Mode shape-dependent thermoacoustic interactions between a lean-premixed primary flame and an axially-staged transverse reacting jet

Abstract

Axial fuel staging enables elevation of the turbine inlet temperature in advanced heavy-duty gas turbine combustors to ∼2000 K, ultimately to achieve more than 65% combined cycle efficiency, while limiting excessive nitrogen oxide production. While previous investigations have identified transverse jet-flow-dependent nitrogen oxides emission trends and the topological properties of reacting shear layers in vitiated crossflow environments, there exists a critical gap in the understanding of axial-fuel-staging-induced combustion instabilities. The present study therefore investigates the link between first- and second-stage flame dynamics in a lean-premixed combustor. We demonstrate that the second-stage jet-in-vitiated-crossflow flame is preferentially coupled to higher order acoustic modes than the upstream primary flame with the same characteristic nozzle dimension. The first- and second-stage-driven acoustic modes (two different timescales) are mutually incompatible, and the ensuing selective excitation is critically dependent on the position of the secondary injector relative to the mode shape. When the second-stage flame is located near a pressure node, or a velocity antinode, the transverse jet-stabilized flame is influenced by the primary flame-driven crossflow velocity oscillations, and exhibits conspicuous flapping motions in the crossflow direction accompanied by periodic partial extinction at the windward and leeward-side flame elements. If the second-stage flame is situated near a pressure antinode, on the other hand, the secondary jet flame's dynamics are governed by a combination of jet merging-induced flame surface destruction and the growth of non-axisymmetric coherent structures. In this case, high-intensity pressure oscillations are sustained by the local heat release fluctuations generated solely from the transverse reacting jets, whereas the upstream primary flame remains nearly unperturbed, or decoupled from the underlying feedback processes. This experimental observation is remarkable, and reflects previously unknown properties originating from the complex interactions between the two axially-staged lean-premixed flames.