Characterization of degeneration process in combustion instability based on dynamical systems theory

We present a detailed study on the characterization of the degeneration process in combustion instability based on dynamical systems theory. We deal with combustion instability in a lean premixed-type gas-turbine model combustor, one of the fundamentally and practically important combustion systems. The dynamic behavior of combustion instability in close proximity to lean blowout is dominated by a stochastic process and transits to periodic oscillations created by thermoacoustic combustion oscillations via chaos with increasing equivalence ratio [Chaos 21, 013124 (2011); Chaos 22, 043128 (2012)]. Thermoacoustic combustion oscillations degenerate with a further increase in the equivalence ratio, and the dynamic behavior leads to chaotic fluctuations via quasiperiodic oscillations. The concept of dynamical systems theory presented here allows us to clarify the nonlinear characteristics hidden in complex combustion dynamics.