Dynamic compensation based adaptive control of thermo-acoustic instabilities in Rijke tube: An experimental validation

This paper describes experimental investigations of an adaptive control for suppressing thermo-acoustic instabilities in Rijke tube. Strong coupling between pressure oscillations and unsteady heat release excites a self-sustained acoustic wave which results in a loud, annoyed sound and may also lead to a structural damage to the combustion chamber. Adaptive controller based on dynamic compensation is adopted to suppress the instabilities in Rijke tube. The controller provides proper control action in response to pressure changes in combustors. Unknown noise and disturbance will be estimated and compensated actively by adaptive controller, which makes the feedback control less dependent on the precise model of the complex thermo-acoustic processes in Rijke tube. Experiment results confirm the controller employed is effective in breaking up the oscillations in Rijke tube.