High-speed OH Planar Laser-induced Fluorescence Research Articles

Modal Decomposition Analysis of Combustion Instability Due to External Perturbation in a Mesoscale Burner Array

AbstractIn this work, the growth regime of combustion instability was studied by analyzing 10 kHz OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) images through a combination of dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) and spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD) methods. Combustion instabilities were induced in a mesoscale burner array through an external speaker at an imposed perturbation frequency of 210 Hz. During the transient growth phase of combustion instability, 10 kHz OH PLIF imaging was employed to capture spatially and temporally resolved flame dynamics. Increased acoustic perturbations prevented flame reignition in the central recirculation zone and eventually led to the flame being extinguished inward from the outer burner array elements. Coherent modes and their growth rates were obtained from DMD spectral analyses of high-speed OH PLIF images. Positive growth rates were observed at the forcing frequency during the growth regime. Coherent structures, closely associated with thermoacoustic instability, were extracted using an appropriate SPOD filter operation to identify mode structures that correlate to physical phenomena such as shear layer instability and flame response to longitudinal acoustic forcing. Overall, a combination of DMD and SPOD was shown to be effective at analyzing the onset and propagation of combustion instabilities, particularly under transient burner operations.

Statistics and topology of local flame–flame interactions in turbulent flames

Flame–flame interaction events occur frequently in turbulent premixed flames and change the local structure and dynamics of flames. It is essential to understand these flame–flame interaction events to develop high-fidelity combustion models for use in modern combustion devices. In this study, we experimentally investigate the topology of flame–flame interaction events in single- and multi-flame configurations. A dual-burner experiment is probed with high-speed OH-planar laser-induced fluorescence and stereoscopic-particle image velocimetry to obtain simultaneous flame front locations and velocity fields. A non-rigid image registration technique is implemented to track the topological changes occurring in these flames. In both single- and dual-flame configurations, small-scale interactions occur more frequently compared to large-scale interactions, and statistics show that most of the reactant-side interactions contribute to large flame surface destructions than the product-side interactions. It is also found that turbulence length- and velocity-scales can play an important role in facilitating the interaction events and pocket formations from these events. Filamentarity is used to quantify the two-dimensional shape of these interactions and comparisons are made between the orientation and shape of interaction events and the local turbulence in the flowfield. Alignment between the orientation of the interaction shapes and the principal strain rates show that compressive fluid forces drive both types of interaction events.

OH planar laser-induced fluorescence measurements with high spatio-temporal resolution for the study of auto-ignition.

For the detailed understanding of transient combustion processes, in particular, of auto-ignition, quantitative measurements with high spatio-temporal resolution are desirable. These can, for instance, serve as validation data for time-resolved numerical simulations and in particular for the combustion models used in those simulations. In the current study, a jet-in-hot-coflow (JHC) burner, developed at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the DLR JHC, was used to inject a turbulent methane jet into the hot exhaust gas of a lean hydrogen/air flame, and a steady state jet flame was established. In addition, fuel could be injected in a transient manner. Here, an auto-igniting jet was observed. The flame stabilization of the steady state jet flame and the auto-ignition during transient fuel injection were studied using high-speed laser-based and optical measurements. A strategy for quantifying high-speed OH planar laser-induced fluorescence is presented, and the measurement uncertainties are evaluated. The flame stabilization mechanism in steady state jet flames was assessed using probability density functions of the OH concentration at different axial and radial locations. The formation of auto-ignition kernels during transient fuel injection is evaluated based on time series of the OH concentration. It is shown how the OH concentration levels and PDF shapes can be used to characterize the chemical state of the reacting flow and to distinguish between auto-ignition and flame propagation.

Experimental Study of Thermo-Acoustic Instability Triggering in a Staged Liquid Fuel Combustor Using High-Speed OH-PLIF

A staged injector developed by JAXA and fueled with kerosene is studied in a high-pressure combustion experiment. With a stable pilot fuel flow rate, the fuel flow rate in the main stage is progressively increased. A high-speed OH-planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) system is used to record the flame motion at 10,000 fps. In the beginning of the recording, the flame behavior is dominated by relatively low-frequency rotation due to the swirling motion of the flow. These rotational motions then coexist with a thermo-acoustic instability around 475 Hz which increases the amplitude of the pressure fluctuations inside the chamber. Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) analyses indicate that this instability is associated with a widening of the flame occurring when the pressure fluctuations are the highest, giving the instability a positive feedback. The instability frequency then abruptly switches to 500 Hz, while the mode shape remains the same. This frequency change is studied using time–frequency analysis to highlight a change in the feedback mechanism characterized by a modification of the time delay between pressure and heat release fluctuations.

High-speed tomographic PIV and OH PLIF measurements in turbulent reactive flows

High-speed tomographic particle image velocimetry (TPIV) is demonstrated in turbulent reactive flows at acquisition rates ranging from 10 to 16 kHz. The 10-kHz TPIV measurements are combined with planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of OH to mark the high-temperature reaction zone of the flame. Simultaneous TPIV/OH PLIF measurements are applied to the stabilization region of a weakly turbulent lifted dimethyl ether (DME)/air jet flame (Re D = 7,600) and the mixing layer of a turbulent partially premixed DME/air jet flame (Re D = 29,300). In the lifted jet flame, vortical structures exhibit time-dependent morphological changes and eventually dissipate as they approach the flame. In the near field of the turbulent jet flame, dynamics of localized extinction are captured as coherent structures with high compressive strain rates interact with the reaction zone and subsequently break apart. The principal axis of compressive strain has a strong preferential orientation at 45° with respect to the jet axis. The three-dimensional velocity field measurements are used to evaluate biases in two-dimensional (2D) measurements of compressive strain rates in a turbulent jet flame. The biases in the 2D measurements primarily stem from out-of-plane orientation of the principal axis of compressive strain. Comparisons with a constant density turbulent non-reactive jet (Re D = 22,600) show that the jet flame has larger coherent structures that are confined near the reaction zone. Data from the non-reactive jet are also used to evaluate effects of noise, bias, and spatial averaging on measurements of the velocity and velocity gradients.