PLIF measurements of combustion dynamics in a burner under forced oscillatory conditions

Abstract

A technique has been devised which can provide insight into the local dynamic response of a flame to an acoustic field. In the experiments, a test chamber is acoustically excited by a pair of low frequency drivers. The response of the flame is visualized by planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of the hydroxyl (OH) radical, which is a good indicator for heat release in the flame. The resulting images are phase-locked and averaged to yield a qualitative picture of the fluctuation of the heat release. This is correlated with a pressure transducer near the flame, which allows stability to be evaluated using Rayleigh's criterion. Results indicate that the drive frequency and burner configuration have a pronounced effect on the response of the flame. Drive frequencies ranging from 22 Hz to 55 Hz are applied to the jet mixed burner, supplied with a premixed 50/50 mixture of methane and carbon dioxide at a Reynolds number of 20,000. The burner is operated in two configurations; with an aerodynamically stabilized flame, and with a flame stabilized by two protruding bluff-bodies. Results indicate that in general, the bluff-body stabilized flame is less sensitive to chamber acoustic excitation