Development of a Piezoelectric-actuated Fuel Modulation System for Active Combustion Control

The development and testing of a liquid-fuel modulation system for active combustion control applications is presented. This article focuses primarily on the actuator selection process, discussing the tradeoffs between high-bandwidth electromagnetic actuators, piezoelectric stacks, and magnetostrictive actuators. The comparison shows that a piezoelectric stack is the best candidate for our combustion control system due to its compact size, bandwidth capabilities, and relatively low cost. Using a piezoelectric stack, the fuel modulation system was capable of modulating more than 75% of the mean flow rate and successfully stabilized a single-nozzle kerosene combustor.