Effect of fuel distribution on spray dynamics in a two-staged multi-injection burner

International audienceBurners operating in lean premixed prevaporized (LPP) regimes are considered as good candidates to reduce pollutant emissions from gas turbines. Lean combustion regimes result in lower burnt gas temperatures and therefore a reduction on the NOx emissions, one of the main pollutant species. However, these burners usually show strong flame dynamics, making them prone to various stabilization problems (combustion instabilities, flashback, flame extinction). To face this issue, multi-injection staged combustion can be envisaged. Staging procedures enable fuel distribution control, while multipoint injections can lead to a fast and efficient mixing. A laboratory-scale staged multipoint combustor is developed in the present study, in the framework of LPP combustion, with an injection device close to the industrial one. Using a staging procedure between the primary pilot stage and the secondary multipoint one, droplet and velocity field distributions can be varied in the spray that is formed at the entrance of the combustion chamber. Non-reactive and reactive flows are characterized through an extensive Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) campaign. Three staging values, corresponding to three different flame stabilization processes, are analyzed, while power is kept constant. It is shown that mean values and droplet distributions are affected by the staging procedure in the non-reactive as in the reactive situations. Using adequate post-processing, it is also possible to study non-reactive and reactive flow/flame dynamics. Spectral analysis shows that the non-reactive flow is strongly structured by a high frequency rotating structure that can clearly be associated with a precessing vortex core (PVC), while the reactive situation encounters a strong acoustic-flame coupling leading to a low frequency oscillation of both the velocity field and the spray droplet distribution. In this last situation, high frequency phenomena, which may be due to PVC, are still visible