LLean premixed combustion systems, attractive for low NOx performance, are inherently susceptible to thermo-acoustic instabilities - the interaction between unsteady heat release and excited acoustic wave effects. In the present work, a hybrid, coupled Large Eddy Simulation (LES) CFD approach is described, combining the computational efficiency of incompressible reacting LES with acoustic wave effects captured via an acoustic network model. A flamelet approach with an algebraic Flame Surface Density (FSD) combustion model was used. The ORACLES experiments - a perfectly premixed flame stabilised in a 3D sudden expansion - are used for validation. Simulations of the inert flow agree very well with experimental data, reproducing the measured amplitude and distribution of turbulent fluctuations as well as capturing the asymmetric mean flow. With reaction the measured data exhibit a plane wave acoustic mode at 50Hz. The influence of this plane wave must be incorporated into the LES calculation. Thus, a new approach to sensitise the incompressible LES CFD to acoustic waves is adopted. First an acoustic network model of the experimental geometry is analysed to predict the amplitude of the 50Hz mode just before the flame zone. This is then used to introduce a coherent plane wave at the LES inlet plane at the appropriate amplitude, unlike previous LES studies, which have adopted a "guess and adjust" approach. Incompressible LES predictions of this forced flow then show good agreement with measurements of mean and turbulent velocity, as well as for flame shape, with a considerable improvement relative to unforced simulations. To capitalise on the unsteady flame dynamics provided by LES, simulations with varying forcing amplitude were conducted and analysed. Amplitude dependent Flame Transfer Functions (FTFs) were extracted and fed into an acoustic network model. This allowed prediction of the stable/unstable nature of the flame at each forcing amplitude. An amplitude at which the flame changed from unstable to stable would be an indication that this coupled approach was capable of predicting a limit cycle behaviour. With the current simple FSD combustion model almost all cases studied showed a stable flame. Predictions showed considerable sensitivity to the value chosen for the combustion model parameter but specially to the acoustic geometric configuration and boundary conditions assumed showing evidence of limit cycle behaviour for some combinations. Nevertheless, further work is required to improve both combustion model and the accuracy of acoustic configuration and boundary condition specification.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:572548 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Febrer Alles, Gemma |
| Publisher | Loughborough University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/11979 |
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