Comparison between self-excited and forced flame response of an industrial lean premixed gas turbine injector

An experimental study was conducted to compare the relationship between self-excited and forced flame response in a variable-length lean premixed gas turbine (LPGT) research combustor with a single industrial injector. The variable-length combustor was used to determine the range of preferred instability frequencies for a given operating condition. Flame stability was classified based on combustor dynamic pressure measurements. Particle velocity perturbations in the injector barrel were calculated from additional dynamic pressure measurements using the two-microphone technique. Global CH* chemiluminescence emission was used as a marker for heat release. The flame's response (i.e. normalized heat release fluctuation divided by normalized velocity fluctuation) was characterized during self-excited instabilities. The variable-length combustor was then used to tune the system to produce a stable flame at the same operating condition and velocity perturbations of varying magnitudes were generated using an upstream air-fuel mixture siren. Heat release perturbations were measured and the flame transfer function was calculated as a function of inlet velocity perturbation magnitude. For cases in this study, the gain and phase between velocity and heat release perturbations agreed for both self-excited and forced measurements in the linear and nonlinear flame response regimes, validating the use of forcing measurements to measure flame response to velocity perturbations. Analysis of the self-excited flame response indicates the saturation mechanism responsible for finite limit amplitude perturbations may result from nonlinear driving or damping processes in the combustor.