Unstable modes of a combustor

Coupling mechanisms between acoustic waves and flames have become central issues in the development of many modern combustion systems because of both environmental issues (noise) and the destructive interactions which acoustics can generate in combustors. Numerical tools are essential in many flame/acoustics studies but a theoretical background in acoustics and especially in acoustics for reacting flows is mandatory to tackle such problems.

The objective of this course is to present methods to predict unstable modes of combustor composed of tubes. This course contains:

• a video showing the classical Rijke tube experiment (see below),
• the theoretical derivation of equations, explained in the associated ressource, and applied to a simple combustor containing two connected ducts,
• a one-dimensional code, Soundtube, that numerically solves acoustic modes in a network of ducts (coming soon).

Published on  March 4th, 2020