Experimental Diagnostics for the Study of Combustion Instabilities in Lean Premixed Combustors

An improved understanding of the mechanisms of unstable combustion in lean premixed combustors is essential to the development of stable gas turbine combustion systems. To obtain such understanding, detailed experimental studies of the phenomenology of unstable combustion are required. A number of experimental diagnostic techniques for characterizing unstable combustion and the underlying instability mechanisms are discussed. This includes techniques based on pressure, chemiluminescence emission, infrared absorption, and laser-induced fluorescence measurements. The techniques themselves are discussed briefly; however, the primary objective is to present and discuss results illustrating how these techniques can be used to characterize the mechanisms of unstable combustion, to gain an improved understanding of unstable combustion, and to develop strategies for suppressing unstable combustion in lean premixed gas turbine combustors.