Case 14110

Swirl-Counter-Swirl Microjets for the Thermoacoustic Instability Suppression

Keywords:

Gas tube combustor, Swirl, Lean premixed combustion

Applications:

    Gas tube combustor

Problem:
  • The extent of the flame along the longitudinal axis of the combustor
  • NOx emissions of the combustor

Technology:

The invention provides a passive method of mitigating high-amplitude, discrete-frequency, self-sustaining pressure oscillations within a certain window of operating conditions for a swirl stabilized combustor operating in the lean premixed mode. In the current design, fuel and air are mixed upstream of a choke plate, and the flow passes through a swirler before passing through a sudden expansion into the main combustion chamber. Swirl stabilization reduces the extent of the flame, measured along the longitudinal axis, compared to a bluff-body or expansion stabilized flame, allowing for the design of more compact combustors. Lean premixed combustion allows for a significant reduction in NOx emissions, making cleaner, more environmentally friendly combustors feasible.

Advantages:
  • Compact
  • Satisfy increasingly strict environmental regulations

Inventors:
  • Professor Ahmed F. Ghoniem (Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
  • Dr. Santosh Janardhan Shanbhogue (Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
  • Dr. Raymond L. Speth (Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
  • Zachary Alexander LaBry (Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT)

Intellectual Property:

U.S. Patent Application Number 12/941177, filed on November 8, 2010

Publications:

N/A

Last revised: April 29, 2013

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