Effect of Outlet Boundary Condition on the Acoustic Modeshape and Flame Dynamics of a Partially Premixed Swirl Stabilized Combustor

Abstract

Industrial gas turbines commonly use lean premixed swirl stabilised combustors that are prone to thermo-acoustic instabilities. Combustor testing involves several steps ranging from atmospheric to high-pressure conditions. An open outlet boundary condition is maintained for atmospheric tests commonly, whereas high-pressure testing involves complex exit boundary conditions, which changes the reflection coefficient and can affect the nature of instability. Current work aims at studying how the change in outlet boundary affects the nature of instability due to changes in the exit reflection coefficient and acoustic mode shape inside the combustor. A laboratory-scale industrial swirl burner that uses partially premixed methane and air at atmospheric conditions is analysed for this purpose. A constant area contraction ratio of 6.5:1 is maintained at the exit of the combustor while varying the inlet Reynolds number at a constant global equivalence ratio. Flame dynamics based on conditionally phase averaged OH* chemiluminescence images and spatial Rayleigh index maps were used to compare different flowrate and exit boundary cases. The outlet contraction affects both the frequency and amplitude of the dominant thermoacoustic mode. The orifice plate at the exit reduces the outlet reflection coefficient leading to a change in acoustic mode shape inside the combustor. Overall, the instability amplitude is reduced considerably for cases with orifice plate at the exit boundary compared to open exit boundary cases. The results show the importance of defining outlet boundary condition as a parameter in combustion instability studies.