Active instability control: Feedback of combustion instabilities on the injection of gaseous fuel

Modern low-emission premix combustion systems are often susceptible to combustion instabilities. Active instability control (AIC) systems are commonly used to attenuate those oscillations. For the control authority of AIC systems the effective amplitude and phase of the fuel modulation at the fuel outlet are as critical as the proper injection position. In typical cases the modulation of the fuel at the location of the actuator can be fundamentally different in amplitude and phase from the modulation of the fuel flow at the fuel outlet. In addition to the well known effects stemming from the acoustics and Mach number of the fuel system, the fuel flow in the fuel system is also modulated by the oscillation of the pressure in the combustor in case of combustion instabilities. The superposition of the upstream modulation by the actuator and the modulation downstream by the combustion instability can result in an unexpected behaviour of the fuel injection, from total compensation of the modulation to very high oscillations in the resonant case accompanied by drastic phase shifts. This paper describes the influence of the secondary fuel modulation due to the combustion instability on the control authority of AIC systems on the basis of theoretical considerations and measurements for an atmospheric test rig with a natural gas fired swirl burner.