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Combustion Oscillation Research
Combustion Oscillation Research
Dominik Wassmer1
Chair of Fluid Dynamics,
Approach for Unsteady
Hermann-F€ottinger-Institut,
Technische Universit€at Berlin,
Temperature Measurements:
M€uller-Breslau-Str. 8,
Berlin 10623, Germany
e-mail: dominik.wassmer@tu-berlin.de
Characterization of Entropy
Bruno Schuermans Waves in a Model Gas Turbine
GE Power,
Brown-Boveri-Str. 7,
Baden 5401, Switzerland
Combustor
e-mail: bruno.schuermans@ge.com
Lean premixed combustion promotes the occurrence of thermoacoustic phenomena in
gas turbine combustors. One mechanism that contributes to the flame–acoustic interac-
Christian Oliver Paschereit tion is entropy noise. Fluctuations of the equivalence ratio in the mixing section cause
Chair of Fluid Dynamics,
the generation of hot spots in the flame. These so-called entropy waves are convectively
Hermann-F€ottinger-Institut,
transported to the first stage of the turbine and generate acoustic waves that travel back
Technische Universit€at Berlin,
to the flame; a thermoacoustic loop is closed. However, due to the lack of experimental
M€uller-Breslau-Str. 8,
tools, a detailed investigation of entropy waves in gas turbine combustion systems has
Berlin 10623, Germany
not been possible up to now. This work presents an acoustic time-of-flight based tempera-
e-mail: oliver.paschereit@tu-berlin.de
ture measurement method which allows the measurement of temperature fluctuations in
the relevant frequency range. A narrow acoustic pulse is generated with an electric spark
Jonas P. Moeck discharge close to the combustor wall. The acoustic response is measured at the same
Combustion Dynamics, axial location with an array of microphones circumferentially distributed around the
Hermann-F€ottinger-Institut, combustion chamber. The delay in the pulse arrival times corresponds to the line-
Technische Universit€at Berlin, integrated inverse speed of sound. For the measurement of entropy waves in an atmos-
M€uller-Breslau-Str. 8, pheric combustion test rig, fuel is periodically injected into the mixing tube of a premixed
Berlin 10623, Germany combustor. The subsequently generated entropy waves are measured for different forcing
e-mail: jonas.moeck@tu-berlin.de frequencies of the fuel injection and for different mean flow velocities in the combustor.
The amplitude decay and phase lag of the entropy waves adhere well to a Strouhal num-
ber scaling for different mean flow velocities. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4034542]
Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power APRIL 2017, Vol. 139 / 041501-1
C 2017 by ASME
Copyright V
s1 =d1 ¼ 1=c
s2 =d2 ¼ 1=c
(4)
⯗
sNs =dNs ¼ 1=c
Fig. 1 Principle setup of the TOF method (here: combustion In case the relative distances df1;2;…;Ns g ¼ jLi Lj j are known, a
rig setup) solution of this overdetermined system of equations can be
Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power APRIL 2017, Vol. 139 / 041501-3
Fig. 4 Schematic of the experimental setup for validation Fig. 5 Schematic of the combustion chamber setup
diameter is less than 5 K, and the qualitative dynamic behavior of method reproduces also the faster time scales within the oscilla-
the temperature is the same at all radial locations. tion period well.
The dynamic temperature measurement employing the TOF
method was carried out as follows: while the valves are operated
at a certain frequency, the frequency of the pulse for the spark Combustion Chamber Measurements. The experimental
ignition is chosen such that multiple phase angles of the valve sig- setup described in this work allows to measure the transfer func-
nal are covered. In the postprocessing, each spark ignition can tion between the equivalence ratio fluctuations downstream of the
then be allocated to a bin according to its phase with respect to the swirl generator and the temperature fluctuations downstream of
valve injection. This allows phase averaging which is required to the flame in the exhaust duct. The transfer function between the
achieve less noisy temperature distributions over one period of injection valve, which modulates a part of the fuel mass flow via
cold air injection. In Fig. 8, the temperature over one 20 Hz- periodic pulses, and the equivalence ratio fluctuation in the mixing
period of the cold air injection is plotted for the hot-wire and the tube, detected via the TDLAS method, is determined first. The
TOF measurement. As reference temperature for the TOF method, valve is operated at a duty cycle of 50% and, in this study, con-
the mean temperature of the two thermocouples is used. The TOF trols with m_ mod ¼ m_ steady =3 a quarter of the total fuel mass flow
temperature in this case is reconstructed at 75 phase angles of the m_ tot ¼ m_ mod þ m_ steady . The mean equivalence ratio is kept con-
valve period, and the arrival times at each of these phase angles stant at / ¼ 0:6. Figure 9 shows the resulting fluctuations in
are based on the average of 100 shots. The absolute temperature equivalence ratio for two different mass flows of air and two valve
values as well as the dynamic temperature distribution match well frequencies. The higher frequency components in the signal are
for both measurement techniques. This confirms that the TOF higher harmonics due to the sharp pulse characteristic of the fuel
method is an appropriate measurement tool to experimentally injection valve. The corresponding transfer function between the
characterize temperature fluctuations regarding their amplitude, valve signal and the equivalence ratio fluctuations is shown in
frequency, and phase angle. Also note that while the fundamental Fig. 10. The amplitude of the equivalence ratio fluctuation /0 at
frequency of the temperature fluctuation is only 20 Hz, the TOF one frequency is defined as the magnitude of the Fourier coeffi-
cient at the fundamental frequency evaluated over one period of
valve injection. For frequencies up to about 40 Hz, which are of
interest for the observation of entropy waves in this study, the
Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power APRIL 2017, Vol. 139 / 041501-5
T 0 =T
F ¼ (8)
/0 =/
Acknowledgment
The investigations were conducted as part of the joint research
programme AG Turbo 2020 in the frame of AG Turbo. The work
was supported by the Bundesministerium f€ur Wirtschaft und
Technologie (BMWi) as per resolution of the German Federal
Parliament under Grant No. 03ET2012P. The authors gratefully
acknowledge AG Turbo and GE Power for their support and per-
mission to publish this paper. Additionally, the authors would like
to thank Richard Bl€umner for his cooperation regarding the
TDLAS measurements and Heiko Stolpe for his valuable assis-
tance regarding the high-voltage spark generation technique.
Nomenclature
c¼ speed of sound (m/s)
Fig. 13 Absolute value (top) and phase (bottom) of the transfer cp ¼ specific heat capacity at constant pressure (J/(kg K))
function between the equivalence ratio fluctuation in the mixing
d¼ relative distance between two microphones (m) (Li-Lj)
tube and the temperature fluctuation at the measurement plane
plotted against the Strouhal number
D¼ diameter (m)
fv ¼ valve frequency (Hz)
HV ¼ high-voltage
l¼ distance along path (m)
magnitude higher. Based on the Strouhal number scaling evident L¼ distance between acoustic source and microphone
in Fig. 13, it can then be estimated that the temperature response (m)
remains significant up to frequencies that are an order of magni- M¼ molar mass (kg/mol)
tude higher than observed in the present work. m_ ¼ mass flow (g/s)
MOSFET ¼ metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor
Nm ¼ number of microphones
Conclusion Ns ¼ number of phase angles per oscillation period
Ns ¼ number of relative arrival times
In this paper, a TOF based measurement technique is presented,
R¼ universal gas constant (J/(mol K))
capable of quantitatively determining entropy waves generated in
s¼ specific entropy (J/(kg K))
atmospheric combustion rigs. For a comprehensive validation of
t¼ time of flight (s)
the method, a nonreacting temperature wave generation setup was
T¼ temperature (K)
designed, providing peak-to-peak temperature amplitudes of up to
TC ¼ thermocouple
50 K at frequencies of up to 40 Hz, with homogeneous transverse
TDLAS ¼ tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy
temperature distribution. The temperature fluctuations obtained
TOF ¼ time-of-flight
from a constant-current hot-wire anemometer are in excellent
x¼ axial coordinate (m)
agreement with results from the TOF technique. It is shown that
c¼ heat capacity ratio
with this measurement approach, steady as well as dynamic tem-
kc ¼ convective wavelength (m) ðkc ¼ ðu=fv ÞÞ
peratures in the relevant frequency range can be accurately meas-
s¼ relative time of flight between two microphones (s)
ured. Provided that the entropy fluctuation can be triggered (e.g.,
s¼ matrix of relative times of flight (s)
by a microphone or a photomultiplier signal), phase averaging
/¼ equivalence ratio
allows for the detection of temperature fluctuations of frequencies
that are independent of technical limitations in the spark repetition
rate. Furthermore, the robust extraction algorithm of the arrival References
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Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power APRIL 2017, Vol. 139 / 041501-7