Two-time correlation of heat release rate and spectrum of combustion noise from turbulent premixed flames

• The two-time heat release rate correlation dictates combustion noise spectrum.
• The two-time correlation function can be modeled by Gaussian-type functions.
• The two-time correlation model captures low-frequency sources of combustion noise.
• Turbulent flame time scales capture the noise spectral features reasonably well.
• Convective time scales are promising time scales yet need further verification.

The spectral characteristics of combustion noise are dictated by the temporal correlation of the overall change of heat release rate fluctuations which has not received sufficient attention in prior studies. In this work, the two-time correlation of the volumetric heat release rate fluctuations within the flame brush and its role in modeling combustion noise spectrum are investigated by analyzing direct numerical simulation (DNS) data of turbulent premixed V-flames. This two-time correlation can be well represented by Gaussian-type functions and it captures the slow global variation of the fluctuating heat release rate and hence the low-frequency noise sources of unsteady combustion. The resulting correlation model is applied to predict the far-field noise spectrum from test open flames, and different reference time scales are used to scale this correlation from the DNS data to the test flames. The comparison between predictions and measurements indicates that the correlation models of all reference time scales are capable of reproducing the essential spectral shape including the low- and high-frequency dependencies. Reasonable agreement in the peak frequency, peak sound pressure level, and the Strouhal number scaling of peak frequency is also achieved for two turbulent time scales. A promising convective time scale shows great potential for characterizing the spectral features, yet its predictive capabilities are to be further verified through a longer DNS signal of a bounded flame configuration.