Combustion dynamics is a prominent problem in the design and operation of low-emission gas turbine engines. Even modest changes in fuel composition or operating conditions can lead to damaging vibrations in a combustor that was otherwise stable. For this reason, active control has been sought to stabilize combustors that must accommodate fuel variability, new operating conditions, etc. Active control of combustion dynamics has been demonstrated in a number of laboratories, single-nozzle test combustors, and even on a fielded engine. In most of these tests, active control was implemented with closed-loop feedback between the observed pressure signal and the phase and gain of imposed fuel perturbations. In contrast, a number of recent papers have shown that open-loop fuel perturbations can disrupt the feedback between acoustics and heat release that drives the oscillation. Compared to the closed-loop case, this approach has some advantages because it may not require high-fidelity fuel actuators, and could be easier to implement. This paper reports experimental tests of open-loop fuel perturbations to control combustion dynamics in a complete gas turbine engine. Results demonstrate the technique was very successful on the test engine and had minimal effect on pollutant emissions.
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January 2007
Technical Papers
Open-Loop Active Control of Combustion Dynamics on a Gas Turbine Engine
Geo. A. Richards,
Geo. A. Richards
U.S. Department of Energy
, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, WV 26505
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Jimmy D. Thornton,
Jimmy D. Thornton
U.S. Department of Energy
, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, WV 26505
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Edward H. Robey,
Edward H. Robey
U.S. Department of Energy
, Parsons Project Services, Morgantown, WV 26505
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Leonell Arellano
Leonell Arellano
Solar Turbines, Inc.
, 2200 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101
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Geo. A. Richards
U.S. Department of Energy
, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, WV 26505
Jimmy D. Thornton
U.S. Department of Energy
, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, WV 26505
Edward H. Robey
U.S. Department of Energy
, Parsons Project Services, Morgantown, WV 26505
Leonell Arellano
Solar Turbines, Inc.
, 2200 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Jan 2007, 129(1): 38-48 (11 pages)
Published Online: March 16, 2006
Article history
Received:
March 11, 2005
Revised:
March 16, 2006
Citation
Richards, G. A., Thornton, J. D., Robey, E. H., and Arellano, L. (March 16, 2006). "Open-Loop Active Control of Combustion Dynamics on a Gas Turbine Engine." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. January 2007; 129(1): 38–48. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2204978
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