High-repetition-rate laser diagnostics experiments for prediction and control of thermo-acoustic instabilities in low-emission gas turbine engines

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This research focuses on methods to predict and control thermo-acoustic instabilities in low-emission, fuel-flexible gas turbine engines. Gas turbines are used on the vast majority of commercial aircraft and are increasingly being employed for terrestrial power generation. In order to reduce the environmental impact of air travel and energy production, it therefore is necessary to develop future engines that minimize pollutant emissions and safely operate with a variety of sustainable alternative fuels. Unfortunately, flames that produce low emissions are very unstable. In gas turbine combustors, this often leads to the self-excitation of high-amplitude combustion and pressure oscillations, or thermo-acoustic instabilities, which can reduce efficiency, increase emissions, shutdown the engine, and even cause catastrophic failure. Excitation of these instabilities is caused by a complex flow-combustion-acoustic coupling that currently cannot be predicted or robustly controlled.