15AES432

AIR BREATHING ENGINES

Session 29-32:
Flame
Stabilization &
Combustor Sizing

A.R. SRIKRISHNAN
2022
Flame Stabilization
The Approach

Create a sheltered zone of low velocity at the upstream

end of the liner, where flame speeds
are greatly enhanced by imparting a high level of
turbulence to the primary
air jets and by arranging for hot combustion products
to recirculate and mix
with the incoming air and fuel
Stability Loop – Determining
Stability performance
A series of extinction tests at constant, predetermined
levels of inlet air temperature and pressure
After ignition the fuel flow is gradually reduced until
flame extinction occurs
 Gives the fuel and air flows at “weak extinction” or “lean blowout” point

Combustion is re-established and the fuel flow slowly increased until “rich extinction” occurs
This process is repeated at increasing levels of air mass flow

The complete stability performance of an aero-engine combustor is

obtained by carrying out sufficient extinction tests to allow a number of
stability loops to be drawn at different levels of pressure
Flammability Limits

Broader on the rich side of fuel-

air ratios

Any level of pressurization does

not help keep the flame beyond
the limits of flammability
Bluff Body Flame Holders
Typically Flame extinction occurs when the time available for chemical reaction becomesless
than the time required to generate sufficient heat to raise the fresh mixtureup to its ignition
temperature.
In bluff body flame holder applicatons, the wake of a bluff body is made use of to serve as a
homogenous mixing zone

some of the burning

mixture continues to flow downstream, and the
remainder is entrained into
the recirculatory flow, which conveys it
upstream to mix with and ignite the
shear layer. A flame is anchored on the baffle
through continuation of this
process.
 Stabilization in Aircraft Combustors
 The toroidal flow reversal is created and maintained by air
entering through swirl vanes located around the fuel injector
and through a single row of holes in the wall of the liner.
 In addition to its main role as the major heat-release zone of
the chamber, an important function of the primary zone is to
recirculate burned and burning gases to mix with the
incoming air and fuel.
 By this means, a mechanism of continuous ignition is
Established
combustion can be sustained over wide ranges of
pressure,velocity, and fuel/air ratio.
Flame Stabilization in Afterburners
 The necessary recirculation zone to stabilize the premixed flame
is created by the massively separated wakes of bluff bodies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpsifCZJvl4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyMrh65fVsY
Influence of Various Parameters on
Flame Stability
The limits of flame stability can be extended by the following
parametric variations:
1. A reduction in approach stream velocity
2. An increase in approach stream temperature
3. An increase in gas pressure
4. A reduction in turbulence intensity
5. Any change in equivalence ratio toward unity
6. An increase in flame holder size & wake size
8. A reduction in flameholder blockage (for a constant flameholder size)
Problem..
Combustor Sizing
 Combustor Volume: The effect of parameters

The effect of mass flow rate, combustion volume

and pressure on the stability of the combustion
process are combined into the Combustor
Loading Parameter (CLP), defined as

m mixture
CLP  n
p  Combustio n Volume • n ~ 1.8
 Stability of Combustion & Combustor Volume
• Combustor volume also influences the ability of the combustion
process to sustain itself
• IF Too lean or too rich
– Temp & reaction rates drop below the levels
required to heat and vaporize the fuel/air mixture
– Will require larger volume
• CLP (Combustion Loading Parameter)
– Indication of stability based on mass flow,
pressure (n = 1.8 for typical fuels),
and combustor volume Unstable

Unstable
 Combustor Size
Cross-sectional Area determined by mass-flow rate and
velocity requirements at the inlet to the turbine
Length: Completion of Combustion and Flame stabilization
requirements
L/D typically around 3-6
Volumetric heat release rate: Depends on pressure
Combustor Length
• Length for the main combustor is related to the residence time of the
fluid in the burner to the ratio of fluid mass to the flow rate in the
combustor
• Parametrically, the length can be related to the residence time of the
working fluid within combustor, the compressor pressure ratio and the
cycle peak temperature
Combustor Length & Cycle Parameters
 Also within the combustor, the residence time is almost equal to the
reaction time (which is a function of the pressure and the temperature)
τresidence ~ τreaction

Eventually, this leads to:

A high-pressure ratio engine occupies a smaller length combustor than a
comparable size engine with a lower pressure ratio.
A similar argument can be made regarding the cycle thermal loading
parameter 𝜏𝜆
Combustion Intensity

Typically, Aircraft Engines have combustors with CI in the range of 2X10 4 to 5X104
kW/m3-atm
Gate2013