SUMMARY

Lean, premixed combustors are susceptible to thermo-acoustic oscillations, which are often the result of a coupling between the acoustics of the air and fuel supply systems and the inherent pressure oscillations within the combustor. The objective of this Ph. D. research is to theoretically and experimentally investigate a novel Fuel System Tuner (FST) for suppressing combustion driven oscillations in gas turbines and other combustion systems. Experiments in a swirl-stabilized, lean, premixed combustor showed that the FST can markedly reduce the acoustic pressure amplitude in the combustor. Also, the predictions of a developed acoustic response model of the FST compared favorably with experimental measurements. To complete this study, a thermo-acoustic model of the combustor/FST system that includes the effects of nonlinear boundary conditions in both the FST and certain elements (e.g., the fuel injector, the combustor dump plane, and the combustor exhaust) of the combustor will be developed to form part of the FST design methodology.