Min Zhu

Bio: Min Zhu is an academic researcher from Tsinghua University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Combustion & Combustor. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 35 publications receiving 297 citations.

Transfer Function Calculations for Aeroengine Combustion Oscillations

Abstract: Combustors with fuel-spray atomizers are particularly susceptible to a low-frequency oscillation at idle and subidle conditions. For aeroengine combustors, the frequency of this oscillation is typically in the range 50-120 Hz and is commonly called rumble. The mechanism involves interaction between the plenum around the burner and the combustion chamber. Pressure variations in the plenum or the combustor alter the inlet air and fuel spray characteristics, thereby changing the rate of combustion. This in turn leads to local hot spots which generate pressure oscillations as they convect through the downstream nozzle. In order to eliminate the combustion oscillations, it is essential to determine which fuel atomizers are particularly likely to lead to instability by quantifying their sensitivity to flow perturbations. This can be done by identifying the system through understanding the transfer function, which represents the relationship between the unsteadiness of combustion and the inlet fuel and air In the present work, various types of signals are applied to produce a small change in the inlet fuel and air flow rates, the response in the rate of heat release caused downstream was calculated and stored for subsequent analysis. Afterwards, the system transfer function is calculated by determining the coefficients of an IIR filter (Infinite Impulse Response) for which the output signal is the downstream heat release rate and the input signal is the inlet flow rate. The required transfer function then follows from the Fourier transform of this relationship. The resulting transfer functions are compared with those obtained by the forced harmonic oscillations at a fixed given frequency. Suitably chosen input signals accurately recover the results for harmonic forcing at a single frequency, but also give detailed information about the combustor response over a wide frequency range. There are two distinct forms to the low-frequency quasisteady response. In the primary zone, the rate of combustion is influenced by the turbulence and is enhanced when the inlet air velocity is large. Near the edge of combustion zone, the rate of combustion depends on the mixture fraction and is high when the mixture fraction is close to the stoichiometric value. This generates 'hot spots' which convect into the dilution zone. At higher frequencies, the combustion lags this quasi-steady response through simple lag-laws and the relevant time delays have been identified.

An analytical study of the effect of flame response to simultaneous axial and transverse perturbations on azimuthal thermoacoustic modes in annular combustors

Abstract: Transverse mean flows and transverse acoustic perturbations are factors that may influence the flame response, and thus change the frequency, growth rate and mode nature (standing, spinning or mixed) of the azimuthal thermoacoustic modes in annular combustors. Previous analytical and low-order network models for annular combustors usually consider only axial flame response. This work identifies the linear response of an asymmetric planar Bunsen flame under simultaneous axial and transverse perturbations. A linearized analytical method for studying the response of an inclined flame under perturbations using G-equation is applied. The relation between the flame responses under a 2-D perturbation and separate axial/transverse perturbations is studied to identify a linear 2-D flame response superposition, with the response under simultaneous perturbations being equal to the sum of two responses under each single perturbation. The effect of this linear 2-D flame response on the azimuthal thermoacoustic modes is then investigated by incorporating it into a linear low-order network methodology [19]. An annular combustor both with and without mixing burners and transverse mean flows is studied. The results are verified by comparing with FEM (Helmholtz solver) simulations. It is found that even though the transverse flame response is usually much smaller than the axial flame response, it may strongly affect the spin ratio of the azimuthal thermoacoustic modes. The asymmetries (e.g. due to burner difference) in both the transverse and axial flame response, and the effect of transverse mean flow on the acoustic propagation may all significantly change the spin ratio of the azimuthal modes, and thus need to be considered simultaneously.