Our project has made significant strides in the field of thermoacoustic instability control and plasma-assisted combustion, achieving several groundbreaking milestones that pave the way of hydrogen gas turbine technologies for sustainable energy networks.
One of our notable accomplishments is the development of the high-pressure test rig "Pele". This state-of-the-art facility, operational since 2023, has been instrumental in conducting advanced experiments, including the first measurements of flame transfer functions of hydrogen flames at elevated pressures.
In our quest to actively control thermoacoustic instabilities in sequential combustors, we have successfully demonstrated the use of ultra-low power cold plasma to eliminate these instabilities under transient operation at high pressure. This achievement, realized in November 2023, is a key milestone of the ERC Consolidator project. To attain this goal, we made pioneering advancements in the understanding of the effects of cold plasma on autoignition in sequential combustors. In 2021, we achieved the first numerical simulation of plasma-assisted sequential combustion at atmospheric conditions, followed by successful experiments on plasma-enhanced self-ignition of hot lean mixtures. Furthermore, we validated the numerical prediction of thermoacoustic stabilization of a sequential combustor via cold plasma discharges at atmospheric conditions at the end of the project.
Our research has also explored the potential of acoustic metamaterials and slow sound burners. Nearly half-way through the project, we designed a slow sound channel and demonstrated its control capabilities on aeroacoustic instabilities. Subsequently, another campaign of experiments showcased the potential of embedding such acoustic metamaterial into a hydrogen burner to passively suppress thermoacoustic instabilities, which led to a patent application.
