For the thermal design of combustion chambers and turbine blades in jet engines, a detailed knowledge of the combustion and of the heat loads to the walls is necessary. In general, high operating temperatures and reduced combustor size are striven for in order to increase engine efficiency and reduce weight. Consequently, the components are exposed to temperatures above the melting point of the materials and there is a growing risk of incomplete combustion within the combustion chambers. To study these effects, we setup a new test bench for fundamental investigation of chemical near-wall reactions at atmospheric pressure. First results of gaseous, nonpremixed near-wall CH 4 /air and H 2 /air flames are presented. Optical methods such as two-line laser-induced fluorescence thermometry and OH* chemiluminescence were applied. Further, the heat release to the wall was determined by means of inverse heat conduction calculation using the data of implemented thermocouples.

In support of efforts to develop improved models of turbulent spray behavior and combustion in diesel engines, experimental data and analysis must be obtained for guidance and validation. For Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS)-based Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling approaches, representative ensemble average experimental results are important. For high-fidelity models such as large eddy simulations (LES)-based CFD, precise individual experimental results are desirable. However, making comparisons between a given experiment and LES is a challenge since local parameters cannot be directly compared. In this work, an optically accessible constant pressure flow rig (CPFR) is utilized to acquire diesel-like fuel injection and reaction behavior simultaneously with three optical diagnostic techniques: rainbow Schlieren deflectometry (RSD), OH* chemiluminescence (OH*), and two-color pyrometry (2CP). The CPFR allows a large number of repeated injection experiments to be performed for statistical analysis and convergence using ensemble-averaging techniques, while maintaining highly repeatable test conditions. Even for stable test conditions, variations in local turbulent fuel–air mixing introduce variability, which manifests as significant differences in OH* and 2CP results. Experimental measurements of characteristic parameters including liquid and vapor jet penetration, liftoff length, soot temperature and concentration, and turbulent flame speed, along with the shot-to-shot variability of each dataset, are presented and discussed. A statistical method is utilized to analyze the extent of this variability, and to identify superlative injections within the dataset for discussion and analysis of shot-to-shot variations.

A bluff-body turbulent combustor is mapped for its thermo-acoustic stability across variation in airflow rate, nondimensionalized as the Reynolds number (Re) and fuel composition. The combustor stability is evaluated for three fuels, namely, pure hydrogen (PH), synthesis natural gas (SNG), and syngas (SG). The combustion dynamics display markedly different behavior across the fuels, in the extent of the unstable region, as well as the observed dominant Eigenvalues. At low Re, SNG displays stable combustion, while SG exhibits high amplitude oscillations at the fundamental duct acoustic mode. As the Re is increased, SNG displays very high amplitude oscillations at the duct acoustic mode, while SG exhibit relatively low amplitude oscillations at the third harmonic. In the case of PH, high amplitude oscillations observed at higher Re at the first harmonic. These peculiarities are investigated in light of the role of mean flame stabilization. The combustion dynamics of the fuels is influenced by the global equivalence ratio, as well as the jet momentum ratio. These effects significantly demarcate the dynamics of SNG and SG combustion. This is seen manifested in the mean flame structure of flame at high amplitude oscillations, whereby result in SNG flame to be present in the wake, while the SG flame resides in the shear layer. The driving by the flame because of their mean stabilization is quantified by a spatial Rayleigh index. It confirms the presence of large driving regions for SNG compared to that of SG, results in the observed differences in amplitude of the oscillations.

As an alternative to the commonly used swirl burners in microgas turbines (MGT), the FLOX ® -based combustion concept promises great potential for the nitric oxide emission reduction and increased fuel flexibility. Despite having to deal with a new set of challenges while utilizing liquid fuel in the burner, first steps are taken to gain more information on the influencing operational parameters. In this regard, a FLOX ® -based liquid fuel burner is developed to fit into a newly designed combustor for the Capstone C30 MGT. The C30 combustor operates with three burners arranged tangentially to an annular combustion chamber and provides a total thermal power of 115 kW. In this work, operational properties of merely one of the three C30 liquid fuel burners are investigated and the rest of the two burners are emulated in form of hot cross-flow. As for the liquid burners, the experiments are conducted with three geometrically different single-nozzle burners at atmospheric pressure. The cross-flow is realized by utilizing a 20–nozzle FLOX ® -based natural gas combustor. Measurements include visualization of the reaction zone and analysis of the exhaust gas emissions. By detecting the hydroxyl radical chemiluminescence (OH*-CL) emissions, the position of the heat release zone within the combustion chamber is attained. Correspondingly, the flame height above burner and the flame length are calculated. The investigated design parameters include air preheat temperature up to 733 K, equivalence ratio, burner geometry, and thermal power. Through variation of thermal power, the effect of liquid fuel preparation, i.e., atomization, evaporation, and mixing on combustion properties and exhaust gas emissions are examined. The results show that the burners with the medium diameter consistently performed remarkably at different flame temperatures and thermal powers. The lowest NO x and CO emissions for the medium diameter burner lied between 5 to 7 ppm and 8 to 10 ppm, respectively.

Fuel and load flexibility have been increasingly important features of industrial gas turbines in order to meet the demand for increased utilization of renewable fuels and to provide a way to balance the grid fluctuations due to the unsteady supply of wind and solar power. Experimental investigations were performed using a standard third-generation dry low emission (DLE) burner under atmospheric pressure conditions to study the effect of central and pilot fuel addition, load variations, and hydrogen (H 2 ) enrichment in a natural gas (NG) flame. High-speed kHz planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of OH radicals and imaging of OH chemiluminescence were employed to investigate the flame stabilization, flame turbulence interactions, and flame dynamics. Along with the optical measurements, combustion emissions were also recorded to observe the effect of changing operating conditions on NO X level. The burner is used in Siemens industrial gas turbines SGT-600, SGT-700, and SGT-800 with minor hardware differences and the study thus is a step to characterize fuel and load flexibility for these turbines. Without pilot and central fuel injections in the current burner configuration, the main flame is stabilized creating a central recirculation zone (CRZ). Addition of the pilot fuel strengthens the outer recirculation zone (ORZ) and moves the flame anchoring position slightly downstream, whereas the flame moves upstream without affecting the ORZ when central fuel injection is added. The flame was investigated utilizing H 2 /NG fuel mixtures where the H 2 amount was changed from 0 to 100%. The results show that the characteristics of the flames are clearly affected by the addition of H 2 and by the load variations. The flame becomes more compact, the anchoring position moves closer to the burner exit and the OH signal distribution becomes more distinct for H 2 addition due to increased reaction rate, diffusivity, and laminar burning velocity. Changing the load from part to base, similar trends were observed in the flame behavior but in this case due to the higher heat release because of increased turbulence intensity.

The use of lean, premixed fuel and air mixtures is a common strategy to reduce NO x emissions in gas turbine combustors. However, this strategy causes an increased susceptibility to self-excited instability, which manifests as fluctuations in heat release rate, flow velocity, and combustor acoustics that oscillate in-phase in a feedback loop. This study considers the effect of the level of premixedness on the self-excited instability in a single-nozzle combustor. In this system, the fuel can be injected inside the nozzle to create a partially-premixed mixture or far upstream to create a fully-premixed mixture, varying the level of premixedness of the fuel and air entering the combustor. When global equivalence ratio is held constant, the cases with higher levels of premixing have higher instability amplitudes. High-speed CH* chemiluminescence imaging shows that the flame for these cases is more compact and the distribution of the heat release rate oscillations is more concentrated near the corner of the combustor in the outer recirculation zones. Rayleigh index images, which are a metric for the relative phase of pressure and heat release rate oscillations, suggest that vortex rollup in the corner region is primarily responsible for determining instability characteristics when premixedness is varied. This finding is further supported through analysis of local flame edge dynamics.

Renewably generated ammonia offers a form of carbon-free chemical energy storage to meet the differences between uncertain supply and fluctuating demand and has the potential to support future energy requirements. The storage/transportation characteristics of NH 3 are favorable compared with H 2 ; however, there are combustion research challenges to enhance fuel reactivity while reducing harmful emissions production. The purpose of this work was to evaluate different fuel delivery concepts for a representative gas turbine combustor. An experimental and numerical comparison was made between swirl-stabilized premixed and diffusion NH 3 –air flames at elevated inlet temperature (473 K). The exhaust NO x and NH 3 emissions generated from each concept were quantified to optimize combustor performance. High-speed OH* and NH 2 * chemiluminescence was employed to characterize the change in flame topology with variation in fuel–air equivalence ratio, and the resultant influence on measured emission concentrations. Chemiluminescence intensities were shown to elucidate changes in sampled exhaust emissions, enabling detailed analysis of intermediate chemistry. A comparison was made between experimental data and kinetic simulations, demonstrating the sensitivity of NO x emissions to premixed fuel–air equivalence ratio. A comparison was also made between exclusive primary airflow, and the staged introduction of secondary air, to quantify the change in NO x production between each configuration and improve fuel burnout. Secondary air loadings were incrementally increased through the combustor. Finally, reactant humidification was employed as a secondary process for NO x reduction, having shown favorable performance with NH 3 –H 2 mixtures, with the efficacy compared for both premixed and diffusion configurations.

The effects of partial premixing on a reacting jet-in-crossflow is investigated in a five atmosphere axially staged combustor at stationary gas turbine relevant conditions. The facility consists of a dump style headend burner that provides a crossflow with a quasi-uniform velocity and temperature profile to the axial stage to isolate the effects of the jet-in-crossflow. The headend burner is run with methane and air at a lean equivalence ratio to match industry emission standards. For this work, the total air to the headend and axial stage is kept constant, and fuel is split between the headend and axial stage to represent different gas turbine loading conditions. For the cases analyzed, the fuel split to the axial stage went up to 25%. The axial stage consists of an optically accessible test section with a coaxial injector that provides variability to how long the methane and air can mix before entering the facility. Three different premixed levels are studied: fully premixed, nonpremixed, and partially premixed. The flow-field characteristics of the reacting jet-in-crossflow are analyzed using particle image velocimetry (PIV), and flame behavior is quantified by employing CH* chemiluminescence. NO measurements are made at the exit of the facility using a Horiba emissions analyzer. Two different flames are observed: flames that burn in the leeward recirculation region and flames that burn at the core of the jet.

In this study, two Inconel 625 swirl nozzle inserts with identical bulk geometry were constructed via additive layer manufacturing (ALM) for use in a generic gas turbine swirl burner. Further postprocessing by grit blasting of one swirl nozzle insert results in a quantifiable change to the surface roughness characteristics when compared with the unprocessed ALM swirl nozzle insert or a third nozzle insert which has been manufactured using traditional machining methods. An evaluation of the influence of variable surface roughness effects from these swirl nozzle inserts is therefore performed under preheated isothermal and combustion conditions for premixed methane-air flames at thermal power of 25 kW. High-speed velocimetry at the swirler exit under isothermal conditions gives evidence of the change in near-wall boundary layer thickness and turbulent fluctuations resulting from the change in nozzle surface roughness. Under atmospheric combustion conditions, this influence is further quantified using a combination of dynamic pressure, high-speed OH* chemiluminescence, and exhaust gas emissions measurements to evaluate the flame stabilization mechanisms at the lean blowoff and rich stability limits. Notable differences in flame stabilization are evident as the surface roughness is varied, and changes in rich stability limit were investigated in relation to changes in the near-wall turbulence intensity. Results show that precise control of in-process or postprocess surface roughness of wetted surfaces can positively influence burner stability limits and NO x emissions and must, therefore, be carefully considered in the ALM burner design process as well as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models.

Premixed or partially premixed swirling flames are widely used in gas turbine applications because of their compactness, high ignition efficiency, low NO x emissions and flame stability. A typical annular combustor consists of about twenty swirling flames, which interact (directly or indirectly) with their immediate neighbors even during stable operation. These interactions significantly alter the flow and flame topologies thereby bringing in some discrepancies between the single nozzle (SN) and multinozzle (MN), ignition, emission, pattern factor and flame transfer function (FTF) characteristics. For example, in MN configurations, application of a model based on SN FTF data could lead to erroneous conclusions. Due to the complexities involved in this problem in terms of size, thermal power, cost, optical accessibility etc., a limited amount of experimental studies has been reported, that too on scaled down models with reduced number of nozzles. Here, we present a detailed experimental study on the behavior of three interacting swirl premixed flames, arranged in-line in an optically accessible hollow cuboid test section, which closely resembles a three-cup sector of an annular gas turbine combustor with very large radius. Multiple configurations with various combinations of swirl levels between the adjacent nozzles and the associated flame and flow topologies have been studied. Spatio-temporal information of the heat release rate obtained from OH * chemiluminescence imaging is used along with the acoustic pressure signatures to compute the Rayleigh index (RI) so as to identify the regions within the flame that pumps energy into the self-excited thermoacoustic instability modes. It is found that the structure of the flame–flame interaction regions plays a dominant role in the resulting thermoacoustic instability. To resolve the flow and reactive species distributions in the interacting flames, two-dimensional (2D), three component stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of hydroxyl radical is applied to all the test conditions. Significant differences in the flow structures among the different configurations were observed. Simultaneous OH-PLIF and SPIV techniques were also utilized to track the flame front, from which the curvature and stretch rates were computed. Flame surface density (FSD) which is defined as the mean surface area of the reaction zone per unit volume, is also computed for all the test cases. These measurements and analyses elucidate the structure of the interaction regions, their unique characteristics, and possible role in thermoacoustic instability.

The precessing vortex core (PVC) is a helically shaped coherent flow structure that occurs in reacting and nonreacting swirling flows undergoing vortex breakdown. In swirl-stabilized combustors, the PVC affects important phenomena, such as turbulent mixing and thermoacoustic oscillations. In this work, a closed-loop flow control system is developed, which allows for phase-opposition control of the PVC, to achieve appropriate conditions to systematically investigate the influence of the PVC on turbulent flames. The control consists of a zero-net-mass-flux actuator placed in the mixing section of the combustor, where the PVC is most receptive to periodic forcing. The flow control system is characterized from pressure measurements and particle image velocimetry (PIV) and the impact on flame dynamics is extracted from OH*-chemiluminescence measurements. The data reveal that the PVC amplitude is considerably suppressed by the phase-opposition control without changing the overall characteristics of flow and flame, which is crucial to study the exclusive effect of the PVC on combustion processes. Moreover, the control allows the PVC amplitude to be adjusted gradually to investigate the PVC impact on turbulent mixing and flame dynamics. It is revealed that the PVC-induced flow fluctuations mainly affect the large-scale mixing, while the small scale mixing remains unchanged. This is because the suppression of the PVC allows other modes to become more dominant and the overall turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget remains unchanged. The destabilization of other modes, such as the axisymmetric mode, may have some implications on thermoacoustic instability.

In a recent joint research project, a new FLOX ® -combustion system was developed to couple a fixed-bed gasifier with a micro gas turbine (MGT). Product gases from biomass gasification exhibit low calorific values and varying compositions of mainly H 2 , CO, CO 2 , N 2 , and CH 4 . Furthermore, combustion characteristics differ significantly compared to the commonly used natural gas. As the FLOX-technology is considered as efficient and fuel-flexible featuring low emissions of hazardous pollutants, the design of the lower calorific value (LCV) combustor is based on it. It contains a two-staged combustor consisting of a jet-stabilized main stage adapted from the FLOX-concept combined with a swirl stabilized pilot stage. The combustor was operated in a Turbec T100 test rig using an optically accessible combustion chamber, which allowed OH*-chemiluminescence and OH-PLIF measurements for various fuel compositions. In particular, the hydrogen content in the synthetically mixed fuel gas was varied from 0% to 30%. The exhaust gas composition was additionally analyzed regarding CO, NO x , and unburned hydrocarbons. The results provide a comprehensive insight into the flame behavior during turbine operation. Efficient combustion and stable operation of the MGT was observed for all fuel compositions, while the hydrogen showed a strong influence. It is remarkable that with hydrogen contents higher than 9%, no OH radicals were detected within the inner recirculation zone, while they were increasingly entrained below hydrogen contents of 9%. Without hydrogen, the inner recirculation zone was completely filled with OH radicals and the highest concentrations were detected there. Therefore, the results indicate a different flame behavior with low and high hydrogen contents. Although the flame shape and position were affected, pollutant emissions remained consistently below 10 ppm based on 15% O 2 . Only in the case of 0% hydrogen, CO-emissions increased to 43 ppm, which are still meeting the emission limits. Thus, the combustor allows operation with syngases having hydrogen contents from 0% to 30%.

Pressure gain combustion (PGC) has been conceived to convert fuel's chemical energy into thermal energy and mechanical energy, thereby reducing the entropy production in the process. Recent research has shown that the rotating detonation combustor (RDC) can provide excellent specific thrust, specific impulse, and pressure gain within a small volume through rapid energy release by continuous detonation in the circumferential direction. The RDC as a PGC system for power generating gas turbines in combined cycle power plants could provide significant efficiency gains. However, few past studies have employed fuels that are relevant to power generation turbines, since RDC research has focused mainly on propulsion applications. In this study, we present experimental results from RDC operated on methane and oxygen-enriched air to represent reactants used in land-based power generation. The RDC is operated at a high pressure by placing a back-pressure plate downstream of the annular combustor. Past studies have focused mainly on probe measurements inside the combustor, and thus, little information is known about the nature of the products exiting the RDC. In particular, it is unknown if chemical reactions persist outside the RDC annulus, especially if methane is used as the fuel. In this study, we apply two time-resolved optical techniques to simultaneously image the RDC products at framing rate of 30 kHz: (1) direct visual-imaging to identify the overall size and extent of the plume, and (2) OH* chemiluminescence imaging to detect the reaction zones if any. Results show dynamic features of the combustion products that are consistent with the probe measurements inside the rotating detonation engine (RDE). Moreover, presence of OH* in the products suggests that the oblique shock wave and reactions persist downstream of the detonation zone in the RDC.

Self-excited combustion instabilities in a high pressure, single-element, lean, premixed, natural gas (NG) dump-combustor are investigated. The combustor is designed for optical access and instrumented with high frequency pressure transducers at multiple axial locations. A parametric survey of operating conditions including inlet air temperature and equivalence ratio has been performed, resulting in a wide range of pressure fluctuation amplitudes ( p ′ ) of the mean chamber pressure (p CH ). Two representative cases, flames A and B with p ′ / p CH = 23 % and p ′ / p CH = 12 % , respectively, both presenting self-excited instabilities at the fundamental longitudinal (1L) mode of the combustion chamber, are discussed to study the coupling mechanism between flame-vortex interactions and the acoustic field in the chamber. 10 kHz OH*-chemiluminescence imaging was performed to obtain a map of the global heat release distribution. Phase conditioned and Rayleigh index analysis as well as dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) is performed to highlight the contrasting mechanisms that lead to the two distinct instability regimes. Flame interactions with shear layer vortex structures downstream of the backward-facing step of the combustion chamber are found to augment the instability magnitude. Flame A engages strongly in this coupling, whereas flame B is less affected and establishes a lower amplitude limit cycle.

This paper describes experimental measurements of forced ignition of prevaporized liquid fuels in a well-controlled facility that incorporates nonuniform flow conditions similar to those of gas turbine engine combustors. The goal here is to elucidate the processes by which the initially unfueled kernel evolves into a self-sustained flame. Three fuels are examined: a conventional Jet-A and two synthesized fuels that are used to explore fuel composition effects. A commercial, high-energy recessed cavity discharge igniter located at the test section wall ejects kernels at 15 Hz into a preheated, striated crossflow. Next to the igniter wall is an unfueled air flow; above this is a premixed, prevaporized, fuel–air flow, with a matched velocity and an equivalence ratio near 0.75. The fuels are prevaporized in order to isolate chemical effects. Differences in early ignition kernel development are explored using three synchronized, high-speed imaging diagnostics: schlieren, emission/chemiluminescence, and OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF). The schlieren images reveal rapid entrainment of crossflow fluid into the kernel. The PLIF and emission images suggest chemical reactions between the hot kernel and the entrained fuel–air mixture start within tens of microseconds after the kernel begins entraining fuel, with some heat release possibly occurring. Initially, dilution cooling of the kernel appears to outweigh whatever heat release occurs; so whether the kernel leads to successful ignition or not, the reaction rate and the spatial extent of the reacting region decrease significantly with time. During a successful ignition event, small regions of the reacting kernel survive this dilution and are able to transition into a self-sustained flame after ∼1–2 ms. The low-aromatic/low-cetane-number fuel, which also has the lowest ignition probability, takes much longer for the reaction zone to grow after the initial decay. The high-aromatic, more easily ignited fuel, shows the largest reaction region at early times.

We report experimental evidence of thermoacoustic bistability in a lab-scale turbulent combustor over a well-defined range of fuel–air equivalence ratios. Pressure oscillations are characterized by an intermittent behavior with “bursts,” i.e., sudden jumps between low and high amplitudes occurring at random time instants. The corresponding probability density functions (PDFs) of the acoustic pressure signal show clearly separated maxima when the burner is operated in the bistable region. The gain and phase between acoustic pressure and heat release rate fluctuations are evaluated at the modal frequency from simultaneously recorded flame chemiluminescence and acoustic pressure. The representation of the corresponding statistics is new and particularly informative. It shows that the system is characterized, in average, by a nearly constant gain and by a drift of the phase as function of the oscillation amplitude. This finding may suggest that the bistability does not result from an amplitude-dependent balance between flame gain and acoustic damping, but rather from the nonconstant phase difference between the acoustic pressure and the coherent fluctuations of heat release rate.

It has become increasingly cost-effective for the steel industry to invest in the capture of heavily carbonaceous basic oxygen furnace or converter gas, and use it to support the intensive energy demands of the integrated facility, or for surplus energy conversion in power plants. As industry strives for greater efficiency via ever more complex technologies, increased attention is being paid to investigate the complex behavior of by-product syngases. Recent studies have described and evidenced the enhancement of fundamental combustion parameters such as laminar flame speed due to the catalytic influence of H 2 O on heavily carbonaceous syngas mixtures. Direct formation of CO 2 from CO is slow due to its high activation energy, and the presence of disassociated radical hydrogen facilitates chain branching species (such as OH), changing the dominant path for oxidation. The observed catalytic effect is nonmonotonic, with the reduction in flame temperature eventually prevailing, and overall reaction rate quenched. The potential benefits of changes in water loading are explored in terms of delayed lean blow-off (LBO), and primary emission reduction in a premixed turbulent swirling flame, scaled for practical relevance at conditions of elevated temperature (423 K) and pressure (0.1–0.3 MPa). Chemical kinetic models are used initially to characterize the influence that H 2 O has on the burning characteristics of the fuel blend employed, modeling laminar flame speed and extinction strain rate across an experimental range with H 2 O vapor fraction increased to eventually diminish the catalytic effect. These modeled predictions are used as a foundation to investigate the experimental flame. OH* chemiluminescence and OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) are employed as optical diagnostic techniques to analyze changes in heat release structure resulting from the experimental variation in water loading. A comparison is made with a CH 4 /air flame and changes in LBO stability limits are quantified, measuring the incremental increase in air flow and again compared against chemical models. The compound benefit of CO and NO x reduction is quantified also, with production first decreasing due to the thermal effect of H 2 O addition from a reduction in flame temperature, coupled with the potential for further reduction from the change in lean stability limit. Power law correlations have been derived for change in pressure, and equivalent water loading. Hence, the catalytic effect of H 2 O on reaction pathways and reaction rate predicted and observed for laminar flames are appraised within the challenging environment of turbulent, swirl-stabilized flames at elevated temperature and pressure, characteristic of practical systems.

We present an experimental study on the nonlinear dynamics of combustion instability in a lean premixed gas-turbine model combustor with a swirl-stabilized turbulent flame. Intermittent combustion oscillations switching irregularly back and forth between burst and pseudo-periodic oscillations exhibit the deterministic nature of chaos. This is clearly demonstrated by considering two nonlinear forecasting methods: an extended version (Gotoda et al., 2015, “Nonlinear Forecasting of the Generalized Kuramoto-Sivashinsky Equation,” Int. J. Bifurcation Chaos, 25 , p. 1530015) of the Sugihara and May algorithm (Sugihara and May, 1990, “Nonlinear Forecasting as a Way of Distinguishing Chaos From Measurement Error in Time Series,” Nature, 344 , pp. 734–741) as a local predictor, and a generalized radial basis function (GRBF) network as a global predictor (Gotoda et al., 2012, “Characterization of Complexities in Combustion Instability in a Lean Premixed Gas-Turbine Model Combustor,” Chaos, 22 , p. 043128; Gotoda et al., 2016 (unpublished)). The former enables us to extract the short-term predictability and long-term unpredictability of chaos, while the latter can produce surrogate data to test for determinism by a free-running approach. The permutation entropy based on a symbolic sequence approach is estimated for the surrogate data to test for determinism and is also used as an online detector to prevent lean blowout.

We present an application of a newly introduced method to analyze the time-resolved experimental data from the flow field of a swirl-stabilized combustor. This method is based on the classic proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) extended by a temporal constraint. The filter operation embedded in this method allows for continuous fading from the classic POD to the Fourier mode decomposition. This new method—called spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD)—allows for a clearer separation of the dominant mechanisms due to a clean spectral separation of phenomena. In this paper, the fundamentals of SPOD are shortly introduced. The actual focus is put on the application to a combustor flow. We analyze high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements from flow fields in a combustor at different operation conditions. In these measurements, we consider externally actuated, as well as natural dynamics and reveal how the natural and actuated modes interact with each other. As shown in the paper, SPOD provides detailed insight into coherent structures in the swirl flames. Two distinct PVC structures are found that are very differently affected by acoustic actuation. The coherent structures are related to the heat release fluctuations, which are derived from simultaneously acquired OH* chemiluminescence measurements. Besides the actuated modes, a low frequency mode was found that significantly contribute to the global heat release fluctuations.

Water injection is often used to control NO x emissions or to increase power output from nonpremixed combustion of gaseous and liquid fuels. Since the emission level in premixed natural gas combustion is significantly lower than for nonpremixed combustion, water injection for emission reduction is usually not an issue. However, the increasing share of fluctuating power output from renewables motivates research activities on the improvement of the operational flexibility of combined cycle power plants. One aspect in that context is power augmentation by injection of liquid water in premixed combustors without drawbacks regarding emissions and flame stability. For research purposes, water injection technology has therefore recently been transferred to premixed combustors burning natural gas. In order to investigate the influence of water injection on premixed combustion of natural gas, an atmospheric single burner test rig has been set up at Lehrstuhl für Thermodynamik, TU München. The test rig is equipped with a highly flexible water injection system to study the influence of water atomization behavior on flame shape, position, and stabilization. Presented investigations are conducted at gas turbine like preheating temperatures (673 K) and flame temperatures (1800–1950 K) to ensure high technical relevance. In this paper, the interaction between water injection, atomization and macroscopic flame behavior is outlined. Favorable and nonfavorable operating conditions of the water injection system are presented in order to clarify the influence of water atomization and vaporization on flame stability and the emission behavior of the test rig. Water spray quality is assessed externally with a Malvern laser diffraction spectrometer whereas spray distribution in the test rig is determined by means of Mie scattering images at reacting conditions. The flame shape is analyzed using time-averaged OH* chemiluminescence images while the efficiency of water injection at various operating points is evaluated using global emission concentration measurements. Finally, the important influence of the water injection system design on the combustor performance will be shown using combined Mie scattering and OH* chemiluminescence images. At constant adiabatic flame temperatures, a stable flame could be established for water-to-fuel ratios of up to 2.25. While only minor changes could be detected for the heat release distribution in the combustion chamber, the water distribution changes significantly while increasing the amount of water. Finally, changes in NO x emission concentrations can directly be related to water droplet sizes and the global water distribution in the combustion chamber.