Time-Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry Measurements of Nonreacting Flow Field in a Swirl-Stabilized Combustor Without and With Porous Inserts for Acoustic Control

Combustion noise and thermo-acoustic instabilities are of primary importance in highly critical applications such as rocket propulsion systems, power generation, and jet propulsion engines. Mechanisms for combustion instabilities are extremely complex because they often involve interactions among several different physical phenomena such as unsteady flame propagation leading to unsteady flow field, acoustic wave propagation, natural and forced hydrodynamic instabilities, etc. In the past, we have utilized porous inert media (PIM) to mitigate combustion noise and thermo-acoustic instabilities in both lean premixed (LPM) and lean direct injection (LDI) combustion systems. While these studies demonstrated the efficacy of the PIM concept to mitigate noise and thermo-acoustic instabilities, the actual mechanisms involved have not been understood. The present study utilizes time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) to measure the turbulent flow field in a nonreacting swirl-stabilized combustor without and with PIM. Although the flow field inside the annulus of the PIM cannot be observed, measurements immediately downstream of the PIM provide insight into the turbulent structures. Results are analyzed using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method and show that the PIM alters the flow field in an advantageous manner by modifying the turbulence structures and eliminating the corner recirculation zones and precessing vortex core (PVC), which would ultimately affect the acoustic behavior in a favorable manner.