Low-order coherent structures of non-reacting and combusting low- and high-swirl (swirl rates S = 0.41 and S = 1.0) jet flows in an open-ended cylindrical model combustor have been studied using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) of high-repetition stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (PIV) velocity measurements. Lean methane-air mixture with the equivalence ratio of 0.6 was chosen for the reacting case as lean flames are generally less stable and more receptive to active control. The nonreacting and reacting flows at the same swirl rates exhibit qualitatively similar overall features characterized by highly turbulent annular jets enveloping the central retarding zone (for S = 0.41) or a recirculating bubble (for S = 1.0). At low swirl the dominant coherent structures appeared in the form of tilted ring vortices, evolving into helices as the swirl rate increases. The high-swirl flows are characterized by a pair of well-organized counter-rotating co-winding helical vortices originating in the inner and outer jet shear layers. Vortex cores were detected in both cases, but at low swirl it was less energetic and not associated with a distinct precession frequency. The core region of the low-swirl flame shows intermittent mild flow reversal without permanent central recirculation zone. The thermal expansion enhances the spreading of the reacting flow, especially at the high swirl number. Here the helices pitch is smaller and some neighbouring vortices merge into vortical sheets that act as shear shield confining the flame within the inner shear layer. Despite the significant effects of combustion on the time-averaged characteristics for the high-swirl, the dynamics of both flows were dominated by the global inviscid helical instability mode with a DMD detected conspicuous frequencies of 223 Hz for the nonreacting jet and 257 Hz for the flame.

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