Helmholtz Damper for Gas Turbine Combustor Vibration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Helmholtz dampers in gas turbines are not flexible enough for optimal adjustment and installation in existing combustors, requiring special measures for integration and adjustment, which limits their effectiveness in mitigating thermoacoustic vibrations.
Innovation Solution
A Helmholtz damper design featuring two interconnected damping volumes, allowing for easy installation in place of burners and fuel lances, with a connecting tube for external adjustment and flange connections for volume alteration, enabling flexible use and operation without additional outlay.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If Helmholtz dampers are installed in existing combustors, then thermoacoustic vibrations can be reduced, but the installation requires special measures and replacement of burners and fuel lances which reduces ease of installation
Solution Approach 1:
The Helmholtz damper is designed with a universal mounting structure that allows it to replace both the burner and fuel lance components simultaneously. The damper incorporates integrated connection features that interface with existing combustor mounting points, enabling a single-component replacement solution rather than requiring separate installations for burners and fuel delivery systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The fuel lance is nested within the Helmholtz damper structure, with the lance extending through the damper body. This nested arrangement allows the fuel delivery system to be integrated within the damping volume, eliminating the need for separate fuel lance installation while maintaining fuel supply functionality through the damper component.
2Ease of manufacture
If Helmholtz dampers are designed with fixed damping volumes, then manufacturing is simplified, but adjustability for optimal vibration mitigation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The Helmholtz damper incorporates an adjustable damping volume mechanism that allows the volume to be modified after manufacturing. The damper structure includes movable walls or expandable sections that can be adjusted to change the internal damping volume, enabling optimization of vibration mitigation performance for different operating conditions while maintaining a relatively simple base manufacturing design.
Solution Approach 2:
The damping volume is divided into multiple adjustable sections or chambers that can be independently modified. This segmentation allows for incremental adjustment of the total damping volume by reconfiguring individual sections, providing flexibility in tuning the damper performance while keeping each individual section manufacturable with standard processes.
3Reliability
If Helmholtz dampers require replacement of multiple components (burners and fuel lances), then vibration mitigation can be achieved, but installation time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The Helmholtz damper merges the functions of the burner replacement and fuel lance replacement into a single integrated component installation. By combining the damping function with integrated fuel delivery capability, the system requires only one installation operation rather than multiple separate component replacements, significantly reducing installation time while maintaining effective vibration mitigation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enhances the flexibility and adjustability of Helmholtz dampers, allowing for optimal installation and operation within existing combustors, effectively reducing thermoacoustic vibrations and thermal loads.
Implementation Method 1
Helmholtz dampers with which the possible vibration amplitudes in the combustor are lessened or even eliminated
Data Source
AI summary
A Helmholtz damper for a combustor of a gas turbine includes first and second damping volumes. The combustor has a combustion chamber disposed in a housing and closed off by a front plate at which a plurality of burners are exchangeably fastened. The burners are supplied with fuel via fuel lances which extend from outside the housing through a bushing of the housing to the associated burner. The first damping volume has a first end and a second end, the first end of the first damping volume being configured to attach a connecting passage extending to a front panel such that the Helmholtz damper is connectable with the front plate of the combustion chamber in place of one of the burners. The second damping volume has a first end and a second end and is arranged in series with the first damping volume along an axis of the Helmholtz damper with the first end of the second damping volume being detachably connected to the second end of the first damping volume so as to form a combined larger damping volume. The second end of the second damping volume is configured to attach a connecting tube extending from the second damping volume and through the bushing in place of a respective one of the fuel lances.