influences the flame mean shape as well as its dynamics