diagnostics

Combustion noise

Combustion has no characteristic frequency; the peaks in the acoustic spectrum are the results of the flame-flow interactions. Since current regulations and dynamic loading capability needs online control, fast-acting sensors, such as photosensors and microphones, are essential. The combination of the two allows flame stability analysis via the Rayleigh index, i.e., if there is positive feedback between the pressure field and the heat release.

cooled microphone_section
Liquid-cooled socket for the microphone
wcoherence
Wavelet coherence of the pressure and heat release signals

Fundamental techniques

Low-frequency signals can be evaluated in the temporal space, while high-frequency temporal signals capture rich details of the ongoing phenomena, enabling advanced spectral and statistical analysis for maximum information content.

For spectral analysis, FFT is the classical tool. However, combustion noise complies better with multiresolution techniques since the low-frequency peaks are well-localized, while the temporal evolution of the broadband roar is also critical. Therefore, wavelet transform comes in handy – at an increased computational cost.

 

High-speed imaging

Our research work in high-speed imaging was confined to our collaboration with the Brno University of Technology until 2025. However, we acquired a Photron NOVA S6 in early 2026, which enables new frontiers for us in combustion research. A highlighted property of the camera is it can be upgraded up to 16,000 frames/second from the current 6,400 frames/second speed later.

This camera is essential in tracking dynamic features in both direct and Schlieren imaging to characterize turbulence, flow field, and heat release.
HS_cam
The recently acquired high-speed camera