An Investigation of Instability in A Domestic Gas Boiler by Simulatio

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Journal of Power and Energy
An investigation of instability in a domestic gas boiler by simulation

X Tauzia, T Etchebarne, P Chesse, J-F Hetet and D Chalet
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy 2006 220: 869
DOI: 10.1243/09576509JPE162
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869
An investigation of instability in a domestic

gas boiler by simulation
X Tauzia , T Etchebarne, P Chesse, J-F Hetet, and D Chalet
Ecole Centrale de Nantes, UMR CNRS 6598, Nantes Cedex 3, France
The manuscript was received on 7 February 2005 and was accepted after revision for publication on 31 July 2006.
DOI: 10.1243/09576509JPE162
Abstract: The experimental investigation of a domestic gas boiler revealed an unstable operation mode under certain circumstances and geometry. This paper presents the development,
validation, and analysis of the modelling of a complete sealed gas boiler. The modelling uses
a non-dimensional/one-dimensional non-linear solution of the mass, momentum, and
energy conservation equations. The sealed vessel is divided into three zones separated by the
burner and the heat exchanger. A special focus is placed on the burner which was determined
to play a major role in the occurrence of instabilities. The comparison between measured and
simulated results shows a good agreement at steady state. The investigation of unstable configurations reveals the ability of the simulation model to locate unstable zones in a qualitative
manner and provides the influence of the control parameters over the systems stability. An
attempt is made at explaining the differences observed in the quantitative results. Finally, a
few potential solutions to prevent or reduce unstable zones are evaluated with the simulation
model.
Keywords: domestic boiler, instabilities, thermodynamic modelling, system approach, control
parameters
INTRODUCTION
A study published by the Energy Observatory in

October 2001 shows that 80 per cent of French
homes rely on gas for domestic heating, despite the
closing of the price gap between gas and electricity.
To satisfy an increasing demand, domestic gas
boilers have been the subject of new developments
in the objective of increasing the heating power
using premixed burners. In addition, a new type of
boilers known as sealed boilers has been developed
to satisfy the new safety requirements related to air
renewal in boiler rooms.
The development of these new technologies
results in a few faulty operation modes. Under certain weather conditions and depending on the heating power and geometric configuration, the structure
of the boiler may vibrate. These vibrations are
Corresponding author: Laboratoire de Mecanique des Fluides,

Equipe Energetique des Moteurs a` Combustion Interne, Ecole
Centrale de Nantes, BP 92101, Nantes 44321, France. email:
xavier.tauzia@ec-nantes.fr
combined with low-frequency pressure oscillations.

In addition to noise problems, this type of operation
is not acceptable for the customers and may end up
being dangerous.
This paper presents a model based on a system
approach aimed at describing the gas boiler behaviour
and analysing the faulty operations that are observed.
First, the investigated system is briefly presented.
Then, the proposed modelling is presented, including
the main sub-models. Finally, some simulation results
are compared with experimental measurements and a
few predictive results are provided.
2
2.1
DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM AND ITS

FAULTY OPERATION
Investigated system: a combination of sealed
boiler
The water system being investigated is used for producing heat and hot water (combination boiler) for
an apartment or a house. The various experiments
were conducted with a combination of sealed
JPE162 # IMechE 2006
Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part A: J. Power and Energy

870
boiler rated at 28 kW. This type of boiler comprises

two distinct subassemblies: an externally vented
sealed vessel in which heat exchanges take place
and a piping system, as shown in Fig. 1. The pipes
are used to bring in fresh air from the outside and
reject exhaust gas outside of the building using a fan
placed in the exhaust stream. The fan is driven by
an asynchronous electric motor and its speed is not
controlled. When the geometry is modified, the receptor characteristic curve changes (pressure losses are
modified), and thus the equilibrium given by the
intersection of the fan characteristic and the receptor
characteristic is modified as well. Nevertheless, the
variations of fan rotation speed are very low (,30
over 3000 r/min, i.e. 1 per cent). The combustion
chamber is insulated to limit the thermal losses on
the sides. The exhaust gas goes through a copper
heat exchanger in order to heat the water before
extraction. The main dimensions are given in
Table 1. A full description is available in reference [1].
The air mass flow is dependent on the pressure and
temperature difference between the sealed vessel and
the outside. As a result, several factors influence
the quantity of air available to burn all the gas:
atmospheric conditions, geometry (inherent pressure
losses), fan characteristics, combustion heat release,
and heat extraction at the exchanger (vessel pressure
and temperature) as well as the gas composition.
However, the quantity of air is always sufficient to
burn all the gas available no matter what the external
factors are (combustion with excess air).
Table 1 Boiler main dimensions

Sealed vessel volume (m3)
Inlet and exhaust pipes diameter (m)
Injectors diameter (mm)
Burner arm equivalent length (m)
Burner arm equivalent section (m2)
Rated power (kW)
0.085
0.076
0.77
0.2
24 1025
28
Gas is injected in the vessel through a rail of injectors. The gas feeding pressure is 40 mbar in relative
value. Some modifications were made on the boiler
being investigated to reduce the system complexity
without altering its dynamic behaviour. The electronic governing of the heating power depending
on the requested temperature was replaced with a
simple on/off valve. The gas flow is directly controlled by variation of the inlet pressure. The flow
at the injector nozzle is subsonic due to the low
pressure boost ahead of the injector. As a result, the
gas mass flow is dependent on the pressure and
temperature conditions in the rail as well as the
conditions in the pressure vessel.
The burner is an atmospheric burner with partial
premixture. It is made of identical arms in which circulates the air/gas mixture (Fig. 2). The air that circulates in the burner arms is induced by the gas jet
resulting from the gas expansion at the injector
outlet. The inlet of each arm has a venturi shape to
make the mixture reach the homogeneity required
for a good combustion. The combustion takes place
at the outlet of the burner arms over a grill made of
slots that are the source of the flames. The air mass
flow induced by the gas jet (primary air) is below
the stoichiometric ratio (ratio of 0.7). As a result,
the flame generated with these burners is not a
purely premixed flame since the mixture is rich.
The combustion ends by diffusion using the secondary air that circulates between the burner arms. The
geometry of the burner combined with the injector
diameter leads to the establishment of a laminar
flow at the burner outlet: the combustion results in
the establishment of a laminar flame.
2.2
Experimental investigations
A series of experiments is conducted to characterize

the behaviour of the boiler, and in particular its
instabilities. Pressure oscillations of a few pascal
amplitude are always measurable in the sealed
vessel. However, two criteria were selected to state
whether they are instabilities or not:
Fig. 1
Investigated system location of the sensors
(a) an amplitude of more than 100 Pa;

(b) well organized oscillations with a monochromatic spectral density (the energy associated
with the unstable mode is at least 1000 times
greater than the stable one).

An investigation of instability in a domestic gas boiler
Fig. 2
871
Burner overview and details
The main variables that are measured are the

temperature and pressure variations at various
locations, the air mass flow, and the speed of the
fan, as shown in Fig. 1. Five control parameters are
selected to test their influence on the boiler operation: exhaust pipe and air pipe lengths, gas composition, gas mass flow, injector diameter, and
injector/flame stabilizer distance (the later is studied
using a modified burner as explained in Fig. 2). The
detailed description of the experimental setup is
available in reference [2], including the location of
the sensors, their type, and the data acquisition
module. As an example, Fig. 3 shows the boiler stability domain as a function of inlet and exhaust pipes
geometry and the gas composition, all other variables being constant. Figure 4 shows the pressure
variations in the vessel in the case of stable and
unstable operations.
The experimental investigations resulted in a precise characterization of the system behaviour. In particular, the stable domain was identified as well as
the oscillation amplitude of the various flow
variables. In addition, the influence of the control

parameters was evaluated.
The observed instability is a combustion instability
of the system type involving the entire appliance. The
unsteady acoustic mode is the Helmholtz mode
(vibration at the resonance frequency of the system
composed of a vessel and two pipes). Analysis of
the results shows the predominant role played by
the premixture transfer delay between the injector
and the flame front. An explanation of the process
leading to the systems instability was established.
It is mainly based on the presence of fluctuations
in the mixture composition transferred to the flame
at the average speed of the premixture. This can
explain the different behaviour between methane
and propane (Fig. 2). Indeed, several differences
exist between the two configurations: injection
pressure, injector diameters, lower heating value,
stiechiometric coefficient are different. Rayleigh criterion [1] says that the system is stable when
J T F n and the system is unstable when
J T F n 1/2, where n is an integer, T the
Fig. 3 Comparison of the system stability zones in the exhaust pipe length versus air pipe length
domain with methane and propane rated power

872
3
3.1
Fig. 4
Comparison between stable and unstable gas

flows rated power propane.
delay between gas injection and combustion heat

release, and F Helmholtz resonance acoustic frequency. The conjunction of these modifications
must lead to a different delay between gas flowrate
at the burner inlet and heat release at the burner
outlet. These variations of T modify the value of J,
and thus the stability of the system.
The experimental analysis is rather tedious and
should be repeated for each boiler and each
configuration. As a result, it was decided to take
advantage of the experimental results to develop a
simulation code in the objective of characterizing a
boilers behaviour and predicting the potential
occurrence of instabilities.
Fig. 5
BOILER MODELLING
Assumptions and fundamentals
A survey of the numerous combustion instability

models available in the literature was conducted
[3 14]. In addition to the modelling of the combustion, the prediction of instability domains must take
into account the dynamics of the internal flows. The
great diversity of the instability characteristics as well
as the systems being considered is not compatible
with a single approach. A literature survey shows
numerous modelling methods with respect to the
flow dynamics. A summary and a classification of
the models were established to determine the best
possible approach depending on general criteria, as
shown in Fig. 5.
Two criteria are required to determine the best
possible method:
(a) the natural frequencies of the unstable modes
(level 1);
(b) the research objectives (level 2).
The first criterion compares the characteristic
pressure wave length associated with the instability
and the equipment geometry. When the oscillation
frequency is low, the parameters vary in phase
within the appliance around the average value.
The dynamics of the instability is properly simulated
by a model resulting from a system approach
(non-dimensional compressible approach for
volumes and one-dimensional uncompressible
Algorithm for choosing the modelling of the flow dynamics

assumption for pipes). The calculated values are

only dependent on time. The quasi-steady
assumption is acceptable since the characteristic
time of the instability is rather large. This type of
approach is used for low frequency combustion
instabilities (instability mode on volume or firstorder longitudinal). Even though the instability
dynamics are properly modelled, this type of
approach does not provide the spatial distribution
of the flow variables.
When the instability wave length is similar or
smaller than the appliance characteristic length,
the pressure does not vary in phase within the
system. The spatial discretization of the system
(one-dimensional,
two-dimensional, or threedimensional) is required to take into account the
instability dynamics [10 15].
For both these approaches, two resolution
methods are detailed in the literature. Some authors
propose a linear analysis of the equations describing
the system, whereas others solve the equations while
keeping the non-linear terms. The non-linear resolutions are replacing the linear approach. Solving
the Navier Stokes equations in non-linear mode is
now possible with the latest performance of computers. These non-linear models provide the amplitude
of the limit cycles; however, the linear approach can
be sufficient when the objective is to locate the limit
of the system instability, the propagation of faulty
conditions or the efficiency of a control parameter.
The instabilities identified through the experimental investigations are characterized by very low frequencies (,10 Hz). The analysis seems to indicate
a system instability. These observations along with
the research objectives (which include the calculation of instabilities amplitude) led to the selection
of a non-linear model.
Regarding time considerations, it is assumed that
the systems behaviour is a non-stationary mode
composed of a succession of stationary states
(quasi-stationary assumption). This assumption
authorizes the use of steady state equations for the
following:
3.2
873
Spatial discretization
A model based on a system approach is proposed

using the assumptions presented in the previous section. The system is divided into control volumes in
which the variables (pressure, mass, temperature,
and flow) are only dependent on time.
The gas feeding system shown in Fig. 6 is modelled
as a manifold, maintained at constant pressure
(capacitive element) followed by a pipe (inertial
element). The injector rail is modelled with a capacitive element corresponding to the rail volume. The
injectors are modelled through an orifice with a
discharge coefficient.
The vessel in which the heat exchanges takes place
is divided into three distinct volumes to account for
severe temperature differences, as shown in Fig. 7.
This discretization leads to boundary equations
related to mass and energy transfers between the various zones. The flow between volumes 1 and 2 is
obtained using the motion quantities. A constant
equivalent section is calculated for the section
through which the secondary air passes between
the burner arms. The flow between volumes 2
and 3 is obtained using Bernoullis equation.
An equivalent section is calculated for the heat
exchanger section through which the exhaust gas
circulates.
3.3
Calculations for the capacitive elements
An energy balance is obtained by applying the first

principle of thermodynamics in open systems. The
following equation is obtained by neglecting kinetic
and potential energy terms and assuming that the
gas is perfect and homogeneous
X
dT
1 dQ dW
_
_ l hl
Q
m
dt
Mcv dt
dt
lin,out
!
(1)
T dM
M dt
(a) regular and singular pressure losses;

(b) operating characteristics of the fan;
(c) gas thermodynamic properties.
From a spatial perspective, the wave length characterizing the pressure wave propagation with a frequency of ,7 Hz is rather large in comparison with
the boiler dimensions. This leads the following
assumptions:
(a) the thermodynamic values vary simultaneously
in the vessel (capacitive aspect);
(b) the fluid can be assumed to be uncompressible
within the pipes (inertial aspect).
Fig. 6
Modelling of the gas feeding system

874
Fig. 7 Spatial discretization of the system using capacitive and inertial elements
Assuming that the gas is homogeneous, the mass

equilibrium in a given volume is the following
X
dM
_l
m
dt
lin,out
modified using the experimental measurements of

the pressure losses through the various elements of
the system.
(2)
3.5
The pressure is obtained using Mayers relation for

perfect gas as follows
P
MRT
V
(3)
Air and exhaust gas thermodynamic

properties
Variation of the excess air within a volume is

obtained using the mass equilibrium of each specie
assuming that the volume is homogeneous
e
3.4
Calculations for inertial elements
The instantaneous mass flow through the pipes is

obtained using the momentum equation for a noncompressible fluid while modelling the friction
forces with a pressure loss. The rate of change of
the mass flow as a function of time is the following
_
dm
S
(Pin DP Pout )
dt
L
(4)
where DP represents the pressure variations related

to resistive elements (regular or singular pressure
losses) or driving elements (fan).
Assuming a quasi-stationary variation of the
system variables, the pressure losses can be
expressed as follows
r D2
DP j 2
2 S
(5)
The various discharge coefficients were evaluated

using the tables provided by Idlcik [16]. They were
Ma
1
Mg Rsto
(6)
The air and exhaust gas mass enthalpy and the

specific heat at constant pressure are computed
using the molar specific heat and enthalpy of O2,
N2, CO2, and H2O provided by polynomial
regressions obtained from the tables available in
reference [17]. The equilibrium equation of the
chemical reaction describing the combustion of
gas with excess air is obtained assuming that the
combustion is complete.
3.6
Determination of the fan operating point
The operation map of the fan obtained from experimental measurements is stored in matrix form.
Interpolation is used to determine the pressure variations as a function of the mass flow and speed. The
variations are transposed to take into account the
difference between reference and actual conditions.
Newtons second law applied to the fan provided
the fan speed as a function of time.

3.7
875
Mass flow through a section
The mass flow through a real or equivalent orifice

is provided by Bernoullis equation for a noncompressible fluid and Barre Saint-Venants
equations for a compressible fluid. Barre SaintVenants equation for a subsonic flow is the following

Pin
_ Cd S
m
Rk Tin
v
"
#
u
u2 g Pin 2=gk Pin gk 1=gk
k

t
gk 1 Pout
Pout
Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of the heat exchange
(7)
Bernoullis equation is expressed as follows
_ Cd S
m
3.8
p
Pin Pout
(8)
Exchangers heat exchange
The water to be heated takes the energy contained in

the combustion products by going through a counter-flow heat exchanger, as shown in Fig. 8. References [18] and [19] provide little information on
transient heat exchanges (non-stationary conduction
during the establishment of a steady state) and no
information on the convective exchanges during
transients.
The following assumptions are proposed.
1. The instantaneous heat exchange, assumed to be
quasi-stationary, is provided by the steady state
equations.
2. Given the thermal inertia associated with the
water mass, the water inlet temperature is only
dependent on the systems average conditions.
Balancing the power provided by the exhaust gas
with the power gained by the water allows for the
evaluation of the average water temperature at the
heat exchanger outlet (Fig. 9)
T ch
eau
_ f
Cpf m
Tfr
Fig. 8
(T ch f T fr f )
_ eau
Cpeau reau m
(9)
eau
The global exchange coefficient per square metre is

obtained, assuming that the tube thickness is small
and the copper conductive coefficient is significantly larger than the fluid/wall convective coefficients. The evaluation of the convective exchange
coefficients is semi-empirical [18]. The forced
convective exchange coefficient is obtained from
Hilperts table in the case of an air flow that is
perpendicular to a pipe [18].
A similar formulation is derived for the convective
exchange coefficient within the tubes using experimental data. In addition, the speed of the water
flow within the tube is assumed to be constant.
The instantaneous thermal power is expressed as
follows
a1 a2 v0:5
Sech Fech
a1 a2 v0:5

Tch f Tfr eau Tch eau Tfr f

ln [(Tch f Tch eau )=(Tfr f Tfr eau )]
where Fech is a corrective coefficient to account for

the heat exchanger type (counter flow). This coefficient depends on the temperature gradient and can
be assumed to be equal to 1 in the case being investigated. a1 and a2 are derived from the experiment
using the mass flow of the exhaust gas, the power
being exchanged, and the measured temperatures
for two steady states.
3.9
Schematic diagram of an heat exchanger with

two passes
(10)
Modelling of the unsteady heat exchange

associated with the combustion
The analysis of experimental results showed the

predominant role played by the unsteady heat release
in the occurrence of instabilities [1]. As a result,
a special focus was placed on the heat exchange.
A first investigation was conducted with a Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code in the objective
of characterizing a partially premixed burner and,
in particular, the transfer of the various species as

876
well as the variations of composition [1]. The analysis

of the flow inside a burner arm which was achieved
with the Fluent CFD code [20] showed a reduction
of the unsteady gas flow signal between the inlet
and outlet. Consequently, the following modelling
based on two parameters was selected:
(a) a damping coefficient linking the amplitude of
the composition fluctuations at the inlet and at
the outlet;
(b) a delay associated with the transfer time of the
composition fluctuations.
The mass flow of the gas reaching the flame is then
the following
_ g amor [m
_ g ]
_ gfl m
_ gin (t t) m
m
in
in
(11)
A phenomenological model of the delay is also

proposed. The selected control parameters are
associated with the gas velocity (injector diameter
and average mass flow), the air velocity (average
total volume flow), and the burner arm geometry
(length and equivalent section). The coefficients b1,
b2, and a are evaluated through a parametric investigation comparing computed and experimental
results for specific operating points
ta
Diam2inj
4
_ bg 1 Dba 2
p L Sbras m
(12)
Finally, a fundamental study of the flame kinetic

was performed in order to evaluate the relationship
between the composition fluctuations at the flame
source (at the burner arm outlet) and the unsteady
heat release. The objective was to determine under
certain assumptions the transfer function linking
heat release and variation of composition using
an approach similar to Ducruixs approach [21]
regarding speed fluctuations. The heat release was
determined to be directly proportional to the instantaneous gas flow at the flame
_ m
_ gfl PCI
Q
3.10
(13)
Resolution
A simulation language called Advanced Continuous

Simulation Language (ACSL) was selected to model
the system being investigated [22]. This language
was specifically developed for the simulation of
time-dependent processes described by differential
equations or transfer functions. An explicit
description of the model as a function of time is
not required to solve the differential equations. The
selected integration algorithm is the Runge Kutta

fourth-order algorithm.
4
4.1
VALIDATION
Steady state
The model validation was performed by comparing

simulated and experimental results for the following
five variables:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
pressure within the sealed vessel;

air flow;
boiler efficiency;
heat exchanger outlet temperature;
fan average speed.
The objective is the determination of the variation

trend and amplitude rather than the exact value of
the variable being considered, which would be
hardly achievable given the proposed assumptions.
The simulation runs are conducted by setting the
injection pressure in order to reach the boilers
rated power. Figure 10 shows the simulated and
measured relative pressure of the sealed vessel,
heat exchanger outlet temperature, fan speed, and
air flow as a function of the exhaust pipe length.
The remaining control parameters and, in particular,
the air pipe length are kept constant.
A fairly good agreement is achieved from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. As shown by
the experimental results, the pressure in the sealed
vessel increases with the exhaust pipe length.
The temperature decreases when the exhaust
pipe length increases. The amplitude of the
temperature variation is of the same order as the
experimental observations. The model underestimates the experimental value by 20 K. This appears
to be acceptable given the temperatures average
value.
Qualitatively, the model properly estimates the fan
speed variation trends when the exhaust pipe length
increases. Quantitatively, the differences that are
observed between simulation and experiment can
be partially explained by the lack of an accurate calibration of the speed measuring device. In particular,
the speed of the asynchronous motor fan cannot
actually exceed 3,000 r/min.
Similar results were obtained for different variables
of the air piping system. The series of experiments
aimed at evaluating the influence of the air pipe
length and the boiler power showed a good quantitative and qualitative agreement between simulated
and measured results [1].

Fig. 10
4.2
Model validation for the influence of the exhaust pipe length on the sealed vessel relative
pressure, exchanger outlet temperature, fan speed, and air flow at the rated conditions
Unsteady state
The initial focus of the model validation is on the

influence of the geometry (exhaust and air pipe
lengths) on the systems behaviour at the rated conditions. Figure 11 shows a comparison between
simulated and experimentally observed stability
Fig. 11
877
Comparison
between
simulation
and
experiment at the rated conditions for the
stability domain as a function of the exhaust
and air pipe lengths
domains. This figure shows a sufficient agreement

between numerical and experimental results. In particular, the presence of an exhaust pipe length range
for which the system is unstable is properly predicted
for all unstable lengths of the air pipe. Furthermore, a
good agreement between simulated and experimental results is achieved with respect to the existence of
an air pipe length limit beyond which no instabilities
are observed across the range of exhaust pipe lengths
that were experimentally tested. This length limit is
slightly underestimated by the model. For a given
air pipe length, the predicted range of exhaust pipe
lengths for which the system is unstable is higher
than the experimentally observed range; however,
the range width is properly evaluated by the model.
Figure 12 shows the computed pressure oscillation
characteristics in terms of amplitude and frequency.
Even though a comparison for a given exhaust pipe
length is not significant since predicted and
measured stability domains are different, a comparison between the amplitudes of simulated and
measured pressure oscillations shows that they are
of the same order of magnitude.
Calculated frequencies are similar to the frequencies obtained after treating the measured pressure

878
Fig. 12
Comparison between simulation and experiment for the oscillation frequency and
amplitude as a function of the exhaust pipe length
signal. Again, the poor agreement between the

measured and predicted stability domains makes it
difficult to compare the results for a given exhaust
pipe length. The simulated frequency is slightly overestimated; however, the variation amplitudes of
observed and calculated frequencies are similar for
a given variation amplitude of the exhaust pipe
length in the narrow range being investigated.
A comparison for the oscillation amplitudes of the
gas mass flow and air volume flow shows a good
qualitative agreement between calculated and
measured values. As an example, Fig. 13 shows the
gas mass flow and air volume flow oscillation amplitudes as a function of the exhaust pipe length for an
air pipe length of 10 m. Similar results were obtained
for other air pipe lengths [1]. For a given length, the
simulation results show the existence of a maximum
oscillation amplitude located near the middle of the
instability zone.
From a quantitative perspective, the oscillations order of magnitude for the gas mass flow
Fig. 13
(10 per cent) and air volume flow (20 per cent) is
properly estimated by the model; however, the comparison of the maximum amplitudes shows an overestimation that reaches 30 per cent for the gas flow and
45 per cent for the air flow.
Finally, the variations of the fan speed are around
30 r/min for the most critical configurations. This
result is similar to what is experimentally observed.
The temperature oscillations are very small as indicated by the lack of significant temperature oscillations in the experimental measurements [1].
Another control parameter of interest is the injector diameters, as illustrated by Fig. 14. The model
shows a good agreement with experimental observations. The oscillation amplitude increases with
the injectors diameter. Quantitatively, the model
appears to be very reactive with respect to modifications of the injector diameter. This results in an
overestimation of the oscillation amplitudes. The
increase of the oscillation amplitude with the injectors diameter can be explained by a reduction in
Gas mass flow and air volume flow oscillation amplitudes versus exhaust pipe length
comparison between simulation and experiment

879
observed in the air pipe length versus exhaust pipe

length domain. The effect of the air temperature
can be linked to a modification of the systems
aero-acoustic balance through the variation of the
air density.
The instability zone in the air pipe length versus
exhaust pipe length domain decreases with the
inlet pipe diameter. For a given diameter of 0.07 m,
all configurations are stable.
5
Fig. 14
CONCLUSION
Pressure signal amplitude versus injector

diameter at rated power
The proposed model for the simulation of a domestic

sealed boiler achieved the following significant
results.
the pressure difference between the combustion

chamber and the gas rail. Reducing the injection
pressure is indeed necessary to make up for the
increase of the injectors diameter in order to maintain the rated power. Consequently, for given oscillations of the combustion chamber pressure, the
decrease of the injection pressure boost results in a
higher variation of the gas flow and thus a larger
unsteady heat release. On the contrary, a reduction
of the injectors diameter decreases the gas mass
flow sensitivity with respect to interferences in the
combustion chamber pressure and thus contributes
to a better stability of the system.
1. The model properly estimates the influence of the

exhaust and air pipe lengths even though differences are observed in the location of the simulated and observed stability domains.
2. Experimentally observed trends regarding the
influence of the injection system (injectors
diameters, equivalent burner arm length) are
confirmed by the simulation.
3. The computed amplitudes and frequencies are in
agreement with the measured values.
4.3
Predictive investigations
The model was used as a predictive tool for testing

the influence on the system stability of certain parameters such as the ambient air temperature and
the inlet pipe diameter, as shown in Fig. 15. Significant modifications of the instability zone can be
These results show that the model is able to predict

the existence of low-frequency instabilities, thus
validating the approach being used. In addition, the
model can globally provide the system sensitivity
with respect to the investigated control parameters;
however, the differences that are observed regarding
the stability domain and the influence of the appliance power show the need for improving the modelling of the flow in the burner arm using experimental
and numerical investigations specifically developed
for a burner arm. This is a required condition for
Fig. 15 Variation of the stability domain as a function of the ambient air temperature and inlet
pipe diameter

880
improving the reliability of the simulation model in

the objective of aiding the design of new products.
Finally, an example of the model predictive
capabilities was presented. The results show that
modifying the exhaust pipe diameter can prevent
the occurrence of low-frequency combustion
instabilities.
12
13
14
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank Saunier-Duval for
their technical and financial support.
15
16
REFERENCES
17
1 Etchebarne, T. Contribution a` letude des phenome`nes
instables dans une chaudie`re a` gaz domestique. PhD
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and Tauzia, X. Experimental study and simulation of
combustion system instabilities in premixed gas boilers, ESDA Conference (ASME), Istanbul, Turkey, July
2002, ATF-001.
3 Janus, M. C. and Richards, A. Model for premixed combustion oscillations, paper no. DOE/METC/C296/7235,
Advanced turbine systems combustion workshop, 1996.
4 Paschereit, C. O. and Polifke, W. Investigation of the
thermoacoustic characteristics of a lean premixed gas
turbine burner. International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exposition, Stockholm, Sweden,
2 5, June 1998, ASME 98-GT-582.
5 Lieuwen, T. Investigation of combustion instability
mechanisms in premixed gas turbines. PhD Thesis,
Georgia Institute of Technology, August 1999.
6 Peracchio, A. A. and Proscia, W. M. Nonlinear heatrelease/ acoustic model for thermoacoustic instability
in lean premixed combustors. J. Eng. Gas Turbines
Power, 1999, 121, 415 421.
7 Gysling, D. L., Copeland, G. S., McCormick, D. C., and
Proscia, W. M. Combustion system damping augmentation with Helmholtz resonators. J. Eng. Gas Turbines
Power, 2000, 122, 269 274.
8 Hobson, D. E., Fackrell, J. E., and Hewitt, G.
Combustion instabilities in industrial gas turbines
measurements on operating plant and thermoacoustic
modeling. J. Eng. Gas Turbines power, 2000, 122, 420
428.
9 Helley, L. E. Etude theorique et experimentale des insta leur
bilites de combustion et de leur controle dans un bru
laminaire pre melange. PhD Thesis, Ecole Centrale
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of the coupling between the vorticity and the pressure
oscillations in combustion instability. 25th Joint Propulsion Conference, 10 12 July 1989, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics-89-2665.
11 Barr, P. K., Keller, J. O., and Bramlette, T. T. Pulse
combustor
modeling :
demonstration
of
the
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importance of characteristic times. Combust. Flame,

1990, 82, 252 269.
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1995, ASME 95-GT-336.
Ducruix, S. Dynamique des interactions Acoustique 2
Combustion. PhD Thesis, Ecole Centrale Paris, 1999.
Steele, R. C., Cowell, L. H., Cannon, S. M., and Smith,
C. E. Passive control of combustion instability in lean
premixed combustors. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power,
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Paxson, D. E. A Sectored-one-dimensional model for
simulating combustion instabilities in premix combustors. AIAA paper 2000-0313, January 2000.
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experimental determinations of the transfer function of
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AEGIS Simulation ACSL reference manual, 1999.
APPENDIX
Notation
amor
Cd
Cv
D
Diam
e
Fech
I
L
L
_
m
M
n 1, n 2
P
PCI
_
Q
Q
R
Rsto
damping coefficient
discharge coefficient of the orifice
specific heat at constant volume (J/kg)
volume flow (m3/s)
diameter (m)
excess air
corrective coefficient
fan inertia (kg m2)
length (m)
equivalent length of the burner arm (m)
mass flow (kg/s)
mass (kg)
number of carbon and hydrogen atoms
in the gas
pressure (Pa)
lower calorific value (J/kg)
combustion heat release (W)
heat exchanged by the system with the
outside (J)
mayers gas constant (J/kg K)
stoichiometric mass ratio

S
Sech
t
T
V
W
surface (m2)
heat exchange surface (m2)
time (s)
temperature (K)
volume (m3)
total mechanical work of the system (J)
a 1, a 2
g
r
t
c
j
coefficients
specific heat ratio
density (kg/m3)
delay (s)
exchanged thermal power (W)
discharge coefficient
881
Subscripts
a
bras
ch
eau
f
fl
fr
g
in
inj
k
out
air
burner arm
warm
water
exhaust gas
flame
cold
gas
inlet
injection system
specie k
outlet


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Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical

Engineers, Part A: http://pia.sagepub.com/

An investigation of instability in a domestic gas boiler by simulation

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

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An investigation of instability in a domestic

A study published by the Energy Observatory in

Corresponding author: Laboratoire de Mecanique des Fluides,

combined with low-frequency pressure oscillations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM AND ITS

JPE162 # IMechE 2006

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part A: J. Power and Energy

X Tauzia, T Etchebarne, P Chesse, J-F Hetet and D Chalet

boiler rated at 28 kW. This type of boiler comprises

Table 1 Boiler main dimensions

A series of experiments is conducted to characterize

Investigated system location of the sensors

(a) an amplitude of more than 100 Pa;

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part A: J. Power and Energy

An investigation of instability in a domestic gas boiler

Burner overview and details

The main variables that are measured are the

variables. In addition, the influence of the control

JPE162 # IMechE 2006

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part A: J. Power and Energy

X Tauzia, T Etchebarne, P Chesse, J-F Hetet and D Chalet

Comparison between stable and unstable gas

delay between gas injection and combustion heat

A survey of the numerous combustion instability

Algorithm for choosing the modelling of the flow dynamics

JPE162 # IMechE 2006

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part A: J. Power and Energy

An investigation of instability in a domestic gas boiler

assumption for pipes). The calculated values are

A model based on a system approach is proposed

Calculations for the capacitive elements

An energy balance is obtained by applying the first

(a) regular and singular pressure losses;

JPE162 # IMechE 2006

Modelling of the gas feeding system

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part A: J. Power and Energy

X Tauzia, T Etchebarne, P Chesse, J-F Hetet and D Chalet

Assuming that the gas is homogeneous, the mass

modified using the experimental measurements of

The pressure is obtained using Mayers relation for

Air and exhaust gas thermodynamic

Variation of the excess air within a volume is

Calculations for inertial elements

The instantaneous mass flow through the pipes is

where DP represents the pressure variations related

The various discharge coefficients were evaluated

The air and exhaust gas mass enthalpy and the

Determination of the fan operating point

Proc. IMechE Vol. 220 Part A: J. Power and Energy

An investigation of instability in a domestic gas boiler

Mass flow through a section

The mass flow through a real or equivalent orifice

Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of the heat exchange

Exchangers heat exchange

The water to be heated takes the energy contained in

The global exchange coefficient per square metre is

where Fech is a corrective coefficient to account for

Schematic diagram of an heat exchanger with