“Rumble” is a self-excited combustion instability, usually occurring at the start-up of aero-engines with fuel-spray atomizers at sub-idle and idle conditions, and exhibiting low limit frequencies in the range of 50Hzto150Hz. Entropy waves at the (nearly) choked combustor outlet are supposed to be the key feedback mechanism for the observed self-excited pressure oscillations. The experimental study presented here aims at clarifying the role of entropy waves in the occurrence of rumble. A generic air-blast atomizer with a design prone to self-excitation has been incorporated into a thermoacoustic combustor test rig with variable outlet conditions. The thermoacoustic response of the flame was characterized by recording the OH* chemiluminescence, the dynamic pressures, the dynamic temperatures, and by applying PIV. The measurements have shown the occurrence of periodic hot spots traveling with the mean flow with considerable dispersion. Measurements have been conducted with an open-ended resonance tube in order to eliminate the impact of entropy waves on the mechanism of self-excitation. The oscillation obtained, comparable in amplitude and frequency, proved that self-excitation primarily depends on convective time delays of the droplets in the primary zone and thus on the atomization characteristics of the nozzle.

The low-frequency response of the spray from a generic airblast diffusion burner with a design typical of an engine system has been investigated as part of an experimental study to describe the combustion oscillations of aeroengine combustors called rumble. The atomization process was separated from the complex instability mechanism of rumble by using sinusoidal forcing of the air mass flow rate without combustion. Pressure drop across the burner and the velocity on the burner exit were found to follow the steady Bernoulli equation. Phase-locked particle image velocimetry measurements of the forced velocity field of the burner show quasisteady behavior of the air flow field. The phase-locked spray characteristics were measured for different fuel flow rates. Here again quasi-steady behavior of the atomization process was observed. With combustion, the phase-locked Mie-scattering intensity of the spray cone was found to follow the spray behavior measured in the noncombusting tests. These findings lead to the conclusion that the unsteady droplet Sauter mean diameter mean and amplitude of the airblast atomizer can be calculated using the steady-state atomization correlations with the unsteady burner air velocity.

“Rumble” is a self-excited combustion instability, usually occurring at the start-up of aero-engines with fuel-spray atomizers at sub-idle and idle conditions, and exhibiting low limit frequencies in the range of 50 Hz to 150 Hz. Entropy waves at the (nearly) choked combustor outlet are supposed to be the key feedback-mechanism for the observed self-excited pressure oscillations. The experimental study presented here aims to clarify the role of the entropy waves for the occurrence of rumble. A generic air-blast atomizer with a design being prone to self-excitation has been incorporated into a thermoacoustic combustor test rig with variable outlet conditions. The flame thermoacoustics were characterized by recording the OH*-chemiluminescence, the dynamic pressures, the dynamic temperatures, and by applying PIV. The measurements have shown the occurrence of periodic hot spots travelling with the mean flow with considerable dispersion. Measurements have been conducted with an open-ended resonance tube in order to eliminate the impact of entropy waves on the mechanism of self-excitation. The oscillation obtained, comparable in amplitude and frequency, proved that self-excitation primarily depends on convective time delays of the droplets in the primary zone and thus on the atomization characteristics of the nozzle.

The low frequency response of the spray from a generic air-blast diffusion burner with a design typical of an engine system has been investigated as part of an experimental study to describe the combustion oscillations of aero engine combustors called rumble. The atomization process was separated from the complex instability mechanism of rumble by using sinusoidal forcing of the air mass flow rate without combustion. Pressure drop across the burner and the velocity on the burner exit were found to follow the steady Bernoulli equation. Phase-locked PIV measurements of the forced velocity field of the burner show quasi-steady behavior of the air flow field. The phase-locked spray characteristics were measured for different fuel flow rates. Here again quasi-steady behavior of the atomization process was observed. With combustion, the phase-locked Mie-scattering intensity of the spray cone was found to follow the spray behavior measured in the non-combusting tests. These findings lead to the conclusion that the unsteady droplet SMD mean and amplitude of the air-blast atomizer can be calculated using the steady state atomization correlations with the unsteady burner air velocity.

In order to assess the stability of gas turbine combustors measured flame transfer functions are frequently used in thermoacoustic network models. Although many combustion systems operate at high pressure, the measurement of flame transfer functions was essentially limited to atmospheric conditions in the past. With the test rig employed in the study presented in the paper transfer function measurements were made for a wide range of combustor pressures. The results show similarities of the amplitude response in the entire pressure range investigated. However, the increase of the pressure leads to a considerable amplitude gain at higher frequencies. In the low frequency regime the phase is also independent of pressure, whereas above this region the pressure increase results in a considerably smaller phase lag. These observations are particularly important when evaluating Rayleigh’s criterion: Interestingly, the choice of the operating pressure can render a system stable or unstable, so that the common procedure of applying flame transfer functions measured at ambient pressure for the high pressure engine case may not always be appropriate. The detailed analysis of high speed camera images, which were recorded to get locally resolved information on the flame response reveal different regions of activity within the flame that change in strength, size and location with changing operating conditions. The observed transfer function phase behavior is explained by the interaction of those regions and it is shown that the region of highest dynamic activity dominates the phase.

The gas turbine market tends to drive development toward higher operational and fuel flexibility. In order to meet these requirements, the GT13E2® combustion system (General Electric, Schenectady, NY) with the AEV® burner (General Electric) has been further developed to extend the range of fuels according to GE fuel capabilities. The development includes operation with diluted natural gas, gases with very high C2+ contents up to liquefied petroleum gas on the gaseous fuels side, and nonstandard liquid fuels such as biodiesel and light crude oil (LCO). Results of full scale high pressure single burner combustion test in the test facilities at DLR-Köln are shown to demonstrate these capabilities. With these tests at typical pressure and temperature conditions, safe operation ranges with respect to flame flashback and lean blow out (LBO) were identified. In addition, the recent burner mapping at the DLR in Köln results in emission behavior similar to typical fuels as natural gas and fuel oil #2. It was also possible to achieve low emission levels with liquid fuels with a high fuel bound nitrogen (FBN) content. Based on these results, the GT13E2 gas turbine has demonstrated capability with a high variety of gaseous and liquid fuel at power ranges of 200 MW and above. The fuels can be applied without specific engine adjustments or major hardware changes over a whole range of gas turbine operation including startup and gas turbine (GT) acceleration.

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