In many continuous combustion processes, such as those found in aeroengines or gas turbines, the flame is stabilized by a swirling flow formed by aerodynamic swirlers. The dynamics of such swirling flames is of technical and fundamental interest. This article reviews progress in this field and begins with a discussion of the swirl number, a parameter that plays a central role in the definition of the flow structure and its response to incoming disturbances. Interaction between the swirler response and incoming acoustic perturbations generates a vorticity wave convected by the flow, which is accompanied by azimuthal velocity fluctuations. Axial and azimuthal velocities in turn define the flame response in terms of heat--release rate fluctuations. The nonlinear response of swirling flames to incoming disturbances is conveniently represented with a flame describing function (FDF), in other words, with a family of transfer functions depending on frequency and incident axial velocity amplitudes. The FDF, howev...

Dynamics of Swirling Flames

Experimental study of vortex-flame interaction in a gas turbine model combustor

Nonlinear interaction between a precessing vortex core and acoustic oscillations in a turbulent swirling flame

Francis turbines operating at part-load experience the development of a precessing cavitation vortex rope at the runner outlet, which acts as an excitation source for the hydraulic system.
 In case of resonance, the resulting pressure pulsations seriously compromise the stability of the machine and of the electrical grid to which it is connected. As such off-design conditions are increasingly required for the integration of unsteady renewable energy sources into the existing power system, an accurate assessment of the hydropower plant stability is crucial. However, the physical mechanisms driving this excitation source remain largely unclear. It is for instance essential to establish the link between the draft tube flow characteristics and the intensity of the excitation source. In this study, a two-component particle image velocimetry system is used to investigate the flow field at the runner outlet of a reduced-scale physical model of a Francis turbine. The discharge value is varied from 55 to 81 % of the value at the best efficiency point. A particular set-up is designed to guarantee a proper optical access across the complex geometry of the draft tube elbow. Based on phase-averaged velocity fields, the evolution of the vortex parameters with the discharge, such as the trajectory and the circulation, is determined for the first time. It is shown that the rise in the excitation source intensity is induced by an enlargement of the vortex trajectory and a simultaneous increase in the precession frequency, as well as the vortex circulation. Below a certain value of discharge, the structure of the vortex abruptly changes and loses its coherence, leading to a drastic reduction in the intensity of the induced excitation source.

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Study of the vortex-induced pressure excitation source in a Francis turbine draft tube by particle image velocimetry

Mixing and stabilization study of a partially premixed swirling flame using laser induced fluorescence

An LDA technique and phase-averaging analysis were used to study unsteady precessing flow in a model vortex burner. Detailed measurements were made for Re=15,000 and S=1.01. On the basis of the analysis of phase-averaged data and vortex detection by the λ2-technique of Joeng and Hussain (1995), three precessing spiral vortex structures were identified: primary vortex (PV), inner secondary vortex (ISV), and outer secondary vortex (OSV). The PV is the primary and most powerful structure as it includes primary vorticity generated by the swirler; the ISV and OSV are considered here as secondary vortical structures. The jet breakdown zone is the conjunction of a pair of co-rotating co-winding spiral vortices, PV and ISV. The interesting new feature described is that the secondary vortices form a three-dimensional vortex dipole with a helical geometry. The effect of coupling of secondary vortices was suggested as a mechanism of enhanced stability reflected in their increased axial extent.

S.I. Shtork

Papers

Coherent structures in unsteady swirling jet flow

On the identification of helical instabilities in a reacting swirling flow

Experimental characterization of rotating flow field in a model vortex burner