Lagrangian coherent structures during combustion instability in a premixed-flame backward-step combustor.

This paper quantitatively examines the occurrence of large-scale coherent structures in the flow field during combustion instability in comparison with the flow-combustion-acoustic system when it is stable. For this purpose, the features in the recirculation zone of the confined flow past a backward-facing step are studied in terms of Lagrangian coherent structures. The experiments are conducted at a Reynolds number of 18600 and an equivalence ratio of 0.9 of the premixed fuel-air mixture for two combustor lengths, the long duct corresponding to instability and the short one to the stable case. Simultaneous measurements of the velocity field using time-resolved particle image velocimetry and the CH^{*} chemiluminescence of the flame along with pressure time traces are obtained. The extracted ridges of the finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE) fields delineate dynamically distinct regions of the flow field. The presence of large-scale vortical structures and their modulation over different time instants are well captured by the FTLE ridges for the long combustor where high-amplitude acoustic oscillations are self-excited. In contrast, small-scale vortices signifying Kelvin-Helmholtz instability are observed in the short duct case. Saddle-type flow features are found to separate the distinct flow structures for both combustor lengths. The FTLE ridges are found to align with the flame boundaries in the upstream regions, whereas farther downstream, the alignment is weaker due to dilatation of the flow by the flame's heat release. Specifically, the FTLE ridges encompass the flame curl-up for both the combustor lengths, and thus act as the surrogate flame boundaries. The flame is found to propagate upstream from an earlier vortex roll-up to a newer one along the backward-time FTLE ridge connecting the two structures.

Experimental characterization of onset of acoustic instability in a nonpremixed half-dump combustor.

This paper reports work on a nonpremixed half-dump combustor, in which methane is injected at the backward-facing step, and mixes and burns with the air flowing past the step in the unsteady recirculation zone. The flow and geometric parameters are widely varied, to gradually change from conditions of low-amplitude noise to excitation of high-amplitude discrete tones. The purpose of the work is to focus on the transition from the former condition to the latter, and to mark the onset of instability. Dimensionless groups such as the Helmholtz and Strouhal numbers are formed based on the observed dominant frequencies, whose variation with the air flow Reynolds number is used to identify the oscillations as those due to the natural acoustic modes or the vortex shedding process. High-speed chemiluminescence imaging reveals shedding of vortical structures in the flame zone. With variation in the conditions, flow-acoustic lock-on and transition from one vortex shedding mode to another is marked by nonlinearity in the corresponding amplitude variations. Such conditions are identified as the onset of instability in terms of the ratio of the flow time scale to the acoustic time scale and mapped against the operating fuel-air equivalence ratio of the combustor.