Observer-based control of vortex motion in a combustor recirculation region

Established paradigms for observers design are yet a missing component in efforts to introduce feedback control of turbulent flows. This case study concerns tracking a reference orbit in a combustor recirculation zone. Actuation is by perturbations of a corner potential, and the sensed output is fluid velocity at a single boundary point. Control design is based on a single vortex model. In recognition of unquantified discrepancies between actual dynamics and the model, a simple constant gain design is a guiding principle. This restricts pointwise vortex-position estimates to a neighborhood of the rest point. Cruder information on Hamiltonian energy dynamics is obtained directly from the sensed signal, during larger deviations, and is used in a dissipative integral feedback, driving the vortex into the observable neighborhood.