Large-Scale Coherent Structures as Drivers of Combustion Instability

Abstract

Abstract The role of flow coherent structures as drivers of combustion instabilities in a dump combustor was studied. Results of nonreacting tests in air and water flows as well as combustion experiments in a diffusion flame and dump combustor are discussed to provide insight into the generation process of large-scale structures in the combustor flow and their interaction with the combustion process. It is shown that the flow structures, or vortices, are formed by interaction between the flow instabilities and the chamber acoustic resonance. When these vortices dominate the reacting flow, the combustion is confined initially to the circumference of their cores and further downstream proceeds into their core, leading to periodic heat release, which may result in the driving of high amplitude pressure oscillations. These oscillations are typical to the occurrence of combustion instabilities for certain operating conditions. The basic understanding of the interaction between flow dynamics and the combustion process opens up the possibility for rational control of combustion-induced pressure oscillations.