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The presence of undesirable large-amplitude self-sustained oscillations in combustors -called thermoacoustic instability -can lead to performance loss and structural damage to components of gas turbine and rocket engines. Traditional feedback controls to mitigate thermoacoustic instability possess electromechanical components, which are expensive to maintain regularly and unreliable in the harsh environments of combustors. In this study, we demonstrate the quenching of thermoacoustic instability through self-coupling -a method wherein a hollow tube is used to provide acoustic selffeedback to a thermoacoustic system. Through experiments and modeling, we identify the optimal coupling conditions for attaining amplitude death, i.e., complete suppression of thermoacoustic instabilities, in a horizontal Rijke tube. We examine the effect of both system and coupling parameters on the occurrence of amplitude death. We thereby show that the parametric regions of amplitude death occur when the coupling tube length is an odd multiple of the length of the Rijke tube. The optimal location of the coupling tube for achieving amplitude death is near the anti-node position of the acoustic standing wave in the Rijke tube. We also find that self-coupling mitigates thermoacoustic instability in a Rijke tube more effectively than mutual coupling of two identical Rijke tubes. Furthermore, our model shows that the combined application of self and mutual coupling in two identical Rijke tubes can completely suppress oscillations that are not quenched by the individual application of either self or mutual coupling. Thus, we believe that self-coupling can prove to be a simple, cost-effective solution for mitigating thermoacoustic instability in gas turbine combustors.

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In this paper, we report the first observation of complete mitigation of thermoacoustic instability in a bluff-body stabilized turbulent combustor through the method of self-coupling. Self-coupling is achieved by coupling the acoustic field of the combustor to itself through a coupling tube. We characterize the effects of such acoustic self-feedback on the thermoacoustic instability of the system by varying the length and diameter of the coupling tube. We observe that the amplitude and the dominant frequency of the acoustic pressure fluctuations gradually decrease as the length of the coupling tube is increased. A complete suppression of thermoacoustic instability is observed when the coupling tube length is nearly 1.5 times the combustor length. Meanwhile, as we approach the suppression of thermoacoustic instability, the dynamical behavior of acoustic pressure changes from the state of limit cycle oscillations to low amplitude aperiodic oscillations via intermittency. We also study the coupling between the acoustic field and the unsteady flame dynamics for different conditions of self-coupling in the combustor. As the combustor approaches the state of complete suppression, the temporal synchrony between the acoustic pressure and the global heat release rate signals changes from the state of synchronized periodicity to desynchronized aperiodicity through intermittent synchronization. From the spatiotemporal analysis of the combustor flow field, we find complete disruption of the coherent spatial structures of acoustic energy production observed during the state of thermoacoustic instability when the combustor is self-coupled with a tube of optimized size. Thus, we anticipate self-coupling to be a viable option to mitigate high amplitude thermoacoustic oscillations in turbulent combustion systems present in gas turbines and rocket engines.

We report the occurrence of amplitude death (AD) of limit cycle oscillations in a bluff body stabilized turbulent combustor through delayed acoustic self-feedback. Such feedback control is achieved by coupling the acoustic field of the combustor to itself through a single coupling tube attached near the anti-node position of the acoustic standing wave. We observe that the amplitude and dominant frequency of the limit cycle oscillations gradually decrease as the length of the coupling tube is increased. Complete suppression (AD) of these oscillations is observed when the length of the coupling tube is nearly [Formula: see text] times the wavelength of the fundamental acoustic mode of the combustor. Meanwhile, as we approach this state of amplitude death, the dynamical behavior of acoustic pressure changes from the state of limit cycle oscillations to low-amplitude chaotic oscillations via intermittency. We also study the change in the nature of the coupling between the unsteady flame dynamics and the acoustic field as the length of the coupling tube is increased. We find that the temporal synchrony between these oscillations changes from the state of synchronized periodicity to desynchronized aperiodicity through intermittent synchronization. Furthermore, we reveal that the application of delayed acoustic self-feedback with optimum feedback parameters completely disrupts the positive feedback loop between hydrodynamic, acoustic, and heat release rate fluctuations present in the combustor during thermoacoustic instability, thus mitigating instability. We anticipate this method to be a viable and cost-effective option to mitigate thermoacoustic oscillations in turbulent combustion systems used in practical propulsion and power systems.