SUMMARY

This proposal for doctoral research concerns the study and active stabilization of a lean, premixed flame in a swirl stabilized combustor. Such flames produce low nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, but carry the inherent risk of lean blow out (LBO). The proposed research work will focus on development of a control strategy based upon a fundamental understanding of combustor behavior. Ongoing studies of lean flame dynamics have shown that localized extinction regions, induced by strain, can perturb the combustor into a transient, unstable state from which the flame may or may not recover. Furthermore, observations suggest that the transient behavior induced by fuel redistribution can potentially destabilize the flame. The proposed work will incorporate these observed dynamic behaviors in a series of simplified models for purposes of understanding the underlying physics and determining effective control strategies.