Analysis of the Flame Structure in a Trapped Vortex Combustor Using Low and High-Speed OH-PLIF

Operating with lean combustion has led to more efficient “Low-NOx” burners but has also brought several technological issues. The burner design geometry is among the most important element as it controls, in a general way, the whole combustion process, the pollutant emissions and the flame stability. Investigation of new geometry concepts associating lean combustion is still under development, and new solutions have to meet the future pollutant regulations. This paper reports the experimental investigation of an innovative staged lean premixed burner. The retained annular geometry follows the Trapped Vortex Combustor concept (TVC) which operates with a two stage combustion chamber: a main lean flame (1) is stabilized by passing past a vortex shape rich-pilot flame (2) located within a cavity. This concept, presented in GT2012-68451 and GT2013-94704, seems to be promising but exhibits combustion instabilities in certain cases, then leading to undesirable level of pollutant emissions and could possibly conduct to serious material damages. No precise information have been reported in the literature about the chain of reasons leading to such an operation. The aim of this paper is to have insights about the main parameters controlling the combustion in this geometry. The flame structure dynamics is examined and compared for two specific operating conditions, producing an acoustically self-excited and a stable burner. Low and high-speed OH-PLIF laser diagnostics (up to 10 kHz) are used to have access to the flame curvature and to time-resolved events. Results show that the cavity jets location can lead to flow-field oscillations and a non-constant flame’s heat release. The associated flame structure, naturally influenced by turbulence is also affected by hot gases thermal expansion. Achieving a good and rapid mixing at the interface between the cavity and the main channel leads to a stable flame.