Quantification of extinction mechanism in counterflow premixed flames

KAUST Repository

Choi, Sangkyu; Cho, Eunseong; Chung, Suk-Ho

2014-01-01

The extinction mechanisms of stretched premixed flames have been investigated numerically for the fuels of CH4, C3H8, H2, CO and for the mixture fuels of CH4+H2 and CO+H2 by adopting symmetric double premixed flames in a counterflow configuration

Near-field local flame extinction of Oxy-Syngas non-premixed jet flames : a DNS study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ranga Dinesh, K.K.J.; Oijen, van J.A.; Luo, Kai; Jiang, X.

2014-01-01

An investigation of the local flame extinction of H2/CO oxy-syngas and syngas-air nonpremixed jet flames was carried out using three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) with detailed chemistry by using flamelet generated manifold chemistry (FGM). The work has two main objectives: identify

Edge flame instability in low-strain-rate counterflow diffusion flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, June Sung; Hwang, Dong Jin; Park, Jeong; Kim, Jeong Soo; Kim, Sungcho [School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Sunchon National University, 315 Maegok-dong, Suncheon, Jeonnam 540-742 (Korea, Republic of); Keel, Sang In [Environment & amp; Energy Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, P.O. Box 101, Yusung-gu, Taejon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Tae Kwon [School of Mechanical & amp; Automotive Engineering, Keimyung University, 1000 Sindang-dong, Dalseo-gu, Daegu 704-701 (Korea, Republic of); Noh, Dong Soon [Energy System Research Department, Korea Institute of Energy Research, 71-2 Jang-dong, Yusung-gu, Taejon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of)

2006-09-15

Experiments in low-strain-rate methane-air counterflow diffusion flames diluted with nitrogen have been conducted to study flame extinction behavior and edge flame oscillation in which flame length is less than the burner diameter and thus lateral conductive heat loss, in addition to radiative loss, could be high at low global strain rates. The critical mole fraction at flame extinction is examined in terms of velocity ratio and global strain rate. Onset conditions of the edge flame oscillation and the relevant modes are also provided with global strain rate and nitrogen mole fraction in the fuel stream or in terms of fuel Lewis number. It is observed that flame length is intimately relevant to lateral heat loss, and this affects flame extinction and edge flame oscillation considerably. Lateral heat loss causes flame oscillation even at fuel Lewis number less than unity. Edge flame oscillations, which result from the advancing and retreating edge flame motion of the outer flame edge of low-strain-rate flames, are categorized into three modes: a growing, a decaying, and a harmonic-oscillation mode. A flame stability map based on the flame oscillation modes is also provided for low-strain-rate flames. The important contribution of lateral heat loss even to edge flame oscillation is clarified finally. (author)

Nonpremixed flame in a counterflow under electric fields

KAUST Repository

Park, Daegeun

2016-01-01

Electrically assisted combustion has been studied in order to control or improve flame characteristics, and emphasizing efficiency and emission regulation. Many phenomenological observations have been reported on the positive impact of electric

Effects of DME mixing on number density and size properties of soot particles in counterflow non-premixed ethylene flames

KAUST Repository

Choi, J. H.

2015-05-01

In order to investigate the effect of DME mixing on the number density and size of soot particles, DME was mixed in a counter flow non-premixed ethylene flame with mixture ratios of 5%, 14% and 30%. A laser extinction/scattering technique has been adopted to measure the volume fraction, number density, and mean size of soot particles. The experimental results showed that the highest soot concentrations were observed for flames with mixture ratios of 5% and 14%; however, for a mixture ratio of 30% the soot concentration decreased. Numerical results showed that the concentrations of propargyl radicals (C3H3) at the 5% and 14% ratios were higher than those measured in the ethylene-based flame, and the production of benzene (C6H6) in the 5% and 14% DME mixture flames was also increased. This indicates the crucial role of propargyl in benzene ring formation. These reactions generally become stronger with increased DME mixing, except for A1- + H2 → A1 + H (-R554) and n-C4H5 + C2H2 → A1 + H (R542). Therefore, it is indicated that adding DME to ethylene flames promotes benzene ring formation. Note that although the maximum C6H6 concentration is largest in the 30% DME mixing flame, the soot volume fraction is smaller than those for the 5% and 14% mixture ratios. This is because the local C6H6 concentration decreases in the relatively low temperature region in the fuel side where soot growth occurs. © 2015, The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Effects of DME mixing on number density and size properties of soot particles in counterflow non-premixed ethylene flames

KAUST Repository

Choi, J. H.; Choi, B. C.; Lee, S. M.; Chung, Suk-Ho; Jung, K. S.; Jeong, W. L.; Choi, S. K.; Park, S. K.

2015-01-01

In order to investigate the effect of DME mixing on the number density and size of soot particles, DME was mixed in a counter flow non-premixed ethylene flame with mixture ratios of 5%, 14% and 30%. A laser extinction/scattering technique has been adopted to measure the volume fraction, number density, and mean size of soot particles. The experimental results showed that the highest soot concentrations were observed for flames with mixture ratios of 5% and 14%; however, for a mixture ratio of 30% the soot concentration decreased. Numerical results showed that the concentrations of propargyl radicals (C3H3) at the 5% and 14% ratios were higher than those measured in the ethylene-based flame, and the production of benzene (C6H6) in the 5% and 14% DME mixture flames was also increased. This indicates the crucial role of propargyl in benzene ring formation. These reactions generally become stronger with increased DME mixing, except for A1- + H2 → A1 + H (-R554) and n-C4H5 + C2H2 → A1 + H (R542). Therefore, it is indicated that adding DME to ethylene flames promotes benzene ring formation. Note that although the maximum C6H6 concentration is largest in the 30% DME mixing flame, the soot volume fraction is smaller than those for the 5% and 14% mixture ratios. This is because the local C6H6 concentration decreases in the relatively low temperature region in the fuel side where soot growth occurs. © 2015, The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

A NEW DOUBLE-SLIT CURVED WALL-JET (CWJ) BURNER FOR STABILIZING TURBULENT PREMIXED AND NON-PREMIXED FLAMES

KAUST Repository

Mansour, Morkous S.; Chung, Suk-Ho

2015-01-01

Mixing characteristics in the cold flow of non-premixed cases were first examined using acetone fluorescence technique, indicating substantial transport between the fuel and air by exhibiting appreciable premixing conditions.PIV measurements revealed that velocity gradients in the shear layers at the boundaries of the annularjets generate the turbulence, enhanced with the collisions in the interaction jet, IJ,region. Turbulent mean and rms velocities were influenced significantly by Re and high rms turbulent velocities are generated within the recirculation zone improving the flame stabilization in this burner.Premixed and non-premixed flames with high equivalence ratio were found to be more resistant to local extinction and exhibited a more corrugated and folded nature, particularly at high Re. For flames with low equivalence ratio, the processes of local quenching at IJ region and of re-ignition within merged jet region maintained these flames further downstream particularly for non-premixed methane flame, revealing a strong intermittency.

Tabulated Combustion Model Development For Non-Premixed Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Kundu, Prithwish

Turbulent non-premixed flames play a very important role in the field of engineering ranging from power generation to propulsion. The coupling of fluid mechanics and complicated combustion chemistry of fuels pose a challenge for the numerical modeling of these type of problems. Combustion modeling in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is one of the most important tools used for predictive modeling of complex systems and to understand the basic fundamentals of combustion. Traditional combustion models solve a transport equation of each species with a source term. In order to resolve the complex chemistry accurately it is important to include a large number of species. However, the computational cost is generally proportional to the cube of number of species. The presence of a large number of species in a flame makes the use of CFD computationally expensive and beyond reach for some applications or inaccurate when solved with simplified chemistry. For highly turbulent flows, it also becomes important to incorporate the effects of turbulence chemistry interaction (TCI). The aim of this work is to develop high fidelity combustion models based on the flamelet concept and to significantly advance the existing capabilities. A thorough investigation of existing models (Finite-rate chemistry and Representative Interactive Flamelet (RIF)) and comparative study of combustion models was done initially on a constant volume combustion chamber with diesel fuel injection. The CFD modeling was validated with experimental results and was also successfully applied to a single cylinder diesel engine. The effect of number of flamelets on the RIF model and flamelet initialization strategies were studied. The RIF model with multiple flamelets is computationally expensive and a model was proposed on the frame work of RIF. The new model was based on tabulated chemistry and incorporated TCI effects. A multidimensional tabulated chemistry database generation code was developed based on the 1

Inadequacy representation of flamelet-based RANS model for turbulent non-premixed flame

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Myoungkyu; Oliver, Todd; Moser, Robert

2017-11-01

Stochastic representations for model inadequacy in RANS-based models of non-premixed jet flames are developed and explored. Flamelet-based RANS models are attractive for engineering applications relative to higher-fidelity methods because of their low computational costs. However, the various assumptions inherent in such models introduce errors that can significantly affect the accuracy of computed quantities of interest. In this work, we develop an approach to represent the model inadequacy of the flamelet-based RANS model. In particular, we pose a physics-based, stochastic PDE for the triple correlation of the mixture fraction. This additional uncertain state variable is then used to construct perturbations of the PDF for the instantaneous mixture fraction, which is used to obtain an uncertain perturbation of the flame temperature. A hydrogen-air non-premixed jet flame is used to demonstrate the representation of the inadequacy of the flamelet-based RANS model. This work was supported by DARPA-EQUiPS(Enabling Quantification of Uncertainty in Physical Systems) program.

A NEW DOUBLE-SLIT CURVED WALL-JET (CWJ) BURNER FOR STABILIZING TURBULENT PREMIXED AND NON-PREMIXED FLAMES

KAUST Repository

Mansour, Morkous S.

2015-06-30

A novel double-slit curved wall-jet (CWJ) burner was proposed and employed, which utilizes the Coanda effect by supplying fuel and air as annular-inward jets over a curved surface. We investigated the stabilization characteristics and structure of methane/air, and propane/air turbulent premixed and non-premixed flames with varying global equivalence ratio, , and Reynolds number, Re. Simultaneous time-resolved measurements of particle image velocimetry and planar laser-induced fluorescence of OH radicals were conducted. The burner showed potential for stable operation for methane flames with relatively large fuel loading and overall rich conditions. These have a non-sooting nature. However, propane flames exhibit stable mode for a wider range of equivalence ratio and Re. Mixing characteristics in the cold flow of non-premixed cases were first examined using acetone fluorescence technique, indicating substantial transport between the fuel and air by exhibiting appreciable premixing conditions.PIV measurements revealed that velocity gradients in the shear layers at the boundaries of the annularjets generate the turbulence, enhanced with the collisions in the interaction jet, IJ,region. Turbulent mean and rms velocities were influenced significantly by Re and high rms turbulent velocities are generated within the recirculation zone improving the flame stabilization in this burner.Premixed and non-premixed flames with high equivalence ratio were found to be more resistant to local extinction and exhibited a more corrugated and folded nature, particularly at high Re. For flames with low equivalence ratio, the processes of local quenching at IJ region and of re-ignition within merged jet region maintained these flames further downstream particularly for non-premixed methane flame, revealing a strong intermittency.

Numerical study of laminar nonpremixed methane flames in coflow jets: Autoignited lifted flames with tribrachial edges and MILD combustion at elevated temperatures

KAUST Repository

M. Al-Noman, Saeed; Choi, Sang Kyu; Chung, Suk-Ho

2016-01-01

Autoignition characteristics of laminar nonpremixed methane jet flames in high-temperature coflow air are studied numerically. Several flame configurations are investigated by varying the initial temperature and fuel mole fraction. At a relatively

Dynamics of flow–soot interaction in wrinkled non-premixed ethylene–air flames

KAUST Repository

Arias, Paul G.; Lecoustre, Vivien R.; Roy, Somesh; Luo, Zhaoyu; Haworth, Daniel C.; Lu, Tianfeng; Trouvé , Arnaud; Im, Hong G.

2015-01-01

A two-dimensional simulation of a non-premixed ethylene–air flame was conducted by employing a detailed gas-phase reaction mechanism considering polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, an aerosol-dynamics-based soot model using a method of moments

Understanding and predicting soot generation in turbulent non-premixed jet flames.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Hai (University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA); Kook, Sanghoon; Doom, Jeffrey; Oefelein, Joseph Charles; Zhang, Jiayao; Shaddix, Christopher R.; Schefer, Robert W.; Pickett, Lyle M.

2010-10-01

This report documents the results of a project funded by DoD's Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) on the science behind development of predictive models for soot emission from gas turbine engines. Measurements of soot formation were performed in laminar flat premixed flames and turbulent non-premixed jet flames at 1 atm pressure and in turbulent liquid spray flames under representative conditions for takeoff in a gas turbine engine. The laminar flames and open jet flames used both ethylene and a prevaporized JP-8 surrogate fuel composed of n-dodecane and m-xylene. The pressurized turbulent jet flame measurements used the JP-8 surrogate fuel and compared its combustion and sooting characteristics to a world-average JP-8 fuel sample. The pressurized jet flame measurements demonstrated that the surrogate was representative of JP-8, with a somewhat higher tendency to soot formation. The premixed flame measurements revealed that flame temperature has a strong impact on the rate of soot nucleation and particle coagulation, but little sensitivity in the overall trends was found with different fuels. An extensive array of non-intrusive optical and laser-based measurements was performed in turbulent non-premixed jet flames established on specially designed piloted burners. Soot concentration data was collected throughout the flames, together with instantaneous images showing the relationship between soot and the OH radical and soot and PAH. A detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for ethylene combustion, including fuel-rich chemistry and benzene formation steps, was compiled, validated, and reduced. The reduced ethylene mechanism was incorporated into a high-fidelity LES code, together with a moment-based soot model and models for thermal radiation, to evaluate the ability of the chemistry and soot models to predict soot formation in the jet diffusion flame. The LES results highlight the importance of including an optically-thick radiation

Soot formation characteristics of gasoline surrogate fuels in counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Choi, Byungchul; Choi, Sangkyu; Chung, Suk-Ho

2011-01-01

The characteristics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and soot for gasoline surrogate fuels have been investigated in counterflow diffusion flames by adopting laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and laser-induced incandescence (LII) techniques

Investigating Soot Morphology in Counterflow Flames at Elevated Pressures

KAUST Repository

Amin, Hafiz Muhammad Fahid

2018-01-01

Practical combustion devices such as gas turbines and diesel engines operate at high pressures to increase their efficiency. Pressure significantly increases the overall soot yield. Morphology of these ultra-fine particles determines their airborne lifetime and their interaction with the human respiratory system. Therefore, investigating soot morphology at high pressure is of practical relevance. In this work, a novel experimental setup has been designed and built to study the soot morphology at elevated pressures. The experimental setup consists of a pressure vessel, which can provide optical access from 10° to 165° for multi-angle light scattering, and a counterflow burner which produces laminar flames at elevated pressures. In the first part of the study, N2-diluted ethylene/air and ethane air counterflow flames are stabilized from 2 to 5 atm. Two-angle light scattering and extinction technique have been used to study the effects of pressure on soot parameters. Path averaged soot volume fraction is found to be very sensitive to pressure and increased significantly from 2 to 5 atm. Primary particle size and aggregate size also increased with pressure. Multi-angle light scattering is also performed and flames are investigated from 3 to 5 atm. Scattering to absorption ratio is calculated from multi-angle light scattering and extinction data. Scattering to absorption ratio increased with pressure whereas the number of primary particles in an aggregate decreased with increasing pressure. In the next part of the study, Thermophoretic Sampling of soot is performed, in counterflow flames from 3 to 10 atm, followed by transmission electron microscopy. Mean primary particle size increased with pressure and these trends are consistent withour light scattering measurements. Fractal properties of soot aggregates are found to be insensitive to pressure. 2D diffused light line of sight attenuation (LOSA) and Laser Induced Incandescence (LII) are used to measure local soot

Strain rate effect on sooting characteristics in laminar counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu; Chung, Suk-Ho

2016-01-01

The effects of strain rate, oxygen enrichment and fuel type on the sooting characteristics of counterflow diffusion flames were studied. The sooting structures and relative PAH concentrations were measured with laser diagnostics. Detailed soot

Experimental Observations on a Low Strain Counter-Flow Diffusion Flame: Flow and Bouyancy Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Sutula, J. A.; Torero, J. L.; Ezekoye, O. A.

1999-01-01

Diffusion flames are of great interest in fire safety and many industrial processes. The counter-flow configuration provides a constant strain flow, and therefore is ideal to study the structure of diffusion flames. Most studies have concentrated on the high velocity, high strain limit, since buoyantly induced instabilities will disintegrate the planar flame as the velocity decreases. Only recently, experimental studies in microgravity conditions have begun to explore the low strain regimes. Numerical work has shown the coupling between gas phase reaction rates, soot reaction rates, and radiation. For these programs, size, geometry and experimental conditions have been chosen to keep the flame unaffected by the physical boundaries. When the physical boundaries can not be considered infinitely far from the reaction zone discrepancies arise. A computational study that includes boundary effects and accounts for the deviations occurring when the major potential flow assumptions are relaxed was presented by Borlik et al. This development properly incorporates all heat loss terms and shows the possibility of extinction in the low strain regime. A major constraint of studying the low strain regime is buoyancy. Buoyant instabilities have been shown to have a significant effect on the nature of reactants and heat transport, and can introduce instabilities on the flow that result in phenomena such as flickering or fingering. The counter-flow configuration has been shown to provide a flame with no symmetry disrupting instabilities for inlet velocities greater than 50 mm/s. As the velocity approaches this limit, the characteristic length of the experiment has to be reduced to a few millimetres so as to keep the Rayleigh number (Ra(sub L) = (Beta)(g(sub 0))(L(exp 3) del T)/(alpha(v))) below 2000. In this work, a rectangular counter-flow burner was used to study a two-dimensional counter-flow diffusion flame. Flow visualisation and Particle Image Velocimetry served to describe

Modeling of Dissipation Element Statistics in Turbulent Non-Premixed Jet Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Denker, Dominik; Attili, Antonio; Boschung, Jonas; Hennig, Fabian; Pitsch, Heinz

2017-11-01

The dissipation element (DE) analysis is a method for analyzing and compartmentalizing turbulent scalar fields. DEs can be described by two parameters, namely the Euclidean distance l between their extremal points and the scalar difference in the respective points Δϕ . The joint probability density function (jPDF) of these two parameters P(Δϕ , l) is expected to suffice for a statistical reconstruction of the scalar field. In addition, reacting scalars show a strong correlation with these DE parameters in both premixed and non-premixed flames. Normalized DE statistics show a remarkable invariance towards changes in Reynolds numbers. This feature of DE statistics was exploited in a Boltzmann-type evolution equation based model for the probability density function (PDF) of the distance between the extremal points P(l) in isotropic turbulence. Later, this model was extended for the jPDF P(Δϕ , l) and then adapted for the use in free shear flows. The effect of heat release on the scalar scales and DE statistics is investigated and an extended model for non-premixed jet flames is introduced, which accounts for the presence of chemical reactions. This new model is validated against a series of DNS of temporally evolving jet flames. European Research Council Project ``Milestone''.

The Effects of Buoyancy on Characteristics of Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Idicheria, Cherian; Boxx, Isaac; Clemens, Noel

2002-11-01

This work addresses the influence of buoyant forces on the underlying structure of turbulent nonpremixed jet flames. Buoyancy effects are investigated by studying transitional and turbulent propane and ethylene flames (Re_D=2500-10500) at normal, low and microgravity conditions. The reduced gravity experiments are conducted by dropping a combustion rig in the University of Texas 1.25-second drop tower and the NASA Glenn 2.2-second drop tower. The diagnostic employed is high-speed luminosity imaging using a CCD camera. The images obtained are used to compare flame length, mean, RMS and flame tip oscillation characteristics The results showed that, in contrast to previous studies, the high Reynolds number flames at all gravity levels were essentially identical. Furthermore, the parameter ξL (Becker and Yamazaki, 1978) is sufficient for quantifying the effects of buoyancy on the flame characteristics. The large-scale structure and flame tip dynamics are essentially identical to those of purely momentum driven flames provided ξL is less than approximately 3.

Nitric oxide formation in H2/CO syngas non-premixed jet flames

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ranga Dinesh, K.K.J.; Richardson, E.S.; van Oijen, J.A.; Luo, K.H.; Jiang, X.

2015-01-01

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of high hydrogen content (HHC) syngas nonpremixed jet flames have been carried out to study the nitric oxide (NO) formation. The detailed chemistry employed is the GRI 3.0 updated with the influence of the NCN radical chemistry using flamelet generated manifolds

Premixed and non-premixed generated manifolds in large-eddy simulation of Sandia flame D and F

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vreman, A.W.; Albrecht, B.A.; Oijen, van J.A.; Goey, de L.P.H.; Bastiaans, R.J.M.

2008-01-01

Premixed and nonpremixed flamelet-generated manifolds have been constructed and applied to large-eddy simulation of the piloted partially premixed turbulent flames Sandia Flame D and F. In both manifolds the chemistry is parameterized as a function of the mixture fraction and a progress variable.

Flame-vortex interaction and mixing behaviors of turbulent non-premixed jet flames under acoustic forcing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Munki; Choi, Youngil; Oh, Jeongseog; Yoon, Youngbin [School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea)

2009-12-15

This study examines the effect of acoustic excitation using forced coaxial air on the flame characteristics of turbulent hydrogen non-premixed flames. A resonance frequency was selected to acoustically excite the coaxial air jet due to its ability to effectively amplify the acoustic amplitude and reduce flame length and NO{sub x} emissions. Acoustic excitation causes the flame length to decrease by 15% and consequently, a 25% reduction in EINO{sub x} is achieved, compared to coaxial air flames without acoustic excitation at the same coaxial air to fuel velocity ratio. Moreover, acoustic excitation induces periodical fluctuation of the coaxial air velocity, thus resulting in slight fluctuation of the fuel velocity. From phase-lock PIV and OH PLIF measurement, the local flow properties at the flame surface were investigated under acoustic forcing. During flame-vortex interaction in the near field region, the entrainment velocity and the flame surface area increased locally near the vortex. This increase in flame surface area and entrainment velocity is believed to be a crucial factor in reducing flame length and NO{sub x} emission in coaxial jet flames with acoustic excitation. Local flame extinction occurred frequently when subjected to an excessive strain rate, indicating that intense mass transfer of fuel and air occurs radially inward at the flame surface. (author)

A computational study of soot formation in opposed-flow diffusion flame interacting with vortices

KAUST Repository

Selvaraj, Prabhu

2017-01-05

The flame-vortex interaction enables the study of basic phenomena that control the coupling between combustion and turbulence. Employing a gas phase reaction mechanism considering polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a two dimensional counterflow ethylene-air flame is simulated. A reduced mechanism with PAH pathways that includes until coronene and method of moments with interpolative closure (MOMIC) has been employed to calculate the soot characteristics. Interaction of sooting flame with a prescribed decaying random velocity field is being investigated. Counterflow nonpremixed flames at low strain rate sooting conditions are considered. Effects of vortices are studied on the flame structures and its sensitivity on the soot formation characteristics. As the vortex rolls up the flame, integrated soot volume fraction is found to be larger for the air-side vortex. A detailed analysis on the flame structure and its influence on the formation of soot were carried out. The results indicate that the larger PAH species contributes to the soot formation in the airside perturbation regimes, whereas the soot formation is dominated by the soot transport in fuel-side perturbation.

Three-dimensional simulations of cellular non-premixed jet flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valaer, A.L.; Frouzakis, C.E.; Boulouchos, K. [Aerothermochemistry and Combustion System Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, CH-8092 Zurich (Switzerland); Papas, P. [Division of Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401 (United States); Tomboulides, A.G. [Department of Engineering and Management of Energy Resources, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani (Greece)

2010-04-15

The formation, dynamics and structure of cellular flames in circular non-premixed jets are examined with three-dimensional numerical simulations incorporating detailed descriptions of chemistry and transport. Similar to past experiments reported in the literature, CO{sub 2}-diluted hydrogen in diluted or pure oxygen co-flowing streams in the proximity of the extinction limit are considered. As in the experiments, several preferred cellular states are found to co-exist with the particular state realized depending on initial conditions as well as on the jet characteristics. The simulations provide additionally the temporal transitions to different stationary or rotating cellular flames, their detailed structure, and the dependence of the scaling of the realized number of cells with the vorticity thickness. (author)

Numerical Investigation of Soot Formation in Non-premixed Flames

KAUST Repository

Abdelgadir, Ahmed Gamaleldin

2017-05-01

Soot is a carbon particulate formed as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels. Due to the health hazard posed by the carbon particulate, government agencies have applied strict regulations to control soot emissions from road vehicles, airplanes, and industrial plants. Thus, understanding soot formation and evolution is critical. Practical combustion devices operate at high pressure and in the turbulent regime. Elevated pressures and turbulence on soot formation significantly and fundamental understanding of these complex interactions is still poor. In this study, the effects of pressure and turbulence on soot formation and growth are investigated numerically. As the first step, the evolution of the particle size distribution function (PSDF) and soot particles morphology are investigated in turbulent non-premixed flames. A Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) code is developed and used. The stochastic reactor describes the evolution of soot in fluid parcels following Lagrangian trajectories in a turbulent flow field. The trajectories are sampled from a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of an n-heptane turbulent non-premixed flame. Although individual trajectories display strong bimodality as in laminar flames, the ensemble-average PSDF possesses only one mode and a broad tail, which implies significant polydispersity induced by turbulence. Secondly, the effect of the flow and mixing fields on soot formation at atmospheric and elevated pressures is investigated in coflow laminar diffusion flames. The experimental observation and the numerical prediction of the spatial distribution are in good agreement. Based on the common scaling methodology of the flames (keeping the Reynolds number constant), the scalar dissipation rate decreases as pressure increases, promoting the formation of PAH species and soot. The decrease of the scalar dissipation rate significantly contributes to soot formation occurring closer to the nozzle and outward on the flames wings as pressure

Conical quarl swirl stabilized non-premixed flames: flame and flow field interaction

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.; Roberts, William L.

2017-01-01

The flame-flow field interaction is studied in non-premixed methane swirl flames stabilized in quartz quarl via simultaneous measurements of the flow field using a stereo PIV and OH-PLIF at 5 KHz repetition rate. Under the same swirl intensity, two flames with different fuel jet velocity were investigated. The time-averaged flow field shows a unique flow pattern at the quarl exit, where two recirculation vortices are formed; a strong recirculation zone formed far from the quarl exit and a larger recirculation zone extending inside the quarl. However, the instantaneous images show that, the flow pattern near the quarl exit plays a vital role in the spatial location and structure of the reaction zone. In the low fuel jet velocity flame, a pair of vortical structures, located precisely at the corners of the quarl exit, cause the flame to roll up into the central region of low speed flow, where the flame sheet then tracks the axial velocity fluctuations. The vorticity field reveals a vortical structure surrounding the reaction zones, which reside on a layer of low compressive strain adjacent to that vortical structure. In the high fuel jet velocity flame, initially a laminar flame sheet resides at the inner shear layer of the main jet, along the interface between incoming fresh gas and high temperature recirculating gas. Further downstream, vortex breakdown alters the flame sheet path toward the central flame region. The lower reaction zones show good correlation to the regions of maximum vorticity and track the regions of low compressive strain associated with the inner shear layer of the jet flow. In both flames the reactions zones conform the passage of the large structure while remaining inside the low speed regions or at the inner shear layer.

Conical quarl swirl stabilized non-premixed flames: flame and flow field interaction

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.

2017-09-19

The flame-flow field interaction is studied in non-premixed methane swirl flames stabilized in quartz quarl via simultaneous measurements of the flow field using a stereo PIV and OH-PLIF at 5 KHz repetition rate. Under the same swirl intensity, two flames with different fuel jet velocity were investigated. The time-averaged flow field shows a unique flow pattern at the quarl exit, where two recirculation vortices are formed; a strong recirculation zone formed far from the quarl exit and a larger recirculation zone extending inside the quarl. However, the instantaneous images show that, the flow pattern near the quarl exit plays a vital role in the spatial location and structure of the reaction zone. In the low fuel jet velocity flame, a pair of vortical structures, located precisely at the corners of the quarl exit, cause the flame to roll up into the central region of low speed flow, where the flame sheet then tracks the axial velocity fluctuations. The vorticity field reveals a vortical structure surrounding the reaction zones, which reside on a layer of low compressive strain adjacent to that vortical structure. In the high fuel jet velocity flame, initially a laminar flame sheet resides at the inner shear layer of the main jet, along the interface between incoming fresh gas and high temperature recirculating gas. Further downstream, vortex breakdown alters the flame sheet path toward the central flame region. The lower reaction zones show good correlation to the regions of maximum vorticity and track the regions of low compressive strain associated with the inner shear layer of the jet flow. In both flames the reactions zones conform the passage of the large structure while remaining inside the low speed regions or at the inner shear layer.

Electric fields effect on liftoff and blowoff of nonpremixed laminar jet flames in a coflow

KAUST Repository

Kim, Minkuk; Ryu, Seol; Won, Sanghee; Chung, Suk-Ho

2010-01-01

The stabilization characteristics of liftoff and blowoff in nonpremixed laminar jet flames in a coflow have been investigated experimentally for propane fuel by applying AC and DC electric fields to the fuel nozzle with a single

An Experimental Study of Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames in Crossflow Under Low-Gravity Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Boxx, Isaac G.; Idicheria, Cherian A.; Clemens, Noel T.

2002-11-01

We will present results of a study of turbulent nonpremixed jet flames in crossflow under normal and low gravity conditions. This enables us to experimentally separate the competing influences of initial jet-to-crossflow momentum ratio and buoyancy effects on the flame structure. The low gravity conditions (10-30 milli-g) are achieved by dropping a self-contained jet flame rig in the University of Texas 1.25-second drop tower facility. This rig uses a small blow-through wind tunnel to create the crossflow. The jet flames issue from an orifice that is flush with the wall. High-speed CCD imaging of jet flame luminosity is the primary diagnostic. We present results for hydrocarbon jet flames with initial jet-to-crossflow momentum ratios of 10-20. Results such as flame trajectory, flame length, large scale structure and flame tip dynamics will be presented.

Extinction of counterflow premixed laminar flames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smooke, M.D.; Giovangigli, V.

1987-01-01

Problems in combustion and heat and mass transfer often depend upon one or more physical/chemical parameters. In many cases the combustion scientist is interested in knowing how the solution will behave if one or more of these parameters is varied. For some parameter regimes the governing equations can produce multiple solutions and the branches of the solution curve are linked via singular points. It is at these singular points, however that the system exhibits special behavior. To be able to predict the solution structure in the neighborhood of these points, the authors employ a phase-space, pseudo arclength, continuation method that utilizes Newton-like iterations and adaptive gridding techniques. The authors apply the method in the solution of counterflow premixed laminar flames

Hydrogen-hydrocarbon turbulent non-premixed flame structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tabet, F. [ANSYS-Benelux, 4 Avenue Pasteur, B-1300 Wavre (Belgium); Sarh, B.; Goekalp, I. [Institut de Combustion, Aerothermique, Reactivite et Environnement (ICARE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 1 C avenue de la recherche scientifique, Orleans 45071 Cedex 2 (France)

2009-06-15

In this study, the structure of turbulent non-premixed CH{sub 4}-H{sub 2}/air flames is analyzed with a special emphasis on mixing and air entrainment. The amount of H{sub 2} in the fuel mixture varies under constant volumetric fuel flow. Mixing is described by mixture fraction and its variance while air entrainment is characterized by the ratio of gas mass flow to fuel mass flow at the inlet section. The flow field and the chemistry are coupled by the flamelet assumption. Mixture fraction and its variance are transported by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The slow chemistry aspect of NO{sub x} is handled by solving an additional transport equation with a source term derived from flamelet library. The results obtained show an improvement of mixing with hydrogen addition leading to a strong consumption of CH{sub 4} and a high air entrainment into the centerline region. As a global effect of this, the composite fuels burn faster and thereby reduce the residence time which ultimately shortens the flame length and thickness. On the other hand, hydrogen is found to increase NO{sub x} level. (author)

Effect of ac electric fields on counterflow diffusion flame of methane

KAUST Repository

Chul Choi, Byung

2012-08-01

The effect of electric fields on the response of diffusion flames in a counterflow has been investigated experimentally by varying the AC voltage and frequency. The result showed that the flame was stationary with high AC frequency above the threshold frequency, and it increased with the applied voltage and then leveled off at 35 Hz. Below the threshold frequency, however, the flame oscillated with a frequency that was synchronized with the applied AC frequency. This oscillation can be attributed to the ionic wind effect due to the generation of bulk flow, which arises from the momentum transfer by molecular collisions between neutral molecules and ions, where the ions in the reaction zone were accelerated by the Lorentz force. © 2012 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Effect of ac electric fields on counterflow diffusion flame of methane

KAUST Repository

Chul Choi, Byung; Kuk Kim, Hyung; Chung, Suk-Ho

2012-01-01

The effect of electric fields on the response of diffusion flames in a counterflow has been investigated experimentally by varying the AC voltage and frequency. The result showed that the flame was stationary with high AC frequency above the threshold frequency, and it increased with the applied voltage and then leveled off at 35 Hz. Below the threshold frequency, however, the flame oscillated with a frequency that was synchronized with the applied AC frequency. This oscillation can be attributed to the ionic wind effect due to the generation of bulk flow, which arises from the momentum transfer by molecular collisions between neutral molecules and ions, where the ions in the reaction zone were accelerated by the Lorentz force. © 2012 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Quantification of extinction mechanism in counterflow premixed flames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Sang Kyu; Cho, Eun Seong; Chung, Suk Ho

2014-01-01

The extinction mechanisms of stretched premixed flames have been investigated numerically for the fuels of CH 4 , C 3 H 8 , H 2 , CO and for the mixture fuels of CH 4 +H 2 and CO+H 2 by adopting symmetric double premixed flames in a counterflow configuration. The local equilibrium temperature concept was used as a measure of energy loss or gain in order to quantify the extinction mechanism by preferential diffusion and/or incomplete reaction. The energy loss ratio from preferential diffusion arising from non-unity Lewis number and the loss ratio from incomplete reaction were calculated at various equivalence ratios near flame extinction. The results showed that the extinction of lean H 2 , CH 4 , CH 4 +H 2 , CO+H 2 , and rich C 3 H 8 premixed flames was caused by incomplete reaction due to insufficient reaction time, indicating that the effective Lewis number was smaller than unity, while the effect of preferential diffusion resulted in energy gain. However, the extinction of rich H 2 , CH 4 , CH 4 +H 2 , CO+H 2 , and lean C 3 H 8 premixed flames was affected by the combined effects of preferential diffusion and incomplete reaction indicating that the effective Lewis number was larger than unity. In CO premixed flames, incomplete reaction was dominant in both lean and rich cases due to the effective Lewis number close to unity. The effect of H 2 mixing to CO is found to be quite significant as compared to CH 4 +H 2 cases, which can alter the flame behavior of CO flames to that of H 2 .

Quantification of extinction mechanism in counterflow premixed flames

KAUST Repository

Choi, Sangkyu

2014-09-01

The extinction mechanisms of stretched premixed flames have been investigated numerically for the fuels of CH4, C3H8, H2, CO and for the mixture fuels of CH4+H2 and CO+H2 by adopting symmetric double premixed flames in a counterflow configuration. The local equilibrium temperature concept was used as a measure of energy loss or gain in order to quantify the extinction mechanism by preferential diffusion and/or incomplete reaction. The energy loss ratio from preferential diffusion arising from non-unity Lewis number and the loss ratio from incomplete reaction were calculated at various equivalence ratios near flame extinction. The results showed that the extinction of lean H2, CH4, CH4+H2, CO+H2, and rich C3H8 premixed flames was caused by incomplete reaction due to insufficient reaction time, indicating that the effective Lewis number was smaller than unity, while the effect of preferential diffusion resulted in energy gain. However, the extinction of rich H2, CH4, CH4+H2, CO+H2, and lean C3H8 premixed flames was affected by the combined effects of preferential diffusion and incomplete reaction indicating that the effective Lewis number was larger than unity. In CO premixed flames, incomplete reaction was dominant in both lean and rich cases due to the effective Lewis number close to unity. The effect of H2 mixing to CO is found to be quite significant as compared to CH4+H2 cases, which can alter the flame behavior of CO flames to that of H2.

Correction of edge-flame propagation speed in a counterflow, annular slot burner

KAUST Repository

Tran, Vu Manh

2015-10-22

To characterize the propagation modes of flames, flame propagation speed must be accurately calculated. The impact of propagating edge-flames on the flow fields of unburned gases is limited experimentally. Thus, few studies have evaluated true propagation speeds by subtracting the flow velocities of unburned gases from flame displacement speeds. Here, we present a counterflow, annular slot burner that provides an ideal one-dimensional strain rate and lengthwise zero flow velocity that allowed us to study the fundamental behaviors of edge-flames. In addition, our burner has easy optical access for detailed laser diagnostics. Flame displacement speeds were measured using a high-speed camera and related flow fields of unburned gases were visualized by particle image velocimetry. These techniques allowed us to identify significant modifications to the flow fields of unburned gases caused by thermal expansion of the propagating edges, which enabled us to calculate true flame propagation speeds that took into account the flow velocities of unburned gases.

Flow Field Measurements of Methane-Oxygen Turbulent Nonpremixed Flames at High Pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Iino, Kimio; Kikkawa, Hoshitaka; Akamatsu, Fumiteru; Katsuki, Masashi

We carried out the flow field measurement of methane-oxygen turbulent nonpremixed flame in non-combusting and combusting situations at high pressures using LDV. The main objectives are to study the influences of combustion on the turbulence structure at high pressures and to provide detailed data on which numerical predictions on such flows can rely. Direct observation and CH* chemiluminescence detection are conducted at high pressures up to 1.0MPa. It was found that the flame length at elevated pressures became constant. From flow field measurements, the following features of flames at elevated pressure were found: (1) the existence of flame suppressed turbulence in the upstream region of the jet and enhanced it in the downstream region with increasing pressure; (2) Turbulence in the flame was more anisotropic than in the corresponding cold jet in all regions of the flow with increasing pressure; (3) Reynolds shear stresses did not change at elevated pressure; (4) Combustion processes had a marked influence on the turbulence macroscale under high pressures, however, the turbulence macroscale was not changed even with the increase in pressure.

Bidirectional ionic wind in nonpremixed counterflow flames with DC electric fields

KAUST Repository

Park, Daegeun; Chung, Suk-Ho; Cha, Min

2016-01-01

Under an electric field, ions in the reaction zone of a flame generate a bulk flow motion called ionic wind. Because the majority of ions are positive, ionic wind is commonly considered to be unidirectional toward the cathode. A more thorough

Quantification of extinction mechanism in counterflow premixed flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Sang Kyu [Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Eun Seong [Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, Changwon (Korea, Republic of); Chung, Suk Ho [Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal (Saudi Arabia)

2014-09-15

The extinction mechanisms of stretched premixed flames have been investigated numerically for the fuels of CH{sub 4}, C{sub 3}H{sub 8}, H{sub 2}, CO and for the mixture fuels of CH{sub 4}+H{sub 2} and CO+H{sub 2} by adopting symmetric double premixed flames in a counterflow configuration. The local equilibrium temperature concept was used as a measure of energy loss or gain in order to quantify the extinction mechanism by preferential diffusion and/or incomplete reaction. The energy loss ratio from preferential diffusion arising from non-unity Lewis number and the loss ratio from incomplete reaction were calculated at various equivalence ratios near flame extinction. The results showed that the extinction of lean H{sub 2} , CH{sub 4}, CH{sub 4}+H{sub 2}, CO+H{sub 2}, and rich C{sub 3}H{sub 8} premixed flames was caused by incomplete reaction due to insufficient reaction time, indicating that the effective Lewis number was smaller than unity, while the effect of preferential diffusion resulted in energy gain. However, the extinction of rich H{sub 2}, CH{sub 4}, CH{sub 4}+H{sub 2}, CO+H{sub 2}, and lean C{sub 3}H{sub 8} premixed flames was affected by the combined effects of preferential diffusion and incomplete reaction indicating that the effective Lewis number was larger than unity. In CO premixed flames, incomplete reaction was dominant in both lean and rich cases due to the effective Lewis number close to unity. The effect of H{sub 2} mixing to CO is found to be quite significant as compared to CH{sub 4}+H{sub 2} cases, which can alter the flame behavior of CO flames to that of H{sub 2}.

Chemical structures of an n-butanol counterflow flame

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarathy, S.M.; Thomson, M.J. [Toronto Univ., ON (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

2007-07-01

N-butanol, also known as biobutanol, is an attractive alternative biofuel that can replace gasoline in transportation applications. Biobutanol can be produced via the fermentation of sugars, starches, and lignocellulose obtained from agricultural feedstocks. Although biobutanol offers several advantages over ethanol, its detailed combustion characteristics are not well known. In order to determine the effect of fuel structure on combustion products, this paper presented the results of a study that examined the emission and temperature profiles of an n-butanol counterflow flame. The paper presented the experimental data and discussed the potential reaction mechanisms that rationalized the observed species profiles. It was found that significant quantities of acetylene, acetaldehyde, ethane, and propene were measured in the n-butanol flame and that the reaction pathways leading to the formation of these compounds were yet to be identified. In addition, significant concentrations of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were found. Results will be utilized to validate a detailed chemical kinetic model for n-butanol combustion. 13 refs., 3 figs.

Propagating nonpremixed edge-flames in a counterflow, annular slot burner under DC electric fields

KAUST Repository

Tran, Vu Manh; Cha, Min

2016-01-01

to be negligible after correcting the flame displacement speed with respect to the unburned flow velocity ahead of the flame edge. This indicates that the displacement speed of an edge-flame strongly depends on ionic wind and that an electric field has little

Blow-out limits of nonpremixed turbulent jet flames in a cross flow at atmospheric and sub-atmospheric pressures

KAUST Repository

Wang, Qiang; Hu, Longhua; Yoon, Sung Hwan; Lu, Shouxiang; Delichatsios, Michael; Chung, Suk-Ho

2015-01-01

The blow-out limits of nonpremixed turbulent jet flames in cross flows were studied, especially concerning the effect of ambient pressure, by conducting experiments at atmospheric and sub-atmospheric pressures. The combined effects of air flow

Formation of Soot in Counterflow Diffusion Flames with Carbon Dioxide Dilution

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu

2016-05-04

Experimental and numerical modeling studies have been performed to investigate the effect of CO2 dilution on soot formation in ethylene counterflow diffusion flames. Thermal and chemical effects of CO2 addition on soot growth was numerically identified by using a fictitious CO2 species, which was treated as inert in terms of chemical reactions. The results showed that CO2 addition reduces soot formation both thermodynamically and chemically. In terms of chemical effect, the addition of CO2 decreases soot formation through various pathways, including: (1) reduced soot precursor (PAH) formation leading to lower inception rates and soot number density, which in turn results in lower surface area for soot mass addition; (2) reduced H, CH3, and C3H3 concentrations causing lower H abstraction rate and therefore less active site per surface area for soot growth; and (3) reduced C2H2 mole fraction and thus a slower C2H2 mass addition rate. In addition, the sooting limits were also measured for ethylene counterflow flames in both N2 and CO2 atmosphere and the results showed that sooting region was significantly reduced in the CO2 case compared to the N2 case. © 2016 Taylor & Francis.

Investigation of buoyancy effects on turbulent nonpremixed jet flames by using normal and low-gravity conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Idicheria, Cherian Alex

An experimental study was performed with the aim of investigating the structure of transitional and turbulent nonpremixed jet flames under different gravity conditions. In particular, the focus was to determine the effect of buoyancy on the mean and fluctuating characteristics of the jet flames. Experiments were conducted under three gravity levels, viz. 1 g, 20 mg and 100 mug. The milligravity and microgravity conditions were achieved by dropping a jet-flame rig in the UT-Austin 1.25-second and the NASA-Glenn Research Center 2.2-second drop towers, respectively. The principal diagnostics employed were time-resolved, cinematographic imaging of the visible soot luminosity and planar laser Mie scattering (PLMS). For the cinematographic flame luminosity imaging experiments, the flames studied were piloted nonpremixed propane, ethylene and methane jet flames at source Reynolds numbers ranging from 2000 to 10500. From the soot luminosity images, mean and root-mean square (RMS) images were computed, and volume rendering of the image sequences was used to investigate the large-scale structure evolution and flame tip dynamics. The relative importance of buoyancy was quantified with the parameter, xL , as defined by Becker and Yamazaki [1978]. The results show, in contrast to previous microgravity studies, that the high Reynolds number flames have the same flame length irrespective of the gravity level. The RMS fluctuations and volume renderings indicate that the large-scale structure and flame tip dynamics are essentially identical to those of purely momentum driven flames provided xL is approximately less than 2. The volume-renderings show that the luminous structure celerities (normalized by jet exit velocity) are approximately constant for xL 8. The celerity values for xL > 8 are seen to follow a x3/2L scaling, which can be predicted with a simplified momentum equation analysis for the buoyancy-dominated regime. The underlying turbulent structure and mean mixture

Experimental study of the stabilization process of a non-premixed flame via the destabilization analysis of the blue ring flame

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinguet, Guillaume; Escudie, Dany [Centre de Thermique de Lyon (CETHIL) UMR 5008 CNRS-INSA-UCBL, INSA de Lyon, 20 av. A. Einstein, 69621 Villeurbanne cedex (France)

2007-04-15

The flame stabilization phenomenon remains a crucial issue. The experimental study of flame stabilization behind a tulip-shaped flame-holder is addressed in this paper. The process leading to the transition between specific modes - the blue ring flame and the instable ring - of a non-premixed flame stabilized on a tulip-shaped bluff-body is detailed. The aim of this study is to provide an accurate description of the destabilization of specific combustion modes, which enables a further understanding of the entire stabilization mechanism. The aerodynamic and mixing fields are described by laser Doppler anemometry and concentration measurements by sampling probe respectively. The behaviour of shear layers developing at the wake and jet boundaries are characterized by means of a spectral analysis of the fluctuating radial velocity. Results show that the destabilization process is related to the intensification of hot gas recirculation, inducing an upheaval of the dynamical condition of stabilization and a transition of mixing phenomena. (author)

An Experimental Study of the Structure of Turbulent Non-Premixed Jet Flames in Microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Boxx, Isaac; Idicheria, Cherian; Clemens, Noel

2000-11-01

The aim of this work is to investigate the structure of transitional and turbulent non-premixed jet flames under microgravity conditions. The microgravity experiments are being conducted using a newly developed drop rig and the University of Texas 1.5 second drop tower. The rig itself measures 16”x33”x38” and contains a co-flowing round jet flame facility, flow control system, CCD camera, and data/image acquisition computer. These experiments are the first phase of a larger study being conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center 2.2 second drop tower facility. The flames being studied include methane and propane round jet flames at jet exit Reynolds numbers as high as 10,000. The primary diagnostic technique employed is emission imaging of flame luminosity using a relatively high-speed (350 fps) CCD camera. The high-speed images are used to study flame height, flame tip dynamics and burnout characteristics. Results are compared to normal gravity experimental results obtained in the same apparatus.

Numerical Analysis of Characteristics of Cellular Counterflow Diffusion Flames near Radiative Extinction Limit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Su Ryong [Seoul National University of Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2014-06-15

Nonlinear characteristics of cellular counterflow diffusion flame near the radiative extinction limit at large Damköhler number are numerically investigated. Lewis number is assumed to be 0.5 and flame evolution is calculated by imposing an infinitesimal disturbance to a one-dimensional(1-D) steady state flame. The early stage of nonlinear development is very similar to that predicted in a linear stability analysis. The disturbance with the wavenumber of the fastest growing mode emerges and grows gradually. Eventual, an alternating pattern of reacting and quenching stripes is developed. The cellular flame temperature is higher than that of 1-D flame because of the gain of the total enthalpy. As the Damköhler number is further increased, the shape of the cell becomes circular to increase the surface area per unit reacting volume. The cellular flames do not extinguish but survive even above the 1-D steady state extinction condition.

Comprehensive Validation of Skeletal Mechanism for Turbulent Premixed Methane–Air Flame Simulations

KAUST Repository

Luca, Stefano

2017-08-01

A new skeletal mechanism, consisting of 16 species and 72 reactions, has been developed for lean methane–air premixed combustion from the GRI-Mech 3.0. The skeletal mechanism is validated for elevated unburnt temperatures (800 K) and pressures up to 4 atm, thereby addressing realistic gas turbine conditions. The skeletal mechanism is obtained by applying the directed relation graph method and performing sensitivity analysis on the detailed mechanism. The mechanism has been validated for flame speed and flame structure in a wide range of conditions and configurations. A good agreement between the skeletal mechanism and GRI-3.0 was obtained. The configurations considered include one-dimension laminar premixed flames, laminar non-premixed counterflow burners, and two- and three-dimensional unsteady configurations with variations of temperature, pressure, and composition. The skeletal mechanism allows for the inclusion of accurate finite rate chemistry in large-scale direct numerical simulations of lean turbulent premixed flames. In a large-scale direct numerical simulation, the use of the skeletal mechanism reduces the memory requirements by more than a factor of 3 and accelerates the simulation by a factor of 7 compared with the detailed mechanism. The skeletal mechanism is suitable for unsteady three-dimensional simulations of methane turbulent premixed, non-premixed, and globally lean partially premixed flames and is available as supplementary material.

Soot volume fraction in a piloted turbulent jet non-premixed flame of natural gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qamar, N.H.; Alwahabi, Z.T.; King, K.D. [Fluid Mechanics, Energy and Combustion Group, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005 (Australia); School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005 (Australia); Chan, Q.N. [Fluid Mechanics, Energy and Combustion Group, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005 (Australia); School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005 (Australia); School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005 (Australia); Nathan, G.J. [Fluid Mechanics, Energy and Combustion Group, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005 (Australia); School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005 (Australia); Roekaerts, D. [Department of Multi-Scale Physics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg, 1, NL-2628 CJ Delft (Netherlands)

2009-07-15

Planar laser-induced incandescence (LII) has been used to measure soot volume fraction in a well-characterised, piloted, turbulent non-premixed flame known as the ''Delft Flame III''. Simulated Dutch natural gas was used as the fuel to produce a flame closely matching those in which a wide range of previous investigations, both experimental and modelling, have been performed. The LII method was calibrated using a Santoro-style burner with ethylene as the fuel. Instantaneous and time-averaged data of the axial and radial soot volume fraction distributions of the flame are presented here along with the Probability Density Functions (PDFs) and intermittency. The PDFs were found to be well-characterised by a single exponential distribution function. The distribution of soot was found to be highly intermittent, with intermittency typically exceeding 97%, which increases measurement uncertainty. The instantaneous values of volume fraction are everywhere less than the values in strained laminar flames. This is consistent with the soot being found locally in strained flame sheets that are convected and distorted by the flow. (author)

Behavioral Characteristics of the Non-Premixed Methane-Air Flame Oppositely Injected in a Narrow Channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yun, Young Min; Lee, Min Jung; Cho, Sang Moon; Kim, Nam Il

2009-01-01

Characteristics of a counter flowing diffusion flame, which is formulated by an oppositely-injected methane-jet flow in a narrow channel of a uniform air flow. The location of the flame fronts and the flame lengths were compared by changing the flow rates of fuel. To distinguish the effects of the narrow channel on the diffusion flame, a numerical simulation for an ideal two-dimensional flame was conducted. Overall trends of the flame behavior were similar in both numerical and experimental results. With the increase of the ratio of jet velocity to air velocity flame front moved farther upstream. It is thought that the flow re-direction in the channel suppresses fuel momentum more significantly due to the higher temperature and increased viscosity of burned gas. Actual flames in a narrow channel suffer heat loss to the ambient and it has finite length of diffusion flame in contrast to the numerical results of infinite flame length. Thus a convective heat loss was additionally employed in numerical simulation and closer results were obtained. These results can be used as basic data in development of a small combustor of a nonpremixed flame

Behavioral Characteristics of the Non-Premixed Methane-Air Flame Oppositely Injected in a Narrow Channel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yun, Young Min; Lee, Min Jung; Cho, Sang Moon; Kim, Nam Il [Chungang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2009-04-15

Characteristics of a counter flowing diffusion flame, which is formulated by an oppositely-injected methane-jet flow in a narrow channel of a uniform air flow. The location of the flame fronts and the flame lengths were compared by changing the flow rates of fuel. To distinguish the effects of the narrow channel on the diffusion flame, a numerical simulation for an ideal two-dimensional flame was conducted. Overall trends of the flame behavior were similar in both numerical and experimental results. With the increase of the ratio of jet velocity to air velocity flame front moved farther upstream. It is thought that the flow re-direction in the channel suppresses fuel momentum more significantly due to the higher temperature and increased viscosity of burned gas. Actual flames in a narrow channel suffer heat loss to the ambient and it has finite length of diffusion flame in contrast to the numerical results of infinite flame length. Thus a convective heat loss was additionally employed in numerical simulation and closer results were obtained. These results can be used as basic data in development of a small combustor of a nonpremixed flame.

Investigation of non-premixed flame combustion characters in GO2/GH2 shear coaxial injectors using non-intrusive optical diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Jian; Yu, NanJia; Cai, GuoBiao

2015-12-01

Single-element combustor experiments are conducted for three shear coaxial geometry configuration injectors by using gaseous oxygen and gaseous hydrogen (GO2/GH2) as propellants. During the combustion process, several spatially and timeresolved non-intrusive optical techniques, such as OH planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF), high speed imaging, and infrared imaging, are simultaneously employed to observe the OH radical concentration distribution, flame fluctuations, and temperature fields. The results demonstrate that the turbulent flow phenomenon of non-premixed flame exhibits a remarkable periodicity, and the mixing ratio becomes a crucial factor to influence the combustion flame length. The high speed and infrared images have a consistent temperature field trend. As for the OH-PLIF images, an intuitionistic local flame structure is revealed by single-shot instantaneous images. Furthermore, the means and standard deviations of OH radical intensity are acquired to provide statistical information regarding the flame, which may be helpful for validation of numerical simulations in future. Parameters of structure configurations, such as impinging angle and oxygen post thickness, play an important role in the reaction zone distribution. Based on a successful flame contour extraction method assembled with non-linear anisotropic diffusive filtering and variational level-set, it is possible to implement a fractal analysis to describe the fractal characteristics of the non-premixed flame contour. As a result, the flame front cannot be regarded as a fractal object. However, this turbulent process presents a self-similarity characteristic.

Analysis of the flamelet concept in the numerical simulation of laminar partially premixed flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Consul, R.; Oliva, A.; Perez-Segarra, C.D.; Carbonell, D. [Centre Tecnologic de Transferencia de Calor (CTTC), Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Colom 11, E-08222, Terrassa, Barcelona (Spain); de Goey, L.P.H. [Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2008-04-15

The aim of this work is to analyze the application of flamelet models based on the mixture fraction variable and its dissipation rate to the numerical simulation of partially premixed flames. Although the main application of these models is the computation of turbulent flames, this work focuses on the performance of flamelet concept in laminar flame simulations removing, in this way, turbulence closure interactions. A well-known coflow methane/air laminar flame is selected. Five levels of premixing are taken into account from an equivalence ratio {phi}={infinity} (nonpremixed) to {phi}=2.464. Results obtained using the flamelet approaches are compared to data obtained from the detailed solution of the complete transport equations using primitive variables. Numerical simulations of a counterflow flame are also presented to support the discussion of the results. Special emphasis is given to the analysis of the scalar dissipation rate modeling. (author)

Soot Particle Size Distribution Functions in a Turbulent Non-Premixed Ethylene-Nitrogen Flame

KAUST Repository

Boyette, Wesley

2017-02-21

A scanning mobility particle sizer with a nano differential mobility analyzer was used to measure nanoparticle size distribution functions in a turbulent non-premixed flame. The burner utilizes a premixed pilot flame which anchors a C2H4/N2 (35/65) central jet with ReD = 20,000. Nanoparticles in the flame were sampled through a N2-filled tube with a 500- μm orifice. Previous studies have shown that insufficient dilution of the nanoparticles can lead to coagulation in the sampling line and skewed particle size distribution functions. A system of mass flow controllers and valves were used to vary the dilution ratio. Single-stage and two-stage dilution systems were investigated. A parametric study on the effect of the dilution ratio on the observed particle size distribution function indicates that particle coagulation in the sampling line can be eliminated using a two-stage dilution process. Carbonaceous nanoparticle (soot) concentration particle size distribution functions along the flame centerline at multiple heights in the flame are presented. The resulting distributions reveal a pattern of increasing mean particle diameters as the distance from the nozzle along the centerline increases.

Soot Particle Size Distribution Functions in a Turbulent Non-Premixed Ethylene-Nitrogen Flame

KAUST Repository

Boyette, Wesley; Chowdhury, Snehaunshu; Roberts, William L.

2017-01-01

A scanning mobility particle sizer with a nano differential mobility analyzer was used to measure nanoparticle size distribution functions in a turbulent non-premixed flame. The burner utilizes a premixed pilot flame which anchors a C2H4/N2 (35/65) central jet with ReD = 20,000. Nanoparticles in the flame were sampled through a N2-filled tube with a 500- μm orifice. Previous studies have shown that insufficient dilution of the nanoparticles can lead to coagulation in the sampling line and skewed particle size distribution functions. A system of mass flow controllers and valves were used to vary the dilution ratio. Single-stage and two-stage dilution systems were investigated. A parametric study on the effect of the dilution ratio on the observed particle size distribution function indicates that particle coagulation in the sampling line can be eliminated using a two-stage dilution process. Carbonaceous nanoparticle (soot) concentration particle size distribution functions along the flame centerline at multiple heights in the flame are presented. The resulting distributions reveal a pattern of increasing mean particle diameters as the distance from the nozzle along the centerline increases.

An experimental study on the effects of swirling oxidizer flow and diameter of fuel nozzle on behaviour and light emittance of propane-oxygen non-premixed flame

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javareshkian Alireza

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, the stability and the light emittance of non-premixed propane-oxygen flames have been experimentally evaluated with respect to swirling oxidizer flow and variations in fuel nozzle diameter. Hence, three types of the vanes with the swirl angles of 30°, 45°, and 60° have been chosen for producing the desired swirling flows. The main aims of this study are to determine the flame behaviour, light emittance, and also considering the effect of variation in fuel nozzle diameter on combustion phenomena such as flame length, flame shape, and soot free length parameter. The investigation into the flame phenomenology was comprised of variations of the oxidizer and fuel flow velocities (respective Reynolds numbers and the fuel nozzle diameter. The results showed that the swirl effect could change the flame luminosity and this way could reduce or increase the maximum value of the flame light emittance in the combustion zone. Therefore, investigation into the flame light emittance can give a good clue for studying the mixing quality of reactants, the flame phenomenology (blue flame or sooty flame, localized extinction, and the combustion intensity in non-premixed flames.

Simulation of soot size distribution in an ethylene counterflow flame

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Kun

2014-01-06

Soot, an aggregate of carbonaceous particles produced during the rich combustion of fossil fuels, is an undesirable pollutant and health hazard. Soot evolution involves various dynamic processes: nucleation soot formation from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) condensation PAHs condensing on soot particle surface surface processes hydrogen-abstraction-C2H2-addition, oxidation coagulation two soot particles coagulating to form a bigger particle This simulation work investigates soot size distribution and morphology in an ethylene counterflow flame, using i). Chemkin with a method of moments to deal with the coupling between vapor consumption and soot formation; ii). Monte Carlo simulation of soot dynamics.

CONDITIONAL FLOW STATISTICS AND ALIGNMENT OF PRINCIPAL STRAIN RATES, VORTICITY, AND SCALAR GRADIENTS IN A TURBULENT NONPREMIXED JET FLAME

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio

2015-06-30

The alignment of vorticity and gradients of conserved and reactive scalars with the eigenvectors of the strain rate tensor (i.e., the principal strains) is investigated in a direct numerical simulation of a turbulent nonpremixed flame achieving a Taylor’s scale Reynolds number in the range 100≤Reλ≤150 (Attili et al. Comb. Flame, 161, 2014). The vorticity vector displays a pronounced tendency to align with the direction of the intermediate strain. These alignment statistics are in almost perfect agreement with those in homogeneous isotropic turbulence (Ashurst et al. Physics of Fluids 30, 1987) and differ significantly from the results obtained in other nonpremixed flames in which vorticity alignment with the most extensive strain was observed (Boratavet al. Physics of Fluids 8, 1996). The gradients of conserved and reactive scalars align with the most compressive strain. It is worth noting that conditioning on the local values of the mixture fraction, or equivalently conditioning on the distance from the flame sheet, does not affect the statistics. Our results suggest that turbulence overshadows the effects of heat release and chemical reactions. This may be due to the larger Reynolds number achieved in the present study compared to that in previous works.

CONDITIONAL FLOW STATISTICS AND ALIGNMENT OF PRINCIPAL STRAIN RATES, VORTICITY, AND SCALAR GRADIENTS IN A TURBULENT NONPREMIXED JET FLAME

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio

2015-01-01

The alignment of vorticity and gradients of conserved and reactive scalars with the eigenvectors of the strain rate tensor (i.e., the principal strains) is investigated in a direct numerical simulation of a turbulent nonpremixed flame achieving a Taylor’s scale Reynolds number in the range 100≤Reλ≤150 (Attili et al. Comb. Flame, 161, 2014). The vorticity vector displays a pronounced tendency to align with the direction of the intermediate strain. These alignment statistics are in almost perfect agreement with those in homogeneous isotropic turbulence (Ashurst et al. Physics of Fluids 30, 1987) and differ significantly from the results obtained in other nonpremixed flames in which vorticity alignment with the most extensive strain was observed (Boratavet al. Physics of Fluids 8, 1996). The gradients of conserved and reactive scalars align with the most compressive strain. It is worth noting that conditioning on the local values of the mixture fraction, or equivalently conditioning on the distance from the flame sheet, does not affect the statistics. Our results suggest that turbulence overshadows the effects of heat release and chemical reactions. This may be due to the larger Reynolds number achieved in the present study compared to that in previous works.

Numerical study of laminar nonpremixed methane flames in coflow jets: Autoignited lifted flames with tribrachial edges and MILD combustion at elevated temperatures

KAUST Repository

M. Al-Noman, Saeed

2016-07-07

Autoignition characteristics of laminar nonpremixed methane jet flames in high-temperature coflow air are studied numerically. Several flame configurations are investigated by varying the initial temperature and fuel mole fraction. At a relatively low initial temperature, a non-autoignited nozzle-attached flame is simulated at relatively low jet velocity. When the initial temperature is higher than that required for autoignition, two regimes are investigated: an autoignited lifted flame with tribrachial edge structure and an autoignited lifted flame with Mild combustion. The autoignited lifted flame with tribrachial edge exhibited three branches: lean and rich premixed flame wings and a trailing diffusion flame. Characteristics of kinetic structure for autoignited lifted flames are discussed based on the kinetic structures of homogeneous autoignition and flame propagation of stoichiometric mixture. Results showed that a transition from autoignition to flame propagation modes occurs for reasonably stoichiometric mixtures. The autoignited lifted flame with Mild combustion occurs when methane fuel is highly diluted with nitrogen. The kinetic structure analysis shows that the characteristics of Mild combustion can be treated as an autoignited lean premixed lifted flame. Transition behavior from Mild combustion to nozzle-attached flame was investigated by increasing the fuel mole fraction. As the maximum flame temperature increases with decreasing liftoff height, the kinetic structure showed a transition behavior from autoignition to flame propagation of a lean premixed flame. © 2016 The Combustion Institute

Investigation on Effect of Air Velocity in Turbulent Non-Premixed Flames

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Namazian Zafar

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, the turbulent non-premixed methane-air flame is simulated to determine the effect of air velocity on the length of flame, temperature distribution and mole fraction of species. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD technique is used to perform this simulation. To solve the turbulence flow, k-ε model is used. In contrast to the previous works, in this study, in each one of simulations the properties of materials are taken variable and then the results are compared. The results show that at a certain flow rate of fuel, by increasing the air velocity, similar to when the properties are constant, the width of the flame becomes thinner and the maximum temperature is higher; the penetration of oxygen into the fuel as well as fuel consumption is also increased. It is noteworthy that most of the pollutants produced are NOx, which are strongly temperature dependent. The amount of these pollutants rises when the temperature is increased. As a solution, decreasing the air velocity can decrease the amount of these pollutants. Finally, comparing the result of this study and the other work, which considers constant properties, shows that the variable properties assumption leads to obtaining more exact solution but the trends of both results are similar.

Cool diffusion flames of butane isomers activated by ozone in the counterflow

KAUST Repository

Alfazazi, Adamu

2018-02-02

Ignition in low temperature combustion engines is governed by a coupling between low-temperature oxidation kinetics and diffusive transport. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the coupled effects of heat release, low-temperature oxidation chemistry, and molecular transport in cool flames is imperative to the advancement of new combustion concepts. This study provides an understanding of the low temperature cool flame behavior of butane isomers in the counterflow configuration through the addition of ozone. The initiation and extinction limits of butane isomers’ cool flames have been investigated under a variety of strain rates. Results revealed that, with ozone addition, establishment of butane cool diffusion flames was successful at low and moderate strain rates. iso-Butane has lower reactivity than n-butane, as shown by higher fuel mole fractions needed for cool flame initiation and lower extinction strain rate limits. Ozone addition showed a significant influence on the initiation and sustenance of cool diffusion flames; as ozone-less cool diffusion flame of butane isomers could not be established even at high fuel mole fractions. The structure of a stable n-butane cool diffusion flame was qualitatively examined using a time of flight mass spectrometer. Numerical simulations were performed using a detailed chemical kinetic model and molecular transport to simulate the extinction limits of the cool diffusion flames of the tested fuels. The model qualitatively captured experimental trends for both fuels and ozone levels, but over-predicted extinction limits of the flames. Reactions involving low-temperature species predominantly govern extinction limits of cool flames. The simulations were used to understand the effects of methyl branching on the behavior of n-butane and iso-butane cool diffusion flames.

A comparative study on the sooting tendencies of various 1-alkene fuels in counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu; Park, Sungwoo; Sarathy, Mani; Chung, Suk-Ho

2018-01-01

-alkenes through experiments and numerical simulations for counterflow diffusion flames. Soot and PAH formation tendencies of 1-alkene fuels, including ethylene (C2H4), propene (C3H6), 1-butene (1-C4H8), 1-pentene (1-C5H10), 1-hexene (1-C6H12) and 1-octene

Experimental study of the effects of swirl and air dilution on biogas non-premixed flame stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rowhani Amir

2015-01-01

Full Text Available An experimental investigation of the stability limits of biogas in a swirling non-premixed burner has been carried out. A mixture of 60% methane (CH4 and 40% carbon dioxide (CO2 was used to reach the typical biogas composition. Vane swirlers with 30º, 45º and 60º angles were used to make the swirling air. The biogas stability limits and flame behavior under swirling conditions were tested. Besides, effects of air dilution with nitrogen (N2 and CO2 on biogas stability limits were investigated. The results show that using swirl can enhance the flame stability limits approximately four or five times comparing to non-swirling air stream. Adding N2/CO2 to the air had negative effects on the flame stability but no changes were observed in the flame structure. The maximum air dilution was also obtained when 27% and 15% N2 was added to the swirling air under strong and weak swirl, respectively.

Investigation of mass and energy coupling between soot particles and gas species in modelling ethylene counterflow diffusion flames

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zimmer, L.; Pereira, F.M.; van Oijen, J.A.; de Goey, L.P.H.

2017-01-01

A numerical model is developed aiming at investigating soot formation in ethylene counterflow diffusion flames. The mass and energy coupling between soot solid particles and gas-phase species is investigated in detail. A semi-empirical two-equation model is chosen for predicting soot mass fraction

Dynamics of flow–soot interaction in wrinkled non-premixed ethylene–air flames

KAUST Repository

Arias, Paul G.

2015-08-17

A two-dimensional simulation of a non-premixed ethylene–air flame was conducted by employing a detailed gas-phase reaction mechanism considering polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, an aerosol-dynamics-based soot model using a method of moments with interpolative closure, and a grey gas and soot radiation model using the discrete transfer method. Interaction of the sooting flame with a prescribed decaying random velocity field was investigated, with a primary interest in the effects of velocity fluctuations on the flame structure and the associated soot formation process for a fuel-strip configuration and a composition with mature soot growth. The temporally evolving simulation revealed a multi-layered soot formation process within the flame, at a level of detail not properly described by previous studies based on simplified soot models utilizing acetylene or naphthalene precursors for initial soot inception. The overall effect of the flame topology on the soot formation was found to be consistent with previous experimental studies, while a unique behaviour of localised strong oxidation was also noted. The imposed velocity fluctuations led to an increase of the scalar dissipation rate in the sooting zone, causing a net suppression in the soot production rate. Considering the complex structure of the soot formation layer, the effects of the imposed fluctuations vary depending on the individual soot reactions. For the conditions under study, the soot oxidation reaction was identified as the most sensitive to the fluctuations and was mainly responsible for the local suppression of the net soot production. © 2015 Taylor & Francis

An Investigation on Flame Shape and Size for a High-Pressure Turbulent Non-Premixed Swirl Combustion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhongya Xi

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Flame shape and size for a high-pressure turbulent non-premixed swirl combustion were experimentally investigated over a wide range of varying parameters including fuel mass flow rate, combustor pressure, primary-air mass flow rate, and nozzle exit velocity. A CFD simulation was conducted to predict the flame profile. Meanwhile, a theoretical calculation was also performed to estimate flame length. It was observed that flame length increased linearly with increasing fuel mass flow rate but decreased with the increment of combustor pressure in the power function. The flame diminished at a larger primary-air mass flow rate but remained unaffected by the increasing nozzle exit velocity. Considering the global effect of all parameters at a particular pressure, the flame length generally decreased as the primary-air to fuel ratio increased. This was attributed to the reduced air entrainment required to dilute the fuel to stoichiometric proportions. The CFD simulation offered a good prediction of the variation trends of flame length, although some deviations from experimental values were observed. The theoretical calculation estimated the trends of flame length variation particularly well. Nevertheless the difference between the theoretical and experimental results was found to be due to the swirl influence. Hence, a swirl factor was proposed to be added to the original equation for swirl flames.

Effect of hydrogen on hydrogen-methane turbulent non-premixed flame under MILD condition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mardani, Amir; Tabejamaat, Sadegh [Department of Aerospace engineering, Amirkabir university of technology (Tehran polytechnic), Hafez Ave., PO. Box: 15875-4413, Tehran (Iran)

2010-10-15

Energy crises and the preservation of the global environment are placed man in a dilemma. To deal with these problems, finding new sources of fuel and developing efficient and environmentally friendly energy utilization technologies are essential. Hydrogen containing fuels and combustion under condition of the moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution (MILD) are good choices to replace the traditional ones. In this numerical study, the turbulent non-premixed CH{sub 4}+H{sub 2} jet flame issuing into a hot and diluted co-flow air is considered to emulate the combustion of hydrogen containing fuels under MILD conditions. This flame is related to the experimental condition of Dally et al. [Proc. Combust. Inst. 29 (2002) 1147-1154]. In general, the modelling is carried out using the EDC model, to describe turbulence-chemistry interaction, and the DRM-22 reduced mechanism and the GRI2.11 full mechanism to represent the chemical reactions of H{sub 2}/methane jet flame. The effect of hydrogen content of fuel on flame structure for two co-flow oxygen levels is studied by considering three fuel mixtures, 5%H{sub 2}+95%CH{sub 4}, 10%H{sub 2}+90%CH{sub 4} and 20% H{sub 2}+80%CH{sub 4}(by mass). In this study, distribution of species concentrations, mixture fraction, strain rate, flame entrainment, turbulent kinetic energy decay and temperature are investigated. Results show that the hydrogen addition to methane leads to improve mixing, increase in turbulent kinetic energy decay along the flame axis, increase in flame entrainment, higher reaction intensities and increase in mixture ignitability and rate of heat release. (author)

Experimental and numerical investigation of fuel mixing effects on soot structures in counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Choi, Byungchul

2011-03-26

Experimental and numerical analyses of laminar diffusion flames were performed to identify the effect of fuel mixing on soot formation in a counterflow burner. In this experiment, the volume fraction, number density, and particle size of soot were investigated using light extinction/scattering systems. The experimental results showed that the synergistic effect of an ethylene-propane flame is appreciable. Numerical simulations showed that the benzene (C6H6) concentration in mixture flames was higher than in ethylene-base flames because of the increase in the concentration of propargyl radicals. Methyl radicals were found to play an important role in the formation of propargyl, and the recombination of propargyl with benzene was found to lead to an increase in the number density for cases exhibiting synergistic effects. These results imply that methyl radicals play an important role in soot formation, particularly with regard to the number density. © 2011 The Korean Society of Automotive Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Evaluation of Presumed Probability-Density-Function Models in Non-Premixed Flames by using Large Eddy Simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Hong-Jun; Zhang Hui-Qiang; Lin Wen-Yi

2012-01-01

Four kinds of presumed probability-density-function (PDF) models for non-premixed turbulent combustion are evaluated in flames with various stoichiometric mixture fractions by using large eddy simulation (LES). The LES code is validated by the experimental data of a classical turbulent jet flame (Sandia flame D). The mean and rms temperatures obtained by the presumed PDF models are compared with the LES results. The β-function model achieves a good prediction for different flames. The predicted rms temperature by using the double-δ function model is very small and unphysical in the vicinity of the maximum mean temperature. The clip-Gaussian model and the multi-δ function model make a worse prediction of the extremely fuel-rich or fuel-lean side due to the clip at the boundary of the mixture fraction space. The results also show that the overall prediction performance of presumed PDF models is better at mediate stoichiometric mixture fractions than that at very small or very large ones. (fundamental areas of phenomenology(including applications))

Damköhler number effects on soot formation and growth in turbulent nonpremixed flames

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio

2015-01-01

The effect of Damköhler number on turbulent nonpremixed sooting flames is investigated via large scale direct numerical simulation in three-dimensional n-heptane/air jet flames at a jet Reynolds number of 15,000 and at three different Damköhler numbers. A reduced chemical mechanism, which includes the soot precursor naphthalene, and a high-order method of moments are employed. At the highest Damköhler number, local extinction is negligible, while flames holes are observed in the two lowest Damköhler number cases. Compared to temperature and other species controlled by fuel oxidation chemistry, naphthalene is found to be affected more significantly by the Damköhler number. Consequently, the overall soot mass fraction decreases by more than one order of magnitude for a fourfold decrease of the Damköhler number. On the contrary, the overall number density of soot particles is approximately the same, but its distribution in mixture fraction space is different in the three cases. The total soot mass growth rate is found to be proportional to the Damköhler number. In the two lowest Da number cases, soot leakage across the flame is observed. Leveraging Lagrangian statistics, it is concluded that soot leakage is due to patches of soot that cross the stoichiometric surface through flame holes. These results show the leading order effects of turbulent mixing in controlling the dynamics of soot in turbulent flames. © 2014 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sooting limit in counterflow diffusion flames of ethylene/propane fuels and implication to threshold soot index

KAUST Repository

Joo, Peter H.

2013-01-01

Sooting limits in counterflow diffusion flames of propane/ethylene fuels have been studied experimentally using a light scattering technique, including the effects of dilution, fuel mixing, and strain rate. The results are discussed in view of the threshold soot index (TSI). In soot-formation (SF) flames, where the flame is located on the oxidizer side of the stagnation plane, the sooting limit depends critically on fuel type and subsequently on flame temperature. The sooting limit has a non-linear dependence on the fuel-mixing ratio, which is similar to the non-linear mixing rule for TSI observed experimentally in rich premixed flames, where soot oxidation is absent for both SF and rich premixed flames. In soot-formation-oxidation (SFO) flames, where the flame is located on the fuel side, the sooting limit depends critically on flame temperature, while it is relatively independent on fuel type. This result suggests a linear mixing rule for sooting limits in SFO flames, which is similar to the TSI behavior for coflow diffusion flames. Soot oxidation takes place for both types of flames. The aerodynamic strain effect on the sooting limits has also been studied and an appreciable influence has been observed. Under sooting conditions, soot volume fraction was measured using a light extinction technique. The soot loadings in SF flames of the mixture fuels demonstrated a synergistic effect, i.e., soot production increased for certain mixture fuels as compared to the respective singlecomponent fuels. © 2012 The Combustion Institute.

Soot formation characteristics of gasoline surrogate fuels in counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Choi, Byungchul

2011-01-01

The characteristics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and soot for gasoline surrogate fuels have been investigated in counterflow diffusion flames by adopting laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and laser-induced incandescence (LII) techniques for both soot formation and soot formation/oxidation flames. Tested fuels were three binary mixtures from the primary reference fuels of n-heptane, iso-octane, and toluene. The result showed that PAH and soot maintained near zero level for all mixtures of n-heptane/iso-octane case under present experimental conditions. For n-heptane/toluene and iso-octane/toluene mixtures, PAH initially increased and then decreased with the toluene ratio, exhibiting a synergistic effect. The soot formation increased monotonically with the toluene ratio, however the effect of toluene on soot formation was minimal for relatively small toluene ratios. These results implied that even though toluene had a dominant role in soot and PAH formations, small amount of toluene had a minimal effect on soot formation. Numerical simulations have also been conducted by adopting recently proposed two kinetic mechanisms. The synergistic behavior of aromatic rings was predicted similar to the experimental PAH measurement, however, the degree of the synergistic effect was over-predicted for the soot formation flame, indicating the need for refinements in the kinetic mechanisms. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Combustion Institute. All rights reserved.

A computational study of the effects of DC electric fields on non-premixed counterflow methane-air flames

KAUST Repository

Belhi, Memdouh; Lee, Bok Jik; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Im, Hon G.

2017-01-01

and polarity. Most notably, the simulation predicted the flame positions and showed good qualitative agreement with experimental data for the current-voltage curve. The flame response to the electric field with positive and negative polarity exhibited

Electric fields effect on liftoff and blowoff of nonpremixed laminar jet flames in a coflow

KAUST Repository

Kim, Minkuk

2010-01-01

The stabilization characteristics of liftoff and blowoff in nonpremixed laminar jet flames in a coflow have been investigated experimentally for propane fuel by applying AC and DC electric fields to the fuel nozzle with a single-electrode configuration. The liftoff and blowoff velocities have been measured by varying the applied voltage and frequency of AC and the voltage and the polarity of DC. The result showed that the AC electric fields extended the stabilization regime of nozzle-attached flame in terms of jet velocity. As the applied AC voltage increased, the nozzle-attached flame was maintained even over the blowout velocity without having electric fields. In such a case, a blowoff occurred directly without experiencing a lifted flame. While for the DC cases, the influence on liftoff was minimal. There existed three different regimes depending on the applied AC voltage. In the low voltage regime, the nozzle-detachment velocity of either liftoff or blowoff increased linearly with the applied voltage, while nonlinearly with the AC frequency. In the intermediate voltage regime, the detachment velocity decreased with the applied voltage and reasonably independent of the AC frequency. At the high voltage regime, the detachment was significantly influenced by the generation of discharges. © 2009 The Combustion Institute.

Simulation and analysis of the soot particle size distribution in a turbulent nonpremixed flame

KAUST Repository

Lucchesi, Marco

2017-02-05

A modeling framework based on Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) is employed to simulate the evolution of the soot particle size distribution in turbulent sooting flames. The stochastic reactor describes the evolution of soot in fluid parcels following Lagrangian trajectories in a turbulent flow field. The trajectories are sampled from a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of a n-heptane turbulent nonpremixed flame. The DSMC method is validated against experimentally measured size distributions in laminar premixed flames and found to reproduce quantitatively the experimental results, including the appearance of the second mode at large aggregate sizes and the presence of a trough at mobility diameters in the range 3–8 nm. The model is then applied to the simulation of soot formation and growth in simplified configurations featuring a constant concentration of soot precursors and the evolution of the size distribution in time is found to depend on the intensity of the nucleation rate. Higher nucleation rates lead to a higher peak in number density and to the size distribution attaining its second mode sooner. The ensemble-averaged PSDF in the turbulent flame is computed from individual samples of the PSDF from large sets of Lagrangian trajectories. This statistical measure is equivalent to time-averaged, scanning mobility particle size (SMPS) measurements in turbulent flames. Although individual trajectories display strong bimodality as in laminar flames, the ensemble-average PSDF possesses only one mode and a long, broad tail, which implies significant polydispersity induced by turbulence. Our results agree very well with SMPS measurements available in the literature. Conditioning on key features of the trajectory, such as mixture fraction or radial locations does not reduce the scatter in the size distributions and the ensemble-averaged PSDF remains broad. The results highlight and explain the important role of turbulence in broadening the size distribution of

On the formation and early evolution of soot in turbulent nonpremixed flames

KAUST Repository

Bisetti, Fabrizio

2012-01-01

A Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of soot formation in an n-heptane/air turbulent nonpremixed flame has been performed to investigate unsteady strain effects on soot growth and transport. For the first time in a DNS of turbulent combustion, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) are included via a validated, reduced chemical mechanism. A novel statistical representation of soot aggregates based on the Hybrid Method of Moments is used [M.E. Mueller, G. Blanquart, H. Pitsch, Combust. Flame 156 (2009) 1143-1155], which allows for an accurate state-of-the-art description of soot number density, volume fraction, and morphology of the aggregates. In agreement with previous experimental studies in laminar flames, Damköhler number effects are found to be significant for PAH. Soot nucleation and growth from PAH are locally inhibited by high scalar dissipation rate, thus providing a possible explanation for the experimentally observed reduction of soot yields at increasing levels of mixing in turbulent sooting flames. Furthermore, our data indicate that soot growth models that rely on smaller hydrocarbon species such as acetylene as a proxy for large PAH molecules ignore or misrepresent the effects of turbulent mixing and hydrodynamic strain on soot formation due to differences in the species Damköhler number. Upon formation on the rich side of the flame, soot is displaced relative to curved mixture fraction iso-surfaces due to differential diffusion effects between soot and the gas-phase. Soot traveling towards the flame is oxidized, and aggregates displaced away from the flame grow primarily by condensation of PAH on the particle surface. In contrast to previous DNS studies based on simplified soot and chemistry models, surface reactions are found to contribute barely to the growth of soot, for nucleation and condensation processes occurring in the fuel stream are responsible for the most of soot mass generation. Furthermore, the morphology of the soot aggregates is

The near-field region behaviour of hydrogen-air turbulent non-premixed flame

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tabet, F. [EDF R and D, EIFER (European Institute for Energy Research), Karlsruhe (Germany); Sarh, B. [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Combustion, Aerothermique, Reactivite et Environnement (ICARE), Orleans (France); Universite d' Orleans, Institut Universitaire de Technologie d' Orleans (France); Birouk, M. [University of Manitoba, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Goekalp, I. [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Combustion, Aerothermique, Reactivite et Environnement (ICARE), Orleans (France)

2012-02-15

A computational study of mixing process and air entrainment in hydrogen turbulent non-premixed flame characterized by strong gradients of velocity and density at the inlet section is presented. Different approaches for turbulence-combustion interactions are evaluated in the framework of RSM (Reynolds Stress Model) turbulence model and the computational results are compared to experimental data. The combustion models investigated are SLFM (Steady Laminar Flamelet Model) and EDC (Eddy Dissipation Concept). Mixing is described by oxygen atom mixture fraction and air entrainment is characterized by gas mass flow rate. Computational results are compared to measurements in physical space at two locations (the first one represent the near-field region and the second one the far-field region). At the first station, the results showed an overestimation of mixing and air entrainment and an inaccurate consumption of O{sub 2} and H{sub 2}. In addition, the predictions are found to be sensitive to combustion modelling. At the second station, the description of mixing and air entrainment is improved and the predictions are in reasonably agreement with experimental data. Less dependency to combustion modelling is noticed in this location. Further analysis of the near-field region based on the turbulence time scales revealed that turbulence is not well developed in this region of the flame. (orig.)

Strain rate effect on sooting characteristics in laminar counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu

2016-01-20

The effects of strain rate, oxygen enrichment and fuel type on the sooting characteristics of counterflow diffusion flames were studied. The sooting structures and relative PAH concentrations were measured with laser diagnostics. Detailed soot modeling using recently developed PAH chemistry and surface reaction mechanism was performed and the results were compared with experimental data for ethylene flames, focusing on the effects of strain rates. The results showed that increase in strain rate reduced soot volume fraction, average size and peak number density. Increase in oxygen mole fraction increased soot loading and decreased its sensitivity on strain rate. The soot volume fractions of ethane, propene and propane flames were also measured as a function of global strain rate. The sensitivity of soot volume fraction to strain rate was observed to be fuel dependent at a fixed oxygen mole fraction, with the sensitivity being higher for more sooting fuels. However, when the soot loadings were matched at a reference strain rate for different fuels by adjusting oxygen mole fraction, the dependence of soot loading on strain rate became comparable among the tested fuels. PAH concentrations were shown to decrease with increase in strain rate and the dependence on strain rate is more pronounced for larger PAHs. Soot modeling was performed using detailed PAH growth chemistry with molecular growth up to coronene. A qualitative agreement was obtained between experimental and simulation results, which was then used to explain the experimentally observed strain rate effect on soot growth. However, quantitatively, the simulation result exhibits higher sensitivity to strain rate, especially for large PAHs and soot volume fractions.

Soot measurements by two angle scattering and extinction in an N 2 -diluted ethylene/air counterflow diffusion flame from 2 to 5 atm

KAUST Repository

Amin, Hafiz M.F.

2016-06-27

The soot formed in an N-diluted ethylene/air counterflow diffusion flame at elevated pressure was investigated using two angle light scattering/extinction technique. To provide a well-controlled pressurized environment for the flame, a novel pressure vessel was built with the required optical access. The soot parameters were measured along the centerline of the counterflow flame. These properties included soot volume fraction (f ), primary particle diameter (d ), population averaged radius of gyration (R ) and number density of primary particles (n ). The Rayleigh-Debye-Gans theory for Fractal Aggregates (RDG-FA) was used to retrieve these properties from scattering and extinction measurements. Soot volume fraction was measured via light extinction from 2 to 5atm while maintaining the same global strain rate at all pressures. Scattered light from soot particles was measured at 45° and 135° and primary particle diameter was calculated using scattering/extinction ratio and the radius of gyration was determined from the dissymmetry ratio. Soot volume fraction, primary particle diameter and radius of gyration all increased with pressure while the number density of primary particles decreased with increasing pressure.

Soot measurements by two angle scattering and extinction in an N 2 -diluted ethylene/air counterflow diffusion flame from 2 to 5 atm

KAUST Repository

Amin, Hafiz M.F.; Roberts, William L.

2016-01-01

The soot formed in an N-diluted ethylene/air counterflow diffusion flame at elevated pressure was investigated using two angle light scattering/extinction technique. To provide a well-controlled pressurized environment for the flame, a novel pressure vessel was built with the required optical access. The soot parameters were measured along the centerline of the counterflow flame. These properties included soot volume fraction (f ), primary particle diameter (d ), population averaged radius of gyration (R ) and number density of primary particles (n ). The Rayleigh-Debye-Gans theory for Fractal Aggregates (RDG-FA) was used to retrieve these properties from scattering and extinction measurements. Soot volume fraction was measured via light extinction from 2 to 5atm while maintaining the same global strain rate at all pressures. Scattered light from soot particles was measured at 45° and 135° and primary particle diameter was calculated using scattering/extinction ratio and the radius of gyration was determined from the dissymmetry ratio. Soot volume fraction, primary particle diameter and radius of gyration all increased with pressure while the number density of primary particles decreased with increasing pressure.

A PAH growth mechanism and synergistic effect on PAH formation in counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu

2013-09-01

A reaction mechanism having molecular growth up to benzene for hydrocarbon fuels with up to four carbon-atoms was extended to include the formation and growth of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) up to coronene (C24H12). The new mechanism was tested for ethylene premixed flames at low (20torr) and atmospheric pressures by comparing experimentally observed species concentrations with those of the computed ones for small chemical species and PAHs. As compared to several existing mechanisms in the literature, the newly developed mechanism showed an appreciable improvement in the predicted profiles of PAHs. The new mechanism was also used to simulate PAH formation in counterflow diffusion flames of ethylene to study the effects of mixing propane and benzene in the fuel stream. In the ethylene-propane flames, existing experimental results showed a synergistic effect in PAH concentrations, i.e. PAH concentrations first increased and then decreased with increasing propane mixing. This PAH behavior was successfully captured by the new mechanism. The synergistic effect was predicted to be more pronounced for larger PAH molecules as compared to the smaller ones, which is in agreement with experimental observations. In the experimental study in which the fuel stream of ethylene-propane flames was doped with benzene, a synergistic effect was mitigated for benzene, but was observed for large PAHs. This effect was also predicted in the computed PAH profiles for these flames. To explain these responses of PAHs in the flames of mixture fuels, a pathway analysis has been conducted, which show that several resonantly stabilized species as well as C4H4 and H atom contribute to the enhanced synergistic behaviors of larger PAHs as compared to the small ones in the flames of mixture fuels. © 2013 The Combustion Institute.

Blow-out of nonpremixed turbulent jet flames at sub-atmospheric pressures

KAUST Repository

Wang, Qiang; Hu, Longhua; Chung, Suk-Ho

2016-01-01

Blow-out limits of nonpremixed turbulent jet flames in quiescent air at sub-atmospheric pressures (50–100 kPa) were studied experimentally using propane fuel with nozzle diameters ranging 0.8–4 mm. Results showed that the fuel jet velocity at blow-out limit increased with increasing ambient pressure and nozzle diameter. A Damköhler (Da) number based model was adopted, defined as the ratio of characteristic mixing time and characteristic reaction time, to include the effect of pressure considering the variations in laminar burning velocity and thermal diffusivity with pressure. The critical lift-off height at blow-out, representing a characteristic length scale for mixing, had a linear relationship with the theoretically predicted stoichiometric location along the jet axis, which had a weak dependence on ambient pressure. The characteristic mixing time (critical lift-off height divided by jet velocity) adjusted to the characteristic reaction time such that the critical Damköhler at blow-out conditions maintained a constant value when varying the ambient pressure.

Blow-out of nonpremixed turbulent jet flames at sub-atmospheric pressures

KAUST Repository

Wang, Qiang

2016-12-09

Blow-out limits of nonpremixed turbulent jet flames in quiescent air at sub-atmospheric pressures (50–100 kPa) were studied experimentally using propane fuel with nozzle diameters ranging 0.8–4 mm. Results showed that the fuel jet velocity at blow-out limit increased with increasing ambient pressure and nozzle diameter. A Damköhler (Da) number based model was adopted, defined as the ratio of characteristic mixing time and characteristic reaction time, to include the effect of pressure considering the variations in laminar burning velocity and thermal diffusivity with pressure. The critical lift-off height at blow-out, representing a characteristic length scale for mixing, had a linear relationship with the theoretically predicted stoichiometric location along the jet axis, which had a weak dependence on ambient pressure. The characteristic mixing time (critical lift-off height divided by jet velocity) adjusted to the characteristic reaction time such that the critical Damköhler at blow-out conditions maintained a constant value when varying the ambient pressure.

NO emission characteristics in counterflow diffusion flame of blended fuel of H2/CO2/Ar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong Park; Kyunghwan Lee; Keeman Lee

2002-01-01

Flame structure and NO emission characteristics in counterflow diffusion flame of blended fuel of H 2 /CO 2 /Ar have been numerically simulated with detailed chemistry. The combination of H 2 , CO 2 and Ar as fuel is selected to clearly display the contribution of hydrocarbon products to flame structure and NO emission characteristics due to the breakdown of CO 2 . A radiative heat loss term is involved to correctly describe the flame dynamics especially at low strain rates. The detailed chemistry adopts the reaction mechanism of GRI 2.11, which consists of 49 species and 279 elementary reactions. All mechanisms including thermal, NO 2 , N 2 O and Fenimore are taken into account to separately evaluate the effects of CO 2 addition on NO emission characteristics. The increase of added CO 2 quantity causes flame temperature to fall since at high strain rates a diluent effect is prevailing and at low strain rates the breakdown of CO 2 produces relatively populous hydrocarbon products and thus the existence of hydrocarbon products inhibits chain branching. It is also found that the contribution of NO production by N 2 O and NO 2 mechanisms are negligible and that thermal mechanism is concentrated on only the reaction zone. As strain rate and CO 2 quantity increase, NO production is remarkably augmented. (Author)

Effects of soot formation on shape of a nonpremixed laminar flame established in a shear boundary layer in microgravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, H Y; Merino, J L Florenciano; Dagaut, P

2011-01-01

A numerical study was performed to give a quantitative description of a heavily sooting, nonpremixed laminar flame established in a shear boundary layer in microgravity. Controlling mechanisms of three dimensional flow, combustion, soot and radiation are coupled. Soot volume fraction were predicted by using three approaches, referred respectively to as the fuel, acetylene and PAH inception models. It is found that the PAH inception model, which is based on the formation of two and three-ringed aromatic species, reproduces correctly the experimental data from a laminar ethylene diffusion flame. The PAH inception model serves later to better understand flame quenching, flame stand-off distance and soot formation as a function of the dimensionless volume coefficient, defined as C q = V F /V ox where V F is the fuel injection velocity, and V ox air stream velocity. The present experiments showed that a blue unstable flame, negligible radiative feedback, may change to a yellow stable flame, significant radiative loss with an increase of C q ; this experimental trend was numerically reproduced. The flame quenching occurs at the trailing edge due to radiative heat loss which is significantly amplified by increasing V F or decreasing V ox , favouring soot formation. Along a semi-infinite fuel zone, the ratio, d f /d b , where d f is the flame standoff distance, and d b the boundary layer thickness, converges towards a constant value of 1.2, while soot resides always within the boundary layer far away from the flame sheet.

Formation, growth, and transport of soot in a three-dimensional turbulent non-premixed jet flame

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Mü eller, Michael E.; Pitsch, Heinz G.

2014-01-01

The formation, growth, and transport of soot is investigated via large scale numerical simulation in a three-dimensional turbulent non-premixed n-heptane/air jet flame at a jet Reynolds number of 15,000. For the first time, a detailed chemical mechanism, which includes the soot precursor naphthalene and a high-order method of moments are employed in a three-dimensional simulation of a turbulent sooting flame. The results are used to discuss the interaction of turbulence, chemistry, and the formation of soot. Compared to temperature and other species controlled by oxidation chemistry, naphthalene is found to be affected more significantly by the scalar dissipation rate. While the mixture fraction and temperature fields show fairly smooth spatial and temporal variations, the sensitivity of naphthalene to turbulent mixing causes large inhomogeneities in the precursor fields, which in turn generate even stronger intermittency in the soot fields. A strong correlation is apparent between soot number density and the concentration of naphthalene. On the contrary, while soot mass fraction is usually large where naphthalene is present, pockets of fluid with large soot mass are also frequent in regions with very low naphthalene mass fraction values. From the analysis of Lagrangian statistics, it is shown that soot nucleates and grows mainly in a layer close to the flame and spreads on the rich side of the flame due to the fluctuating mixing field, resulting in more than half of the total soot mass being located at mixture fractions larger than 0.6. Only a small fraction of soot is transported towards the flame and is completely oxidized in the vicinity of the stoichiometric surface. These results show the leading order effects of turbulent mixing in controlling the dynamics of soot in turbulent flames. Finally, given the difficulties in obtaining quantitative data in experiments of turbulent sooting flames, this simulation provides valuable data to guide the development of

Formation, growth, and transport of soot in a three-dimensional turbulent non-premixed jet flame

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio

2014-07-01

The formation, growth, and transport of soot is investigated via large scale numerical simulation in a three-dimensional turbulent non-premixed n-heptane/air jet flame at a jet Reynolds number of 15,000. For the first time, a detailed chemical mechanism, which includes the soot precursor naphthalene and a high-order method of moments are employed in a three-dimensional simulation of a turbulent sooting flame. The results are used to discuss the interaction of turbulence, chemistry, and the formation of soot. Compared to temperature and other species controlled by oxidation chemistry, naphthalene is found to be affected more significantly by the scalar dissipation rate. While the mixture fraction and temperature fields show fairly smooth spatial and temporal variations, the sensitivity of naphthalene to turbulent mixing causes large inhomogeneities in the precursor fields, which in turn generate even stronger intermittency in the soot fields. A strong correlation is apparent between soot number density and the concentration of naphthalene. On the contrary, while soot mass fraction is usually large where naphthalene is present, pockets of fluid with large soot mass are also frequent in regions with very low naphthalene mass fraction values. From the analysis of Lagrangian statistics, it is shown that soot nucleates and grows mainly in a layer close to the flame and spreads on the rich side of the flame due to the fluctuating mixing field, resulting in more than half of the total soot mass being located at mixture fractions larger than 0.6. Only a small fraction of soot is transported towards the flame and is completely oxidized in the vicinity of the stoichiometric surface. These results show the leading order effects of turbulent mixing in controlling the dynamics of soot in turbulent flames. Finally, given the difficulties in obtaining quantitative data in experiments of turbulent sooting flames, this simulation provides valuable data to guide the development of

A computational study of ethylene–air sooting flames: Effects of large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

KAUST Repository

Selvaraj, Prabhu

2015-11-05

An updated reduced gas-phase kinetic mechanism was developed and integrated with aerosol models to predict soot formation characteristics in ethylene nonpremixed and premixed flames. A primary objective is to investigate the sensitivity of the soot formation to various chemical pathways for large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The gas-phase chemical mechanism adopted the KAUST-Aramco PAH Mech 1.0, which utilized the AramcoMech 1.3 for gas-phase reactions validated for up to C2 fuels. In addition, PAH species up to coronene (C24H12 or A7) were included to describe the detailed formation pathways of soot precursors. In this study, the detailed chemical mechanism was reduced from 397 to 99 species using directed relation graph with expert knowledge (DRG-X) and sensitivity analysis. The method of moments with interpolative closure (MOMIC) was employed for the soot aerosol model. Counterflow nonpremixed flames at low strain rate sooting conditions were considered, for which the sensitivity of soot formation characteristics to different nucleation pathways were investigated. Premixed flame experiment data at different equivalence ratios were also used for validation. The findings show that higher PAH concentrations result in a higher soot nucleation rate, and that the total soot volume and average size of the particles are predicted in good agreement with experimental results. Subsequently, the effects of different pathways, with respect to pyrene- or coronene-based nucleation models, on the net soot formation rate were analyzed. It was found that the nucleation processes (i.e., soot inception) are sensitive to the choice of PAH precursors, and consideration of higher PAH species beyond pyrene is critical for accurate prediction of the overall soot formation.

Numerical study of influences of crosswind and additional steam on the flow field and temperature of propane non-premixed turbulence flame

Science.gov (United States)

Wusnah; Bindar, Y.; Yunardi; Nur, F. M.; Syam, A. M.

2018-03-01

This paper presents results the process of combustion propane using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the turbulent non-premixed flame under the influences of crosswinds and the ratio of fuel (propane) to steam, S. Configuration, discretization and boundary conditions of the flame are described using GambitTM software and integrated with FluentTM software for calculations of flow and reactive fields. This work focuses on the influence of various crosswind speeds (0–10 m/s) and values of S (0.14–2.35) while the velocity of fuel issued from the nozzle was kept constant at 20 m/s. A turbulence model, k-ɛ standard and combustion model, Eddy Dissipation model were employed for the calculation of velocity and temperature fields, respectively. The results are displayed in the form of predictive terrain profile of the propane flame at different crosswind speeds. The results of the propane flame profile demonstrated that the crosswind significantly affect the structure velocity and position of the flame which was off-center moving towards the direction of crosswind, eventually affect the temperature along the flame. As the values of S is increasing, the flame contour temperature decreases, until the flame was extinguished at S equals to 2.35. The combustion efficiency for a variety of crosswind speeds decreases with increasing values of S.

Characteristics of strongly-forced turbulent jets and non-premixed jet flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lakshminarasimhan, K.; Ezekoye, O.A. [University of Texas at Austin, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Austin, TX (United States); Clemens, N.T. [University of Texas at Austin, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Austin, TX (United States)

2006-10-15

Previous researchers have demonstrated that strong pulsations of the fuel flow rate can significantly reduce the flame length and luminosity of laminar/transitional non-premixed jet flames. The physical mechanisms responsible for these changes are investigated experimentally in acoustically-forced jet flows where the peak velocity fluctuations are up to eight times the mean flow velocity. Both reacting and non-reacting flows were studied and Reynolds numbers, based on the mean flow properties, ranged from 800 to 10,000 (corresponding to peak Reynolds numbers of 1,450-23,000), and forcing frequencies ranged from 290 to 1,140 Hz. Both the first and second organ-pipe resonance modes of the fuel delivery tube were excited to obtain these frequencies. An analysis of the acoustic forcing characteristics within the resonance tube is provided in order to understand the source of the high amplitude forcing. Flow visualization of jets with first resonant forcing confirms the presence of large-scale coherent vortices and strong reverse flow near the exit of the fuel tube. With second-resonant forcing, however, vortices are not emitted from the tube as they are drawn back into the fuel tube before they can fully form. Increased fine-scale turbulence is associated with both resonant cases, but particularly at second resonance. The power spectra of the velocity fluctuations for a resonantly pulsed jet show the presence of an inertial subrange indicating that the flow becomes fully turbulent even for mean-Reynolds-number jets that are nominally laminar. It is shown that these pulsed jet flows exhibit strong similarities to synthetic jets and that the Strouhal number, based on the maximum velocity at the fuel tube exit, is the dominant parameter for scaling these flows. The Strouhal number determines the downstream location where the coherent vortices breakdown, and is found to provide better collapse of flame length data (both current and previous) than other parameters that have

A numerical study on extinction and NOx formation in nonpremixed flames with syngas fuel

KAUST Repository

Chun, Kangwoo; Chung, Hun J.; Chung, Suk-Ho; Choi, Jaehyuk

2011-01-01

The flame structure, extinction, and NOx emission characteristics of syngas/air nonpremixed flames, have been investigated numerically. The extinction stretch rate increased with the increase in the hydrogen proportion in the syngas and with lower fuel dilution and higher initial temperature. It also increased with pressure, except for the case of highly diluted fuel at high pressure. The maximum temperature and the emission index of nitric oxides (EINOx) also increased in aforementioned conditions. The EINOx decreased with stretch rate in general, while the decreasing rate was found to be somewhat different between the cases of N2 and CO2 dilutions. The reaction paths of NOx formation were analyzed and represented as NO reaction path diagram. The increase in N radical resulted in larger NOx production at high initial temperature and pressure. As the pressure increases, EINOx increases slower due to the third-body recombination. The thermal NO mechanism is weakened for high dilution cases and non-thermal mechanisms prevail. The combustion conditions achieving higher extinction stretch rate can be lead to more NOx emission, therefore that the selection of optimum operation range is needed in syngas combustion. © 2011 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

A numerical study on extinction and NOx formation in nonpremixed flames with syngas fuel

KAUST Repository

Chun, Kangwoo

2011-11-01

The flame structure, extinction, and NOx emission characteristics of syngas/air nonpremixed flames, have been investigated numerically. The extinction stretch rate increased with the increase in the hydrogen proportion in the syngas and with lower fuel dilution and higher initial temperature. It also increased with pressure, except for the case of highly diluted fuel at high pressure. The maximum temperature and the emission index of nitric oxides (EINOx) also increased in aforementioned conditions. The EINOx decreased with stretch rate in general, while the decreasing rate was found to be somewhat different between the cases of N2 and CO2 dilutions. The reaction paths of NOx formation were analyzed and represented as NO reaction path diagram. The increase in N radical resulted in larger NOx production at high initial temperature and pressure. As the pressure increases, EINOx increases slower due to the third-body recombination. The thermal NO mechanism is weakened for high dilution cases and non-thermal mechanisms prevail. The combustion conditions achieving higher extinction stretch rate can be lead to more NOx emission, therefore that the selection of optimum operation range is needed in syngas combustion. © 2011 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Investigation of soot morphology and particle size distrib ution in a turbulent nonpremixed flame via Monte Carlo simulations

KAUST Repository

Abdelgadir, Ahmed

2015-03-30

Recently, our group performed a set of direct numerical simulations (DNS) of soot formation and growth in a n-heptane three dimensional non-premixed jet flame [Attili et al., Proc. Comb. Inst, 35, 2015], [Attili et al., Comb. Flame, 161, 2014], [Bisetti et al.,Trans of the Royal Soc, 372, 2014]. The evolution of species relevant to soot formation and growth have been sampled along a large number of Lagrangian trajectories in the DNS. In this work, the DNS results are post-processed to compute the soot evolution along selected Lagrangian trajectories using a Monte Carlo method. An operator splitting approach is adopted to split the deterministic processes (nucleation, surface growth and oxidation) from coagulation, which is treated stochastically. The morphological properties of soot and the particlesize distribution are investigated. For trajectories that experience an early strong nucleation event, the particle size distribution is found to be bimodal, as the soot particles have enough time to coagulate and grow while it is unimodal for trajectories characterized by only late nucleation events. As a results, the average size distribution at two different crosswise positions in the flame is unimodal.

Simulation of Electron and Ion Transport in Methane-Air Counterflow Diffusion Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sangkyu; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Chung, Suk Ho

2010-11-01

The spatial distribution of charged species in a methane-air counterflow diffusion flame is simulated with a detailed ion chemistry. The electric field induced by the distribution of charged species is calculated and compared to that obtained invoking the ambipolar diffusion assumption. The two calculations showed identical profiles for charged species and electric field. The profiles of ion mole fractions show two peaks: one near the maximum temperature and a second peak on the oxidizer side. The major ions near the maximum temperature are electron, C2H3O+ and H3O+. CHO3- and H3O+ contribute to the second peak. These profiles are quite different from those adopting a simplified three-step mechanism based solely on E-, CHO+ and H3O+, which shows only a single peak. Reaction pathway analyses showed that near the flame region, the proton is transferred by the path of CHO+ -> H3O+ -> C2H3O+ -> CHO+ in a circulating manner. In the second peak, CHO3- is produced though the pathway of E- -> O- -> OH- -> CHO3-. The sensitivity of the charged species profiles to transport properties is investigated, and it is found that the variation of charged species profiles near peak temperature is relatively small, while on the oxidizer side, it is quite sensitive to transport properties.

Blow-out limits of nonpremixed turbulent jet flames in a cross flow at atmospheric and sub-atmospheric pressures

KAUST Repository

Wang, Qiang

2015-07-22

The blow-out limits of nonpremixed turbulent jet flames in cross flows were studied, especially concerning the effect of ambient pressure, by conducting experiments at atmospheric and sub-atmospheric pressures. The combined effects of air flow and pressure were investigated by a series of experiments conducted in an especially built wind tunnel in Lhasa, a city on the Tibetan plateau where the altitude is 3650 m and the atmospheric pressure condition is naturally low (64 kPa). These results were compared with results obtained from a wind tunnel at standard atmospheric pressure (100 kPa) in Hefei city (altitude 50 m). The size of the fuel nozzles used in the experiments ranged from 3 to 8 mm in diameter and propane was used as the fuel. It was found that the blow-out limit of the air speed of the cross flow first increased (“cross flow dominant” regime) and then decreased (“fuel jet dominant” regime) as the fuel jet velocity increased in both pressures; however, the blow-out limit of the air speed of the cross flow was much lower at sub-atmospheric pressure than that at standard atmospheric pressure whereas the domain of the blow-out limit curve (in a plot of the air speed of the cross flow versus the fuel jet velocity) shrank as the pressure decreased. A theoretical model was developed to characterize the blow-out limit of nonpremixed jet flames in a cross flow based on a Damköhler number, defined as the ratio between the mixing time and the characteristic reaction time. A satisfactory correlation was obtained at relative strong cross flow conditions (“cross flow dominant” regime) that included the effects of the air speed of the cross flow, fuel jet velocity, nozzle diameter and pressure.

Visualization of ionic wind in laminar jet flames

KAUST Repository

Park, Daegeun

2017-07-03

Electric field, when it is applied to hydrocarbon flames, generates ionic wind due to the electric body force on charge carrying species. Ionic wind has been shown to influence soot emission, propagation speed, and stability of flames; however, a detailed behavior of ionic wind and its effects on flames is still not clear. Here, we investigated the dynamic behaviors of flames and ionic wind in the presence of direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) electric fields in nonpremixed and premixed jet flames with a jet nozzle placed between two parallel electrodes. We observed a skewed flame toward a lower potential electrode with DC and lower frequency AC (e.g., 10Hz) and a steady flame with higher frequencies AC (1000Hz), while we found that the ionic wind blew toward both the anode and cathode regardless of flame type (nonpremixed or premixed) or the source of the electric field (DC and AC).

Comparative study of non-premixed and partially-premixed combustion simulations in a realistic Tay model combustor

OpenAIRE

Zhang, K.; Ghobadian, A.; Nouri, J. M.

2017-01-01

A comparative study of two combustion models based on non-premixed assumption and partially premixed assumptions using the overall models of Zimont Turbulent Flame Speed Closure Method (ZTFSC) and Extended Coherent Flamelet Method (ECFM) are conducted through Reynolds stress turbulence modelling of Tay model gas turbine combustor for the first time. The Tay model combustor retains all essential features of a realistic gas turbine combustor. It is seen that the non-premixed combustion model fa...

The i-V curve characteristics of burner-stabilized premixed flames: detailed and reduced models

KAUST Repository

Han, Jie

2016-07-17

The i-V curve describes the current drawn from a flame as a function of the voltage difference applied across the reaction zone. Since combustion diagnostics and flame control strategies based on electric fields depend on the amount of current drawn from flames, there is significant interest in modeling and understanding i-V curves. We implement and apply a detailed model for the simulation of the production and transport of ions and electrons in one-dimensional premixed flames. An analytical reduced model is developed based on the detailed one, and analytical expressions are used to gain insight into the characteristics of the i-Vcurve for various flame configurations. In order for the reduced model to capture the spatial distribution of the electric field accurately, the concept of a dead zone region, where voltage is constant, is introduced, and a suitable closure for the spatial extent of the dead zone is proposed and validated. The results from the reduced modeling framework are found to be in good agreement with those from the detailed simulations. The saturation voltage is found to depend significantly on the flame location relative to the electrodes, and on the sign of the voltage difference applied. Furthermore, at sub-saturation conditions, the current is shown to increase linearly or quadratically with the applied voltage, depending on the flame location. These limiting behaviors exhibited by the reduced model elucidate the features of i-V curves observed experimentally. The reduced model relies on the existence of a thin layer where charges are produced, corresponding to the reaction zone of a flame. Consequently, the analytical model we propose is not limited to the study of premixed flames, and may be applied easily to others configurations, e.g.~nonpremixed counterflow flames.

Gravity Effects Observed In Partially Premixed Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Puri, Ishwar K.; Aggarwal, Suresh K.; Lock, Andrew J.; Gauguly, Ranjan; Hegde, Uday

2003-01-01

Partially premixed flames (PPFs) contain a rich premixed fuel air mixture in a pocket or stream, and, for complete combustion to occur, they require the transport of oxidizer from an appropriately oxidizer-rich (or fuel-lean) mixture that is present in another pocket or stream. Partial oxidation reactions occur in fuel-rich portions of the mixture and any remaining unburned fuel and/or intermediate species are consumed in the oxidizer-rich portions. Partial premixing, therefore, represents that condition when the equivalence ratio (phi) in one portion of the flowfield is greater than unity, and in another section its value is less than unity. In general, for combustion to occur efficiently, the global equivalence ratio is in the range fuel-lean to stoichiometric. These flames can be established by design by placing a fuel-rich mixture in contact with a fuel-lean mixture, but they also occur otherwise in many practical systems, which include nonpremixed lifted flames, turbulent nonpremixed combustion, spray flames, and unwanted fires. Other practical applications of PPFs are reported elsewhere. Although extensive experimental studies have been conducted on premixed and nonpremixed flames under microgravity, there is a absence of previous experimental work on burner stabilized PPFs in this regard. Previous numerical studies by our group employing a detailed numerical model showed gravity effects to be significant on the PPF structure. We report on the results of microgravity experiments conducted on two-dimensional (established on a Wolfhard-Parker slot burner) and axisymmetric flames (on a coannular burner) that were investigated in a self-contained multipurpose rig. Thermocouple and radiometer data were also used to characterize the thermal transport in the flame.

Stochastic Simulation of Soot Formation Evolution in Counterflow Diffusion Flames

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao Jiang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Soot generally refers to carbonaceous particles formed during incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. A typical simulation of soot formation and evolution contains two parts: gas chemical kinetics, which models the chemical reaction from hydrocarbon fuels to soot precursors, that is, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, and soot dynamics, which models the soot formation from PAHs and evolution due to gas-soot and soot-soot interactions. In this study, two detailed gas kinetic mechanisms (ABF and KM2 have been compared during the simulation (using the solver Chemkin II of ethylene combustion in counterflow diffusion flames. Subsequently, the operator splitting Monte Carlo method is used to simulate the soot dynamics. Both the simulated data from the two mechanisms for gas and soot particles are compared with experimental data available in the literature. It is found that both mechanisms predict similar profiles for the gas temperature and velocity, agreeing well with measurements. However, KM2 mechanism provides much closer prediction compared to measurements for soot gas precursors. Furthermore, KM2 also shows much better predictions for soot number density and volume fraction than ABF. The effect of nozzle exit velocity on soot dynamics has also been investigated. Higher nozzle exit velocity renders shorter residence time for soot particles, which reduces the soot number density and volume fraction accordingly.

NO concentration imaging in turbulent nonpremixed flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schefer, R.W. [Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA (United States)

1993-12-01

The importance of NO as a pollutant species is well known. An understanding of the formation characteristics of NO in turbulent hydrocarbon flames is important to both the desired reduction of pollutant emissions and the validation of proposed models for turbulent reacting flows. Of particular interest is the relationship between NO formation and the local flame zone, in which the fuel is oxidized and primary heat release occurs. Planar imaging of NO provides the multipoint statistics needed to relate NO formation to the both the flame zone and the local turbulence characteristics. Planar imaging of NO has been demonstrated in turbulent flames where NO was seeded into the flow at high concentrations (2000 ppm) to determine the gas temperature distribution. The NO concentrations in these experiments were significantly higher than those expected in typical hydrocarbon-air flames, which require a much lower detectability limit for NO measurements. An imaging technique based on laser-induced fluorescence with sufficient sensitivity to study the NO formation mechanism in the stabilization region of turbulent lifted-jet methane flames.

NOx emission characteristics in turbulent hydrogen jet flames with coaxial air

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moon, Hee Jang [Korea Aerospace University, Goyang (Korea, Republic of); Park, Yang Ho; Yoon, Young Bin [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2009-06-15

The characteristics of NOx emissions in pure hydrogen nonpremixed jet flames with coaxial air are analyzed numerically for a wide range of coaxial air conditions. Among the models tested in simple nonpremixed jet flame, the one-half power scaling law could be reproduced only by the Model C using the HO{sub 2}/H{sub 2}O{sub 2} reaction, implying the importance of chemical nonequilibrium effect. The flame length is reduced significantly by augmenting coaxial air, and could be represented as a function of the ratio of coaxial air to fuel velocity. Predicted EINOx scaling showed a good concordance with experimental data, and the overall one-half power scaling was observed in coaxial flames with Model C when flame residence time was defined with flame volume instead of a cubic of the flame length. Different level of oxygen mass fraction at the stoichiometric surface was observed as coaxial air was increased. These different levels imply that the coaxial air strengthens the nonequilibrium effect

NOx emission characteristics in turbulent hydrogen jet flames with coaxial air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moon, Hee Jang; Park, Yang Ho; Yoon, Young Bin

2009-01-01

The characteristics of NOx emissions in pure hydrogen nonpremixed jet flames with coaxial air are analyzed numerically for a wide range of coaxial air conditions. Among the models tested in simple nonpremixed jet flame, the one-half power scaling law could be reproduced only by the Model C using the HO 2 /H 2 O 2 reaction, implying the importance of chemical nonequilibrium effect. The flame length is reduced significantly by augmenting coaxial air, and could be represented as a function of the ratio of coaxial air to fuel velocity. Predicted EINOx scaling showed a good concordance with experimental data, and the overall one-half power scaling was observed in coaxial flames with Model C when flame residence time was defined with flame volume instead of a cubic of the flame length. Different level of oxygen mass fraction at the stoichiometric surface was observed as coaxial air was increased. These different levels imply that the coaxial air strengthens the nonequilibrium effect

Behaviors of tribrachial edge flames and their interactions in a triple-port burner

KAUST Repository

Yamamoto, Kazuhiro; Isobe, Yusuke; Hayashi, Naoki; Yamashita, Hiroshi; Chung, Suk-Ho

2015-01-01

In a triple-port burner, various non-premixed flames have been observed previously. Especially for the case with two lifted flames, such configuration could be suitable in studying interaction between two tribrachial flames. In the present study

Nitric oxide concentration measurements in atmospheric pressure flames using electronic-resonance-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Chai, N.; Kulatilaka, W. D.; Naik, S. V.; Laurendeau, N. M.; Lucht, R. P.; Kuehner, J. P.; Roy, S.; Katta, V. R.; Gord, J. R.

2007-06-01

We report the application of electronic-resonance-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (ERE-CARS) for measurements of nitric oxide concentration ([NO]) in three different atmospheric pressure flames. Visible pump (532 nm) and Stokes (591 nm) beams are used to probe the Q-branch of the Raman transition. A significant resonance enhancement is obtained by tuning an ultraviolet probe beam (236 nm) into resonance with specific rotational transitions in the (v’=0, v”=1) vibrational band of the A2Σ+-X2Π electronic system of NO. ERE-CARS spectra are recorded at various heights within a hydrogen-air flame producing relatively low concentrations of NO over a Hencken burner. Good agreement is obtained between NO ERE-CARS measurements and the results of flame computations using UNICORN, a two-dimensional flame code. Excellent agreement between measured and calculated NO spectra is also obtained when using a modified version of the Sandia CARSFT code for heavily sooting acetylene-air flames (φ=0.8 to φ=1.6) on the same Hencken burner. Finally, NO concentration profiles are measured using ERE-CARS in a laminar, counter-flow, non-premixed hydrogen-air flame. Spectral scans are recorded by probing the Q1 (9.5), Q1 (13.5) and Q1 (17.5) Raman transitions. The measured shape of the [NO] profile is in good agreement with that predicted using the OPPDIF code, even without correcting for collisional effects. These comparisons between [NO] measurements and predictions establish the utility of ERE-CARS for detection of NO in flames with large temperature and concentration gradients as well as in sooting environments.

Characteristics of non-premixed oxygen-enhanced combustion: II. Flame structure effects on soot precursor kinetics resulting in soot-free flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skeen, S.A.; Axelbaum, R.L. [Department of Energy, Environmental, Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO (United States); Yablonsky, G. [Department of Energy, Environmental, Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO (United States); Parks College, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO (United States)

2010-09-15

A detailed computational study was performed to understand the effects of the flame structure on the formation and destruction of soot precursors during ethylene combustion. Using the USC Mech Version II mechanism the contributions of different pathways to the formation of benzene and phenyl were determined in a wide domain of Z{sub st} values via a reverse-pathway analysis. It was shown that for conventional ethylene-air flames two sequential reversible reactions play primary roles in the propargyl (C{sub 3}H{sub 3}) chemistry, namely (1) C{sub 2}H{sub 2}+CH{sub 3}= pC{sub 3} H{sub 4}+H, (2) pC{sub 3} H{sub 4}= C{sub 3} H{sub 3}+ H with the corresponding overall endothermic reaction of propargyl formation (3) C{sub 2} H{sub 2}+CH{sub 3}= C{sub 3} H{sub 3}+2H. The contributions of these reactions to propyne (pC{sub 3}H{sub 4}) and propargyl formation and propargyl self-combination leading to benzene and phenyl were studied as a function of physical position, temperature, Z{sub st}, and H concentration. In particular, the role of H radicals on soot precursor destruction was studied in detail. At low Z{sub st}, Reactions 1 and 2 contribute significantly to propyne and propargyl formation on the fuel side of the radical pool at temperatures greater than approx. 1600 K. At higher local temperatures near the radical pool where the concentration of H is significant, the reverse reactions begin to dominate resulting in soot precursor destruction. As Z{sub st} is increased, these regions merge and only net propargyl consumption is observed. Based on the equilibrium constant of Reaction 3, a Z{sub st} value was estimated above which the rate of propargyl formation as a soot precursor is greatly reduced (Z{sub st} = 0.3). This condition compares well with the experimental results for permanently blue counterflow flames in the literature. (author)

Investigation of a flame holder geometry effect on flame structure in non-premixed combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashemi, S. A.; Hajialigol, N.; Fattahi, A.; Heydari, R.; Mazaheri, K.

2013-01-01

In this paper the effect of flame holder geometry on flame structure is studied. The obtained numerical results using realizable k-ε and β-PDF models show a good agreement with experimental data. The results show that increasing in flame holder length decreases flame length and increases flame temperature. Additionally, it is observed that flame lengths decrease by increasing in flame holder radius and increase for larger radii. Furthermore in various radii, the flame temperature is higher for smaller flame lengths. It was found that behavior of flame structure is mainly affected by the mass flow rate of hot gases that come near the reactant by the recirculation zone.

Investigation of a flame holder geometry effect on flame structure in non-premixed combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashemi, S. A.; Hajialigol, N.; Fattahi, A.; Heydari, R. [University of Kashan, Kashan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mazaheri, K. [University of Tarbiat Moddares, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2013-11-15

In this paper the effect of flame holder geometry on flame structure is studied. The obtained numerical results using realizable k-ε and β-PDF models show a good agreement with experimental data. The results show that increasing in flame holder length decreases flame length and increases flame temperature. Additionally, it is observed that flame lengths decrease by increasing in flame holder radius and increase for larger radii. Furthermore in various radii, the flame temperature is higher for smaller flame lengths. It was found that behavior of flame structure is mainly affected by the mass flow rate of hot gases that come near the reactant by the recirculation zone.

Two- and Three-Dimensional Measurements in Flames

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Long, Marshall

1998-01-01

Three-scalar measurements were made in a turbulent nonpremixed flame (Re=15000) to increase confidence in the two-scalar technique based on simultaneous imaging of Rayleigh scattering and fuel Raman scattering...

Direct numerical simulations of non-premixed ethylene-air flames: Local flame extinction criterion

KAUST Repository

Lecoustre, Vivien R.

2014-11-01

Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of ethylene/air diffusion flame extinctions in decaying two-dimensional turbulence were performed. A Damköhler-number-based flame extinction criterion as provided by classical large activation energy asymptotic (AEA) theory is assessed for its validity in predicting flame extinction and compared to one based on Chemical Explosive Mode Analysis (CEMA) of the detailed chemistry. The DNS code solves compressible flow conservation equations using high order finite difference and explicit time integration schemes. The ethylene/air chemistry is simulated with a reduced mechanism that is generated based on the directed relation graph (DRG) based methods along with stiffness removal. The numerical configuration is an ethylene fuel strip embedded in ambient air and exposed to a prescribed decaying turbulent flow field. The emphasis of this study is on the several flame extinction events observed in contrived parametric simulations. A modified viscosity and changing pressure (MVCP) scheme was adopted in order to artificially manipulate the probability of flame extinction. Using MVCP, pressure was changed from the baseline case of 1 atm to 0.1 and 10 atm. In the high pressure MVCP case, the simulated flame is extinction-free, whereas in the low pressure MVCP case, the simulated flame features frequent extinction events and is close to global extinction. Results show that, despite its relative simplicity and provided that the global flame activation temperature is correctly calibrated, the AEA-based flame extinction criterion can accurately predict the simulated flame extinction events. It is also found that the AEA-based criterion provides predictions of flame extinction that are consistent with those provided by a CEMA-based criterion. This study supports the validity of a simple Damköhler-number-based criterion to predict flame extinction in engineering-level CFD models. © 2014 The Combustion Institute.

A comprehensive experimental and modeling study of iso-pentanol combustion

KAUST Repository

Sarathy, Mani

2013-12-01

Biofuels are considered as potentially attractive alternative fuels that can reduce greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. iso-Pentanol is one of several next-generation biofuels that can be used as an alternative fuel in combustion engines. In the present study, new experimental data for iso-pentanol in shock tube, rapid compression machine, jet stirred reactor, and counterflow diffusion flame are presented. Shock tube ignition delay times were measured for iso-pentanol/air mixtures at three equivalence ratios, temperatures ranging from 819 to 1252. K, and at nominal pressures near 40 and 60. bar. Jet stirred reactor experiments are reported at 5. atm and five equivalence ratios. Rapid compression machine ignition delay data was obtained near 40. bar, for three equivalence ratios, and temperatures below 800. K. Laminar flame speed data and non-premixed extinction strain rates were obtained using the counterflow configuration. A detailed chemical kinetic model for iso-pentanol oxidation was developed including high- and low-temperature chemistry for a better understanding of the combustion characteristics of higher alcohols. First, bond dissociation energies were calculated using ab initio methods, and the proposed rate constants were based on a previously presented model for butanol isomers and n-pentanol. The model was validated against new and existing experimental data at pressures of 1-60. atm, temperatures of 650-1500. K, equivalence ratios of 0.25-4.0, and covering both premixed and non-premixed environments. The method of direct relation graph (DRG) with expert knowledge (DRGX) was employed to eliminate unimportant species and reactions in the detailed mechanism, and the resulting skeletal mechanism was used to predict non-premixed flames. In addition, reaction path and temperature A-factor sensitivity analyses were conducted for identifying key reactions at various combustion conditions. © 2013 The Combustion Institute.

A comprehensive experimental and modeling study of iso-pentanol combustion

KAUST Repository

Sarathy, Mani; Park, Sungwoo; Weber, Bryan W.; Wang, Weijing; Veloo, Peter S.; Davis, Alexander C.; Togbé , Casimir; Westbrook, Charles K.; Park, Okjoo; Dayma, Guillaume; Luo, Zhaoyu; Oehlschlaeger, Matthew A.; Egolfopoulos, Fokion N.; Lu, Tianfeng; Pitz, William J.; Sung, Chihjen; Dagaut, P.

2013-01-01

Biofuels are considered as potentially attractive alternative fuels that can reduce greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. iso-Pentanol is one of several next-generation biofuels that can be used as an alternative fuel in combustion engines. In the present study, new experimental data for iso-pentanol in shock tube, rapid compression machine, jet stirred reactor, and counterflow diffusion flame are presented. Shock tube ignition delay times were measured for iso-pentanol/air mixtures at three equivalence ratios, temperatures ranging from 819 to 1252. K, and at nominal pressures near 40 and 60. bar. Jet stirred reactor experiments are reported at 5. atm and five equivalence ratios. Rapid compression machine ignition delay data was obtained near 40. bar, for three equivalence ratios, and temperatures below 800. K. Laminar flame speed data and non-premixed extinction strain rates were obtained using the counterflow configuration. A detailed chemical kinetic model for iso-pentanol oxidation was developed including high- and low-temperature chemistry for a better understanding of the combustion characteristics of higher alcohols. First, bond dissociation energies were calculated using ab initio methods, and the proposed rate constants were based on a previously presented model for butanol isomers and n-pentanol. The model was validated against new and existing experimental data at pressures of 1-60. atm, temperatures of 650-1500. K, equivalence ratios of 0.25-4.0, and covering both premixed and non-premixed environments. The method of direct relation graph (DRG) with expert knowledge (DRGX) was employed to eliminate unimportant species and reactions in the detailed mechanism, and the resulting skeletal mechanism was used to predict non-premixed flames. In addition, reaction path and temperature A-factor sensitivity analyses were conducted for identifying key reactions at various combustion conditions. © 2013 The Combustion Institute.

Turbulent Non-Premixed Flames Stabilized on Double-Slit Curved Wall-Jet Burner with Simultaneous OH-Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence and Particle Image Velocimetry Measurements

KAUST Repository

Mansour, Morkous S.

2015-04-29

A double-slit curved wall-jet (CWJ) burner utilizing a Coanda effect by supplying fuel and air as annular-inward jets over a curved surface was employed to investigate the stabilization characteristics and structure of propane/air turbulent non-premixed flames with varying global equivalence ratio and Reynolds number. Simultaneous time-resolved measurements of particle image velocimetry (PIV) and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of OH radicals were conducted. The burner showed a potential of stable and non-sooting operation for relatively large fuel loading and overall rich conditions. Mixing characteristics in cold flow were first examined using an acetone fluorescence technique, indicating substantial transport between the fuel and air by exhibiting appreciable premixing conditions. PIV measurements revealed that the flow field consisted of a wall-jet region leading to a recirculation zone through flow separation, an interaction jet region resulting from the collision of annular-inward jets, followed by a merged-jet region. The flames were stabilized in the recirculation zone and, in extreme cases, only a small flame seed remained in the recirculation zone. Together with the collision of the slit jets in the interaction jet region, the velocity gradients in the shear layers at the boundaries of the annular jets generate the turbulence. Turbulent mean and rms velocities were influenced by the presence of the flame, particularly in the recirculation zone. Flames with a high equivalence ratio were found to be more resistant to local extinction and exhibited a more corrugated and folded nature, particularly at high Reynolds numbers. For flames with a low equivalence ratio, local quenching and re-ignition processes maintained flames in the merged jet region, revealing a strong intermittency, which was substantiated by the increased principal strain rates for these flames. © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Flow instability in laminar jet flames driven by alternating current electric fields

KAUST Repository

Kim, Gyeong Taek; Park, Daegeun; Cha, Min; Park, Jeong; Chung, Suk-Ho

2016-01-01

The effect of electric fields on the instability of laminar nonpremixed jet flames was investigated experimentally by applying the alternating current (AC) to a jet nozzle. We aimed to elucidate the origin of the occurrence of twin-lifted jet flames

Soot modeling of counterflow diffusion flames of ethylene-based binary mixture fuels

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu

2015-03-01

A soot model was developed based on the recently proposed PAH growth mechanism for C1-C4 gaseous fuels (KAUST PAH Mechanism 2, KM2) that included molecular growth up to coronene (A7) to simulate soot formation in counterflow diffusion flames of ethylene and its binary mixtures with methane, ethane and propane based on the method of moments. The soot model has 36 soot nucleation reactions from 8 PAH molecules including pyrene and larger PAHs. Soot surface growth reactions were based on a modified hydrogen-abstraction-acetylene-addition (HACA) mechanism in which CH3, C3H3 and C2H radicals were included in the hydrogen abstraction reactions in addition to H atoms. PAH condensation on soot particles was also considered. The experimentally measured profiles of soot volume fraction, number density, and particle size were well captured by the model for the baseline case of ethylene along with the cases involving mixtures of fuels. The simulation results, which were in qualitative agreement with the experimental data in the effects of binary fuel mixing on the sooting structures of the measured flames, showed in particular that 5% addition of propane (ethane) led to an increase in the soot volume fraction of the ethylene flame by 32% (6%), despite the fact that propane and ethane are less sooting fuels than is ethylene, which is in reasonable agreement with experiments of 37% (14%). The model revealed that with 5% addition of methane, there was an increase of 6% in the soot volume fraction. The average soot particle sizes were only minimally influenced while the soot number densities were increased by the fuel mixing. Further analysis of the numerical data indicated that the chemical cross-linking effect between ethylene and the dopant fuels resulted in an increase in PAH formation, which led to higher soot nucleation rates and therefore higher soot number densities. On the other hand, the rates of soot surface growth per unit surface area through the HACA mechanism were

Investigation of the effects of quarl and initial conditions on swirling non-premixed methane flames: Flow field, temperature, and species distributions

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.

2015-12-19

Detailed measurements are presented of the turbulent flow field, gas species concentrations and temperature field in a non-premixed methane swirl flame. Attention is given to the effect of the quarl geometry on the flame structure and emission characteristics due to its importance in gas turbine and industrial burner applications. Two different quarls were fitted to the burner exit, one a straight quarl and the other a diverging quarl of 15° half cone angle. Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) was applied to obtain the three components of the instantaneous velocity on a vertical plane immediately downstream of the quarl exit. Temperature and gaseous species measurements were made both inside and downstream of the quarls, using a fine wire thermocouple and sampling probe, respectively. This work provides experimental verification by complementary techniques. The results showed that although the main flame structures were governed by the swirl motion imparted to the air stream, the quarl geometry, fuel loading and air loading also had a significant effect on the flow pattern, turbulence intensity, mixture formation, temperature distribution, emissions and flame stabilization. Particularly, in the case of the straight quarl flame, the flow pattern leads to strong, rapid mixing and reduces the residence time for NO formation within the internal recirculation zone (IRZ). However, for the diverging quarl flames, the recirculation zone is shifted radially outward, and the turbulent interaction between the central fuel jet and the internal recirculation zone IRZ induces another small vortex between these two flow features. Less mixing near the diverging quarl exit is observed, with a higher concentration of NO and CO in the post-combustion zone. The instantaneous flow field for both flames showed the existence of small scale vortical structure near the shear layers which were not apparent in the time averaged flow field. These structures, along with high levels

A parallel adaptive mesh refinement algorithm for predicting turbulent non-premixed combusting flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, X.; Groth, C.P.T.

2005-01-01

A parallel adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) algorithm is proposed for predicting turbulent non-premixed combusting flows characteristic of gas turbine engine combustors. The Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations governing mixture and species transport for a reactive mixture of thermally perfect gases in two dimensions, the two transport equations of the κ-ψ turbulence model, and the time-averaged species transport equations, are all solved using a fully coupled finite-volume formulation. A flexible block-based hierarchical data structure is used to maintain the connectivity of the solution blocks in the multi-block mesh and facilitate automatic solution-directed mesh adaptation according to physics-based refinement criteria. This AMR approach allows for anisotropic mesh refinement and the block-based data structure readily permits efficient and scalable implementations of the algorithm on multi-processor architectures. Numerical results for turbulent non-premixed diffusion flames, including cold- and hot-flow predictions for a bluff body burner, are described and compared to available experimental data. The numerical results demonstrate the validity and potential of the parallel AMR approach for predicting complex non-premixed turbulent combusting flows. (author)

Optical investigation of gas-phase KCl/KOH sulfation in post flame conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weng, Wubin; chen, Shuang; Wu, Hao

2018-01-01

A counter-flow reactor setup was designed to investigate the gas-phase sulfation and homogeneous nucleation of potassium salts. Gaseous KOH and KCl were introduced into the post-flame zone of a laminar flat flame. The hot flame products mixed in the counter-flow with cold N2, with or without....... Depending on the potassium speciation in the inlet and the presence of SO2, they consisted of K2SO4, KCl, or K2CO3, respectively. The experiments showed that KOH was sulphated more readily than KCl, resulting in larger quantities of aerosols. The sulfation process in the counter-flow setup was simulated...... using a chemical kinetic model including a detailed subset for the Cl/S/K chemistry. Similar to the experimental results, much more potassium sulfate was predicted when seeding KOH compared to seeding KCl. For both KOH and KCl, sulfation was predicted to occur primarily through the reactions among...

Effects of H2O, CO2, and N2 Air Contaminants on Critical Airside Strain Rates for Extinction of Hydrogen-Air Counterflow Diffusion Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Pellett, G. L.; Wilson, L. G.; Northam, G. B.; Guerra, Rosemary

1989-01-01

Coaxial tubular opposed jet burners (OJB) were used to form dish shaped counterflow diffusion flames (CFDF), centered by opposing laminar jets of H2, N2 and both clean and contaminated air (O2/N2 mixtures) in an argon bath at 1 atm. Jet velocities for flame extinction and restoration limits are shown versus wide ranges of contaminant and O2 concentrations in the air jet, and also input H2 concentration. Blowoff, a sudden breaking of CFDF to a stable ring shape, occurs in highly stretched stagnation flows and is generally believed to measure kinetically limited flame reactivity. Restore, a sudden restoration of central flame, is a relatively new phenomenon which exhibits a H2 dependent hysteresis from Blowoff. For 25 percent O2 air mixtures, mole for mole replacement of 25 percent N2 contaminant by steam increased U(air) or flame strength at Blowoff by about 5 percent. This result is consistent with laminar burning velocity results from analogous substitution of steam for N2 in a premixed stoichiometric H2-O2-N2 (or steam) flame, shown by Koroll and Mulpuru to promote a 10 percent increase in experimental and calculated laminar burning velocity, due to enhanced third body efficiency of water in: H + O2 + M yields HO2 + M. When the OJB results were compared with Liu and MacFarlane's experimental laminar burning velocity of premixed stoichiometric H2 + air + steam, a crossover occurred, i.e., steam enhanced OJB flame strength at extinction relative to laminar burning velocity.

Structure of Unsteady Partially Premixed Flames and the Existence of State Relationships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suresh K. Aggarwal

2009-09-01

Full Text Available In this study, we examine the structure and existence of state relationships in unsteady partially premixed flames (PPFs subjected to buoyancy-induced and external perturbations. A detailed numerical model is employed to simulate the steady and unsteady two-dimensional PPFs established using a slot burner under normal and zero-gravity conditions. The coflow velocity is parametrically varied. The methane-air chemistry is modeled using a fairly detailed mechanism that contains 81 elementary reactions and 24 species. Validation of the computational model is provided through comparisons of predictions with nonintrusive measurements. The combustion proceeds in two reaction zones, one a rich premixed zone and the other a nonpremixed zone. These reaction zones are spatially separated, but involve strong interactions between them due to thermochemistry and scalar transport. The fuel is mostly consumed in the premixed zone to produce CO and H2, which are transported to and consumed in the nonpremixed zone. The nonpremixed zone in turn provides heat and H-atoms to the premixed zone. For the range of conditions investigated, the zero-g partially premixed flames exhibit a stable behavior and a remarkably strong resistance to perturbations. In contrast, the corresponding normal-gravity flames exhibit oscillatory behavior at low coflow velocities but a stable behavior at high coflow velocities, and the behavior can be explained in terms of a global and convective instabilities. The effects of coflow and gravity on the flames are characterized through a parameter VR, defined as the ratio of coflow velocity to jet velocity. For VR ≤ 1 (low coflow velocity regime, the structures of both 0- and 1-g flames are strongly sensitive to changes in VR, while they are only mildly affected by coflow in the high coflow velocity regime (VR > 1. In addition, the spatio-temporal characteristics of the 0- and 1-g flames are markedly different in the first regime, but are

Large eddy simulation of premixed and non-premixed combustion in a Stagnation Point Reverse Flow combustor

Science.gov (United States)

Undapalli, Satish

A new combustor referred to as Stagnation Point Reverse Flow (SPRF) combustor has been developed at Georgia Tech to meet the increasingly stringent emission regulations. The combustor incorporates a novel design to meet the conflicting requirements of low pollution and high stability in both premixed and non-premixed modes. The objective of this thesis work is to perform Large Eddy Simulations (LES) on this lab-scale combustor and elucidate the underlying physics that has resulted in its excellent performance. To achieve this, numerical simulations have been performed in both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes, and velocity field, species field, entrainment characteristics, flame structure, emissions, and mixing characteristics have been analyzed. Simulations have been carried out first for a non-reactive case to resolve relevant fluid mechanics without heat release by the computational grid. The computed mean and RMS quantities in the non-reacting case compared well with the experimental data. Next, the simulations were extended for the premixed reactive case by employing different sub-grid scale combustion chemistry closures: Eddy Break Up (EBU), Artificially Thickened Flame (TF) and Linear Eddy Mixing (LEM) models. Results from the EBU and TF models exhibit reasonable agreement with the experimental velocity field. However, the computed thermal and species fields have noticeable discrepancies. Only LEM with LES (LEMLES), which is an advanced scalar approach, has been able to accurately predict both the velocity and species fields. Scalar mixing plays an important role in combustion, and this is solved directly at the sub-grid scales in LEM. As a result, LEM accurately predicts the scalar fields. Due to the two way coupling between the super-grid and sub-grid quantities, the velocity predictions also compare very well with the experiments. In other approaches, the sub-grid effects have been either modeled using conventional approaches (EBU) or need

A parametric study of AC electric field-induced toroidal vortex formation in laminar nonpremixed coflow flames

KAUST Repository

Xiong, Yuan

2017-05-02

This study presents an experimental work investigating the controlling parameters on the formation of an electrically-induced inner toroidal vortex (ITV) near a nozzle rim in small, laminar nonpremixed coflow flames, when an alternating current is applied to the nozzle. A systematic parametric study was conducted by varying the flow parameters of the fuel and coflowing-air velocities, and the nozzle diameter. The fuels tested were methane, ethylene, ethane, propane, n-butane, and i-butane, each representing different ion-generation characteristics and sooting tendencies. The results showed that the fluid dynamic effects on ITV formation were weak, causing only mild variation when altering flow velocities. However, increased fuel velocity resulted in increased polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation, which promoted ITV formation. When judging the ITV-formation tendency based on critical applied voltage and frequency, it was qualitatively well correlated with the PAH concentration and the relative location of PAHs to the nozzle rim. The sooting tendency of the fuels did not affect the results much. A change in the nozzle diameter highlighted the importance of the relative distance between the PAH zone and the nozzle rim, indicating the role of local electric-field intensity on ITV formation. Detailed onset conditions, characteristics of near-nozzle flow patterns, and PAH distributions are also discussed.

Computational Analysis of Spray Jet Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Utsav

There is a boost in the utilization of renewable sources of energy but because of high energy density applications, combustion will never be obsolete. Spray combustion is a type of multiphase combustion which has tremendous engineering applications in different fields, varying from energy conversion devices to rocket propulsion system. Developing accurate computational models for turbulent spray combustion is vital for improving the design of combustors and making them energy efficient. Flamelet models have been extensively used for gas phase combustion because of their relatively low computational cost to model the turbulence-chemistry interaction using a low dimensional manifold approach. This framework is designed for gas phase non-premixed combustion and its implementation is not very straight forward for multiphase and multi-regime combustion such as spray combustion. This is because of the use of a conserved scalar and various flamelet related assumptions. Mixture fraction has been popularly employed as a conserved scalar and hence used to parameterize the characteristics of gaseous flamelets. However, for spray combustion, the mixture fraction is not monotonic and does not give a unique mapping in order to parameterize the structure of spray flames. In order to develop a flamelet type model for spray flames, a new variable called the mixing variable is introduced which acts as an ideal conserved scalar and takes into account the convection and evaporation of fuel droplets. In addition to the conserved scalar, it has been observed that though gaseous flamelets can be characterized by the conserved scalar and its dissipation, this might not be true for spray flamelets. Droplet dynamics has a significant influence on the spray flamelet and because of effects such as flame penetration of droplets and oscillation of droplets across the stagnation plane, it becomes important to accommodate their influence in the flamelet formulation. In order to recognize the

Compositional effects on PAH and soot formation in counterflow diffusion flames of gasoline surrogate fuels

KAUST Repository

Park, Sungwoo

2017-02-05

Gasoline surrogate fuels are widely used to understand the fundamental combustion properties of complex refinery gasoline fuels. In this study, the compositional effects on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soot formation were investigated experimentally for gasoline surrogate mixtures comprising n-heptane, iso-octane, and toluene in counterflow diffusion flames. A comprehensive kinetic model for the gasoline surrogate mixtures was developed to accurately predict the fuel oxidation along with the formation of PAHs and soot in flames. This combined model was first tested against ignition delay times and laminar burning velocities data. The proposed model for the formation and growth of PAHs up to coronene (C24H12) was based on previous studies and was tested against existing and present new experimental data. Additionally, in the accompanied soot model, PAHs with sizes larger than (including) pyrene were used for the inception of soot particles, followed by particle coagulations and PAH condensation/chemical reactions on soot surfaces. The major pathways for the formation of PAHs were also identified for the surrogate mixtures. The model accurately captures the synergistic PAH formation characteristics observed experimentally for n-heptane/toluene and iso-octane/toluene binary mixtures. Furthermore, the present experimental and modeling results also elucidated different trends in the formation of larger PAHs and soot between binary n-heptane/iso-octane and ternary n-heptane/iso-octane/toluene mixtures. Propargyl radicals (C3H3) were shown to be important in the formation and growth of PAHs for n-heptane/iso-octane mixtures when the iso-octane concentration increased; however, reactions involving benzyl radicals (C6H5CH2) played a significant role in the formation of PAHs for n-heptane/iso-octane/toluene mixtures. These results indicated that the formation of PAHs and subsequently soot was strongly affected by the composition of gasoline surrogate mixtures.

Compositional effects on PAH and soot formation in counterflow diffusion flames of gasoline surrogate fuels

KAUST Repository

Park, Sungwoo; Wang, Yu; Chung, Suk-Ho; Sarathy, Mani

2017-01-01

Gasoline surrogate fuels are widely used to understand the fundamental combustion properties of complex refinery gasoline fuels. In this study, the compositional effects on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soot formation were investigated experimentally for gasoline surrogate mixtures comprising n-heptane, iso-octane, and toluene in counterflow diffusion flames. A comprehensive kinetic model for the gasoline surrogate mixtures was developed to accurately predict the fuel oxidation along with the formation of PAHs and soot in flames. This combined model was first tested against ignition delay times and laminar burning velocities data. The proposed model for the formation and growth of PAHs up to coronene (C24H12) was based on previous studies and was tested against existing and present new experimental data. Additionally, in the accompanied soot model, PAHs with sizes larger than (including) pyrene were used for the inception of soot particles, followed by particle coagulations and PAH condensation/chemical reactions on soot surfaces. The major pathways for the formation of PAHs were also identified for the surrogate mixtures. The model accurately captures the synergistic PAH formation characteristics observed experimentally for n-heptane/toluene and iso-octane/toluene binary mixtures. Furthermore, the present experimental and modeling results also elucidated different trends in the formation of larger PAHs and soot between binary n-heptane/iso-octane and ternary n-heptane/iso-octane/toluene mixtures. Propargyl radicals (C3H3) were shown to be important in the formation and growth of PAHs for n-heptane/iso-octane mixtures when the iso-octane concentration increased; however, reactions involving benzyl radicals (C6H5CH2) played a significant role in the formation of PAHs for n-heptane/iso-octane/toluene mixtures. These results indicated that the formation of PAHs and subsequently soot was strongly affected by the composition of gasoline surrogate mixtures.

Modelling of Turbulent Lifted Jet Flames using flamelets: a priori assessment and a posteriori validation

OpenAIRE

Ruan, S; Swaminathan, Nedunchezhian; Darbyshire, O

2014-01-01

This study focuses on the modelling of turbulent lifted jet flames using flamelets and presumed PDF approach with interests on both flame lift-off height and flame brush structure. First, flamelet models used to capture contributions from premixed and non-premixed modes to the partially premixed combustion in the lifted jet flame are assessed using a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data for turbulent lifted hydrogen jet flame. The joint PDFs of mixture fraction, Z, and progress ...

Liftoff characteristics of partially premixed flames under normal and microgravity conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lock, Andrew J.; Briones, Alejandro M.; Aggarwal, Suresh K. [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607 (United States); Qin, Xiao [Department of Mechanical & amp; Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Puri, Ishwar K. [Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (United States); Hegde, Uday [National Center for Microgravity Research, Cleveland, OH 44135 (United States)

2005-11-01

An experimental and computational investigation on the liftoff characteristics of laminar partially premixed flames (PPFs) under normal (1-g) and microgravity ({mu}-g) conditions is presented. Lifted methane-air PPFs were established in axisymmetric coflowing jets using nitrogen dilution and various levels of partial premixing. The {mu}-g experiments were conducted in the 2.2-s drop tower at the NASA Glenn Research Center. A time-accurate, implicit algorithm that uses a detailed description of the chemistry and includes radiation effects is used for the simulations. The predictions are validated through a comparison of the flame reaction zone topologies, liftoff heights, lengths, and oscillation frequencies. The effects of equivalence ratio, gravity, jet velocity, and radiation on flame topology, liftoff height, flame length, base structure, and oscillation frequency are characterized. Both the simulations and measurements indicate that under identical conditions, a lifted {mu}-g PPF is stabilized closer to the burner compared with the 1-g flame, and that the liftoff heights of both 1-g and {mu}-g flames decrease with increasing equivalence ratio and approach their respective nonpremixed flame limits. The liftoff height also increases as the jet velocity is increased. In addition, the flame base structure transitions from a triple- to a double-flame structure as the flame liftoff height decreases. A modified flame index is developed to distinguish between the rich premixed, lean premixed, and nonpremixed reaction zones near the flame base. The 1-g lifted flames exhibit well-organized oscillations due to buoyancy-induced instability, while the corresponding {mu}-g flames exhibit steady-state behavior. The effect of thermal radiation is to slightly decrease the liftoff heights of both 1-g and {mu}-g flames under coflow conditions.

Effects of substitution on counterflow ignition and extinction of C3 and C4 alcohols

KAUST Repository

Alfazazi, Adamu

2016-06-17

Dwindling reserves and inherent uncertainty in the price of conventional fuels necessitates a search for alternative fuels. Alcohols represent a potential source of energy for the future. The structural features of an alcohol fuel have a direct impact on combustion properties. In particular, substitution in alcohols can alter the global combustion reactivity. In this study, experiments and numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the critical conditions of extinction and autoignition of n-propanol, 1-butanol, iso-propanol and iso-butanol in non-premixed diffusion flames. Experiments were carried out in the counterflow configuration, while simulations were conducted using a skeletal chemical kinetic model for the C3 and C4 alcohols. The fuel stream consists of the pre-vaporized fuel diluted with nitrogen, while the oxidizer stream is air. The experimental results show that autoignition temperatures of the tested alcohols increase in the following order: iso-propanol > iso-butanol > 1-butanol ≈ n-propanol. The simulated results for the branched alcohols agree with the experiments, while the autoignition temperature of 1-butanol is slightly higher than that of n-propanol. For extinction, the experiments show that the extinction limits of the tested fuels increase in the following order: n-propanol ≈ 1-butanol > iso-butanol > iso-propanol. The model suggests that the extinction limits of 1-butanol is slightly higher than n-propanol with extinction strain rate of iso-butanol and iso-propanol maintaining the experimentally observed trend. The transport weighted enthalpy (TWE) and radical index (Ri) concepts were utilized to rationalize the observed reactivity trends for these fuels.

Effects of substitution on counterflow ignition and extinction of C3 and C4 alcohols

KAUST Repository

Alfazazi, Adamu; Niemann, Ulrich; Selim, Hatem; Cattolica, Robert J.; Sarathy, Mani

2016-01-01

Dwindling reserves and inherent uncertainty in the price of conventional fuels necessitates a search for alternative fuels. Alcohols represent a potential source of energy for the future. The structural features of an alcohol fuel have a direct impact on combustion properties. In particular, substitution in alcohols can alter the global combustion reactivity. In this study, experiments and numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the critical conditions of extinction and autoignition of n-propanol, 1-butanol, iso-propanol and iso-butanol in non-premixed diffusion flames. Experiments were carried out in the counterflow configuration, while simulations were conducted using a skeletal chemical kinetic model for the C3 and C4 alcohols. The fuel stream consists of the pre-vaporized fuel diluted with nitrogen, while the oxidizer stream is air. The experimental results show that autoignition temperatures of the tested alcohols increase in the following order: iso-propanol > iso-butanol > 1-butanol ≈ n-propanol. The simulated results for the branched alcohols agree with the experiments, while the autoignition temperature of 1-butanol is slightly higher than that of n-propanol. For extinction, the experiments show that the extinction limits of the tested fuels increase in the following order: n-propanol ≈ 1-butanol > iso-butanol > iso-propanol. The model suggests that the extinction limits of 1-butanol is slightly higher than n-propanol with extinction strain rate of iso-butanol and iso-propanol maintaining the experimentally observed trend. The transport weighted enthalpy (TWE) and radical index (Ri) concepts were utilized to rationalize the observed reactivity trends for these fuels.

Effects of AC Electric Field on Small Laminar Nonpremixed Flames

KAUST Repository

Xiong, Yuan

2015-04-01

Electric field can be a viable method in controlling various combustion properties. Comparing to traditional actuators, an application of electric field requires very small power consumption. Especially, alternating current (AC) has received attention recently, since it could modulate flames appreciably even for the cases when direct current (DC) has minimal effects. In this study, the effect of AC electric fields on small coflow diffusion flames is focused with applications of various laser diagnostic techniques. Flow characteristics of baseline diffusion flames, which corresponds to stationary small coflow diffusion flames when electric field is not applied, were firstly investigated with a particular focus on the flow field in near-nozzle region with the buoyancy force exerted on fuels due to density differences among fuel, ambient air, and burnt gas. The result showed that the buoyancy force exerted on the fuel as well as on burnt gas significantly distorted the near-nozzle flow-fields. In the fuels with densities heavier than air, recirculation zones were formed very close to the nozzle exit. Nozzle heating effect influenced this near-nozzle flow-field particularly among lighter fuels. Numerical simulations were also conducted and the results showed that a fuel inlet boundary condition with a fully developed velocity profile for cases with long fuel tubes should be specified inside the fuel tube to obtain satisfactory agreement in both the flow and temperature fields with those from experiment. With sub-critical AC applied to the baseline flames, particle image velocimetry (PIV), light scattering, laser-induced incandescence (LII), and laser-induced fluores- cence (LIF) techniques were adopted to identify the flow field and the structures of OH, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), soot zone. Under certain AC condi- tions of applied voltage and frequency, the distribution of PAHs and the flow field near the nozzle exit were drastically altered from the

On the dynamics of flame edges in diffusion-flame/vortex interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hermanns, Miguel; Linan, Amable [Departamento de Motopropulsion y Termofluidodinamica, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Pza. Cardenal Cisneros 3, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Vera, Marcos [Area de Mecanica de Fluidos, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganes (Spain)

2007-04-15

We analyze the local flame extinction and reignition of a counterflow diffusion flame perturbed by a laminar vortex ring. Local flame extinction leads to the appearance of flame edges separating the burning and extinguished regions of the distorted mixing layer. The dynamics of these edges is modeled based on previous numerical results, with heat release effects fully taken into account, which provide the propagation velocity of triple and edge flames in terms of the upstream unperturbed value of the scalar dissipation. The temporal evolution of the mixing layer is determined using the classical mixture fraction approach, with both unsteady and curvature effects taken into account. Although variable density effects play an important role in exothermic reacting mixing layers, in this paper the description of the mixing layer is carried out using the constant density approximation, leading to a simplified analytical description of the flow field. The mathematical model reveals the relevant nondimensional parameters governing diffusion-flame/vortex interactions and provides the parameter range for the more relevant regime of local flame extinction followed by reignition via flame edges. Despite the simplicity of the model, the results show very good agreement with previously published experimental results. (author)

Effect of strain rate on sooting limits in counterflow diffusion flames of gaseous hydrocarbon fuels: Sooting temperature index and sooting sensitivity index

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu

2014-05-01

The effect of the strain rate on the sooting limits in counterflow diffusion flames was investigated in various gaseous hydrocarbon fuels by varying the nitrogen dilution in the fuel and oxidizer streams. The sooting limit was defined as the critical fuel and oxygen mole fraction at which soot started to appear in the elastic light scattering signal. The sooting region for normal alkane fuels at a specified strain rate, in terms of the fuel and oxygen mole fraction, expanded as the number of carbon atoms increased. The alkene fuels (ethylene, propene) tested had a higher propensity for sooting as compared with alkane fuels with the same carbon numbers (ethane, propane). Branched iso-butane had a higher propensity for sooting than did n-butane. An increase in the strain rate reduced the tendency for sooting in all the fuels tested. The sensitivity of the sooting limit to the strain rate was more pronounced for less sooting fuels. When plotted in terms of calculated flame temperature, the critical oxygen mole fraction exhibited an Arrhenius form under sooting limit conditions, which can be utilized to significantly reduce the effort required to determine sooting limits at different strain rates. We found that the limiting temperatures of soot formation flames are viable sooting metrics for quantitatively rating the sooting tendency of various fuels, based on comparisons with threshold soot index and normalized smoke point data. We also introduce a sooting temperature index and a sooting sensitivity index, two quantitative measures to describe sooting propensity and its dependence on strain rate. © 2013 The Combustion Institute.

Measurements and Experimental Database Review for Laminar Flame Speed Premixed Ch4/Air Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Zubrilin, I. A.; Matveev, S. S.; Matveev, S. G.; Idrisov, D. V.

2018-01-01

Laminar flame speed (SL ) of CH4 was determined at atmospheric pressure and initial gas temperatures in range from 298 to 358 K. The heat flux method was employed to measure the flame speed in non-stretched flames. The kinetic mechanism GRI 3.0 [1] were used to simulate SL . The measurements were compared with available literature results. The data determined with the heat flux method agree with some previous burner measurements and disagree with the data from some vessel closed method and counterflow method. The GRI 3.0 mechanism was able to reproduce the present experiments. Laminar flame speed was determined at pressures range from of 1 to 20 atmospheres through mechanism GRI 3.0. Based on experimental data and calculations was obtained SL dependence on pressure and temperature. The resulting of dependence recommended use during the numerical simulation of methane combustion.

The effects of buoyancy on turbulent nonpremixed jet flames in crossflow

Science.gov (United States)

Boxx, Isaac G.

An experimental research study was conducted to investigate what effect buoyancy had on the mean and instantaneous flow-field characteristics of turbulent jet-flames in crossflow (JFICF). The study used an experimental technique wherein a series of normal-gravity, hydrogen-diluted propane JFICF were compared with otherwise identical ones in low-gravity. Experiments were conducted at the University of Texas Drop Tower Facility, a new microgravity science laboratory built for this study at the University of Texas at Austin. Two different diagnostic techniques were employed, high frame-rate digital cinematographic imaging and planar laser Mie scattering (PLMS). The flame-luminosity imaging revealed significant elongation and distortion of the large-scale luminous structure of the JFICF. This was seen to affect the flametip oscillation and burnout characteristics. Mean and root-mean-square (RMS) images of flame-luminosity were computed from the flame-luminosity image sequences. These were used to compare visible flame-shapes, flame chord-lengths and jet centerline-trajectories of the normal- and low-gravity flames. In all cases the jet-centerline penetration and mean luminous flame-width were seen to increase with decreasing buoyancy. The jet-centerline trajectories for the normal-gravity flames were seen to behave differently to those of the low-gravity flames. This difference led to the conclusion that the jet transitions from a momentum-dominated forced convection limit to a buoyancy-influenced regime when it reaches xiC ≈ 3, where xiC is the Becker and Yamazaki (1978) buoyancy parameter based on local flame chord-length. The mean luminous flame-lengths showed little sensitivity to buoyancy or momentum flux ratio. Consistent with the flame-luminosity imaging experiments, comparison of the instantaneous PLMS flow-visualization images revealed substantial buoyancy-induced elongation and distortion of the large-scale shear-layer vortices in the flow. This effect

An experimental study on turbulent lifted flames of methane in coflow jets at elevated temperatures

KAUST Repository

Choi, Byungchul; Chung, Suk-Ho

2013-01-01

An experimental study was conducted on the effects of initial temperature variation on the stabilization characteristics of turbulent nonpremixed flames in coflow jets of methane fuel diluted by nitrogen. The typical behavior seen in the study

Autoignition characteristics of laminar lifted jet flames of pre-vaporized iso-octane in heated coflow air

KAUST Repository

Al-Noman, Saeed M.; Choi, Sang Kyu; Chung, Suk-Ho

2015-01-01

The stabilization characteristics of laminar non-premixed jet flames of pre-vaporized iso-octane, one of the primary reference fuels for octane rating, have been studied experimentally in heated coflow air. Non-autoignited and autoignited lifted

EINOx scaling in a non-premixed turbulent hydrogen jet with swirled coaxial air

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oh, Jeongseog; Hwang, Jeongjae; Yoon, Youngbin [School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea)

2010-08-15

The effect of swirl flow on pollutant emission (nitrous oxide) was studied in a non-premixed turbulent hydrogen jet with coaxial air. A swirl vane was equipped in a coaxial air feeding line and the angle of the swirl vane was varied from 30 to 90 degrees. Under a fixed global equivalence ratio of {phi}{sub G} = 0.5, fuel jet air velocity and coaxial air velocity were varied in an attached flame region as u{sub F} = 85.7-160.2 m/s and u{sub A} = 7.4-14.4 m/s. In the present study, two mixing variables of coaxial air and swirl flow were considered: the flame residence time and global strain rate. The objective of the current study was to analyze the flame length behavior, and the characteristics of nitrous oxide emissions under a swirl flow conditions, and to suggest a new parameter for EINOx (the emission index of nitrous oxide) scaling. From the experimental results, EINOx decreased with the swirl vane angle and increased with the flame length (L). We found the scaling variables for the flame length and EINOx using the effective diameter (d{sub F,eff}) in a far-field concept. Normalized flame length (L divided by d{sub F,eff}) fitted well with the theoretical expectations. EINOx increased in proportion to the flame residence time ({proportional_to}{tau}{sub R}{sup 1/2.8}) and the global strain rate ({proportional_to}S{sub G}{sup 1/2.8}). (author)

Cool diffusion flames of butane isomers activated by ozone in the counterflow

KAUST Repository

Alfazazi, Adamu; Al Omier, Abdullah Abdulaziz; Secco, Andrea; Selim, Hatem; Ju, Yiguang; Sarathy, Mani

2018-01-01

and sustenance of cool diffusion flames; as ozone-less cool diffusion flame of butane isomers could not be established even at high fuel mole fractions. The structure of a stable n-butane cool diffusion flame was qualitatively examined using a time of flight mass

Investigation of noise radiation from a swirl stabilized diffusion flame with an array of microphones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, A.V.; Yu, M.; Gupta, A.K.; Bryden, K.M.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Acoustic spectral characteristics independent of equivalence ratio and flow velocity. • Combustion noise dependent on global equivalence ratio and flow velocity. • Increased global equivalence ratio decreased the frequency of peak. • Decay and growth coefficients largely independent of different flow conditions. • Acoustic radiation coherent up to 1.5 kHz for spatially separated microphones. - Abstract: Next generation of combustors are expected to provide significant improvement on efficiency and reduced pollutants emission. In such combustors, the challenges of local flow, pressure, chemical composition and thermal signatures as well as their interactions will require detailed investigation for seeking optimum performance. Sensor networks with a large number of sensors will be employed in future smart combustors, which will allow one to obtain fast and comprehensive information on the various ongoing processes within the system. In this paper sensor networks with specific focus on an array of homogeneous microphones are used examine the spectral characteristics of combustion noise from a non-premixed combustor. A non-premixed double concentric swirl-flame burner was used. Noise spectra were determined experimentally for the non-premixed swirl flame at various fuel–air ratios using an array of homogeneous condenser microphones. Multiple microphones positioned at discrete locations around the turbulent diffusion flame, provided an understanding of the total sound power and their spectral characteristics. The growth and decay coefficients of total sound power were investigated at different test conditions. The signal coherence between different microphone pairs was also carried out to determine the acoustic behavior of a swirl stabilized turbulent diffusion flame. The localization of acoustic sources from the multiple microphones was examined using the noise spectra. The results revealed that integration of multiple sensors in combustors

Influence of Pilot Flame Parameters on the Stability of Turbulent Jet Flames

KAUST Repository

Guiberti, Thibault F.

2016-11-08

This paper presents a comprehensive study of the effects of pilot parameters on flame stability in a turbulent jet flame. The Sydney inhomogeneous piloted burner is employed as the experimental platform with two main fuels, namely, compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. Various concentrations of five gases are used in the pilot stream, hydrogen, acetylene, oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, to enable a sufficient range in exploring the following parameters: pilot heat release, temperature, burnt gas velocity, equivalence ratio, and H/C ratio. The experimental results are mainly presented in the form of blow-off limits and supported by simple calculations, which simulate various conditions of the pilot–mixture interface. It is found that increasing the pilot adiabatic flame temperature benefits the flame stability and has an even greater influence than the heat release, which is also known to enhance the blow-off limits. Conversely, increasing the pilot burnt gas velocity reduces the blow-off velocity, except for the limiting case when the jet is fully non-premixed. The H/C ratio has negligible effects, while resorting to lean pilots significantly increases the stability of globally rich partially premixed and premixed jets. Such findings are consistent with trends obtained from laminar flame calculations for rich fuel/air mixtures issuing against hot combustion products to simulate the pilot stream.

Characteristics of Oscillating Flames in a Coaxial Confined Jet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Suk Cha

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Flame characteristics when a non-premixed n-butane jet is ejected into a coaxial cylindrical tube are investigated experimentally. Flame stability depends mainly on the characteristics of flame propagation as well as air entrainment which depend on the jet momentum and on the distance between the nozzle exit and the base of a confined tube. As flow rate increases, the flame lifts off from a nozzle attached diffusion flame and a stationary lifted flame can be stabilized. The liftoff height increases nearly linearly with the average velocity at the nozzle exit. The lifted flame has a tribrachial flame structure, which consists of a rich premixed flame, a lean premixed flame, and a diffusion flame, all extending from a single location. As flow rate further increases, periodically oscillating flames are observed inside the confined tube. Once flame oscillation occurs, the flame undergoes relatively stable oscillation such that it has nearly constant oscillation amplitude and frequency. The criteria of flame oscillation are mapped as functions of nozzle diameter, the distance between nozzle and tube, and jet velocity. This type of flame oscillation can be characterized by Strouhal number in terms of flame oscillation amplitude, frequency, and jet velocity. Buoyancy driven flame oscillation which is one of the viable mechanism for flame oscillation is modeled and the results agrees qualitatively with experimental results, suggesting that the oscillation is due to periodic blowoff and flashback under the influence of buoyancy.

Diffusion Flame Extinction in a Low Strain Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Sutula, Jason; Jones, Joshua; Torero, Jose L.; Borlik, Jeffrey; Ezekoye, Ofodike A.

1997-01-01

Diffusion flames are of great interest in fire safety and many industrial processes. Many parameters significantly affect the flame structure, shape and stability, of particular importance are the constraints imposed by geometrical boundaries. Physical boundaries determine the characteristics of the flow, affect heat, fuel, and oxidizer transport from and towards the flame and can act as heat sinks or heat sources. As a result, the existence of a flame, its shape and nature are intimately related to the geometrical characteristics of the environment that surrounds it. The counter-flow configuration provides a constant strain flow, therefore, is ideal to study the structure of diffusion flames. Most studies have concentrated on the high velocity, high strain limit, since buoyantly induced instabilities will disintegrate the planar flame as the velocity decreases. Only recently, experimental studies in micro-gravity conditions have begun to explore the low strain regimes. The main objective of these on-going studies is to determine the effect of radiative heat losses and variable strain on the structure and radiation-induced extinction of diffusion flames. For these programs, size, geometry, and experimental conditions have been chosen to keep the flame unaffected by the physical boundaries. Whether is the burning of condensed or gaseous fuels, for most real situations the boundaries impose a significant effect on the nature of the flame. There is, therefore, a need to better understand the effect that geometrical constraints (i.e. flow nonperpendicular to a fuel surface, heat losses to the boundaries, etc.) might have on the final characteristics of a diffusion flame. Preliminary experiments have shown that, in the absence of gravity, and depending on the distance from the flame to the boundary, three characteristically different regimes can be observed. Close to the boundary, the flame is parabolic, very thin and blue, almost soot-less. Diffusion is the main

Sooting Characteristics and Modeling in Counterflow Diffusion Flames

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu

2013-11-01

Soot formation is one of the most complex phenomena in combustion science and an understanding of the underlying physico-chemical mechanisms is important. This work adopted both experimental and numerical approaches to study soot formation in laminar counterfl ow diffusion flames. As polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the precursors of soot particles, a detailed gas-phase chemical mechanism describing PAH growth upto coronene for fuels with 1 to 4 carbon atoms was validated against laminar premixed and counter- flow diffusion fl ames. Built upon this gas-phase mechanism, a soot model was then developed to describe soot inception and surface growth. This soot model was sub- sequently used to study fuel mixing effect on soot formation in counterfl ow diffusion flames. Simulation results showed that compared to the baseline case of the ethylene flame, the doping of 5% (by volume) propane or ethane in ethylene tends to increase the soot volume fraction and number density while keeping the average soot size almost unchanged. These results are in agreement with experimental observations. Laser light extinction/scattering as well as laser induced fluorescence techniques were used to study the effect of strain rate on soot and PAH formation in counterfl ow diffusion ames. The results showed that as strain rate increased both soot volume fraction and PAH concentrations decreased. The concentrations of larger PAH were more sensitive to strain rate compared to smaller ones. The effect of CO2 addition on soot formation was also studied using similar experimental techniques. Soot loading was reduced with CO2 dilution. Subsequent numerical modeling studies were able to reproduce the experimental trend. In addition, the chemical effect of CO2 addition was analyzed using numerical data. Critical conditions for the onset of soot were systematically studied in counterfl ow diffusion ames for various gaseous hydrocarbon fuels and at different strain rates. A sooting

Modeling and Simulation of Swirl Stabilized Turbulent Non-Premixed Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Badillo-Rios, Salvador; Karagozian, Ann

2017-11-01

Flame stabilization is an important design criterion for many combustion chambers, especially at lean conditions and/or high power output, where insufficient stabilization can result in dangerous oscillations and noisy or damaged combustors. At high flow rates, swirling flow can offer a suitable stabilization mechanism, although understanding the dynamics of swirl-stabilized turbulent flames remains a significant challenge. Utilizing the General Equation and Mesh Solver (GEMS) code, which solves the Navier-Stokes equations along with the energy equation and five species equations, 2D axisymmetric and full 3D parametric studies and simulations are performed to guide the design and development of an experimental swirl combustor configuration and to study the effects of swirl on statistically stationary combustion. Results show that as the momentum of air is directed into the inner air inlet rather than the outer inlet of the swirl combustor, the central recirculating region becomes stronger and more unsteady, improving mixing and burning efficiency in that region. A high temperature region is found to occur as a result of burning of the trapped fuel from the central toroidal vortex. The effects of other parameters on flowfield and flame-stabilization dynamics are explored. Supported by ERC, Inc. (PS150006) and AFOSR (Dr. Chiping Li).

Turbulent jet in confined counterflow

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The mean flowfield of a turbulent jet issuing into a confined, uniform counterflow was investigated computationally. Based on dimensional analysis, the jet penetration length was shown to scale with jet-to-counterflow momentum flux ratio. This scaling and the computational results reproduce the well-known correct limit of ...

Correction of edge-flame propagation speed in a counterflow, annular slot burner

KAUST Repository

Tran, Vu Manh; Cha, Min

2015-01-01

to study the fundamental behaviors of edge-flames. In addition, our burner has easy optical access for detailed laser diagnostics. Flame displacement speeds were measured using a high-speed camera and related flow fields of unburned gases were visualized

A simple one-step chemistry model for partially premixed hydrocarbon combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandez-Tarrazo, Eduardo [Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial, Madrid (Spain); Sanchez, Antonio L. [Area de Mecanica de Fluidos, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganes 28911 (Spain); Linan, Amable [ETSI Aeronauticos, Pl. Cardenal Cisneros 3, Madrid 28040 (Spain); Williams, Forman A. [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0411 (United States)

2006-10-15

This work explores the applicability of one-step irreversible Arrhenius kinetics with unity reaction order to the numerical description of partially premixed hydrocarbon combustion. Computations of planar premixed flames are used in the selection of the three model parameters: the heat of reaction q, the activation temperature T{sub a}, and the preexponential factor B. It is seen that changes in q with equivalence ratio f need to be introduced in fuel-rich combustion to describe the effect of partial fuel oxidation on the amount of heat released, leading to a universal linear variation q(f) for f>1 for all hydrocarbons. The model also employs a variable activation temperature T{sub a}(f) to mimic changes in the underlying chemistry in rich and very lean flames. The resulting chemistry description is able to reproduce propagation velocities of diluted and undiluted flames accurately over the whole flammability limit. Furthermore, computations of methane-air counterflow diffusion flames are used to test the proposed chemistry under nonpremixed conditions. The model not only predicts the critical strain rate at extinction accurately but also gives near-extinction flames with oxygen leakage, thereby overcoming known predictive limitations of one-step Arrhenius kinetics. (author)

Plasma Assisted Combustion: Flame Regimes and Kinetic Studies

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-05

Schauer, Yiguang Ju, Schlieren Imaging and Pulsed Detonation Engine Testing of Ignition by a Nanosecond Repetitively Pulsed Discharge , submitted to...diffusional cool flames • A heated counterflow burner integrated with vaporization system1 • n-heptane/nitrogen vs. oxygen/ ozone • Ozone generator...micro-DBD) produces 2- 5 % of ozone in oxygen stream, depending on oxygen flow rate • Speciation profiles by using a micro-probe sampling with a

Behaviors of tribrachial edge flames and their interactions in a triple-port burner

KAUST Repository

Yamamoto, Kazuhiro

2015-05-01

In a triple-port burner, various non-premixed flames have been observed previously. Especially for the case with two lifted flames, such configuration could be suitable in studying interaction between two tribrachial flames. In the present study, the flame characteristics have been investigated numerically by adopting a reduced kinetic mechanism in the triple-port burner. Four different types of flame configurations, including two attached flames, inner lifted/outer attached flames, inner attached/outer lifted flames, and twin lifted flames, were successfully simulated depending on the flow conditions. The representative edge propagation speed of a single lifted flame or an upstream lifted flame in the case of twin lifted flames increased as the liftoff height became higher. In the twin lifted flames, the inner lifted flame was affected appreciably when the other flame was located further upstream such that the lifted flame located further downstream encountered the axial velocity acceleration induced by the gas expansion from the lifted flame located upstream, while thermal effects were not observed since the temperature of the incoming flow toward the lifted flame was not affected. A unique flip-flop behavior between the inner and outer flames, observed experimentally previously, was successfully captured in the simulation such that the inner lifted flame became attached to the nozzle as the liftoff height of the outer lifted flame grew higher with an increase in the outer air velocity.

Numerical study of flame structure in the mild combustion regime

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mardani Amir

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, turbulent non-premixed CH4+H2 jet flame issuing into a hot and diluted co-flow air is studied numerically. This flame is under condition of the moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution (MILD combustion regime and related to published experimental data. The modelling is carried out using the EDC model to describe turbulence-chemistry interaction. The DRM-22 reduced mechanism and the GRI2.11 full mechanism are used to represent the chemical reactions of H2/methane jet flame. The flame structure for various O2 levels and jet Reynolds numbers are investigated. The results show that the flame entrainment increases by a decrease in O2 concentration at air side or jet Reynolds number. Local extinction is seen in the upstream and close to the fuel injection nozzle at the shear layer. It leads to the higher flame entertainment in MILD regime. The turbulence kinetic energy decay at centre line of jet decreases by an increase in O2 concentration at hot Co-flow. Also, increase in jet Reynolds or O2 level increases the mixing rate and rate of reactions.

Soot reduction under DC electric fields in counterflow non-premixed laminar ethylene flames

KAUST Repository

Park, Daegeun; Choi, Byungchul; Cha, Min; Chung, Suk-Ho

2014-01-01

terminal to a lower (fuel) and upper (oxidizer) nozzle, respectively. We applied direct current (DC) potentials in a range of -5 kV < Vdc < 5 kV. Uniform electric fields were then generated in the gap between the two nozzles. The experimental

Gaseous Non-Premixed Flame Research Planned for the International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Stocker, Dennis P.; Takahashi, Fumiaki; Hickman, J. Mark; Suttles, Andrew C.

2014-01-01

Thus far, studies of gaseous diffusion flames on the International Space Station (ISS) have been limited to research conducted in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) in mid-2009 and early 2012. The research was performed with limited instrumentation, but novel techniques allowed for the determination of the soot temperature and volume fraction. Development is now underway for the next experiments of this type. The Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project consists of five independent experiments that will be conducted with expanded instrumentation within the stations Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR). ACMEs goals are to improve our understanding of flame stability and extinction limits, soot control and reduction, oxygen-enriched combustion which could enable practical carbon sequestration, combustion at fuel lean conditions where both optimum performance and low emissions can be achieved, the use of electric fields for combustion control, and materials flammability. The microgravity environment provides longer residence times and larger length scales, yielding a broad range of flame conditions which are beneficial for simplified analysis, e.g., of limit behaviour where chemical kinetics are important. The detailed design of the modular ACME hardware, e.g., with exchangeable burners, is nearing completion, and it is expected that on-orbit testing will begin in 2016.

CSP-based chemical kinetics mechanisms simplification strategy for non-premixed combustion: An application to hybrid rocket propulsion

KAUST Repository

Ciottoli, Pietro P.

2017-08-14

A set of simplified chemical kinetics mechanisms for hybrid rocket applications using gaseous oxygen (GOX) and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) is proposed. The starting point is a 561-species, 2538-reactions, detailed chemical kinetics mechanism for hydrocarbon combustion. This mechanism is used for predictions of the oxidation of butadiene, the primary HTPB pyrolysis product. A Computational Singular Perturbation (CSP) based simplification strategy for non-premixed combustion is proposed. The simplification algorithm is fed with the steady-solutions of classical flamelet equations, these being representative of the non-premixed nature of the combustion processes characterizing a hybrid rocket combustion chamber. The adopted flamelet steady-state solutions are obtained employing pure butadiene and gaseous oxygen as fuel and oxidizer boundary conditions, respectively, for a range of imposed values of strain rate and background pressure. Three simplified chemical mechanisms, each comprising less than 20 species, are obtained for three different pressure values, 3, 17, and 36 bar, selected in accordance with an experimental test campaign of lab-scale hybrid rocket static firings. Finally, a comprehensive strategy is shown to provide simplified mechanisms capable of reproducing the main flame features in the whole pressure range considered.

On the instability of a modified cup-burner flame in the infrared spectral region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petr Bitala

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This study describes the modification of a standardised cup-burner apparatus. The replacement of the original glass chimney is performed by shielding a nitrogen co-flow enabled measurement at a wavelength of 3.9 μm. This modification, together with a special arrangement of the measuring system (spectral filtering, data acquisition and post-processing, permitted the observation of various types of hydrodynamic instabilities, including transition states. The advantages of our arrangement are demonstrated with an ethylene non-premixed flame with high sooting tendency. Two known modes of hydrodynamic instability (varicose and sinuous that occur in buoyant flames were studied and described quantitatively. Based on the intensity of the infrared emissions, we identified and qualitatively described the modes of periodic hydrodynamic instability that are accompanied by flame tip opening, which has not been observed for this type of flame.

A Numerical Study on Effect of Gas-Phase Radiative Heat Loss on Extinction of Hydrogen Diffusion Flames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sohn, Chae Hoon

2007-01-01

Extinction characteristics of hydrogen-air diffusion flames are investigated numerically by adopting counterflow flame configuration. At various pressures, effect of radiative heat loss on flame extinction is examined. Only gas-phase radiation is considered here. Radiative heat loss depends on flame thickness, temperature, H 2 O concentration, and pressure. From flame structures at various pressures, flame thickness decreases with pressure, but its gradient decreases at high pressure. Flame temperature and mole fraction of H 2 O increase slightly with pressure. Accordingly, as pressure increases, radiative heat loss becomes dominant. When radiative heat loss is considered, radiation-induced extinction is observed at low strain rate in addition to transport-induced extinction. As pressure increases, flammable region shifts to the high-temperature region and then, shrunk to the point on the coordinate plane of flame temperature and strain rate

Effects of electrode geometry on transient plasma induced ignition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shukla, B; Gururajan, V; Eisazadeh-Far, K; Windom, B; Egolfopoulos, F N; Singleton, D; Gundersen, M A

2013-01-01

Achieving effective ignition of reacting mixtures using nanosecond pulsed discharge non-equilibrium transient plasma (TP), requires that the effects of several experimental parameters be quantified and understood. Among them are the electrode geometry, the discharge location especially in non-premixed systems, and the relative ignition performance by spark and TP under the same experimental conditions. In the present investigation, such issues were addressed experimentally using a cylindrical constant volume combustion chamber and a counterflow flame configuration coupled with optical shadowgraph that enables observation of how and where the ignition process starts. Results were obtained under atmospheric pressure and showed that the electrode geometry has a notable influence on ignition, with the needle-to-semicircle exhibiting the best ignition performance. Furthermore, it was determined that under non-premixed conditions discharging TP in the reactants mixing layer was most effective in achieving ignition. It was also determined that in the cases considered, the TP induced ignition initiates from the needle head where the electric field and electron densities are the highest. In the case of a spark, however, ignition was found to initiate always from the hot region between the two electrodes. Comparison of spark and TP discharges in only air (i.e. without fuel) and ignition phenomena induced by them also suggest that in the case of TP ignition is at least partly non-thermal and instead driven by the production of active species. Finally, it was determined that single pulsed TP discharges are sufficient to ignite both premixed and non-premixed flames of a variety of fuels ranging from hydrogen to heavy fuels including F-76 diesel and IFO380 bunker fuel even at room temperature. (paper)

Interaction of Plasma Discharges with a Flame: Experimental and Numerical Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vincent-Randonnier, Axel; Teixeira, David

2010-01-01

This paper presents experimental results and numerical simulations of methane/air non-premixed flame under plasma assistance. Without plasma assistance, the flame blows off at a 28-30 m·s -1 bulk velocity (power around 3 kW). When the discharge is on, the flame can be maintained up to a bulk velocity of 53 m·s -1 (power around 6 kW), corresponding to +90% gain in power with only a few watt of plasma power. The plasma discharges present short duration current pulses (between 100 ns and 200 ns) and occur non-monotonically (delay between two pulses from 6x10 -5 s to 0.1 s). The probability density function of this occurrence is significantly influenced by the mass flow rate or the absence of flame, revealing the strong coupling of the plasma with hydrodynamic and combustion. For the numerical section of this work, we simulated the flame using a Computational Fluid Dynamics code based on Direct Numerical Simulation (direct solving of Navier-Stokes equations), and investigated the thermal and/or chemical effects of discharges on the flame stability.

Sooting turbulent jet flame: characterization and quantitative soot measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Köhler, M.; Geigle, K. P.; Meier, W.; Crosland, B. M.; Thomson, K. A.; Smallwood, G. J.

2011-08-01

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelers require high-quality experimental data sets for validation of their numerical tools. Preferred features for numerical simulations of a sooting, turbulent test case flame are simplicity (no pilot flame), well-defined boundary conditions, and sufficient soot production. This paper proposes a non-premixed C2H4/air turbulent jet flame to fill this role and presents an extensive database for soot model validation. The sooting turbulent jet flame has a total visible flame length of approximately 400 mm and a fuel-jet Reynolds number of 10,000. The flame has a measured lift-off height of 26 mm which acts as a sensitive marker for CFD model validation, while this novel compiled experimental database of soot properties, temperature and velocity maps are useful for the validation of kinetic soot models and numerical flame simulations. Due to the relatively simple burner design which produces a flame with sufficient soot concentration while meeting modelers' needs with respect to boundary conditions and flame specifications as well as the present lack of a sooting "standard flame", this flame is suggested as a new reference turbulent sooting flame. The flame characterization presented here involved a variety of optical diagnostics including quantitative 2D laser-induced incandescence (2D-LII), shifted-vibrational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (SV-CARS), and particle image velocimetry (PIV). Producing an accurate and comprehensive characterization of a transient sooting flame was challenging and required optimization of these diagnostics. In this respect, we present the first simultaneous, instantaneous PIV, and LII measurements in a heavily sooting flame environment. Simultaneous soot and flow field measurements can provide new insights into the interaction between a turbulent vortex and flame chemistry, especially since soot structures in turbulent flames are known to be small and often treated in a statistical manner.

Computational and Experimental Study of Energetic Materials in a Counterflow Microgravity Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Fumiaki (Technical Monitor); Urban, David (Technical Monitor); Smooke, M. D.; Parr, T. P.; Hanson-Parr, D. M.; Yetter, R. A.; Risha, G.

2004-01-01

Counterflow diffusion flames are studied for various fuels flowing against decomposition products from solid ammonium perchlorate (AP) pellets in order to obtain fundamental understanding of composite propellant flame structure and chemistry. We illustrate this approach through a combined experimental and numerical study of a fuel mixture consisting of C2H4 CO + H2, and C2H2 + C2H4 flowing against solid AP. For these particular AP-fuel systems, the resulting flame zone simulates the various flame structures that are ex+ to exist between reaction products from Ap crystals and a hydrocarbon binder. As in all our experimental studies, quantitative species and temperature profiles have been measured between the fuel exit and AP surface. Species measured included CN, NH, NO, OH, N2, CO2, CO, H2, CO, HCl, and H2O. Temperature was measured using a thermocouple at the exit, spontaneous Raman scattering measurements throughout the flame, OH rotational population distributions, and NO vibrational population distributions. The burning rate of AP was also measured as a function of strain rate, given by the separation distance between the AP surface and the gaseous hydrocarbon fuel tube exit plane. This distance was nominally set at 5 mm, although studies have been performed for variations in separation distance. The measured 12 scalars are compared with predictions from a detailed gas-phase kinetics model consisting of 86 species and 531 reactions. Model predictions are found to be in good agreement with experiment and illustrate the type of kinetic features that may be expected to occur in propellants when AP particle size distributions are varied. Furthermore, the results constitute the continued development of a necessary database and validation of a comprehensive model for studying more complex AP-solid fuel systems in microgravity. Exploratory studies have also been performed with liquid and solid fuels at normal gravity. Because of melting (and hence dripping) and deep

Computational Flame Diagnostics for Direct Numerical Simulations with Detailed Chemistry of Transportation Fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Tianfeng [Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States)

2017-02-16

The goal of the proposed research is to create computational flame diagnostics (CFLD) that are rigorous numerical algorithms for systematic detection of critical flame features, such as ignition, extinction, and premixed and non-premixed flamelets, and to understand the underlying physicochemical processes controlling limit flame phenomena, flame stabilization, turbulence-chemistry interactions and pollutant emissions etc. The goal has been accomplished through an integrated effort on mechanism reduction, direct numerical simulations (DNS) of flames at engine conditions and a variety of turbulent flames with transport fuels, computational diagnostics, turbulence modeling, and DNS data mining and data reduction. The computational diagnostics are primarily based on the chemical explosive mode analysis (CEMA) and a recently developed bifurcation analysis using datasets from first-principle simulations of 0-D reactors, 1-D laminar flames, and 2-D and 3-D DNS (collaboration with J.H. Chen and S. Som at Argonne, and C.S. Yoo at UNIST). Non-stiff reduced mechanisms for transportation fuels amenable for 3-D DNS are developed through graph-based methods and timescale analysis. The flame structures, stabilization mechanisms, local ignition and extinction etc., and the rate controlling chemical processes are unambiguously identified through CFLD. CEMA is further employed to segment complex turbulent flames based on the critical flame features, such as premixed reaction fronts, and to enable zone-adaptive turbulent combustion modeling.

A comparative study on the sooting tendencies of various 1-alkene fuels in counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu

2018-02-19

Alkenes are important components in transportation fuels, and are known to have increased sooting tendencies compared to analogous saturated hydrocarbons with the same carbon number. This work aims to understand the sooting tendencies of various 1-alkenes through experiments and numerical simulations for counterflow diffusion flames. Soot and PAH formation tendencies of 1-alkene fuels, including ethylene (C2H4), propene (C3H6), 1-butene (1-C4H8), 1-pentene (1-C5H10), 1-hexene (1-C6H12) and 1-octene (1-C8H16), were experimentally studied using laser induced-incandescence (LII) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques, respectively. From the LII results, 1-C4H8 was found to be the most sooting fuel, followed by C3H6 > 1-C5H10 > 1-C6H12 > 1-C8H16 > C2H4. The LIF data with a detection wavelength of 500 nm indicated the PAH formation tendencies followed the order of 1-C4H8 > 1-C5H10 ∼1-C6H12 > C3H6 > 1-C8H16 > C2H4, which were different from the order of sooting tendencies. Numerical simulations with a comprehensive chemical kinetic model including PAH growth chemistry for the tested 1-alkene fuels were conducted to elucidate the aromatic formation pathways and rationalize the experimentally observed trends. The numerical results highlighted the importance of intermediate species with odd carbon numbers in aromatic species formation, such as propargyl, allyl, cyclopentadienyl and indenyl radicals. Their concentration differences, which could be traced back to the parent fuel molecules through rate of production analysis, rationalize the experimentally observed differences in soot and PAH formation tendencies.

Mixing Characteristics of Strongly-Forced Jet Flames in Crossflow

Science.gov (United States)

Marr, Kevin; Clemens, Noel; Ezekoye, Ofodike

2008-11-01

The effects of high frequency, large-amplitude forcing on the characteristics of a non-premixed jet flame in crossflow (JFICF) at mean Reynolds numbers of 3,200 and 4,850 are studied experimentally. Harmonic forcing of the jet fuel results in a drastic decrease in flame length and complete suppression of soot luminosity. Visualization by planar laser Mie scattering shows that forced JFICF, similar to forced free or coflow jet flames, are characterized by ejection of high-momentum, deeply penetrating vortical structures. These structures rapidly breakdown and promote intense turbulent mixing in the near region of the jet. The rapid mixing resembles a ``one-step'' process going from a fuel rich state far in the nozzle to a well-mixed, but significantly diluted, state just a few diameters from the jet exit plane. Exhaust gas emissions measurements indicate a decrease in NOx, but increases in CO and unburned hydrocarbons with increasing forcing amplitude. Acetone PLIF measurements are used to investigate the effect of partial-premixing on these emissions findings.

Flame Structure and Emissions of Strongly-Pulsed Turbulent Diffusion Flames with Swirl

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Ying-Hao

This work studies the turbulent flame structure, the reaction-zone structure and the exhaust emissions of strongly-pulsed, non-premixed flames with co-flow swirl. The fuel injection is controlled by strongly-pulsing the fuel flow by a fast-response solenoid valve such that the fuel flow is completely shut off between pulses. This control strategy allows the fuel injection to be controlled over a wide range of operating conditions, allowing the flame structure to range from isolated fully-modulated puffs to interacting puffs to steady flames. The swirl level is controlled by varying the ratio of the volumetric flow rate of the tangential air to that of the axial air. For strongly-pulsed flames, both with and without swirl, the flame geometry is strongly impacted by the injection time. Flames appear to exhibit compact, puff-like structures for short injection times, while elongated flames, similar in behaviors to steady flames, occur for long injection times. The flames with swirl are found to be shorter for the same fuel injection conditions. The separation/interaction level between flame puffs in these flames is essentially governed by the jet-off time. The separation between flame puffs decreases as swirl is imposed, consistent with the decrease in flame puff celerity due to swirl. The decreased flame length and flame puff celerity are consistent with an increased rate of air entrainment due to swirl. The highest levels of CO emissions are generally found for compact, isolated flame puffs, consistent with the rapid quenching due to rapid dilution with excess air. The imposition of swirl generally results in a decrease in CO levels, suggesting more rapid and complete fuel/air mixing by imposing swirl in the co-flow stream. The levels of NO emissions for most cases are generally below the steady-flame value. The NO levels become comparable to the steady-flame value for sufficiently short jet-off time. The swirled co-flow air can, in some cases, increase the NO

A comparative experimental and computational study of methanol, ethanol, and n-butanol flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veloo, Peter S.; Wang, Yang L.; Egolfopoulos, Fokion N. [Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453 (United States); Westbrook, Charles K. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States)

2010-10-15

Laminar flame speeds and extinction strain rates of premixed methanol, ethanol, and n-butanol flames were determined experimentally in the counterflow configuration at atmospheric pressure and elevated unburned mixture temperatures. Additional measurements were conducted also to determine the laminar flame speeds of their n-alkane/air counterparts, namely methane, ethane, and n-butane in order to compare the effect of alkane and alcohol molecular structures on high-temperature flame kinetics. For both propagation and extinction experiments the flow velocities were determined using the digital particle image velocimetry method. Laminar flame speeds were derived through a non-linear extrapolation approach based on direct numerical simulations of the experiments. Two recently developed detailed kinetics models of n-butanol oxidation were used to simulate the experiments. The experimental results revealed that laminar flame speeds of ethanol/air and n-butanol/air flames are similar to those of their n-alkane/air counterparts, and that methane/air flames have consistently lower laminar flame speeds than methanol/air flames. The laminar flame speeds of methanol/air flames are considerably higher compared to both ethanol/air and n-butanol/air flames under fuel-rich conditions. Numerical simulations of n-butanol/air freely propagating flames, revealed discrepancies between the two kinetic models regarding the consumption pathways of n-butanol and its intermediates. (author)

Autoignited lifted flames of dimethyl ether in heated coflow air

KAUST Repository

Al-Noman, Saeed M.

2018-05-16

Autoignited lifted flames of dimethyl ether (DME) in laminar nonpremixed jets with high-temperature coflow air have been studied experimentally. When the initial temperature was elevated to over 860 K, an autoignition occurred without requiring an external ignition source. A planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique for formaldehyde (CH2O) visualized qualitatively the zone of low temperature kinetics in a premixed flame. Two flame configurations were investigated; (1) autoignited lifted flames with tribrachial edge having three distinct branches of a lean and a rich premixed flame wings with a trailing diffusion flame and (2) autoignited lifted flames with mild combustion when the fuel was highly diluted. For the autoignited tribrachial edge flames at critical autoignition conditions, exhibiting repetitive extinction and re-ignition phenomena near a blowout condition, the characteristic flow time (liftoff height scaled with jet velocity) was correlated with the square of the ignition delay time of the stoichiometric mixture. The liftoff heights were also correlated as a function of jet velocity times the square of ignition delay time. Formaldehydes were observed between the fuel nozzle and the lifted flame edge, emphasizing a low-temperature kinetics for autoignited lifted flames, while for a non-autoignited lifted flame, formaldehydes were observed near a thin luminous flame zone.For the autoignited lifted flames with mild combustion, especially at a high temperature, a unique non-monotonic liftoff height behavior was observed; decreasing and then increasing liftoff height with jet velocity. This behavior was similar to the binary mixture fuels of CH4/H2 and CO/H2 observed previously. A transient homogeneous autoignition analysis suggested that such decreasing behavior with jet velocity can be attributed to partial oxidation characteristics of DME in producing appreciable amounts of CH4/CO/H2 ahead of the edge flame region.

Autoignited lifted flames of dimethyl ether in heated coflow air

KAUST Repository

Al-Noman, Saeed M.; Choi, Byung Chul; Chung, Suk-Ho

2018-01-01

Autoignited lifted flames of dimethyl ether (DME) in laminar nonpremixed jets with high-temperature coflow air have been studied experimentally. When the initial temperature was elevated to over 860 K, an autoignition occurred without requiring an external ignition source. A planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique for formaldehyde (CH2O) visualized qualitatively the zone of low temperature kinetics in a premixed flame. Two flame configurations were investigated; (1) autoignited lifted flames with tribrachial edge having three distinct branches of a lean and a rich premixed flame wings with a trailing diffusion flame and (2) autoignited lifted flames with mild combustion when the fuel was highly diluted. For the autoignited tribrachial edge flames at critical autoignition conditions, exhibiting repetitive extinction and re-ignition phenomena near a blowout condition, the characteristic flow time (liftoff height scaled with jet velocity) was correlated with the square of the ignition delay time of the stoichiometric mixture. The liftoff heights were also correlated as a function of jet velocity times the square of ignition delay time. Formaldehydes were observed between the fuel nozzle and the lifted flame edge, emphasizing a low-temperature kinetics for autoignited lifted flames, while for a non-autoignited lifted flame, formaldehydes were observed near a thin luminous flame zone.For the autoignited lifted flames with mild combustion, especially at a high temperature, a unique non-monotonic liftoff height behavior was observed; decreasing and then increasing liftoff height with jet velocity. This behavior was similar to the binary mixture fuels of CH4/H2 and CO/H2 observed previously. A transient homogeneous autoignition analysis suggested that such decreasing behavior with jet velocity can be attributed to partial oxidation characteristics of DME in producing appreciable amounts of CH4/CO/H2 ahead of the edge flame region.

On the formation and early evolution of soot in turbulent nonpremixed flames

KAUST Repository

Bisetti, Fabrizio; Blanquart, Guillaume; Mü eller, Michael E.; Pitsch, Heinz G.

2012-01-01

(2009) 1143-1155], which allows for an accurate state-of-the-art description of soot number density, volume fraction, and morphology of the aggregates. In agreement with previous experimental studies in laminar flames, Damköhler number effects are found

Buoyancy Effects in Turbulent Jet Flames in Crossflow

Science.gov (United States)

Boxx, Isaac; Idicheria, Cherian; Clemens, Noel

2003-11-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of buoyancy on the structure of turbulent, non-premixed hydrocarbon jet-flames in crossflow (JFICF). This was accomplished using a small jet-in-crossflow facility which can be oriented at a variety of angles with respect to the gravity vector. This facility enables us to alter the relative influence of buoyancy on the JFICF without altering the jet-exit Reynolds number, momentum flux ratio or the geometry of the system. Results are compared to similar, but non-buoyant, JFICF studied in microgravity. Departures of jet-centerline trajectory from the well-known power-law scaling of turbulent JFICF were used to explore the transition from a buoyancy-influenced regime to a momentum dominated one. The primary diagnostic was CCD imaging of soot-luminosity. We present results on ethylene jet flames with jet-exit Reynolds numbers of 1770 to 8000 and momentum flux ratios of 5 to 13.

Ozone Activated Cool Diffusion Flames of Butane Isomers in a Counterflow Facility

KAUST Repository

Al Omier, Abdullah Abdulaziz

2017-01-01

ignition engines (HCCI) have been developed. These new engines rely on the low temperature chemistry (LTC) combustion concept. A detailed investigation of the properties of cool flames, governed by LTC, is essential for the design of these new engines

A robust, efficient and accurate β- pdf integration algorithm in nonpremixed turbulent combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, H.; Lien, F.S.; Chui, E.

2005-01-01

Among many presumed-shape pdf approaches, the presumed β-function pdf is widely used in nonpremixed turbulent combustion models in the literature. However, singularity difficulties at Z = 0 and 1, Z being the mixture fraction, may be encountered in the numerical integration of the b-function pdf and there are few publications addressing this issue to date. The present study proposes an efficient, robust and accurate algorithm to overcome these numerical difficulties. The present treatment of the β-pdf integration is firstly used in the Burke-Schumann solution in conjunction with the k - ε turbulent model in the case of CH 4 /H 2 bluff-body jets and flames. Afterward it is extended to a more complex model, the laminar flamelet model, for the same flow. Numerical results obtained by using the proposed β-pdf integration method are compared to experimental values of the velocity field, temperature and constituent mass fraction to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the present method. (author)

Autoignition characteristics of laminar lifted jet flames of pre-vaporized iso-octane in heated coflow air

KAUST Repository

Alnoman, Saeed

2015-12-01

The stabilization characteristics of laminar non-premixed jet flames of pre-vaporized iso-octane, one of the primary reference fuels for octane rating, have been studied experimentally in heated coflow air. Non-autoignited and autoignited lifted flames were analyzed. With the coflow air at relatively low initial temperatures below 940 K, an external ignition source was required to stabilize the flame. These lifted flames had tribrachial edge structures and their liftoff heights correlated well with the jet velocity scaled by stoichiometric laminar burning velocity, indicating the importance of the edge propagation speed on flame stabilization. At high initial temperatures over 940 K, the autoignited flames were stabilized without requiring an external ignition source. These autoignited lifted flames exhibited either tribrachial edge structures or mild combustion behaviors depending on the level of fuel dilution. Two distinct transition behaviors were observed in the autoignition regime from a nozzle-attached flame to a lifted tribrachial-edge flame and then to lifted mild combustion as the jet velocity increased at a certain fuel dilution level. The liftoff data of the autoignited flames with tribrachial edges were analyzed based on calculated ignition delay times. Analysis of the experimental data suggested that ignition delay time may be much less sensitive to initial temperature under atmospheric pressure conditions as compared with predictions. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The formation of aromatics and PAH's in laminar flames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marinov, N M; Pitz, W J; Westbrook, C K

1999-01-01

The formation of aromatics and PAH's is an important problem in combustion. These compounds are believed to contribute to the formation of soot whose emission from diesel engines is regulated widely throughout the industrial world. Additionally, the United States Environmental Protection Agency regulates the emission of many aromatics and PAH species from stationary industrial burners, under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The above emission regulations have created much interest in understanding how these species are formed in combustion systems. Much previous work has been done on aromatics and PAH's. The work is too extensive to review here, but is reviewed in Reference 1. A few recent developments are highlighted here. McEnally, Pfefferle and coworkers have studied aromatic, PAH and soot formation in a variety of non-premixed flames with hydrocarbon additives[2-4]. They found additives that contain a C5 ring increase the concentration of aromatics and soot[4]. Howard and coworkers have studied the formation of aromatic and PAH's in low pressure, premixed, laminar hydrocarbon flames. They found the cyclopentadienyl radical to be a key species in naphthalene formation in a fuel-rich, benzene/Ar/O2 flame[5

Numerical study of turbulent normal diffusion flame CH4-air stabilized by coaxial burner

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riahi Zouhair

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The practical combustion systems such as combustion furnaces, gas turbine, engines, etc. employ non-premixed combustion due to its better flame stability, safety, and wide operating range as compared to premixed combustion. The present numerical study characterizes the turbulent flame of methane-air in a coaxial burner in order to determine the effect of airflow on the distribution of temperature, on gas consumption and on the emission of NOx. The results in this study are obtained by simulation on FLUENT code. The results demonstrate the influence of different parameters on the flame structure, temperature distribution and gas emissions, such as turbulence, fuel jet velocity, air jet velocity, equivalence ratio and mixture fraction. The lift-off height for a fixed fuel jet velocity is observed to increase monotonically with air jet velocity. Temperature and NOx emission decrease of important values with the equivalence ratio, it is maximum about the unity.

Effect of Low Co-flow Air Velocity on Hydrogen-air Non-premixed Turbulent Flame Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noor Mohsin Jasim

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to provide information concerning the effect of low co-flow velocity on the turbulent diffusion flame for a simple type of combustor, a numerical simulated cases of turbulent diffusion hydrogen-air flame are performed. The combustion model used in this investigation is based on chemical equilibrium and kinetics to simplify the complexity of the chemical mechanism. Effects of increased co-flowing air velocity on temperature, velocity components (axial and radial, and reactants have been investigated numerically and examined. Numerical results for temperature are compared with the experimental data. The comparison offers a good agreement. All numerical simulations have been performed using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD commercial code FLUENT. A comparison among the various co-flow air velocities, and their effects on flame behavior and temperature fields are presented.

Evaluation of an unsteady flamelet progress variable model for autoignition and flame development in compositionally stratified mixtures

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhopadhyay, Saumyadip; Abraham, John

2012-07-01

The unsteady flamelet progress variable (UFPV) model has been proposed by Pitsch and Ihme ["An unsteady/flamelet progress variable method for LES of nonpremixed turbulent combustion," AIAA Paper No. 2005-557, 2005] for modeling the averaged/filtered chemistry source terms in Reynolds averaged simulations and large eddy simulations of reacting non-premixed combustion. In the UFPV model, a look-up table of source terms is generated as a function of mixture fraction Z, scalar dissipation rate χ, and progress variable C by solving the unsteady flamelet equations. The assumption is that the unsteady flamelet represents the evolution of the reacting mixing layer in the non-premixed flame. We assess the accuracy of the model in predicting autoignition and flame development in compositionally stratified n-heptane/air mixtures using direct numerical simulations (DNS). The focus in this work is primarily on the assessment of accuracy of the probability density functions (PDFs) employed for obtaining averaged source terms. The performance of commonly employed presumed functions, such as the dirac-delta distribution function, the β distribution function, and statistically most likely distribution (SMLD) approach in approximating the shapes of the PDFs of the reactive and the conserved scalars is evaluated. For unimodal distributions, it is observed that functions that need two-moment information, e.g., the β distribution function and the SMLD approach with two-moment closure, are able to reasonably approximate the actual PDF. As the distribution becomes multimodal, higher moment information is required. Differences are observed between the ignition trends obtained from DNS and those predicted by the look-up table, especially for smaller gradients where the flamelet assumption becomes less applicable. The formulation assumes that the shape of the χ(Z) profile can be modeled by an error function which remains unchanged in the presence of heat release. We show that this

Flame-Vortex Interactions Imaged in Microgravity - To Assess the Theory Flame Stretch

Science.gov (United States)

Driscoll, James F.

2001-01-01

The goals of this research are to: 1) Assess the Theory of Flame Stretch by operating a unique flame-vortex experiment under microgravity conditions in the NASA Glenn 2.2 Second Drop Tower (drops to identify operating conditions have been completed); 2) Obtain high speed shadowgraph images (500-1000 frames/s) using the drop rig (images were obtained at one-g, and the NASA Kodak RO camera is being mounted on the drop rig); 3) Obtain shadowgraph and PIV images at 1-g while varying the effects of buoyancy by controlling the Froude number (completed); 4) Numerically model the inwardly-propagating spherical flame that is observed in the experiment using full chemistry and the RUN 1DL code (completed); 5) Send images of the flame shape to Dr. G. Patniak at NRL who is numerically simulating the entire flame-vortex interaction of the present experiment (data transfer completed); and 6) Assess the feasibility of obtaining PIV velocity field images in the drop rig, which would be useful (but not required) for our assessment of the Theory of Flame Stretch (PIV images were obtained at one-g using same low laser power that is available from fiber optic cable in drop tower). The motivation for the work is to obtain novel measurement needed to develop a physically accurate model of turbulent combustion that can help in the control of engine pollutants. The unique experiment allows, for the first time, the detailed study of a negatively-curved (negatively stretched) flame, which is one of the five fundamental types of premixed flames. While there have been studies of flat flames, positively-curved (outwardly-propagating) cases and positively-strained (counterflow) cases, this is the first detailed study of a negatively-curved (inwardly-propagating) flame. The first set of drops in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower showed that microgravity provides more favorable conditions for achieving inwardly-propagating flames (IPFs) than 1-g. A vortex interacts with a flame and creates a spherical

Nitric Oxide and Oxygen Air-Contamination Effects on Extinction Limits of Non-Premixed Hydrocarbon-Air Flames for a HIFiRE Scramjet

Science.gov (United States)

Pellett, Gerald L.; Dawson, Lucy C.; Vaden, Sarah N.; Wilson, Lloyd G.

2009-01-01

Unique nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen air-contamination effects on the extinction Flame Strength (FS) of non-premixed hydrocarbon (HC) vs. air flames are characterized for 7 gaseous HCs, using a new idealized 9.3 mm straight-tube Opposed Jet Burner (OJB) at 1 atm. FS represents a laminar strain-induced extinction limit based on cross-section-average air jet velocity, Uair, that sustains combustion of a counter jet of gaseous fuel just before extinction. Besides ethane, propane, butane, and propylene, the HCs include ethylene, methane, and a 64 mole-% ethylene / 36 % methane mixture, the writer s previously recommended gaseous surrogate fuel for HIFiRE scramjet tests. The HC vs. clean air part of the work is an extension of a May 2008 JANNAF paper that characterized surrogates for the HIFiRE project that should mimic the flameholding of reformed (thermally- or catalytically-cracked) endothermic JP-like fuels. The new FS data for 7 HCs vs. clean air are thus consolidated with the previously validated data, normalized to absolute (local) axial-input strain rates, and co-plotted on a dual kinetically dominated reactivity scale. Excellent agreement with the prior data is obtained for all 7 fuels. Detailed comparisons are also made with recently published (Univ. Va) numerical results for ethylene extinction. A 2009-revised ethylene kinetic model (Univ. Southern Cal) led to predicted limits within approx. 5 % (compared to 45 %, earlier) of this writer s 2008 (and present) ethylene FSs, and also with recent independent data (Univ. Va) obtained on a new OJB system. These +/- 5 % agreements, and a hoped-for "near-identically-performing" reduced kinetics model, would greatly enhance the capability for accurate numerical simulations of surrogate HC flameholding in scramjets. The measured air-contamination effects on normalized FS extinction limits are projected to assess ongoing Arc-Heater-induced "facility test effects" of NO production (e.g., 3 mole-%) and resultant oxygen

Flame synthesis of zinc oxide nanocrystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merchan-Merchan, Wilson, E-mail: wmerchan-merchan@ou.edu [School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Farahani, Moien Farmahini [School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 (United States)

2013-02-01

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We report a single-step flame method for the synthesis of Zn oxide nanocrystals. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Diverse flame positions lead to a variation of Zn oxide nanocrystal growth. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The synthesized crystals have polyhedral, pipet- and needle-like shape. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer High length-to-diameter aspect-ratio crystals appear in a higher temperature flame. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The crystal growth mechanism corresponds to vapor-to-solid conversion. - Abstract: Distinctive zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals were synthesized on the surface of Zn probes using a counter-flow flame medium formed by methane/acetylene and oxygen-enriched air streams. The source material, a zinc wire with a purity of {approx}99.99% and diameter of 1 mm, was introduced through a sleeve into the oxygen rich region of the flame. The position of the probe/sleeve was varied within the flame medium resulting in growth variation of ZnO nanocrystals on the surface of the probe. The shape and structural parameters of the grown crystals strongly depend on the flame position. Structural variations of the synthesized crystals include single-crystalline ZnO nanorods and microprisms (ZMPs) (the ZMPs have less than a few micrometers in length and several hundred nanometers in cross section) with a large number of facets and complex axial symmetry with a nanorod protruding from their tips. The protruding rods are less than 100 nm in diameter and lengths are less than 1 {mu}m. The protruding nanorods can be elongated several times by increasing the residence time of the probe/sleeve inside the oxygen-rich flame or by varying the flame position. At different flame heights, nanorods having higher length-to-diameter aspect-ratio can be synthesized. A lattice spacing of {approx}0.26 nm was measured for the synthesized nanorods, which can be closely correlated with the (0 0 2) interplanar spacing of hexagonal ZnO (Wurtzite) cells

Experiment and Simulation of Autoignition in Jet Flames and its Relevance to Flame Stabilization and Structure

KAUST Repository

Al-Noman, Saeed M.

2016-06-01

mainly between the fuel nozzle and the lifted flame edge. On the other hand, they were formed just prior to the flame edge for the non-autoignited lifted flames. The effect of fuel pyrolysis and partial oxidation were found to be important in explaining autoignited liftoff heights, especially in the Mild combustion regime. Flame structures of autoignited flames were investigated numerically for syngas (CO/H2) and methane fuels. The simulations of syngas fuel accounting for the differential diffusion have been performed by adopting several kinetic mechanisms to test the models ability in predicting the flame behaviors observed previously. The results agreed well with the observed nozzle-attached flame characteristics in case of non-autoignited flames. For autoignited lifted flames in high temperature regime, a unique autoignition behavior can be predicted having HO2 and H2O2 radicals in a broad region between the nozzle and stabilized lifted flame edge. Autoignition characteristics of laminar nonpremixed methane jet flames in high- temperature coflow air were studied numerically. Several flame configurations were investigated by varying the initial temperature and fuel mole fraction. Characteristics of chemical kinetics structures for autoignited lifted flames were discussed based on the kinetic structures of homogeneous autoignition and flame propagation of premixed mixtures. Results showed that for autoignited lifted flame with tribrachial structure, a transition from autoignition to flame propagation modes occurs for reasonably stoichiometric mixtures. Characteristics of Mild combustion can be treated as an autoignited lean premixed lifted flame. Transition behavior from Mild combustion to a nozzle-attached flame was also investigated by increasing the fuel mole fraction.

Burning velocity of the heterogeneous flame propagation in the SHS process expressed in explicit form

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makino, A.; Law, C.K.

1995-01-01

The combustion behavior of the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) process has been the subject of many analytical and experimental investigations. Recently, a theory based on spray combustion was proposed for the SHS flame structure and propagation. In contrast to previous studies based on the homogeneous premixed flame, this theory accounts for the premixed-mode of propagation of the bulk flame and the non-premixed reaction of the dispersed nonmetal (or higher melting-point metal) particles which supports the bulk flame. Finite-rate reaction at the particle surface and the temperature-dependent, Arrhenius nature of mass diffusion are both incorporated. The heterogeneous nature of the theory has satisfactorily captured the effects of particle size on the flame propagation speed. The final solution of Makino and Law was obtained numerically and hence presented parametrically. The authors have since then derived an approximate analytical expression for the burning velocity, which explicitly displays the functional dependence of the burning velocity on the various system parameters. This result is presented herein. Applicability of this expression is examined by comparing it with the numerical results for Ti-C, Ti-B, Zr-B, Hf-B, and Co-Ti systems. A fair degree of agreement has been shown as far as the general trend and approximate magnitude are concerned

Propagation and diffusion-limited extinction of nonadiabatic heterogeneous flame in the SHS process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makino, Atsushi

1994-01-01

Nonadiabatic heterogeneous flame propagation and extinction in self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) are analyzed based on a premixed mode of propagation for the bulk flame supported by the nonpremixed reaction of dispersed nonmetals in the liquid metal. The formulation allows for volumetric heat loss throughout the bulk flame, finite-rate Arrhenius reaction at the particle surface, and temperature-sensitive Arrhenius mass diffusion in the liquid. Results show that, subsequent to melting of the metal, the flame structure consists of a relatively thin diffusion-consumption/convection zone followed by a relatively thick convection-loss zone, that the flame propagation rate decreases with increasing heat loss, that at a critical heat-loss rate the flame extinguishes as indicated by the characteristic turning-point behavior, that the surface reaction is diffusion limited such that the nonlinear, temperature-sensitive nature of the system is actually a consequence of the Arrhenius mass diffusion, and that extinction is sensitively affected by the mixture ratio, the degree of dilution, the initial temperature of the compact, and the size of the nonmetal particles. An explicit expression is derived for the normalized mass burning rate, which exhibits the characteristic turning point and shows that extinction occurs when this value is reduced to e -1/2 , which is the same as that for the nonadiabatic gaseous premixed flame. It is further shown that the theoretical results agree well with available experimental data, indicating that the present formulation captures the essential features of the nonadiabatic heterogeneous SHS processes and its potential for extension to describe other SHS phenomena

PIV Measurements of He II Counterflow Around a Cylinder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuzier, S.; Van Stiver, S. W.; Zhang, T.

2006-01-01

The induced flow field of counterflow He II across a circular cylinder has been quantitatively studied using the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Two different size cylinders (6.35 mm and 2 mm in diameter) were used and placed in a 20 mm wide rectangular channel. In these experiments, large-scale eddy motion generated by the He II counterflow was observed both in front of and behind the cylinder, an effect which has no analogue in classical fluids

Damköhler number effects on soot formation and growth in turbulent nonpremixed flames

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Mueller, Michael E.; Pitsch, Heinz

2015-01-01

numbers. A reduced chemical mechanism, which includes the soot precursor naphthalene, and a high-order method of moments are employed. At the highest Damköhler number, local extinction is negligible, while flames holes are observed in the two lowest

A PAH growth mechanism and synergistic effect on PAH formation in counterflow diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Wang, Yu; Raj, Abhijeet Dhayal; Chung, Suk-Ho

2013-01-01

was tested for ethylene premixed flames at low (20torr) and atmospheric pressures by comparing experimentally observed species concentrations with those of the computed ones for small chemical species and PAHs. As compared to several existing mechanisms

Modeling of turbulent chemical reaction

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, J.-Y.

1995-01-01

Viewgraphs are presented on modeling turbulent reacting flows, regimes of turbulent combustion, regimes of premixed and regimes of non-premixed turbulent combustion, chemical closure models, flamelet model, conditional moment closure (CMC), NO(x) emissions from turbulent H2 jet flames, probability density function (PDF), departures from chemical equilibrium, mixing models for PDF methods, comparison of predicted and measured H2O mass fractions in turbulent nonpremixed jet flames, experimental evidence of preferential diffusion in turbulent jet flames, and computation of turbulent reacting flows.

Turbulent jet in confined counterflow

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

framework for presenting the results of the flowfield and jet penetration length. ... A turbulent jet is a basic free shear flow and has received research attention (see, .... MBE76 identify this to be a transitional zone and for. √ .... higher return flow and also higher velocity from counterflow due to a narrower gap thus leading.

The flow field structure of highly stabilized partially premixed flames in a concentric flow conical nozzle burner with coflow

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.

2015-08-29

The stability limits, the stabilization mechanism, and the flow field structure of highly stabilized partially premixed methane flames in a concentric flow conical nozzle burner with air co-flow have been investigated and presented in this work. The stability map of partial premixed flames illustrates that the flames are stable between two extinction limits. A low extinction limit when partial premixed flames approach non-premixed flame conditions, and a high extinction limit, with the partial premixed flames approach fully premixed flame conditions. These two limits showed that the most stable flame conditions are achieved at a certain degree of partial premixed. The stability is improved by adding air co-flow. As the air co-flow velocity increases the most stable flames are those that approach fully premixed. The turbulent flow field of three flames at 0, 5, 10 m/s co-flow velocity are investigated using Stereo Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) in order to explore the improvement of the flame stability due to the use of air co-flow. The three flames are all at a jet equivalence ratio (Φj) of 2, fixed level of partial premixing and jet Reynolds number (Rej) of 10,000. The use of co-flow results in the formation of two vortices at the cone exit. These vortices act like stabilization anchors for the flames to the nozzle tip. With these vortices in the flow field, the reaction zone shifts toward the reduced turbulence intensity at the nozzle rim of the cone. Interesting information about the structure of the flow field with and without co-flow are identified and reported in this work.

Transported PDF Modeling of Nonpremixed Turbulent CO/H-2/N-2 Jet Flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, xinyu; Haworth, D. C.; Huckaby, E. David

2012-01-01

Turbulent CO/H{sub 2}/N{sub 2} (“syngas”) flames are simulated using a transported composition probability density function (PDF) method. A consistent hybrid Lagrangian particle/Eulerian mesh algorithm is used to solve the modeled PDF transport equation. The model includes standard k–ϵ turbulence, gradient transport for scalars, and Euclidean minimum spanning tree (EMST) mixing. Sensitivities of model results to variations in the turbulence model, the treatment of radiation heat transfer, the choice of chemical mechanism, and the PDF mixing model are explored. A baseline model reproduces the measured mean and rms temperature, major species, and minor species profiles reasonably well, and captures the scaling that is observed in the experiments. Both our results and the literature suggest that further improvements can be realized with adjustments in the turbulence model, the radiation heat transfer model, and the chemical mechanism. Although radiation effects are relatively small in these flames, consideration of radiation is important for accurate NO prediction. Chemical mechanisms that have been developed specifically for fuels with high concentrations of CO and H{sub 2} perform better than a methane mechanism that was not designed for this purpose. It is important to account explicitly for turbulence–chemistry interactions, although the details of the mixing model do not make a large difference in the results, within reasonable limits.

Study of the performance of three micromixing models in transported scalar PDF simulations of a piloted jet diffusion flame ('Delft Flame III')

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merci, Bart [Department of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University-UGent, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium); Roekaerts, Dirk [Department of Multi-Scale Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Naud, Bertrand [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)

2006-02-01

Numerical simulation results are presented for a turbulent nonpremixed flame with local extinction and reignition. The transported scalar PDF approach is applied to the turbulence-chemistry interaction. The turbulent flow field is obtained with a nonlinear two-equation turbulence model. A C{sub 1} skeletal scheme is used as the chemistry model. The performance of three micromixing models is compared: the interaction by exchange with the mean model (IEM), the modified Curl's coalescence/dispersion model (CD) and the Euclidean minimum spanning tree model (EMST). With the IEM model, global extinction occurs. With the standard value of model constant C{sub f}=2, the CD model yields a lifted flame, unlike the experiments, while with the EMST model the correct flame shape is obtained. However, the conditional variances of the thermochemical quantities are underestimated with the EMST model, due to a lack of local extinction in the simulations. With the CD model, the flame becomes attached when either the value of C{sub f} is increased to 3 or the pilot flame thermal power is increased by a factor of 1.5. With increased value of C{sub f} better results for mixture fraction variance are obtained with both the CD and the EMST model. Lowering the value of C{sub f} leads to better predictions for mean temperature with EMST, but at the cost of stronger overprediction of mixture fraction variance. These trends are explained as a consequence of variance production by macroscopic inhomogeneity and the specific properties of the micromixing models. Local time stepping is applied so that convergence is obtained more quickly. Iteration averaging reduces statistical error so that the limited number of 50 particles per cell is sufficient to obtain accurate results. (author)

Bifurcation and extinction limit of stretched premixed flames with chain-branching intermediate kinetics and radiative loss

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Huangwei; Chen, Zheng

2018-05-01

Premixed counterflow flames with thermally sensitive intermediate kinetics and radiation heat loss are analysed within the framework of large activation energy. Unlike previous studies considering one-step global reaction, two-step chemistry consisting of a chain branching reaction and a recombination reaction is considered here. The correlation between the flame front location and stretch rate is derived. Based on this correlation, the extinction limit and bifurcation characteristics of the strained premixed flame are studied, and the effects of fuel and radical Lewis numbers as well as radiation heat loss are examined. Different flame regimes and their extinction characteristics can be predicted by the present theory. It is found that fuel Lewis number affects the flame bifurcation qualitatively and quantitatively, whereas radical Lewis number only has a quantitative influence. Stretch rates at the stretch and radiation extinction limits respectively decrease and increase with fuel Lewis number before the flammability limit is reached, while the radical Lewis number shows the opposite tendency. In addition, the relation between the standard flammability limit and the limit derived from the strained near stagnation flame is affected by the fuel Lewis number, but not by the radical Lewis number. Meanwhile, the flammability limit increases with decreased fuel Lewis number, but with increased radical Lewis number. Radical behaviours at flame front corresponding to flame bifurcation and extinction are also analysed in this work. It is shown that radical concentration at the flame front, under extinction stretch rate condition, increases with radical Lewis number but decreases with fuel Lewis number. It decreases with increased radiation loss.

Impact of Equivalence Ratio on the Macrostructure of Premixed Swirling CH 4 /Air and CH 4 /O 2 /CO 2 Flames

KAUST Repository

Watanabe, Hirotatsu

2015-06-15

Premixed CH4/O2/CO2 flames (oxy-flames) and CH4/air flames (air-flames) were experimentally studied in a swirl-stabilized combustor. For comparing oxy and air flames, the same equivalence ratio and adiabatic flame temperature were used. CO2 dilution was adjusted to attain the same adiabatic temperature for the oxy-flame and the corresponding air-flame while keeping the equivalence ratio and Reynolds number (=20,000) the same. For high equivalence ratios, we observed flames stabilized along the inner and outer shear layers of the swirling flow and sudden expansion, respectively, in both flames. However, one notable difference between the two flames appears as the equivalence ratio reaches 0.60. At this point, the outer shear layer flame disappears in the air-flame while it persists in the oxy-flame, despite the lower burning velocity of the oxy-flame. Prior PIV measurements (Ref. 9) showed that the strains along the outer shear layer are higher than along the inner shear layer. Therefore, the extinction strain rates in both flames were calculated using a counter-flow premixed twin flame configuration. Calculations at the equivalence ratio of 0.60 show that the extinction strain rate is higher in the oxy than in the air flame, which help explain why it persists on the outer shear layer with higher strain rate. It is likely that extinction strain rates contribute to the oxy-flame stabilization when air flame extinguish in the outer shear layer. However, the trend reverses at higher equivalence ratio, and the cross point of the extinction strain rate appears at equivalence ratio of 0.64.

DC field response of one-dimensional flames using an ionized layer model

KAUST Repository

Xiong, Yuan

2015-11-18

We develop a simplified model to better explain electric current response when direct current (DC) is applied to a flame. In particular, different current responses have been observed by changing the polarity of the DC in a sub-saturated current regime that results from the presence of ions and electrons in the flame zone. A flame zone was modeled as a thin, ionized layer located in one-dimensional DC electric fields. We derived simplified model-governing equations from species equations by implementing mobility differences dependent on the type of charged particle, particularly between ions and electrons; we performed experiments to substantiate the model. Results showed that the sub-saturated current and local field intensity were significantly influenced by the polarity of the DC because of the combined effect of unequal mobility of charged particles and the position of the ionized layer in the gap relative to two electrodes. When an energized electrode is close to the ionized layer, applying a negative DC causes a more rapid increase in current than by applying a positive DC to the same electrode. Results from our experimental measurement of current using counterflow diffusion flames agreed qualitatively well with the model predictions. A sensitivity analysis using dimensional and non-dimensional parameters also supported the importance of the mobility difference and the relative location of the ionized layer on the electric current response.

Investigation of periodical instabilities of confined turbulent swirl flames with laser based measurement techniques; Untersuchung periodischer Instabilitaeten von eingeschlossenen turbulenten Drallflammen mit Lasermessverfahren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weigand, P.

2007-07-01

Swirl flames tend under certain operating conditions to exhibit strong pressure oscillations known as 'thermo-acoustic oscillations'. In this thesis a non-premixed, globally lean swirl flame that was close to industrial gas turbine design, was investigated with phase-resolution over an oscillation cycle using different laser based measurement techniques. Microphone probes were used to characterize the acoustic behaviour of the flame. Measurement of the Laser induced fluorescence of the CH-radical provided information of the structure of the flame zone and of the varying position and intensity of the heat release rate. The velocity field was measured by 3D Laser Doppler Anemometry and analysed with phase resolution. For the first time spontaneous Laser Raman Scattering was applied phase-resolved in an oscillating swirl flame to gain quantitatively correlated information of the concentrations of the main species, the temperature and the mixture fraction. The results give for the first time a quantitative insight of the changes and interactions in an oscillating swirl flame during an oscillation cycle. The data are so far unique with respect to the quantity and quality of the measured data and are thus of high value for the validation of numerical simulation programs. (orig.)

An experimental study on turbulent lifted flames of methane in coflow jets at elevated temperatures

KAUST Repository

Choi, Byungchul

2013-01-01

An experimental study was conducted on the effects of initial temperature variation on the stabilization characteristics of turbulent nonpremixed flames in coflow jets of methane fuel diluted by nitrogen. The typical behavior seen in the study showed that the liftoff height increased linearly with the jet velocity regardless of the initial temperature in the turbulent regime. Two models were investigated for predicting liftoff heights in the methane jets: the premixed flame model and the large-scale mixing model. For the premixed flame model, the liftoff heights in the methane jets were accurately predicted using the thermal diffusivity of the unburned gas temperature αst,0, instead of that of the burned gas temperature αst,b. For the large-scale mixing model, however, the prediction of liftoff heights differed slightly for the various fuel mole fractions. However, when considering the initial fuel mass fraction YF,0, the liftoff heights were successfully predicted. This result implies that the characteristics of the unburned fuel-air mixture play a crucial role for flame stabilization in coflow jets for a variety of initial conditions. In the turbulent regime, the blowout velocity and the liftoff height at blowout could be accurately predicted by the two models based on a consideration of the physical properties and the buoyancy effect of the initial temperature variation. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental apparatus with full optical access for combustion experiments with laminar flames from a single circular nozzle at elevated pressures.

Science.gov (United States)

Joo, Peter H; Gao, Jinlong; Li, Zhongshan; Aldén, Marcus

2015-03-01

The design and features of a high pressure chamber and burner that is suitable for combustion experiments at elevated pressures are presented. The high pressure combustion apparatus utilizes a high pressure burner that is comprised of a chamber burner module and an easily accessible interchangeable burner module to add to its flexibility. The burner is well suited to study both premixed and non-premixed flames. The optical access to the chamber is provided through four viewports for direct visual observations and optical-based diagnostic techniques. Auxiliary features include numerous access ports and electrical connections and as a result, the combustion apparatus is also suitable to work with plasmas and liquid fuels. Images of methane flames at elevated pressures up to 25 atm and preliminary results of optical-based measurements demonstrate the suitability of the high pressure experimental apparatus for combustion experiments.

Performance Analyses of Counter-Flow Closed Wet Cooling Towers Based on a Simplified Calculation Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoqing Wei

2017-02-01

Full Text Available As one of the most widely used units in water cooling systems, the closed wet cooling towers (CWCTs have two typical counter-flow constructions, in which the spray water flows from the top to the bottom, and the moist air and cooling water flow in the opposite direction vertically (parallel or horizontally (cross, respectively. This study aims to present a simplified calculation method for conveniently and accurately analyzing the thermal performance of the two types of counter-flow CWCTs, viz. the parallel counter-flow CWCT (PCFCWCT and the cross counter-flow CWCT (CCFCWCT. A simplified cooling capacity model that just includes two characteristic parameters is developed. The Levenberg–Marquardt method is employed to determine the model parameters by curve fitting of experimental data. Based on the proposed model, the predicted outlet temperatures of the process water are compared with the measurements of a PCFCWCT and a CCFCWCT, respectively, reported in the literature. The results indicate that the predicted values agree well with the experimental data in previous studies. The maximum absolute errors in predicting the process water outlet temperatures are 0.20 and 0.24 °C for the PCFCWCT and CCFCWCT, respectively. These results indicate that the simplified method is reliable for performance prediction of counter-flow CWCTs. Although the flow patterns of the two towers are different, the variation trends of thermal performance are similar to each other under various operating conditions. The inlet air wet-bulb temperature, inlet cooling water temperature, air flow rate, and cooling water flow rate are crucial for determining the cooling capacity of a counter-flow CWCT, while the cooling tower effectiveness is mainly determined by the flow rates of air and cooling water. Compared with the CCFCWCT, the PCFCWCT is much more applicable in a large-scale cooling water system, and the superiority would be amplified when the scale of water

Turbulent structure and emissions of strongly-pulsed jet diffusion flames

Science.gov (United States)

Fregeau, Mathieu

This current research project studied the turbulent flame structure, the fuel/air mixing, the combustion characteristics of a nonpremixed pulsed (unsteady) and unpulsed (steady) flame configuration for both normal- and microgravity conditions, as well as the flame emissions in normal gravity. The unsteady flames were fully-modulated, with the fuel flow completely shut off between injection pulses using an externally controlled valve, resulting in the generation of compact puff-like flame structures. Conducting experiments in normal and microgravity environments enabled separate control over the relevant Richardson and Reynolds numbers to clarify the influence of buoyancy on the flame behavior, mixing, and structure. Experiments were performed in normal gravity in the laboratory at the University of Washington and in microgravity using the NASA GRC 2.2-second Drop Tower facility. High-speed imaging, as well as temperature and emissions probes were used to determine the large-scale structure dynamics, the details of the flame structure and oxidizer entrainment, the combustion temperatures, and the exhaust emissions of the pulsed and steady flames. Of particular interest was the impact of changes in flame structure due to pulsing on the combustion characteristics of this system. The turbulent flame puff celerity (i.e., the bulk velocity of the puffs) was strongly impacted by the jet-off time, increasing markedly as the time between pulses was decreased, which caused the degree of puff interaction to increase and the strongly-pulsed flame to more closely resemble a steady flame. This increase occurred for all values of injection time as well as for constant fuelling rate and in both the presence and absence of buoyancy. The removal of positive buoyancy in microgravity resulted in a decrease in the flame puff celerity in all cases, amounting to as much as 40%, for both constant jet injection velocity and constant fuelling rate. The mean flame length of the strongly

Nucleation and growth mechanism for flame synthesis of MoO2 hollow microchannels with nanometer wall thickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Merchan-Merchan, Wilson; Saveliev, Alexei V; Taylor, Aaron M

2009-12-01

The growth and morphological evolution of molybdenum-oxide microstructures formed in the high temperature environment of a counter-flow oxy-fuel flame using molybdenum probes is studied. Experiments conducted using various probe retention times show the sequence of the morphological changes. The morphological row begins with micron size objects exhibiting polygonal cubic shape, develops into elongated channels, changes to large structures with leaf-like shape, and ends in dendritic structures. Time of probe-flame interaction is found to be a governing parameter controlling the wide variety of morphological patterns; a molecular level growth mechanism is attributed to their development. This study reveals that the structures are grown in several consecutive stages: material "evaporation and transportation", "transformation", "nucleation", "initial growth", "intermediate growth", and "final growth". XRD analysis shows that the chemical compositions of all structures correspond to MoO(2).

Some aspects of numerical analysis of turbulent gaseous and spray combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takagi, T.

1991-01-01

In this paper numerical calculations and analysis on turbulent non-premixed gaseous and spray combustion are reviewed. Attentions were paid to the turbulent flow and combustion modeling applicable to predicting the flow, mixing and combustion of gaseous fuels and sprays. Some of the computed results of turbulent gaseous non-premixed (diffusion) flames with and without swirl and transient spray combustion were compared with experimental ones to understand the processes in the flame and to assure how the computations predict the experiments

DNS of non-premixed combustion in a compressible mixing layer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bastiaans, R.J.M.; Somers, L.M.T.; Lange, de H.C.; Geurts, B.J.

2001-01-01

The non-premixed reaction of fuel with air in a mixing layer is studied using DNS. The situation is a model for the mixing-controlled combustion in a Diesel engine. We show that the combustion region can be comparably passive with respect to relatively large scale aerodynamic instabilities. However

Two-dimensional temperature and carbon dioxide concentration profiles in atmospheric laminar diffusion flames measured by mid-infrared direct absorption spectroscopy at 4.2 μm

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xunchen; Zhang, Guoyong; Huang, Yan; Wang, Yizun; Qi, Fei

2018-04-01

We present a multi-line flame thermometry technique based on mid-infrared direct absorption spectroscopy of carbon dioxide at its v_3 fundamental around 4.2 μm that is particularly suitable for sooting flames. Temperature and concentration profiles of gas phase molecules in a flame are important characteristics to understand its flame structure and combustion chemistry. One of the standard laboratory flames to analyze polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and soot formation is laminar non-premixed co-flow flame, but PAH and soot introduce artifact to most non-contact optical measurements. Here we report an accurate diagnostic method of the temperature and concentration profiles of CO2 in ethylene diffusion flames by measuring its v_3 vibrational fundamental. An interband cascade laser was used to probe the R-branch bandhead at 4.2 μm, which is highly sensitive to temperature change, free from soot interference and ambient background. Calibration measurement was carried out both in a low-pressure Herriott cell and an atmospheric pressure tube furnace up to 1550 K to obtain spectroscopic parameters for high-temperature spectra. In our co-flow flame measurement, two-dimensional line-of-sight optical depth of an ethylene/N2 laminar sooting flame was recorded by dual-beam absorption scheme. The axially symmetrical attenuation coefficient profile of CO2 in the co-flow flame was reconstructed from the optical depth by Abel inversion. Spatially resolved flame temperature and in situ CO2 volume fraction profiles were derived from the calibrated CO2 spectroscopic parameters and compared with temperature profiles measured by two-line atomic fluorescence.

Combined Influence of Strain and Heat Loss on Turbulent Premixed Flame Stabilization

KAUST Repository

Tay-Wo-Chong, Luis

2015-11-16

The present paper argues that the prediction of turbulent premixed flames under non-adiabatic conditions can be improved by considering the combined effects of strain and heat loss on reaction rates. The effect of strain in the presence of heat loss on the consumption speed of laminar premixed flames was quantified by calculations of asymmetric counterflow configurations (“fresh-to-burnt”) with detailed chemistry. Heat losses were introduced by setting the temperature of the incoming stream of products on the “burnt” side to values below those corresponding to adiabatic conditions. The consumption speed decreased in a roughly exponential manner with increasing strain rate, and this tendency became more pronounced in the presence of heat losses. An empirical relation in terms of Markstein number, Karlovitz Number and a non-dimensional heat loss parameter was proposed for the combined influence of strain and heat losses on the consumption speed. Combining this empirical relation with a presumed probability density function for strain in turbulent flows, an attenuation factor that accounts for the effect of strain and heat loss on the reaction rate in turbulent flows was deduced and implemented into a turbulent combustion model. URANS simulations of a premixed swirl burner were carried out and validated against flow field and OH chemiluminescence measurements. Introducing the effects of strain and heat loss into the combustion model, the flame topology observed experimentally was correctly reproduced, with good agreement between experiment and simulation for flow field and flame length.

Second-sound studies of coflow and counterflow of superfluid 4He in channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varga, Emil; Skrbek, L.; Babuin, Simone

2015-01-01

We report a comprehensive study of turbulent superfluid 4 He flow through a channel of square cross section. We study for the first time two distinct flow configurations with the same apparatus: coflow (normal and superfluid components move in the same direction), and counterflow (normal and superfluid components move in opposite directions). We realise also a variation of counterflow with the same relative velocity, but where the superfluid component moves while there is no net flow of the normal component through the channel, i.e., pure superflow. We use the second-sound attenuation technique to measure the density of quantised vortex lines in the temperature range 1.2 K ≲ T ≲ T λ ≈ 2.18 K and for flow velocities from about 1 mm/s up to almost 1 m/s in fully developed turbulence. We find that both the steady-state and temporal decay of the turbulence significantly differ in the three flow configurations, yielding an interesting insight into two-fluid hydrodynamics. In both pure superflow and counterflow, the same scaling of vortex line density with counterflow velocity is observed, L∝V cf 2 , with a pronounced temperature dependence; in coflow instead, the vortex line density scales with velocity as L ∝ V 3/2 and is temperature independent; we provide theoretical explanations for these observations. Further, we develop a new promising technique to use different second-sound resonant modes to probe the spatial distribution of quantised vortices in the direction perpendicular to the flow. Preliminary measurements indicate that coflow is less homogeneous than counterflow/superflow, with a denser concentration of vortices between the centre of the channel and its walls

Comparative study of micromixing models in transported scalar PDF simulations of turbulent nonpremixed bluff body flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merci, Bart [Department of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University-UGent, Ghent (Belgium); Roekaerts, Dirk [Department of Multi-Scale Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Naud, Bertrand [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Pope, Stephen B. [Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (United States)

2006-07-15

Numerical simulation results are presented for turbulent jet diffusion flames with various levels of turbulence-chemistry interaction, stabilized behind a bluff body (Sydney Flames HM1-3). Interaction between turbulence and combustion is modeled with the transported joint-scalar PDF approach. The mass density function transport equation is solved in a Lagrangian manner. A second-moment-closure turbulence model is applied to obtain accurate mean flow and turbulent mixing fields. The behavior of two micromixing models is discussed: the Euclidean minimum spanning tree model and the modified Curl coalescence dispersion model. The impact of the micromixing model choice on the results in physical space is small, although some influence becomes visible as the amount of local extinction increases. Scatter plots and profiles of conditional means and variances of thermochemical quantities, conditioned on the mixture fraction, are discussed both within and downstream of the recirculation region. A distinction is made between local extinction and incomplete combustion, based on the CO species mass fraction. The differences in qualitative behavior between the micromixing models are explained and quantitative comparison to experimental data is made. (author)

Combustion Characteristics in a Non-Premixed Cool-Flame Regime of n-Heptane in Microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Fumiaki; Katta, Viswanath R.; Hicks, Michael C.

2015-01-01

A series of distinct phenomena have recently been observed in single-fuel-droplet combustion tests performed on the International Space Station (ISS). This study attempts to simulate the observed flame behavior numerically using a gaseous n-heptane fuel source in zero gravity and a time-dependent axisymmetric (2D) code, which includes a detailed reaction mechanism (127 species and 1130 reactions), diffusive transport, and a radiation model (for CH4, CO, CO2, H2O, and soot). The calculated combustion characteristics depend strongly on the air velocity around the fuel source. In a near-quiescent air environment (combustion experiments.

Flow instability in laminar jet flames driven by alternating current electric fields

KAUST Repository

Kim, Gyeong Taek

2016-10-13

The effect of electric fields on the instability of laminar nonpremixed jet flames was investigated experimentally by applying the alternating current (AC) to a jet nozzle. We aimed to elucidate the origin of the occurrence of twin-lifted jet flames in laminar jet flow configurations, which occurred when AC electric fields were applied. The results indicated that a twin-lifted jet flame originated from cold jet instability, caused by interactions between negative ions in the jet flow via electron attachment as O +e→O when AC electric fields were applied. This was confirmed by conducting systematic, parametric experiment, which included changing gaseous component in jets and applying different polarity of direct current (DC) to the nozzle. Using two deflection plates installed in parallel with the jet stream, we found that only negative DC on the nozzle could charge oxygen molecules negatively. Meanwhile, the cold jet instability occurred only for oxygen-containing jets. A shedding frequency of jet stream due to AC driven instability showed a good correlation with applied AC frequency exhibiting a frequency doubling. However, for the applied AC frequencies over 80Hz, the jet did not respond to the AC, indicating an existence of a minimum flow induction time in a dynamic response of negative ions to external AC fields. Detailed regime of the instability in terms of jet velocity, AC voltage and frequency was presented and discussed. Hypothesized mechanism to explain the instability was also proposed.

Premixed burner experiments: Geometry, mixing, and flame structure issues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, A.K.; Lewis, M.J.; Gupta, M. [Univ of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] [and others

1995-10-01

This research program is exploring techniques for improved fuel-air mixing, with the aim of achieving combustor operations up to stoichiometric conditions with minimal NO x and maximum efficiency. The experimental studies involve the use of a double-concentric natural gas burner that is operable in either premixed or non-premixed modes, and the system allows systematic variation of equivalence ratio, swirl strength shear length region and flow momentum in each annulus. Flame structures formed with various combinations of swirl strengths, flow throughput and equivalence ratios in premixed mode show the significant impact of swirl flow distribution on flame structure emanating from the mixedness. This impact on flame structure is expected to have a pronounced effect on the heat release rate and the emission of NO{sub x}. Thus, swirler design and configuration remains a key factor in the quest for completely optimized combustion. Parallel numerical studies of the flow and combustion phenomena were carried out, using the RSM and thek-{epsilon} turbulence models. These results have not only indicated the strengths and limitations of CFD in performance and pollutants emission predictions, but have provided guidelines on the size and strength of the recirculation produced and the spatio-temporal structure of the combustion flowfield. The first stage of parametric studies on geometry and operational parameters at Morgan State University have culminated in the completion of a one-dimensional flow code that is integrated with a solid, virtual model of the existing premixed burner. This coupling will provide the unique opportunity to study the impact of geometry on the flowfield and vice-versa, with particular emphasis on concurrent design optimization.

Response mechanisms of attached premixed flames subjected to harmonic forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Shreekrishna

The persistent thrust for a cleaner, greener environment has prompted air pollution regulations to be enforced with increased stringency by environmental protection bodies all over the world. This has prompted gas turbine manufacturers to move from nonpremixed combustion to lean, premixed combustion. These lean premixed combustors operate quite fuel-lean compared to the stochiometric, in order to minimize CO and NOx productions, and are very susceptible to oscillations in any of the upstream flow variables. These oscillations cause the heat release rate of the flame to oscillate, which can engage one or more acoustic modes of the combustor or gas turbine components, and under certain conditions, lead to limit cycle oscillations. This phenomenon, called thermoacoustic instabilities, is characterized by very high pressure oscillations and increased heat fluxes at system walls, and can cause significant problems in the routine operability of these combustors, not to mention the occasional hardware damages that could occur, all of which cumulatively cost several millions of dollars. In a bid towards understanding this flow-flame interaction, this research works studies the heat release response of premixed flames to oscillations in reactant equivalence ratio, reactant velocity and pressure, under conditions where the flame preheat zone is convectively compact to these disturbances, using the G-equation. The heat release response is quantified by means of the flame transfer function and together with combustor acoustics, forms a critical component of the analytical models that can predict combustor dynamics. To this end, low excitation amplitude (linear) and high excitation amplitude (nonlinear) responses of the flame are studied in this work. The linear heat release response of lean, premixed flames are seen to be dominated by responses to velocity and equivalence ratio fluctuations at low frequencies, and to pressure fluctuations at high frequencies which are in the

Time-averaged probability density functions of soot nanoparticles along the centerline of a piloted turbulent diffusion flame using a scanning mobility particle sizer

KAUST Repository

Chowdhury, Snehaunshu

2017-01-23

In this study, we demonstrate the use of a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) as an effective tool to measure the probability density functions (PDFs) of soot nanoparticles in turbulent flames. Time-averaged soot PDFs necessary for validating existing soot models are reported at intervals of ∆x/D∆x/D = 5 along the centerline of turbulent, non-premixed, C2H4/N2 flames. The jet exit Reynolds numbers of the flames investigated were 10,000 and 20,000. A simplified burner geometry based on a published design was chosen to aid modelers. Soot was sampled directly from the flame using a sampling probe with a 0.5-mm diameter orifice and diluted with N2 by a two-stage dilution process. The overall dilution ratio was not evaluated. An SMPS system was used to analyze soot particle concentrations in the diluted samples. Sampling conditions were optimized over a wide range of dilution ratios to eliminate the effect of agglomeration in the sampling probe. Two differential mobility analyzers (DMAs) with different size ranges were used separately in the SMPS measurements to characterize the entire size range of particles. In both flames, the PDFs were found to be mono-modal in nature near the jet exit. Further downstream, the profiles were flatter with a fall-off at larger particle diameters. The geometric mean of the soot size distributions was less than 10 nm for all cases and increased monotonically with axial distance in both flames.

Visualization of He II counterflow around a cylinder

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Chagovets, Tymofiy; Van Sciver, S.W.

2013-01-01

Roč. 25, č. 10 (2013), "105104-1"-"105104-6" ISSN 1070-6631 R&D Projects: GA ČR GP13-03806P Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : He II * thermal counterflow * visualization technique Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 2.040, year: 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4824004

Large eddy simulation of premixed and non-premixed combustion

OpenAIRE

Malalasekera, W; Ibrahim, SS; Masri, AR; Sadasivuni, SK; Gubba, SR

2010-01-01

This paper summarises the authors experience in using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique for the modelling of premixed and non-premixed combustion. The paper describes the application of LES based combustion modelling technique to two well defined experimental configurations where high quality data is available for validation. The large eddy simulation technique for the modelling flow and turbulence is based on the solution of governing equations for continuity and momentum in a struct...

A spray flamelet/progress variable approach combined with a transported joint PDF model for turbulent spray flames

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yong; Olguin, Hernan; Gutheil, Eva

2017-05-01

A spray flamelet/progress variable approach is developed for use in spray combustion with partly pre-vaporised liquid fuel, where a laminar spray flamelet library accounts for evaporation within the laminar flame structures. For this purpose, the standard spray flamelet formulation for pure evaporating liquid fuel and oxidiser is extended by a chemical reaction progress variable in both the turbulent spray flame model and the laminar spray flame structures, in order to account for the effect of pre-vaporised liquid fuel for instance through use of a pilot flame. This new approach is combined with a transported joint probability density function (PDF) method for the simulation of a turbulent piloted ethanol/air spray flame, and the extension requires the formulation of a joint three-variate PDF depending on the gas phase mixture fraction, the chemical reaction progress variable, and gas enthalpy. The molecular mixing is modelled with the extended interaction-by-exchange-with-the-mean (IEM) model, where source terms account for spray evaporation and heat exchange due to evaporation as well as the chemical reaction rate for the chemical reaction progress variable. This is the first formulation using a spray flamelet model considering both evaporation and partly pre-vaporised liquid fuel within the laminar spray flamelets. Results with this new formulation show good agreement with the experimental data provided by A.R. Masri, Sydney, Australia. The analysis of the Lagrangian statistics of the gas temperature and the OH mass fraction indicates that partially premixed combustion prevails near the nozzle exit of the spray, whereas further downstream, the non-premixed flame is promoted towards the inner rich-side of the spray jet since the pilot flame heats up the premixed inner spray zone. In summary, the simulation with the new formulation considering the reaction progress variable shows good performance, greatly improving the standard formulation, and it provides new

Charge-induced secondary atomization in diffusion flames of electrostatic sprays

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Alessandro; Chen, Gung

1994-01-01

The combustion of electrostatic sprays of heptane in laminar counterflow diffusion flames was experimentally studied by measuring droplet size and velocity distributions, as well as the gas-phase temperature. A detailed examination of the evolution of droplet size distribution as droplets approach the flame shows that, if substantial evaporation occurs before droplets interact with the flame, an initially monodisperse size distribution becomes bimodal. A secondary sharp peak in the size histogram develops in correspondence of diameters about one order of magnitude smaller than the mean. No evaporation mechanism can account for the development of such bimodality, that can be explained only in terms of a disintegration of droplets into finer fragments of size much smaller than that of the parent. Other evidence in support of this interpretation is offered by the measurements of droplet size-velocity correlation and velocity component distributions, showing that, as a consequence of the ejection process, the droplets responsible for the secondary peak have velocities uncorrelated with the mean flow. The fission is induced by the electric charge. When a droplet evaporates, in fact, the electric charge density on the droplet surface increases while the droplet shrinks, until the so-called Rayleigh limit is reached at which point the repulsion of electric charges overcomes the surface tension cohesive force, ultimately leading to a disintegraton into finer fragments. We report on the first observation of such fissions in combustion environments. If, on the other hand, insufficient evaporation has occurred before droplets enter the high temperature region, there appears to be no significant evidence of bimodality in their size distribution. In this case, in fact, the concentration of flame chemi-ions or, in the case of positively charged droplets, electrons may be sufficient for them to neutralize the charge on the droplets and to prevent disruption.

Measurements of He II Thermal Counterflow Using PIV Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, T.; Van Sciver, S.W.

2004-01-01

Our previous experiments on the measurements of He II thermal counterflow using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) have shown that there exists a substantial discrepancy between the measured and theoretical values of normal fluid velocity. It was assumed that this is due to the slip velocity between tracer particles and liquid helium. In the present work, tracer particles with a much smaller mean diameter and a more uniform size distribution were selected in order to reduce the effect of slip velocity, and an improved two phase fluidized bed technique was used to introduce the particles into liquid helium. The normal fluid velocity of thermal counterflow was then measured using the PIV technique at various heat fluxes and bath temperatures. The experimental results, however, still show the existence of discrepancy between PIV measured particle velocities and the theoretical normal fluid velocity. A preliminary explanation of these results is given based on an interaction of tracer particles with the superfluid component in the He II

Heat release effects on mixing scales of non-premixed turbulent wall-jets: A direct numerical simulation study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pouransari, Zeinab; Vervisch, Luc; Johansson, Arne V.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A non-premixed turbulent flame close to a solid surface is studied using DNS. ► Heat release effects delay transition and enlarge fluctuation of density and pressure. ► The fine-scale structures damped and surface wrinkling diminished due to heat-release. ► Using semilocal scaling improves the collapse of turbulence statistic in inner region. ► There are regions of the flame where considerable (up to 10%) premixed burning occurs. -- Abstract: The present study concerns the role of heat release effects on characteristics mixing scales of turbulence in reacting wall-jet flows. Direct numerical simulations of exothermic reacting turbulent wall-jets are performed and compared to the isothermal reacting case. An evaluation of the heat-release effects on the structure of turbulence is given by examining the mixture fraction surface characteristics, diagnosing vortices and exploring the dissipation rate of the fuel and passive scalar concentrations, and moreover by illustration of probability density functions of reacting species and scatter plots of the local temperature against the mixture fraction. Primarily, heat release effects delay the transition, enlarge the fluctuation intensities of density and pressure and also enhance the fluctuation level of the species concentrations. However, it has a damping effect on all velocity fluctuation intensities and the Reynolds shear stress. A key result is that the fine-scale structures of turbulence are damped, the surface wrinkling is diminished and the vortices become larger due to heat-release effects. Taking into account the varying density by using semi-local scaling improves the collapse of the turbulence statistics in the inner region, but does not eliminate heat release induced differences in the outer region. Examining the two-dimensional premultiplied spanwise spectra of the streamwise velocity fluctuations indicates a shifting in the positions of the outer peaks, associated with large

Turbulent Non-Premixed Flames Stabilized on Double-Slit Curved Wall-Jet Burner with Simultaneous OH-Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence and Particle Image Velocimetry Measurements

KAUST Repository

Mansour, Morkous S.; Chung, Suk-Ho

2015-01-01

, followed by a merged-jet region. The flames were stabilized in the recirculation zone and, in extreme cases, only a small flame seed remained in the recirculation zone. Together with the collision of the slit jets in the interaction jet region, the velocity

Reynolds number and geometry effects in laminar axisymmetric isothermal counterflows

KAUST Repository

Scribano, Gianfranco

2016-12-29

The counterflow configuration is a canonical stagnation flow, featuring two opposed impinging round jets and a mixing layer across the stagnation plane. Although counterflows are used extensively in the study of reactive mixtures and other applications where mixing of two streams is required, quantitative data on the scaling properties of the flow field are lacking. The aim of this work is to characterize the velocity and mixing fields in isothermal counterflows over a wide range of conditions. The study features both experimental data from particle image velocimetry and results from detailed axisymmetric simulations. The scaling laws for the nondimensional velocity and mixture fraction are obtained as a function of an appropriate Reynolds number and the ratio of the separation distance of the nozzles to their diameter. In the range of flow configurations investigated, the nondimensional fields are found to depend primarily on the separation ratio and, to a lesser extent, the Reynolds number. The marked dependence of the velocity field with respect to the separation ratio is linked to a high pressure region at the stagnation point. On the other hand, Reynolds number effects highlight the role played by the wall boundary layer on the interior of the nozzles, which becomes less important as the separation ratio decreases. The normalized strain rate and scalar dissipation rate at the stagnation plane are found to attain limiting values only for high values of the Reynolds number. These asymptotic values depend markedly on the separation ratio and differ significantly from the values produced by analytical models. The scaling of the mixing field does not show a limiting behavior as the separation ratio decreases to the smallest practical value considered.

Validation of an LES Model for Soot Evolution against DNS Data in Turbulent Jet Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Michael

2012-11-01

An integrated modeling approach for soot evolution in turbulent reacting flows is validated against three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data in a set of n-heptane nonpremixed temporal jet flames. As in the DNS study, the evolution of the soot population is described statistically with the Hybrid Method of Moments (HMOM). The oxidation of the fuel and formation of soot precursors are described with the Radiation Flamelet/Progress Variable (RFPV) model that includes an additional transport equation for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) to account for the slow chemistry governing these species. In addition, the small-scale interactions between soot, chemistry, and turbulence are described with a presumed subfilter PDF approach that accounts for the very large spatial intermittency characterizing soot in turbulent reacting flows. The DNS dataset includes flames at three different Damköhler numbers to study the influence of global mixing rates on the evolution of PAH and soot. In this work, the ability of the model to capture these trends quantitatively as Damköhler number varies is investigated. In order to reliably assess the LES approach, the LES is initialized from the filtered DNS data after an initial transitional period in an effort to minimize the hydrodynamic differences between the DNS and the LES.

Multidimensional flamelet-generated manifolds for partially premixed combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen, Phuc-Danh; Vervisch, Luc; Subramanian, Vallinayagam; Domingo, Pascale [CORIA - CNRS and INSA de Rouen, Technopole du Madrillet, BP 8, 76801 Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray (France)

2010-01-15

Flamelet-generated manifolds have been restricted so far to premixed or diffusion flame archetypes, even though the resulting tables have been applied to nonpremixed and partially premixed flame simulations. By using a projection of the full set of mass conservation species balance equations into a restricted subset of the composition space, unsteady multidimensional flamelet governing equations are derived from first principles, under given hypotheses. During the projection, as in usual one-dimensional flamelets, the tangential strain rate of scalar isosurfaces is expressed in the form of the scalar dissipation rates of the control parameters of the multidimensional flamelet-generated manifold (MFM), which is tested in its five-dimensional form for partially premixed combustion, with two composition space directions and three scalar dissipation rates. It is shown that strain-rate-induced effects can hardly be fully neglected in chemistry tabulation of partially premixed combustion, because of fluxes across iso-equivalence-ratio and iso-progress-of-reaction surfaces. This is illustrated by comparing the 5D flamelet-generated manifold with one-dimensional premixed flame and unsteady strained diffusion flame composition space trajectories. The formal links between the asymptotic behavior of MFM and stratified flame, weakly varying partially premixed front, triple-flame, premixed and nonpremixed edge flames are also evidenced. (author)

Flames in vortices & tulip-flame inversion

Science.gov (United States)

Dold, J. W.

This article summarises two areas of research regarding the propagation of flames in flows which involve significant fluid-dynamical motion [1]-[3]. The major difference between the two is that in the first study the fluid motion is present before the arrival of any flame and remains unaffected by the flame [1, 2] while, in the second study it is the flame that is responsible for all of the fluid dynamical effects [3]. It is currently very difficult to study flame-motion in which the medium is both highly disturbed before the arrival of a flame and is further influenced by the passage of the flame.

Investigation of the effects of quarl and initial conditions on swirling non-premixed methane flames: Flow field, temperature, and species distributions

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.; Roberts, William L.

2015-01-01

thermocouple and sampling probe, respectively. This work provides experimental verification by complementary techniques. The results showed that although the main flame structures were governed by the swirl motion imparted to the air stream, the quarl geometry

Effects of combined dimension reduction and tabulation on the simulations of a turbulent premixed flame using a large-eddy simulation/probability density function method

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jeonglae; Pope, Stephen B.

2014-05-01

A turbulent lean-premixed propane-air flame stabilised by a triangular cylinder as a flame-holder is simulated to assess the accuracy and computational efficiency of combined dimension reduction and tabulation of chemistry. The computational condition matches the Volvo rig experiments. For the reactive simulation, the Lagrangian Large-Eddy Simulation/Probability Density Function (LES/PDF) formulation is used. A novel two-way coupling approach between LES and PDF is applied to obtain resolved density to reduce its statistical fluctuations. Composition mixing is evaluated by the modified Interaction-by-Exchange with the Mean (IEM) model. A baseline case uses In Situ Adaptive Tabulation (ISAT) to calculate chemical reactions efficiently. Its results demonstrate good agreement with the experimental measurements in turbulence statistics, temperature, and minor species mass fractions. For dimension reduction, 11 and 16 represented species are chosen and a variant of Rate Controlled Constrained Equilibrium (RCCE) is applied in conjunction with ISAT to each case. All the quantities in the comparison are indistinguishable from the baseline results using ISAT only. The combined use of RCCE/ISAT reduces the computational time for chemical reaction by more than 50%. However, for the current turbulent premixed flame, chemical reaction takes only a minor portion of the overall computational cost, in contrast to non-premixed flame simulations using LES/PDF, presumably due to the restricted manifold of purely premixed flame in the composition space. Instead, composition mixing is the major contributor to cost reduction since the mean-drift term, which is computationally expensive, is computed for the reduced representation. Overall, a reduction of more than 15% in the computational cost is obtained.

Numerical investigation of drag and heat flux reduction mechanism of the pulsed counterflowing jet on a blunt body in supersonic flows

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Rui-rui; Huang, Wei; Yan, Li; Li, Lang-quan; Li, Shi-bin; Moradi, R.

2018-05-01

To design a kind of aerospace vehicle, the drag and heat flux reduction are the most important factors. In the current study, the counterflowing jet, one of the effective drag and heat flux reduction concepts, is investigated numerically by the two-dimensional axisymmetric Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the SST k-ω turbulence model. An axisymmetric numerical simulation mode of the counterflowing jet on the supersonic vehicle nose-tip is established, and the numerical method employed is validated by the experimental schlieren images and experimental data in the open literature. A pulsed counterflowing jet scheme is proposed, and it uses a sinusoidal function to control the total and static pressures of the counterflowing jet. The obtained results show that the long penetration mode does not exist in the whole turnaround, even in a relatively small range of the jet total and static pressures, and this is different from the phenomenon obtained under the steady condition in the open literature. At the same time, it is observed that the variation of the physical parameters, such as the Stanton number induced by the pulsed jet, has an obvious periodicity and hysteresis phenomenon.

Flame stabilization and mixing characteristics in a Stagnation Point Reverse Flow combustor

Science.gov (United States)

Bobba, Mohan K.

A novel combustor design, referred to as the Stagnation Point Reverse-Flow (SPRF) combustor, was recently developed that is able to operate stably at very lean fuel-air mixtures and with low NOx emissions even when the fuel and air are not premixed before entering the combustor. The primary objective of this work is to elucidate the underlying physics behind the excellent stability and emissions performance of the SPRF combustor. The approach is to experimentally characterize velocities, species mixing, heat release and flame structure in an atmospheric pressure SPRF combustor with the help of various optical diagnostic techniques: OH PLIF, chemiluminescence imaging, PIV and Spontaneous Raman Scattering. Results indicate that the combustor is primarily stabilized in a region downstream of the injector that is characterized by low average velocities and high turbulence levels; this is also the region where most of the heat release occurs. High turbulence levels in the shear layer lead to increased product entrainment levels, elevating the reaction rates and thereby enhancing the combustor stability. The effect of product entrainment on chemical timescales and the flame structure is illustrated with simple reactor models. Although reactants are found to burn in a highly preheated (1300 K) and turbulent environment due to mixing with hot product gases, the residence times are sufficiently long compared to the ignition timescales such that the reactants do not autoignite. Turbulent flame structure analysis indicates that the flame is primarily in the thin reaction zones regime throughout the combustor, and it tends to become more flamelet like with increasing distance from the injector. Fuel-air mixing measurements in case of non-premixed operation indicate that the fuel is shielded from hot products until it is fully mixed with air, providing nearly premixed performance without the safety issues associated with premixing. The reduction in NOx emissions in the SPRF

Large eddy simulation of the low temperature ignition and combustion processes on spray flame with the linear eddy model

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Haiqiao; Zhao, Wanhui; Zhou, Lei; Chen, Ceyuan; Shu, Gequn

2018-03-01

Large eddy simulation coupled with the linear eddy model (LEM) is employed for the simulation of n-heptane spray flames to investigate the low temperature ignition and combustion process in a constant-volume combustion vessel under diesel-engine relevant conditions. Parametric studies are performed to give a comprehensive understanding of the ignition processes. The non-reacting case is firstly carried out to validate the present model by comparing the predicted results with the experimental data from the Engine Combustion Network (ECN). Good agreements are observed in terms of liquid and vapour penetration length, as well as the mixture fraction distributions at different times and different axial locations. For the reacting cases, the flame index was introduced to distinguish between the premixed and non-premixed combustion. A reaction region (RR) parameter is used to investigate the ignition and combustion characteristics, and to distinguish the different combustion stages. Results show that the two-stage combustion process can be identified in spray flames, and different ignition positions in the mixture fraction versus RR space are well described at low and high initial ambient temperatures. At an initial condition of 850 K, the first-stage ignition is initiated at the fuel-lean region, followed by the reactions in fuel-rich regions. Then high-temperature reaction occurs mainly at the places with mixture concentration around stoichiometric mixture fraction. While at an initial temperature of 1000 K, the first-stage ignition occurs at the fuel-rich region first, then it moves towards fuel-richer region. Afterwards, the high-temperature reactions move back to the stoichiometric mixture fraction region. For all of the initial temperatures considered, high-temperature ignition kernels are initiated at the regions richer than stoichiometric mixture fraction. By increasing the initial ambient temperature, the high-temperature ignition kernels move towards richer

Numerical investigation of biogas diffusion flames characteristics under several operation conditions in counter-flow configuration with an emphasis on thermal and chemical effects of CO2 in the fuel mixture

Science.gov (United States)

Mameri, A.; Tabet, F.; Hadef, A.

2017-08-01

This study addresses the influence of several operating conditions (composition and ambient pressure) on biogas diffusion flame structure and NO emissions with particular attention on thermal and chemical effect of CO2. The biogas flame is modeled by a counter flow diffusion flame and analyzed in mixture fraction space using flamelet approach. The GRI Mech-3.0 mechanism that involves 53 species and 325 reactions is adopted for the oxidation chemistry. It has been observed that flame properties are very sensitive to biogas composition and pressure. CO2 addition decreases flame temperature by both thermal and chemical effects. Added CO2 may participate in chemical reaction due to thermal dissociation (chemical effect). Excessively supplied CO2 plays the role of pure diluent (thermal effect). The ambient pressure rise increases temperature and reduces flame thickness, radiation losses and dissociation amount. At high pressure, recombination reactions coupled with chain carrier radicals reduction, diminishes NO mass fraction.

On the Flame Height Definition for Upward Flame Spread

OpenAIRE

Consalvi, Jean L; Pizzo, Yannick; Porterie, Bernard; Torero, Jose L

2007-01-01

Flame height is defined by the experimentalists as the average position of the luminous flame and, consequently is not directly linked with a quantitative value of a physical parameter. To determine flame heights from both numerical and theoretical results, a more quantifiable criterion is needed to define flame heights and must be in agreement with the experiments to allow comparisons. For wall flames, steady wall flame experiments revealed that flame height may be define...

Stratified turbulent Bunsen flames : flame surface analysis and flame surface density modelling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ramaekers, W.J.S.; Oijen, van J.A.; Goey, de L.P.H.

2012-01-01

In this paper it is investigated whether the Flame Surface Density (FSD) model, developed for turbulent premixed combustion, is also applicable to stratified flames. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of turbulent stratified Bunsen flames have been carried out, using the Flamelet Generated Manifold

Stratified turbulent Bunsen flames: flame surface analysis and flame surface density modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Ramaekers, W. J. S.; van Oijen, J. A.; de Goey, L. P. H.

2012-12-01

In this paper it is investigated whether the Flame Surface Density (FSD) model, developed for turbulent premixed combustion, is also applicable to stratified flames. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of turbulent stratified Bunsen flames have been carried out, using the Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) reduction method for reaction kinetics. Before examining the suitability of the FSD model, flame surfaces are characterized in terms of thickness, curvature and stratification. All flames are in the Thin Reaction Zones regime, and the maximum equivalence ratio range covers 0.1⩽φ⩽1.3. For all flames, local flame thicknesses correspond very well to those observed in stretchless, steady premixed flamelets. Extracted curvature radii and mixing length scales are significantly larger than the flame thickness, implying that the stratified flames all burn in a premixed mode. The remaining challenge is accounting for the large variation in (subfilter) mass burning rate. In this contribution, the FSD model is proven to be applicable for Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of stratified flames for the equivalence ratio range 0.1⩽φ⩽1.3. Subfilter mass burning rate variations are taken into account by a subfilter Probability Density Function (PDF) for the mixture fraction, on which the mass burning rate directly depends. A priori analysis point out that for small stratifications (0.4⩽φ⩽1.0), the replacement of the subfilter PDF (obtained from DNS data) by the corresponding Dirac function is appropriate. Integration of the Dirac function with the mass burning rate m=m(φ), can then adequately model the filtered mass burning rate obtained from filtered DNS data. For a larger stratification (0.1⩽φ⩽1.3), and filter widths up to ten flame thicknesses, a β-function for the subfilter PDF yields substantially better predictions than a Dirac function. Finally, inclusion of a simple algebraic model for the FSD resulted only in small additional deviations from DNS data

The development of kilohertz planar laser diagnostics for applications in high power turbulent flames

Science.gov (United States)

Slabaugh, Carson Daniel

In modern gas-turbine combustors, flame stabilization is achieved by inducing exhaust gas circulation within the flame zone through swirl-induced vortex breakdown. Swirling flows exhibit strong shear regions resulting in high turbulence and effective mixing. In combustion, these flows are characterized by complex unsteady interactions between turbulent flow structures and chemical reactions. Developments in high-resolution, quantitative, experimental measurement techniques must continue to improve fundamental understanding and support modeling efforts. This work describes the development of a gas turbine combustion experiment to support the application of advanced optical measurement techniques in flames operating at realistic engine conditions. Facility requirements are addressed, including instrumentation and control needs for remote operation when working with high energy flows. The methodology employed in the design of the optically-accessible combustion chamber is elucidated, including window considerations and thermal management of the experimental hardware under extremely high heat loads. Experimental uncertainties are also quantified. The stable operation of the experiment is validated using multiple techniques and the boundary conditions are verified. The successful prediction of operating conditions by the design analysis is documented and preliminary data is shown to demonstrate the capability of the experiment to produce high-fidelity datasets for advanced combustion research. Building on this experimental infrastructure, simultaneous measurements of velocity and scalar fields were performed in turbulent nonpremixed flames at gas turbine engine operating conditions using 5 kHz Particle-Image Velocimetry (PIV) and OH Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (OH-PLIF). The experimental systems and the challenges associated with acquiring useful data at high pressures and high thermal powers are discussed. The quality of the particle scattering images used in the

Investigation into periodic process of hydrogen isotope separation by counterflow method in the hydrogen-palladium system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, B.M.; Selivanenko, I.L.; Vedeneev, A.I.; Golubkov, A.N.; Tenyaev, B.N.

1999-01-01

The key diagram and results of the investigation into working conditions of the pilot plant for hydrogen isotope separation embodying the concept of continuous counterflow separation in the hydrogen-palladium system are shown. The counterflow of phases in the plant is attained under the motion of palladium solid hydride phase relative to stationary blocks of flow rotation. The column separator is defined as section type one. The plant performs in periodic regime with accumulating vessels for light and heavy components of the separated mixture. Maximum concentration of the separated tritium ranged up to ∼ 96 % in the experiments of the deuterium-tritium separation. Minimum concentration of the residual tritium in the mixture ranged up to ∼ 0.1 %. The plant provides to reprocessing 4.5 moles of the gas a day [ru

An improved model for the analysis of evaporative counterflow cooling towers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nahavandi, A.N.; Oellinger, J.

1977-01-01

A rigorous approach is applied to the thermal design of counterflow cooling towers, by obviating the six simplifying assumptions in the classical Merkel method. It is indicated that: (1) neglecting evaporation losses is the main cause of inaccuracy in the Merkel results; (2) the error in the Merkel method may reach 12%; and (3) the present solution provides a more accurate and more ecologically favorable prediction for the cooling water tower. (Auth.)

Experimental validation of large-eddy simulation for swirling methane-air non-premixed combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, L.Y.; Luo, Y.H.; Xu, C.S. [Shanghai Jiaotong Univ. (China). School of Mechanical Engineering; Zhou, L.X. [Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). Dept. of Engineering Mechanics

2013-07-01

Large-eddy simulation of swirling methane-air non-premixed combustion was carried out using a Smagorinsky-Lilly subgrid scale stress model and a presumed-PDF fast-chemistry combustion model. The LES statistical results are validated by PIV, temperature and species concentration measurements made by the present authors. The results indicate that in the present case the presumed-PDF fast-chemistry combustion model is a fairish one. The instantaneous vorticity and temperature maps show clearly the development and the interaction between coherent structures and combustion.

Flame structure of methane inverse diffusion flame

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.

2014-07-01

This paper presents high speed images of OH-PLIF at 10. kHz simultaneously with 2D PIV (particle image velocimetry) measurements collected along the entire length of an inverse diffusion flame with circumferentially arranged methane fuel jets. For a fixed fuel flow rate, the central air jet Re was varied, leading to four air to fuel velocity ratios, namely Vr = 20.7, 29, 37.4 and 49.8. A double flame structure could be observed composed of a lower fuel entrainment region and an upper mixing and intense combustion region. The entrainment region was enveloped by an early OH layer, and then merged through a very thin OH neck to an annular OH layer located at the shear layer of the air jet. The two branches of this annular OH layer broaden as they moved downstream and eventfully merged together. Three types of events were observed common to all flames: breaks, closures and growing kernels. In upstream regions of the flames, the breaks were counterbalanced by flame closures. These breaks in OH signal were found to occur at locations where locally high velocity flows were impinging on the flame. As the Vr increased to 37.4, the OH layers became discontinuous over the downstream region of the flame, and these regions of low or no OH moved upstream. With further increases in Vr, these OH pockets act as flame kernels, growing as they moved downstream, and became the main mechanism for flame re-ignition. Along the flame length, the direction of the two dimensional principle compressive strain rate axis exhibited a preferred orientation of approximately 45° with respect to the flow direction. Moreover, the OH zones were associated with elongated regions of high vorticity. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

Studies of propane flame soot acting as heterogeneous ice nuclei in conjunction with single particle soot photometer measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Crawford

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The ice nucleation efficiency of propane flame soot particles with and without a sulphuric acid coating was investigated using the aerosol and cloud chamber facility AIDA (Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere. The test soot for cloud formation simulations was produced using a propane flame Combustion Aerosol Standard generator (CAST, Jing-CAST Technologies. The organic carbon content (OC of the test soot was altered in a reproducible fashion by changing the fuel/air mixture of the generator. The soot content of ice nuclei was subsequently investigated using a combination of a pumped counterflow virtual impactor (PCVI to separate and evaporate the ice crystals, and a DMT single particle soot photometer (SP2 to examine the mixing state of the BC containing ice residuals.

Ice nucleation was found to be most efficient for uncoated soot of low organic carbon content (~5 % organic carbon content where deposition freezing occurred at an ice saturation ratio S_ice ~ 1.22 at a temperature T = 226.6 K with 25 % of the test soot becoming active as ice nuclei. Propane flame soot of higher organic carbon content (~30 % and ~70 % organic carbon content showed significantly lower ice nucleation efficiency (an activated fraction of the order of a few percent in the experiments than the low organic carbon content soot, with water saturation being required for freezing to occur. Ice nucleation occurred over the range S_ice = 1.22–1.70, and T = 223.2–226.6 K. Analysis of the SP2 data showed that the 5 % organic carbon content soot had an undetectable OC coating whereas the 30 % organic carbon content soot had a thicker or less volatile OC coating.

The application of a sulphuric acid coating to the flame soot shifted the threshold of the onset of freezing towards that of the homogeneous freezing of sulphuric acid; for the minimum OC flame soot this inhibited nucleation since the

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering for quantitative temperature and concentration measurements in a high-pressure gas turbine combustor rig

Science.gov (United States)

Thariyan, Mathew Paul

Dual-pump coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (DP-CARS) temperature and major species (CO2/N2) concentration measurements have been performed in an optically-accessible high-pressure gas turbine combustor facility (GTCF) and for partially-premixed and non-premixed flames in a laminar counter-flow burner. A window assembly incorporating pairs of thin and thick fused silica windows on three sides was designed, fabricated, and assembled in the GTCF for advanced laser diagnostic studies. An injection-seeded optical parametric oscillator (OPO) was used as a narrowband pump laser source in the dual-pump CARS system. Large prisms on computer-controlled translation stages were used to direct the CARS beams either into the main optics leg for measurements in the GTCF or to a reference optics leg for measurements of the nonresonant CARS spectrum and for aligning the CARS system. Combusting flows were stabilized with liquid fuel injection only for the central injector of a 9-element lean direct injection (LDI) device developed at NASA Glenn Research Center. The combustor was operated using Jet A fuel at inlet air temperatures up to 725 K and combustor pressures up to 1.03 MPa. Single-shot DP-CARS spectra were analyzed using the Sandia CARSFT code in the batch operation mode to yield instantaneous temperature and CO2/N2 concentration ratio values. Spatial maps of mean and standard deviations of temperature and CO2/N2 concentrations were obtained in the high-pressure LDI flames by translating the CARS probe volume in axial and vertical directions inside the combustor rig. The mean temperature fields demonstrate the effect of the combustor conditions on the overall flame length and the average flame structure. The temperature relative standard deviation values indicate thermal fluctuations due to the presence of recirculation zones and/or flame brush fluctuations. The correlation between the temperature and relative CO 2 concentration data has been studied at various combustor

Strained flamelets for turbulent premixed flames II: Laboratory flame results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kolla, H.; Swaminathan, N. [Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 1PZ (United Kingdom)

2010-07-15

The predictive ability of strained flamelets model for turbulent premixed flames is assessed using Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) calculations of laboratory flames covering a wide range of conditions. Reactant-to-product (RtP) opposed flow laminar flames parametrised using the scalar dissipation rate of reaction progress variable are used as strained flamelets. Two turbulent flames: a rod stabilised V-flame studied by Robin et al. [Combust. Flame 153 (2008) 288-315] and a set of pilot stabilised Bunsen flames studied by Chen et al. [Combust. Flame 107 (1996) 223-244] are calculated using a single set of model parameters. The V-flame corresponds to the corrugated flamelets regime. The strained flamelet model and an unstrained flamelet model yield similar predictions which are in good agreement with experimental measurements for this flame. On the other hand, for the Bunsen flames which are in the thin reaction zones regime, the unstrained flamelet model predicts a smaller flame brush compared to experiment. The predictions of the strained flamelets model allowing for fluid-dynamics stretch induced attenuation of the chemical reaction are in good agreement with the experimental data. This model predictions of major and minor species are also in good agreement with experimental data. The results demonstrate that the strained flamelets model using the scalar dissipation rate can be used across the combustion regimes. (author)

Disproportionate entrance length in superfluid flows and the puzzle of counterflow instabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Bertolaccini, J.; Lévêque, E.; Roche, P.-E.

2017-12-01

Systematic simulations of the two-fluid model of superfluid helium (He-II) encompassing the Hall-Vinen-Bekharevich-Khalatnikov (HVBK) mutual coupling have been performed in two-dimensional pipe counterflows between 1.3 and 1.96 K. The numerical scheme relies on the lattice Boltzmann method. A Boussinesq-like hypothesis is introduced to omit temperature variations along the pipe. In return, the thermomechanical forcings of the normal and superfuid components are fueled by a pressure term related to their mass-density variations under an approximation of weak compressibility. This modeling framework reproduces the essential features of a thermally driven counterflow. A generalized definition of the entrance length is introduced to suitably compare entry effects (of different nature) at opposite ends of the pipe. This definition is related to the excess of pressure loss with respect to the developed Poiseuille-flow solution. At the heated end of the pipe, it is found that the entrance length for the normal fluid follows a classical law and increases linearly with the Reynolds number. At the cooled end, the entrance length for the superfluid is enhanced as compared to the normal fluid by up to one order of magnitude. At this end, the normal fluid flows into the cooling bath of He-II and produces large-scale superfluid vortical motions in the bath that partly re-enter the pipe along its sidewalls before being damped by mutual friction. In the superfluid entry region, the resulting frictional coupling in the superfluid boundary layer distorts the velocity profiles toward tail flattening for the normal fluid and tail raising for the superfluid. Eventually, a simple analytical model of entry effects allows us to re-examine the long-debated thresholds of T 1 and T 2 instabilities in superfluid counterflows. Inconsistencies in the T 1 thresholds reported since the 1960s disappear if an aspect-ratio criterion based on our modeling is used to discard data sets with the

Application of a robust and efficient Lagrangian particle scheme to soot transport in turbulent flames

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio

2013-09-01

A Lagrangian particle scheme is applied to the solution of soot dynamics in turbulent nonpremixed flames. Soot particulate is described using a method of moments and the resulting set of continuum advection-reaction equations is solved using the Lagrangian particle scheme. The key property of the approach is the independence between advection, described by the movement of Lagrangian notional particles along pathlines, and internal aerosol processes, evolving on each notional particle via source terms. Consequently, the method overcomes the issues in Eulerian grid-based schemes for the advection of moments: errors in the advective fluxes pollute the moments compromising their realizability and the stiffness of source terms weakens the stability of the method. The proposed scheme exhibits superior properties with respect to conventional Eulerian schemes in terms of stability, accuracy, and grid convergence. Taking into account the quality of the solution, the Lagrangian approach can be computationally more economical than commonly used Eulerian schemes as it allows the resolution requirements dictated by the different physical phenomena to be independently optimized. Finally, the scheme posseses excellent scalability on massively parallel computers. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Flame surface statistics of constant-pressure turbulent expanding premixed flames

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Abhishek; Chaudhuri, Swetaprovo; Law, Chung K.

2014-04-01

In this paper we investigate the local flame surface statistics of constant-pressure turbulent expanding flames. First the statistics of local length ratio is experimentally determined from high-speed planar Mie scattering images of spherically expanding flames, with the length ratio on the measurement plane, at predefined equiangular sectors, defined as the ratio of the actual flame length to the length of a circular-arc of radius equal to the average radius of the flame. Assuming isotropic distribution of such flame segments we then convolute suitable forms of the length-ratio probability distribution functions (pdfs) to arrive at the corresponding area-ratio pdfs. It is found that both the length ratio and area ratio pdfs are near log-normally distributed and shows self-similar behavior with increasing radius. Near log-normality and rather intermittent behavior of the flame-length ratio suggests similarity with dissipation rate quantities which stimulates multifractal analysis.

Experience with the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) Technique for the Modelling of Premixed and Non-premixed Combustion

OpenAIRE

Malalasekera, W; Ibrahim, SS; Masri, AR; Gubba, SR; Sadasivuni, SK

2013-01-01

Compared to RANS based combustion modelling, the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique has recently emerged as a more accurate and very adaptable technique in terms of handling complex turbulent interactions in combustion modelling problems. In this paper application of LES based combustion modelling technique and the validation of models in non-premixed and premixed situations are considered. Two well defined experimental configurations where high quality data are available for validation is...

Thermal-diffusional Instability in White Dwarf Flames: Regimes of Flame Pulsation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xing, Guangzheng; Zhao, Yibo; Zhou, Cheng; Gao, Yang; Law, Chung K. [Center for Combustion Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Modestov, Mikhail, E-mail: gaoyang-00@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn [Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, SE-10691, Stockholm (Sweden)

2017-05-20

Thermal-diffusional pulsation behaviors in planar as well as outwardly and inwardly propagating white dwarf (WD) carbon flames are systematically studied. In the 1D numerical simulation, the asymptotic degenerate equation of state and simplified one-step reaction rates for nuclear reactions are used to study the flame propagation and pulsation in WDs. The numerical critical Zel’dovich numbers of planar flames at different densities ( ρ = 2, 3, and 4 × 10{sup 7} g cm{sup −3}) and of spherical flames (with curvature c = −0.01, 0, 0.01, and 0.05) at a particular density ( ρ = 2 × 10{sup 7} g cm{sup −3}) are presented. Flame front pulsation in different environmental densities and temperatures are obtained to form the regime diagram of pulsation, showing that carbon flames pulsate in the typical density of 2 × 10{sup 7} g cm{sup −3} and temperature of 0.6 × 10{sup 9} K. While being stable at higher temperatures, at relatively lower temperatures, the amplitude of the flame pulsation becomes larger. In outwardly propagating spherical flames the pulsation instability is enhanced and flames are also easier to quench due to pulsation at small radius, while the inwardly propagating flames are more stable.

A reaction mechanism for gasoline surrogate fuels for large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

KAUST Repository

Raj, Abhijeet

2012-02-01

This work aims to develop a reaction mechanism for gasoline surrogate fuels (n-heptane, iso-octane and toluene) with an emphasis on the formation of large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Starting from an existing base mechanism for gasoline surrogate fuels with the largest chemical species being pyrene (C 16H 10), this new mechanism is generated by adding PAH sub-mechanisms to account for the formation and growth of PAHs up to coronene (C 24H 12). The density functional theory (DFT) and the transition state theory (TST) have been adopted to evaluate the rate constants for several PAH reactions. The mechanism is validated in the premixed laminar flames of n-heptane, iso-octane, benzene and ethylene. The characteristics of PAH formation in the counterflow diffusion flames of iso-octane/toluene and n-heptane/toluene mixtures have also been tested for both the soot formation and soot formation/oxidation flame conditions. The predictions of the concentrations of large PAHs in the premixed flames having available experimental data are significantly improved with the new mechanism as compared to the base mechanism. The major pathways for the formation of large PAHs are identified. The test of the counterflow diffusion flames successfully predicts the PAH behavior exhibiting a synergistic effect observed experimentally for the mixture fuels, irrespective of the type of flame (soot formation flame or soot formation/oxidation flame). The reactions that lead to this synergistic effect in PAH formation are identified through the rate-of-production analysis. © 2011 The Combustion Institute.

Analysis of flame shapes in turbulent hydrogen jet flames with coaxial air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moon, Hee Jang

2009-01-01

This paper addresses the characteristics of flame shapes and flame length in three types of coaxial air flames realizable by varying coaxial air and/or fuel velocity. Forcing coaxial air into turbulent jet flames induces substantial changes in flame shapes and NOx emissions through the complex flow interferences that exist within the mixing region. Mixing enhancement driven by coaxial air results in flame volume decrease, and such a diminished flame volume finally reduces NOx emissions significantly by decreasing NOx formation zone where a fuel/air mixture burns. It is found that mixing in the vicinity of high temperature zone mainly results from the increase of diffusive flux than the convective flux, and that the increase of mass diffusion is amplified as coaxial air is increased. Besides, it is reaffirmed that nonequilibrium chemistry including HO 2 /H 2 O 2 should be taken into account for NOx prediction and scaling analysis by comparing turbulent combustion models. In addition, it is found that coaxial air can break down the self-similarity law of flames by changing mixing mechanism, and that EINOx scaling parameters based on the self-similarity law of simple jet flames may not be eligible in coaxial air flames

Effects of non-unity Lewis number of gas-phase species in turbulent nonpremixed sooting flames

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio

2016-02-13

Turbulence statistics from two three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of planar n-heptane/air turbulent jets are compared to assess the effect of the gas-phase species diffusion model on flame dynamics and soot formation. The Reynolds number based on the initial jet width and velocity is around 15, 000, corresponding to a Taylor scale Reynolds number in the range 100 ≤ Reλ ≤ 150. In one simulation, multicomponent transport based on a mixture-averaged approach is employed, while in the other the gas-phase species Lewis numbers are set equal to unity. The statistics of temperature and major species obtained with the mixture-averaged formulation are very similar to those in the unity Lewis number case. In both cases, the statistics of temperature are captured with remarkable accuracy by a laminar flamelet model with unity Lewis numbers. On the contrary, a flamelet with a mixture-averaged diffusion model, which corresponds to the model used in the multi-component diffusion three-dimensional DNS, produces significant differences with respect to the DNS results. The total mass of soot precursors decreases by 20-30% with the unity Lewis number approximation, and their distribution is more homogeneous in space and time. Due to the non-linearity of the soot growth rate with respect to the precursors\\' concentration, the soot mass yield decreases by a factor of two. Being strongly affected by coagulation, soot number density is not altered significantly if the unity Lewis number model is used rather than the mixture-averaged diffusion. The dominant role of turbulent transport over differential diffusion effects is expected to become more pronounced for higher Reynolds numbers. © 2016 The Combustion Institute.

Effects of non-unity Lewis number of gas-phase species in turbulent nonpremixed sooting flames

KAUST Repository

Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Mueller, Michael E.; Pitsch, Heinz

2016-01-01

Turbulence statistics from two three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of planar n-heptane/air turbulent jets are compared to assess the effect of the gas-phase species diffusion model on flame dynamics and soot formation. The Reynolds number based on the initial jet width and velocity is around 15, 000, corresponding to a Taylor scale Reynolds number in the range 100 ≤ Reλ ≤ 150. In one simulation, multicomponent transport based on a mixture-averaged approach is employed, while in the other the gas-phase species Lewis numbers are set equal to unity. The statistics of temperature and major species obtained with the mixture-averaged formulation are very similar to those in the unity Lewis number case. In both cases, the statistics of temperature are captured with remarkable accuracy by a laminar flamelet model with unity Lewis numbers. On the contrary, a flamelet with a mixture-averaged diffusion model, which corresponds to the model used in the multi-component diffusion three-dimensional DNS, produces significant differences with respect to the DNS results. The total mass of soot precursors decreases by 20-30% with the unity Lewis number approximation, and their distribution is more homogeneous in space and time. Due to the non-linearity of the soot growth rate with respect to the precursors' concentration, the soot mass yield decreases by a factor of two. Being strongly affected by coagulation, soot number density is not altered significantly if the unity Lewis number model is used rather than the mixture-averaged diffusion. The dominant role of turbulent transport over differential diffusion effects is expected to become more pronounced for higher Reynolds numbers. © 2016 The Combustion Institute.

Characterisation and airborne deployment of a new counterflow virtual impactor inlet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Shingler

2012-06-01

Full Text Available A new counterflow virtual impactor (CVI inlet is introduced with details of its design, laboratory characterisation tests and deployment on an aircraft during the 2011 Eastern Pacific Emitted Aerosol Cloud Experiment (E-PEACE. The CVI inlet addresses three key issues in previous designs; in particular, the inlet operates with: (i negligible organic contamination; (ii a significant sample flow rate to downstream instruments (∼15 l min⁻¹ that reduces the need for dilution; and (iii a high level of accessibility to the probe interior for cleaning. Wind tunnel experiments characterised the cut size of sampled droplets and the particle size-dependent transmission efficiency in various parts of the probe. For a range of counter-flow rates and air velocities, the measured cut size was between 8.7–13.1 μm. The mean percentage error between cut size measurements and predictions from aerodynamic drag theory is 1.7%. The CVI was deployed on the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS Twin Otter for thirty flights during E-PEACE to study aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions off the central coast of California in July and August 2011. Results are reported to assess the performance of the inlet including comparisons of particle number concentration downstream of the CVI and cloud drop number concentration measured by two independent aircraft probes. Measurements downstream of the CVI are also examined from one representative case flight coordinated with shipboard-emitted smoke that was intercepted in cloud by the Twin Otter.

OLYMPEX Counterflow Spectrometer and Impactor Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poellot, Michael [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States)

2016-07-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s ARM Aerial Facility (AAF) Counterflow Spectrometer and Impactor (CSI) probe was flown on the University of North Dakota Cessna Citation research aircraft during the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX). The field campaign took place from November 12 through December 19, 2015, over the Olympic Mountains and coastal waters of Washington State as part of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) validation campaign. The CSI was added to the Citation instrument suite to support the NASA Aerosol-Cloud Ecosystem (ACE) satellite program and flights of the NASA Lockheed Earth Resources (ER-2) aircraft. ACE funded extra ER-2 flights to focus on clouds that are weakly precipitating, which are also of interest to the DOE Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program.

A flame particle tracking analysis of turbulence–chemistry interaction in hydrogen–air premixed flames

KAUST Repository

Uranakara, Harshavardhana A.; Chaudhuri, Swetaprovo; Dave, Himanshu L.; Arias, Paul G.; Im, Hong G.

2015-01-01

Interactions of turbulence, molecular transport, and energy transport, coupled with chemistry play a crucial role in the evolution of flame surface geometry, propagation, annihilation, and local extinction/re-ignition characteristics of intensely turbulent premixed flames. This study seeks to understand how these interactions affect flame surface annihilation of lean hydrogen–air premixed turbulent flames. Direct numerical simulations (DNSs) are conducted at different parametric conditions with a detailed reaction mechanism and transport properties for hydrogen–air flames. Flame particle tracking (FPT) technique is used to follow specific flame surface segments. An analytical expression for the local displacement flame speed (Sd) of a temperature isosurface is considered, and the contributions of transport, chemistry, and kinematics on the displacement flame speed at different turbulence-flame interaction conditions are identified. In general, the displacement flame speed for the flame particles is found to increase with time for all conditions considered. This is because, eventually all flame surfaces and their resident flame particles approach annihilation by reactant island formation at the end of stretching and folding processes induced by turbulence. Statistics of principal curvature evolving in time, obtained using FPT, suggest that these islands are ellipsoidal on average enclosing fresh reactants. Further examinations show that the increase in Sd is caused by the increased negative curvature of the flame surface and eventual homogenization of temperature gradients as these reactant islands shrink due to flame propagation and turbulent mixing. Finally, the evolution of the normalized, averaged, displacement flame speed vs. stretch Karlovitz number are found to collapse on a narrow band, suggesting that a unified description of flame speed dependence on stretch rate may be possible in the Lagrangian description.

A flame particle tracking analysis of turbulence–chemistry interaction in hydrogen–air premixed flames

KAUST Repository

Uranakara, Harshavardhana A.

2015-11-21

Interactions of turbulence, molecular transport, and energy transport, coupled with chemistry play a crucial role in the evolution of flame surface geometry, propagation, annihilation, and local extinction/re-ignition characteristics of intensely turbulent premixed flames. This study seeks to understand how these interactions affect flame surface annihilation of lean hydrogen–air premixed turbulent flames. Direct numerical simulations (DNSs) are conducted at different parametric conditions with a detailed reaction mechanism and transport properties for hydrogen–air flames. Flame particle tracking (FPT) technique is used to follow specific flame surface segments. An analytical expression for the local displacement flame speed (Sd) of a temperature isosurface is considered, and the contributions of transport, chemistry, and kinematics on the displacement flame speed at different turbulence-flame interaction conditions are identified. In general, the displacement flame speed for the flame particles is found to increase with time for all conditions considered. This is because, eventually all flame surfaces and their resident flame particles approach annihilation by reactant island formation at the end of stretching and folding processes induced by turbulence. Statistics of principal curvature evolving in time, obtained using FPT, suggest that these islands are ellipsoidal on average enclosing fresh reactants. Further examinations show that the increase in Sd is caused by the increased negative curvature of the flame surface and eventual homogenization of temperature gradients as these reactant islands shrink due to flame propagation and turbulent mixing. Finally, the evolution of the normalized, averaged, displacement flame speed vs. stretch Karlovitz number are found to collapse on a narrow band, suggesting that a unified description of flame speed dependence on stretch rate may be possible in the Lagrangian description.

Unsteady Flame Embedding

KAUST Repository

El-Asrag, Hossam A.

2011-01-01

Direct simulation of all the length and time scales relevant to practical combustion processes is computationally prohibitive. When combustion processes are driven by reaction and transport phenomena occurring at the unresolved scales of a numerical simulation, one must introduce a dynamic subgrid model that accounts for the multiscale nature of the problem using information available on a resolvable grid. Here, we discuss a model that captures unsteady flow-flame interactions- including extinction, re-ignition, and history effects-via embedded simulations at the subgrid level. The model efficiently accounts for subgrid flame structure and incorporates detailed chemistry and transport, allowing more accurate prediction of the stretch effect and the heat release. In this chapter we first review the work done in the past thirty years to develop the flame embedding concept. Next we present a formulation for the same concept that is compatible with Large Eddy Simulation in the flamelet regimes. The unsteady flame embedding approach (UFE) treats the flame as an ensemble of locally one-dimensional flames, similar to the flamelet approach. However, a set of elemental one-dimensional flames is used to describe the turbulent flame structure directly at the subgrid level. The calculations employ a one-dimensional unsteady flame model that incorporates unsteady strain rate, curvature, and mixture boundary conditions imposed by the resolved scales. The model is used for closure of the subgrid terms in the context of large eddy simulation. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) data from a flame-vortex interaction problem is used for comparison. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011.

Analysis of flame shapes in turbulent hydrogen jet flames with coaxial air

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moon, Hee Jang [Korea Aerospace University, Goyang (Korea, Republic of)

2009-06-15

This paper addresses the characteristics of flame shapes and flame length in three types of coaxial air flames realizable by varying coaxial air and/or fuel velocity. Forcing coaxial air into turbulent jet flames induces substantial changes in flame shapes and NOx emissions through the complex flow interferences that exist within the mixing region. Mixing enhancement driven by coaxial air results in flame volume decrease, and such a diminished flame volume finally reduces NOx emissions significantly by decreasing NOx formation zone where a fuel/air mixture burns. It is found that mixing in the vicinity of high temperature zone mainly results from the increase of diffusive flux than the convective flux, and that the increase of mass diffusion is amplified as coaxial air is increased. Besides, it is reaffirmed that nonequilibrium chemistry including HO{sub 2}/H{sub 2}O{sub 2} should be taken into account for NOx prediction and scaling analysis by comparing turbulent combustion models. In addition, it is found that coaxial air can break down the self-similarity law of flames by changing mixing mechanism, and that EINOx scaling parameters based on the self-similarity law of simple jet flames may not be eligible in coaxial air flames

Numerical Investigation of the Interaction of Counterflowing Jets and Supersonic Capsule Flows

Science.gov (United States)

Venkatachari, Balaji Shankar; Ito, Yasushi; Cheng, Gary; Chang, Chau-Lyan

2011-01-01

Use of counterflowing jets ejected into supersonic freestreams as a flow control concept to modify the external flowfield has gained renewed interest with regards to potential retropropulsion applications pertinent to entry, descent, and landing investigations. This study describes numerical computations of such a concept for a scaled wind-tunnel capsule model by employing the space-time conservation element solution element viscous flow solver with unstructured meshes. Both steady-state and time-accurate computations are performed for several configurations with different counterflowing jet Mach numbers. Axisymmetric computations exploring the effect of the jet flow rate and jet Mach number on the flow stability, jet interaction with the bow shock and its subsequent impact on the aerodynamic and aerothermal loads on the capsule body are carried out. Similar to previous experimental findings, both long and short penetration modes exist at a windtunnel Mach number of 3.48. It was found that both modes exhibit non-stationary behavior and the former is much more unstable than the latter. It was also found that the unstable long penetration mode only exists in a relatively small range of the jet mass flow rate. Solution-based mesh refinement procedures are used to improve solution accuracy and provide guidelines for a more effective mesh generation procedure for parametric studies. Details of the computed flowfields also serve as a means to broaden the knowledge base for future retropropulsion design studies.

Dynamics of the density of quantized vortex lines in counterflow turbulence: Experimental investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Varga, E.; Skrbek, L.

2018-02-01

Recently the interest in thermal counterflow of superfluid 4He, the most extensively studied form of quantum turbulence, has been renewed. Particularly, an intense theoretical debate has arisen about what form, if any, of the so-called Vinen equation accurately captures the dynamics of vortex line density, L . We address this problem experimentally, in a 21 cm long channel of square 7 ×7 mm2 cross section. Based on large statistics of second-sound data measured in nonequilibrium square-wave modulated thermally induced counterflow we investigate the phase portrait of the general form of the governing dynamical equation and conclude that for sparse tangles (L ≲105cm-2) all proposed forms of this equation based on the concept of a homogeneous random tangle of quantized vortices provide equally adequate descriptions of the growth of L , while for dense tangles (L >105cm-2) none of them is satisfactory or able to account for the significant slow-down in tangle growth rate as the steady state is approached. We claim, however, that agreement with theory is recovered if the geometrical parameter c2 introduced in numerical studies by K. W. Schwarz [Phys. Rev. B 38, 2398 (1988), 10.1103/PhysRevB.38.2398] is allowed to vary with vortex line density which also greatly improves the prediction of the observed early decay rate.

Flame Speed and Self-Similar Propagation of Expanding Turbulent Premixed Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhuri, Swetaprovo; Wu, Fujia; Zhu, Delin; Law, Chung K.

2012-01-01

In this Letter we present turbulent flame speeds and their scaling from experimental measurements on constant-pressure, unity Lewis number expanding turbulent flames, propagating in nearly homogeneous isotropic turbulence in a dual-chamber, fan-stirred vessel. It is found that the normalized turbulent flame speed as a function of the average radius scales as a turbulent Reynolds number to the one-half power, where the average radius is the length scale and the thermal diffusivity is the transport property, thus showing self-similar propagation. Utilizing this dependence it is found that the turbulent flame speeds from the present expanding flames and those from the Bunsen geometry in the literature can be unified by a turbulent Reynolds number based on flame length scales using recent theoretical results obtained by spectral closure of the transformed G equation.

Aerodynamic characteristics and thermal structure of nonpremixed reacting swirling wakes at low Reynolds numbers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Rong F. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei (China); Yen, Shun C. [Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung (China)

2008-12-15

The aerodynamic characteristics and thermal structure of uncontrolled and controlled swirling double-concentric jet flames at low Reynolds numbers are experimentally studied. The swirl and Reynolds numbers are lower than 0.6 and 2000, respectively. The flow characteristics are diagnosed by the laser-light-sheet-assisted Mie scattering flow visualization method and particle image velocimetry (PIV). The thermal structure is measured by a fine-wire thermocouple. The flame shapes, combined images of flame and flow, velocity vector maps, streamline patterns, velocity and turbulence distributions, flame lengths, and temperature distributions are discussed. The flow patterns of the no-control case exhibit an open-top, single-ring vortex sitting on the blockage disc with a jetlike swirling flow evolving from the central disc face toward the downstream area. The rotation direction and size of the near-disc vortex, as well as the flow properties, change in different ranges of annulus swirl number and therefore induce three characteristic flame modes: weak swirling flame, lifted flame, and turbulent reattached flame. Because the near-disc vortex is open-top, the radial dispersion of the fuel-jet fluids is not significantly enhanced by the annulus swirling flow. The flows of the reacting swirling double-concentric jets at such low swirl and Reynolds numbers therefore present characteristics of diffusion jet flames. In the controlled case, the axial momentum of the central fuel jet is deflected radially by a control disc placed above the blockage disc. This arrangement can induce a large near-disc recirculation bubble and high turbulence intensities. The enhanced mixing hence tremendously shortens the flame length and enlarges the flame width. (author)

Breakdown of Counterflow Superfluidity in a Disordered Quantum Hall Bilayer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, D.K.K.; Eastham, P.R.; Cooper, N.R.

2011-01-01

We present a theory for the regime of coherent interlayer tunneling in a disordered quantum Hall bilayer at total filling factor one, allowing for the effect of static vortices. We find that the system consists of domains of polarized superfluid phase. Injected currents introduce phase slips between the polarized domains which are pinned by disorder. We present a model of saturated tunneling domains that predicts a critical current for the breakdown of coherent tunneling that is extensive in the system size. This theory is supported by numerical results from a disordered phase model in two dimensions. We also discuss how our picture might be used to interpret experiments in the counterflow geometry and in two-terminal measurements

Quantized acoustoelectric current in the presence of large tunneling counterflow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gloos, K.; Utko, P.; Hansen, Jørn Bindslev

2004-01-01

A surface acoustic wave drives an electrical current through a short quantum wire. A second tunneling current is injected by biasing one side of the quantum wire. These two contributions to the total current, which flow in opposite directions, are controlled almost independently by the gate...... and the bias voltage, respectively. We have observed the quantization of the acoustoelectric current at up to ten times larger counterflowing tunneling currents. At large tunneling currents the acoustoelectric current can be strongly suppressed. However, this does not seem to be due to an electrostatic...... interaction between the two currents, but is probably caused by the complex potential landscape in the narrow channel of the quantum wire....

Quantized acoustoelectric current in the presence of large tunneling counterflow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gloos, K.; Utko, P.; Lindelof, P.E.; Hansen, J. Bindslev

2004-01-01

A surface acoustic wave drives an electrical current through a short quantum wire. A second tunneling current is injected by biasing one side of the quantum wire. These two contributions to the total current, which flow in opposite directions, are controlled almost independently by the gate and the bias voltage, respectively. We have observed the quantization of the acoustoelectric current at up to ten times larger counterflowing tunneling currents. At large tunneling currents the acoustoelectric current can be strongly suppressed. However, this does not seem to be due to an electrostatic interaction between the two currents, but is probably caused by the complex potential landscape in the narrow channel of the quantum wire

Numerical and experimental studies of ethanol flames and autoignition theory for higher alkanes

Science.gov (United States)

Saxena, Priyank

elementary steps and the addition and deletion of a few key steps relevant to these tests. A mechanism developed in such a hierarchical way starting with simpler fuels such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide to the fuels with one and two carbon atoms has reduced uncertainties in the combustion chemistry of a fuel. This reaction mechanism, consisting of 137 reactions among 30 species, provides a robust building block upon which an ethanol mechanism is developed. The San Diego Mech is extended for ethanol combustion by adding 55 new reactions and 6 new species. Specifically, 33 reactions are added that involve C 2H5OH or one of the three isomers produced by abstraction of an H atom from it, CH3CHOH, CH2CH2OH and CH3CH2O, and 22 reactions are added that involve acetaldehyde or one of the two isomers produced by abstraction of H from it, CH2CHO and CH3CO. Ethanol combustion is investigated on the basis of a new reaction mechanism, thus developed, consisting of 192 elementary steps among 36 species, augmented by 53 additional steps and 14 additional species to address the formation of the oxides of nitrogen and 43 steps and 7 species to address formation of compounds involving three carbon atoms. The mechanism is tested against shock-tube autoignition-delay data, laminar burning velocities, counterflow diffusion-flame extinction and measurements of structures of counterflow partially premixed and diffusion flames. Measurements on ethanol-air flames at a strain rate of 100 s-1, employing prevaporized ethanol with a mole fraction of 0.3 in a nitrogen carrier stream, were made for the pure diffusion flame and for a partially premixed flame with a fuel-side equivalence ratio of 2.3 and involved thermocouple measurements of temperature profiles and determination of concentration profiles of C2H5OH, CO, CO2, H2, H2O, O2, N2, CH4, C2H6 and C2H2+C 2H4 by gas chromatographic analysis of samples withdrawn through fine quartz probes. Computational investigations also were made of profiles of

A Macroscopic Approach to the Lane Formation Phenomenon in Pedestrian Counterflow

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Tao; Zhang, Peng; Wong, S. C.; Shu, Chi-Wang; Zhang, Meng-Ping

2011-10-01

We simulate pedestrian counterflow by adopting an optimal path-choice strategy and a recently observed speed-density relationship. Although the whole system is symmetric, the simulation demonstrates the segregation and formation of many walking lanes for two groups of pedestrians. The symmetry breaking is most likely triggered by a small numerical viscosity or “noise", and the segregation is associated with the minimization of travel time. The underlying physics can be compared with the “optimal self-organization" mechanism in Helbing's social force model, by which driven entities in an open system tend to minimize their interaction to enable them to reach some ordering state.

Impact of flame-wall interaction on premixed flame dynamics and transfer function characteristics

KAUST Repository

Kedia, K.S.

2011-01-01

In this paper, we numerically investigate the response of a perforated-plate stabilized laminar methane-air premixed flame to imposed inlet velocity perturbations. A flame model using detailed chemical kinetics mechanism is applied and heat exchange between the burner plate and the gas mixture is incorporated. Linear transfer functions, for low mean inlet velocity oscillations, are analyzed for different equivalence ratio, mean inlet velocity, plate thermal conductivity and distance between adjacent holes. The oscillations of the heat exchange rate at the top of the burner surface plays a critical role in driving the growth of the perturbations over a wide range of conditions, including resonance. The flame response to the perturbations at its base takes the form of consumption speed oscillations in this region. Flame stand-off distance increases/decreases when the flame-wall interaction strengthens/weakens, impacting the overall dynamics of the heat release. The convective lag between the perturbations and the flame base response govern the phase of heat release rate oscillations. There is an additional convective lag between the perturbations at the flame base and the flame tip which has a weaker impact on the heat release rate oscillations. At higher frequencies, the flame-wall interaction is weaker and the heat release oscillations are driven by the flame area oscillations. The response of the flame to higher amplitude oscillations are used to gain further insight into the mechanisms. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Combustion Institute. All rights reserved.

Tulip flames: changes in shape of premixed flames propagating in closed tubes

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn-Rankin, D.; Sawyer, R. F.

The experimental results that are the subject of this communication provide high-speed schlieren images of the closed-tube flame shape that has come to be known as the tulip flame. The schlieren images, along with in-chamber pressure records, help demonstrate the effects of chamber length, equivalence ratio, and igniter geometry on formation of the tulip flame. The pressure/time records show distinct features which correlate with flame shape changes during the transition to tulip. The measurements indicate that the basic tulip flame formation is a robust phenomenon that depends on little except the overall geometry of the combustion vessel.

Theoretical analysis of the conical premixed flame response to upstream velocity disturbances considering flame speed development effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghazaleh Esmaeelzade

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The effect of upstream velocity perturbations on the response of a premixed flame was investigated in terms of the flame transfer function dependency on excitation frequency. In this study, the assumption of constant flame speed was extended and the effect of flame speed development was considered; i.e., the flame speed would grow with the time after ignition or with the distance from a flame-holder. In the present study, the kinematics of a conical flame was investigated by linearization of the front tracking equation of flame to uniform and convected fluctuations of the flow velocity and the response was compared with that of a V-shaped flame and the experimental data in the previous studies. The results show that the effect of flame speed development could influence a decreasing gain and increase the phase of the flame response to the uniform velocity oscillations in low and moderate frequencies. Comparing the variations in the gain of flame response upon normalized frequency, show that a conical flame has lower values than the V-flame. In other words, these flames might be less susceptible to combustion instabilities than the V-flames. Furthermore, the variations in phase of the V-flames responses, which show a quasi-linear behavior with normalized frequency, have higher values than the saturated behavior in phase of the conical flame responses. Also, considering that the flame speed development induces an increase in the gain and phase of the conical flame response to the convected velocity oscillations in certain frequencies; because the developed flame front has longer length in comparison to the flame front in constant flame speed model. Therefore, the flame length may be longer than convective wavelength and the heat release would be generated in different points of the flame; consequently the flow oscillations might exert a stronger impact on the unsteady heat release fluctuations.

Improvement of flame resistance of non-flame retardant cables by applying fire protection measures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takemura, Yujiro; Segoshi, Yoshinori; Jinno, Susumu; Mii, Kazuki

2017-01-01

The new regulatory requirements, which were put in force after the Fukushima Daiichi accident, impose the use of flame retardant cables on the plant components having safety functions for the purpose of fire protection. However, some Japanese nuclear power plants built in the early days use non-flame retardant cables that do not pass the demonstration test to check for the flame resistance. To cope with the new regulatory requirements, a fire protection measure for non-flame retardant cables was introduced to assure flame resistance of non-flame retardant cables equivalent to or higher than that of flame retardant cables. To illustrate the fire protection measure, both non-flame retardant cables and its cable tray are covered with fire protection sheet fabricated from incombustible material to form an assembly. Considering the demonstration test results, it can be concluded that flame resistance performance of non-flame retardant cables equivalent to or higher than that of flame retardant cables can be assured by forming the assembly even if an external fire outside the assembly and internal cable fire inside the assembly are assumed. This paper introduces the design of the assembly consisting of a bundle of cables and a cable tray and summarizes the results of demonstration tests. (author)

Breakdown of Counterflow Superfluidity in a Disordered Quantum Hall Bilayer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. K. K. Lee

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We present a theory for the regime of coherent interlayer tunneling in a disordered quantum Hall bilayer at total filling factor one, allowing for the effect of static vortices. We find that the system consists of domains of polarized superfluid phase. Injected currents introduce phase slips between the polarized domains which are pinned by disorder. We present a model of saturated tunneling domains that predicts a critical current for the breakdown of coherent tunneling that is extensive in the system size. This theory is supported by numerical results from a disordered phase model in two dimensions. We also discuss how our picture might be used to interpret experiments in the counterflow geometry and in two-terminal measurements.

Pollutant Formation during the Occurrence of Flame Instabilities under Very-Lean Combustion Conditions in a Liquid-Fuel Burner

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Grazia De Giorgi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Recent advances in gas turbine combustor design are aimed at achieving low exhaust emissions, hence modern aircraft jet engines are designed with lean-burn combustion systems. In the present work, we report an experimental study on lean combustion in a liquid fuel burner, operated under a non-premixed (single point injection regime that mimics the combustion in a modern aircraft engine. The flame behavior was investigated in proximity of the blow-out limit by an intensified high rate Charge-Coupled Device (CCD camera equipped with different optical filters to selectively record single species chemiluminescence emissions (e.g., OH*, CH*. Analogous filters were also used in combination with photomultiplier (PMT tubes. Furthermore this work investigates well-mixed lean low NOx combustion where mixing is good and generation of solid carbon particulate emissions should be very low. An analysis of pollutants such as fine particles and gaseous emissions was also performed. Particle number concentrations and size distributions were measured at the exhaust of the combustion chamber by two different particle size measuring instruments: a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS and an Electrical Low Pressure Impactor (ELPI. NOx concentration measurements were performed by using a cross-flow modulation chemiluminescence detection system; CO concentration emissions were acquired with a Cross-flow modulation Non-dispersive infrared (NDIR absorption method. All the measurements were completed by diagnostics of the fundamental combustor parameters. The results herein presented show that at very-lean conditions the emissions of both particulate matter and CO was found to increase most likely due to the occurrence of flame instabilities while the NOx were observed to reduce.

Experimental and numerical reaction analysis on sodium-water chemical reaction field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deguchi, Yoshihiro; Takata, Takashi; Yamaguchi, Akira; Kikuchi, Shin; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

2015-01-01

In a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), liquid sodium is used as a heat transfer fluid because of its excellent heat transport capability. On the other hand, it has strong chemical reactivity with water vapor. One of the design basis accidents of the SFR is the water leakage into the liquid sodium flow by a breach of heat transfer tubes. This process ends up damages on the heat transport equipment in the SFR. Therefore, the study on sodium-water chemical reactions is of paramount importance for security reasons. This study aims to clarify the sodium-water reaction mechanisms using an elementary reaction analysis. A quasi one-dimensional flame model is applied to a sodium-water counter-flow reaction field. The analysis contains 25 elementary reactions, which consist of 17 H_2-O_2 and 8 Na-H_2O reactions. Temperature and species concentrations in the counter-flow reaction field were measured using laser diagnostics such as LIF and CARS. The main reaction in the experimental conditions is Na+H_2O → NaOH+H and OH is produced by H_2O+H → H_2+OH. It is demonstrated that the reaction model in this study well explains the structure of the sodium-water counter-flow diffusion flame. (author)

Effect of cylindrical confinement on the determination of laminar flame speeds using outwardly propagating flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burke, Michael P.; Chen, Zheng; Ju, Yiguang; Dryer, Frederick L. [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

2009-04-15

The effect of nonspherical (i.e. cylindrical) bomb geometry on the evolution of outwardly propagating flames and the determination of laminar flame speeds using the conventional constant-pressure technique is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The cylindrical chamber boundary modifies the propagation rate through the interaction of the wall with the flow induced by thermal expansion across the flame (even with constant pressure), which leads to significant distortion of the flame surface for large flame radii. These departures from the unconfined case, especially the resulting nonzero burned gas velocities, can lead to significant errors in flame speeds calculated using the conventional assumptions, especially for large flame radii. For example, at a flame radius of 0.5 times the wall radius, the flame speed calculated neglecting confinement effects can be low by {proportional_to}15% (even with constant pressure). A methodology to estimate the effect of nonzero burned gas velocities on the measured flame speed in cylindrical chambers is presented. Modeling and experiments indicate that the effect of confinement can be neglected for flame radii less than 0.3 times the wall radius while still achieving acceptable accuracy (within 3%). The methodology is applied to correct the flame speed for nonzero burned gas speeds, in order to extend the range of flame radii useful for flame speed measurements. Under the proposed scaling, the burned gas speed can be well approximated as a function of only flame radius for a given chamber geometry - i.e. the correction function need only be determined once for an apparatus and then it can be used for any mixture. Results indicate that the flow correction can be used to extract flame speeds for flame radii up to 0.5 times the wall radius with somewhat larger, yet still acceptable uncertainties for the cases studied. Flow-corrected burning velocities are measured for hydrogen and syngas mixtures at atmospheric and

Analysis of density wave instability in counter-flow steam generators using STEAMFREQ-X

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, K.C.; Yadigaroglu, G.

1986-01-01

The STEAMFREQ-X computer model was developed to provide a more comprehensive modeling of the different phenomena that are important to stability analysis of counter-flow steam generators. It uses a frequency-domain analysis and considers heat-flux/flow coupling between the primary and secondary fluids in space and time. Predictions by STEAMFREQ-X were compared with data from both a multi-channel liquid-sodium heated steam generator and a set of single pipe test data. Predicted outlet steam qualities at instability thresholds were within 15% of experimental data for all test points. (orig.)

Flame Structure and Chemiluminescence Emissions of Inverse Diffusion Flames under Sinusoidally Driven Plasma Discharges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Grazia De Giorgi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Reduction of nitric oxides (NOx in aircraft engines and in gas turbines by lean combustion is of great interest in the design of novel combustion systems. However, the stabilization of the flame under lean conditions is a main issue. In this context, the present work investigates the effects of sinusoidal dielectric barrier discharge (DBD on a lean inverse diffusive methane/air flame in a Bunsen-type burner under different actuation conditions. The flame appearance was investigated with fixed methane loading (mass flux, but with varying inner airflow rate. High-speed flame imaging was done by using an intensified (charge-coupled device CCD camera equipped with different optical filters in order to selectively record signals from the chemiluminescent species OH*, CH*, or CO2* to evaluate the flame behavior in presence of plasma actuation. The electrical power consumption was less than 33 W. It was evident that the plasma flame enhancement was significantly influenced by the plasma discharges, particularly at high inner airflow rates. The flame structure changes drastically when the dissipated plasma power increases. The flame area decreases due to the enhancement of mixing and chemical reactions that lead to a more anchored flame on the quartz exit with a reduction of the flame length.

Dynamics and structure of stretched flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Law, C.K. [Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)

1993-12-01

This program aims to gain fundamental understanding on the structure, geometry, and dynamics of laminar premixed flames, and relate these understanding to the practical issues of flame extinction and stabilization. The underlying fundamental interest here is the recent recognition that the response of premixed flames can be profoundly affected by flame stretch, as manifested by flow nonuniformity, flame curvature, and flame/flow unsteadiness. As such, many of the existing understanding on the behavior of premixed flames need to be qualitatively revised. The research program consists of three major thrusts: (1) detailed experimental and computational mapping of the structure of aerodynamically-strained planar flames, with emphasis on the effects of heat loss, nonequidiffusion, and finite residence time on the flame thickness, extent of incomplete reaction, and the state of extinction. (2) Analytical study of the geometry and dynamics of stretch-affected wrinkled flame sheets in simple configurations, as exemplified by the Bunsen flame and the spatially-periodic flame, with emphasis on the effects of nonlinear stretch, the phenomena of flame cusping, smoothing, and tip opening, and their implications on the structure and burning rate of turbulent flames. (3) Stabilization and blowoff of two-dimensional inverted premixed and stabilization and determining the criteria governing flame blowoff. The research is synergistically conducted through the use of laser-based diagnostics, computational simulation of the flame structure with detailed chemistry and transport, and mathematical analysis of the flame dynamics.

Flame analysis using image processing techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Her Jie, Albert Chang; Zamli, Ahmad Faizal Ahmad; Zulazlan Shah Zulkifli, Ahmad; Yee, Joanne Lim Mun; Lim, Mooktzeng

2018-04-01

This paper presents image processing techniques with the use of fuzzy logic and neural network approach to perform flame analysis. Flame diagnostic is important in the industry to extract relevant information from flame images. Experiment test is carried out in a model industrial burner with different flow rates. Flame features such as luminous and spectral parameters are extracted using image processing and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Flame images are acquired using FLIR infrared camera. Non-linearities such as thermal acoustic oscillations and background noise affect the stability of flame. Flame velocity is one of the important characteristics that determines stability of flame. In this paper, an image processing method is proposed to determine flame velocity. Power spectral density (PSD) graph is a good tool for vibration analysis where flame stability can be approximated. However, a more intelligent diagnostic system is needed to automatically determine flame stability. In this paper, flame features of different flow rates are compared and analyzed. The selected flame features are used as inputs to the proposed fuzzy inference system to determine flame stability. Neural network is used to test the performance of the fuzzy inference system.

Flame Motion In Gas Turbine Burner From Averages Of Single-Pulse Flame Fronts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tylli, N.; Hubschmid, W.; Inauen, A.; Bombach, R.; Schenker, S.; Guethe, F. [Alstom (Switzerland); Haffner, K. [Alstom (Switzerland)

2005-03-01

Thermo acoustic instabilities of a gas turbine burner were investigated by flame front localization from measured OH laser-induced fluorescence single pulse signals. The average position of the flame was obtained from the superposition of the single pulse flame fronts at constant phase of the dominant acoustic oscillation. One observes that the flame position varies periodically with the phase angle of the dominant acoustic oscillation. (author)

Flame visualization in power stations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hulshof, H J.M.; Thus, A W; Verhage, A J.L. [KEMA - Fossil Power Plants, Arnhem (Netherlands)

1993-01-01

The shapes and temperature of flames in power stations, fired with powder coal and gas, have been measured optically. Spectral information in the visible and near infrared is used. Coal flames are visualized in the blue part of the spectrum, natural gas flames are viewed in the light of CH-emission. Temperatures of flames are derived from the best fit of the Planck-curve to the thermal radiation spectrum of coal and char, or to that of soot in the case of gas flames. A measuring method for the velocity distribution inside a gas flame is presented, employing pulsed alkali salt injection. It has been tested on a 100 kW natural gas flame. 3 refs., 9 figs.

Understanding Combustion Processes Through Microgravity Research

Science.gov (United States)

Ronney, Paul D.

1998-01-01

A review of research on the effects of gravity on combustion processes is presented, with an emphasis on a discussion of the ways in which reduced-gravity experiments and modeling has led to new understanding. Comparison of time scales shows that the removal of buoyancy-induced convection leads to manifestations of other transport mechanisms, notably radiative heat transfer and diffusional processes such as Lewis number effects. Examples from premixed-gas combustion, non-premixed gas-jet flames, droplet combustion, flame spread over solid and liquid fuels, and other fields are presented. Promising directions for new research are outlined, the most important of which is suggested to be radiative reabsorption effects in weakly burning flames.

Simulation of flame surface density and burning rate of a premixed turbulent flame using contour advection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tang, B.H.Y.; Chan, C.K. [Department of Applied Mathematics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon (Hong Kong)

2006-10-15

In this paper, a 2-dimensional rod-stabilized V-shaped flame is simulated using contour advection with surgery as well as the random vortex method. Effects of turbulence on various quantities, such as flame brush thickness and flame surface density, are investigated. The flame surface density S is estimated using the Bray-Moss-Libby formulation, which involves the use of a mean orientation factor {sigma}{sub c}. As a comparison, values of S are also obtained using Shepherd's model, which employs the values of mean flame surface area and mean flame length. Local flame structure is characterized in terms of turbulent flame brush, orientation factor, and flame surface density. Profiles of S obtained using the two different models are compared and show that discrepancy is more evident with increasing turbulence intensity. (author)

Turbulence-flame interactions in DNS of a laboratory high Karlovitz premixed turbulent jet flame

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Haiou; Hawkes, Evatt R.; Chen, Jacqueline H.

2016-09-01

In the present work, direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a laboratory premixed turbulent jet flame was performed to study turbulence-flame interactions. The turbulent flame features moderate Reynolds number and high Karlovitz number (Ka). The orientations of the flame normal vector n, the vorticity vector ω and the principal strain rate eigenvectors ei are examined. The in-plane and out-of-plane angles are introduced to quantify the vector orientations, which also measure the flame geometry and the vortical structures. A general observation is that the distributions of these angles are more isotropic downstream as the flame and the flow become more developed. The out-of-plane angle of the flame normal vector, β, is a key parameter in developing the correction of 2D measurements to estimate the corresponding 3D quantities. The DNS results show that the correction factor is unity at the inlet and approaches its theoretical value of an isotropic distribution downstream. The alignment characteristics of n, ω and ei, which reflect the interactions of turbulence and flame, are also studied. Similar to a passive scalar gradient in non-reacting flows, the flame normal has a tendency to align with the most compressive strain rate, e3, in the flame, indicating that turbulence contributes to the production of scalar gradient. The vorticity dynamics are examined via the vortex stretching term, which was found to be the predominant source of vorticity generation balanced by dissipation, in the enstrophy transport equation. It is found that although the vorticity preferentially aligns with the intermediate strain rate, e2, the contribution of the most extensive strain rate, e1, to vortex stretching is comparable with that of the intermediate strain rate, e2. This is because the eigenvalue of the most extensive strain rate, λ1, is always large and positive. It is confirmed that the vorticity vector is preferentially positioned along the flame tangential plane, contributing

Polydisperse effects in jet spray flames

Science.gov (United States)

Weinberg, Noam; Greenberg, J. Barry

2018-01-01

A laminar jet polydisperse spray diffusion flame is analysed mathematically for the first time using an extension of classical similarity solutions for gaseous jet flames. The analysis enables a comparison to be drawn between conditions for flame stability or flame blow-out for purely gaseous flames and for spray flames. It is found that, in contrast to the Schmidt number criteria relevant to gas flames, droplet size and initial spray polydispersity play a critical role in determining potential flame scenarios. Some qualitative agreement for lift-off height is found when comparing predictions of the theory and sparse independent experimental evidence from the literature.

Experiment and Simulation of Autoignition in Jet Flames and its Relevance to Flame Stabilization and Structure

KAUST Repository

Al-Noman, Saeed M.

2016-01-01

temperature coflow air were studied numerically. Several flame configurations were investigated by varying the initial temperature and fuel mole fraction. Characteristics of chemical kinetics structures for autoignited lifted flames were discussed based on the kinetic structures of homogeneous autoignition and flame propagation of premixed mixtures. Results showed that for autoignited lifted flame with tribrachial structure, a transition from autoignition to flame propagation modes occurs for reasonably stoichiometric mixtures. Characteristics of Mild combustion can be treated as an autoignited lean premixed lifted flame. Transition behavior from Mild combustion to a nozzle-attached flame was also investigated by increasing the fuel mole fraction.

Laminar Flame Speeds of Gasoline Surrogates Measured with the Flat Flame Method

KAUST Repository

Liao, Y.-H.

2016-01-27

© 2016 American Chemical Society. The adiabatic, laminar flame speeds of gasoline surrogates at atmospheric pressure over a range of equivalence ratios of = 0.8-1.3 and unburned gas temperatures of 298-400 K are measured with the flat flame method, which produces a one-dimensional flat flame free of stretch. Surrogates used in the current work are the primary reference fuels (PRFs, mixtures of n-heptane and isooctane), the toluene reference fuels (TRFs, mixtures of toluene and PRFs), and the ethanol reference fuels (ERFs, mixtures of ethanol and PRFs). In general, there is good agreement between the present work and the literature data for single-component fuel and PRF mixtures. Surrogates of TRF mixtures are found to exhibit comparable flame speeds to a real gasoline, while there is discrepancy observed between isooctane and gasoline. Moreover, the laminar flame speeds of TRF mixtures with similar fractions of n-heptane are found to be insensitive to the quantity of toluene in the mixture. Mixtures of ERFs exhibit comparable flame speeds to those of TRFs with similar mole fractions of n-heptane and isooctane.

Flaming on YouTube

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moor, Peter J.; Heuvelman, A.; Verleur, R.

2010-01-01

In this explorative study, flaming on YouTube was studied using surveys of YouTube users. Flaming is defined as displaying hostility by insulting, swearing or using otherwise offensive language. Three general conclusions were drawn. First, although many users said that they themselves do not flame,

Isolation of monocytes from whole blood-derived buffy coats by continuous counter-flow elutriation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwanke, Uwe; Nabereit, Anja; Moog, Rainer

2006-10-01

Monocytes (MOs) are the most commonly used precursors for the generation of dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro. Continuous counter-flow elutriation represents a promising tool to isolate MOs from white blood cell (WBC) products. Thirty whole blood-derived, AB0-identical buffy coats (BCs) were pooled using sterile technique (n = 5 experiments). For red blood cell (RBC) and polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) depletion, the BC pools were processed in a Cobe Spectra device (Gambro BCT) using the bone marrow program. Subsequently, continuous counter-flow elutriation in an Elutra device (Gambro BCT) was performed to enrich and purify MOs. BC pool volume averaged 1,260 +/- 14 ml containing 7.7 +/- 1.1 x 10(9) MOs. During 107 +/- 7 min, Cobe Spectra operation, the BC pools were processed for several times, and approximately 9,749 +/- 605 ml volume passed the device. Product volume and MO yield averaged 160 +/- 16 ml, and 4.3 +/- 1.3 x 10(9) cells, respectively. Elutra operation was performed within 59 +/- 0 min and yielded 2.5 +/- 0.9 x 10(9) MOs with a purity of 60 +/- 12%. Compared with the Cobe Spectra product cell count, MO recovery by Elutra averaged 59 +/- 10%. Elutriation of MOs from pooled BCs using Elutra exhibited comparatively low recovery and purity rates. This shortcoming may be due to the nature of the source material. Optimization of the elutriation procedure is necessary to improve MO enrichment from BCs.

Theoretical analysis of the conical premixed flame response to upstream velocity disturbances considering flame speed development effects

OpenAIRE

Ghazaleh Esmaeelzade; Mohammad Reza Khani; Rouzbeh Riazi; Mohammad Hossein Sabour

2017-01-01

The effect of upstream velocity perturbations on the response of a premixed flame was investigated in terms of the flame transfer function dependency on excitation frequency. In this study, the assumption of constant flame speed was extended and the effect of flame speed development was considered; i.e., the flame speed would grow with the time after ignition or with the distance from a flame-holder. In the present study, the kinematics of a conical flame was investigated by linearization of ...

Direct numerical simulation of turbulent reacting flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, J.H. [Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA (United States)

1993-12-01

The development of turbulent combustion models that reflect some of the most important characteristics of turbulent reacting flows requires knowledge about the behavior of key quantities in well defined combustion regimes. In turbulent flames, the coupling between the turbulence and the chemistry is so strong in certain regimes that is is very difficult to isolate the role played by one individual phenomenon. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) is an extremely useful tool to study in detail the turbulence-chemistry interactions in certain well defined regimes. Globally, non-premixed flames are controlled by two limiting cases: the fast chemistry limit, where the turbulent fluctuations. In between these two limits, finite-rate chemical effects are important and the turbulence interacts strongly with the chemical processes. This regime is important because industrial burners operate in regimes in which, locally the flame undergoes extinction, or is at least in some nonequilibrium condition. Furthermore, these nonequilibrium conditions strongly influence the production of pollutants. To quantify the finite-rate chemistry effect, direct numerical simulations are performed to study the interaction between an initially laminar non-premixed flame and a three-dimensional field of homogeneous isotropic decaying turbulence. Emphasis is placed on the dynamics of extinction and on transient effects on the fine scale mixing process. Differential molecular diffusion among species is also examined with this approach, both for nonreacting and reacting situations. To address the problem of large-scale mixing and to examine the effects of mean shear, efforts are underway to perform large eddy simulations of round three-dimensional jets.

Counterflow Dielectrophoresis for Trypanosome Enrichment and Detection in Blood

Science.gov (United States)

Menachery, Anoop; Kremer, Clemens; Wong, Pui E.; Carlsson, Allan; Neale, Steven L.; Barrett, Michael P.; Cooper, Jonathan M.

2012-10-01

Human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness is a deadly disease endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, caused by single-celled protozoan parasites. Although it has been targeted for elimination by 2020, this will only be realized if diagnosis can be improved to enable identification and treatment of afflicted patients. Existing techniques of detection are restricted by their limited field-applicability, sensitivity and capacity for automation. Microfluidic-based technologies offer the potential for highly sensitive automated devices that could achieve detection at the lowest levels of parasitemia and consequently help in the elimination programme. In this work we implement an electrokinetic technique for the separation of trypanosomes from both mouse and human blood. This technique utilises differences in polarisability between the blood cells and trypanosomes to achieve separation through opposed bi-directional movement (cell counterflow). We combine this enrichment technique with an automated image analysis detection algorithm, negating the need for a human operator.

Flame Quenching Dynamics of High Velocity Flames in Rectangular Cross-section Channels

KAUST Repository

Mahuthannan, Ariff Magdoom; Lacoste, Deanna; Damazo, Jason; Kwon, Eddie; Roberts, William L.

2017-01-01

Understanding flame quenching for different conditions is necessary to develop safety devices like flame arrestors. In practical applications, the speed of a deflagration in the lab-fixed reference frame will be a strong function of the geometry through which the deflagration propagates. This study reports on the effect of the flame speed, at the entrance of a quenching section, on the quenching distance. A 2D rectangular channel joining two main spherical vessels is considered for studying this effect. Two different velocity regimes are investigated and referred to as configurations A, and B. For configuration A, the velocity of the flame is 20 m/s, while it is about 100 m/s for configuration B. Methane-air stoichiometric mixtures at 1 bar and 298 K are used. Simultaneous dynamic pressure measurements along with schlieren imaging are used to analyze the quenching of the flame. Risk assessment of re-ignition is also reported and analyzed.

Flame Quenching Dynamics of High Velocity Flames in Rectangular Cross-section Channels

KAUST Repository

Mahuthannan, Ariff Magdoom

2017-01-05

Understanding flame quenching for different conditions is necessary to develop safety devices like flame arrestors. In practical applications, the speed of a deflagration in the lab-fixed reference frame will be a strong function of the geometry through which the deflagration propagates. This study reports on the effect of the flame speed, at the entrance of a quenching section, on the quenching distance. A 2D rectangular channel joining two main spherical vessels is considered for studying this effect. Two different velocity regimes are investigated and referred to as configurations A, and B. For configuration A, the velocity of the flame is 20 m/s, while it is about 100 m/s for configuration B. Methane-air stoichiometric mixtures at 1 bar and 298 K are used. Simultaneous dynamic pressure measurements along with schlieren imaging are used to analyze the quenching of the flame. Risk assessment of re-ignition is also reported and analyzed.

The influence of fuel-air swirl intensity on flame structures of syngas swirl-stabilized diffusion flame

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Weiwei; Xiong, Yan; Mu, Kejin; Zhang, Zhedian; Wang, Yue; Xiao, Yunhan

2010-06-01

Flame structures of a syngas swirl-stabilized diffusion flame in a model combustor were measured using the OH-PLIF method under different fuel and air swirl intensity. The flame operated under atmospheric pressure with air and a typical low heating-value syngas with a composition of 28.5% CO, 22.5% H2 and 49% N2 at a thermal power of 34 kW. Results indicate that increasing the air swirl intensity with the same fuel, swirl intensity flame structures showed little difference except a small reduction of flame length; but also, with the same air swirl intensity, fuel swirl intensity showed great influence on flame shape, length and reaction zone distribution. Therefore, compared with air swirl intensity, fuel swirl intensity appeared a key effect on the flame structure for the model combustor. Instantaneous OH-PLIF images showed that three distinct typical structures with an obvious difference of reaction zone distribution were found at low swirl intensity, while a much compacter flame structure with a single, stable and uniform reaction zone distribution was found at large fuel-air swirl intensity. It means that larger swirl intensity leads to efficient, stable combustion of the syngas diffusion flame.

TURBULENT OXYGEN FLAMES IN TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aspden, A. J.; Bell, J. B.; Woosley, S. E.

2011-01-01

In previous studies, we examined turbulence-flame interactions in carbon-burning thermonuclear flames in Type Ia supernovae. In this study, we consider turbulence-flame interactions in the trailing oxygen flames. The two aims of the paper are to examine the response of the inductive oxygen flame to intense levels of turbulence, and to explore the possibility of transition to detonation in the oxygen flame. Scaling arguments analogous to the carbon flames are presented and then compared against three-dimensional simulations for a range of Damkoehler numbers (Da 16 ) at a fixed Karlovitz number. The simulations suggest that turbulence does not significantly affect the oxygen flame when Da 16 16 >1, turbulence enhances heat transfer and drives the propagation of a flame that is narrower than the corresponding inductive flame would be. Furthermore, burning under these conditions appears to occur as part of a combined carbon-oxygen turbulent flame with complex compound structure. The simulations do not appear to support the possibility of a transition to detonation in the oxygen flame, but do not preclude it either.

Flame-in-gas-shield and miniature diffusion flame hydride atomizers for atomic fluorescence spectrometry: optimization and comparison

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marschner, Karel; Musil, Stanislav; Dědina, Jiří

2015-01-01

A detailed optimization of relevant experimental parameters of two hydride atomizers for atomic fluorescence spectrometry: flame-in-gas-shield atomizer with a two-channel shielding unit and a standard atomizer for atomic fluorescence spectrometry, miniature diffusion flame, was performed. Arsine, generated by the reaction with NaBH 4 in a flow injection arrangement, was chosen as the model hydride. Analytical characteristics of both the atomizers (sensitivity, noise, limits of detection) were compared. Under optimum conditions sensitivity obtained with flame-in-gas-shield atomizer was approximately twice higher than with miniature diffusion flame. The additional advantage of flame-in-gas-shield atomizer is significantly lower flame emission resulting in a better signal to noise ratio. The resulting arsenic limits of detection for miniature diffusion flame and flame-in-gas-shield atomizer were 3.8 ng l −1 and 1.0 ng l −1 , respectively. - Highlights: • We optimized and compared two hydride atomizers for atomic fluorescence spectrometry. • Miniature diffusion flame and flame-in-gas-shield atomizer were optimized. • The limit of detection for arsenic was 1.0 ng l −1

Flame-in-gas-shield and miniature diffusion flame hydride atomizers for atomic fluorescence spectrometry: optimization and comparison

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marschner, Karel, E-mail: karel.marschner@biomed.cas.cz [Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the ASCR, v. v. i., Veveří 97, 602 00 Brno (Czech Republic); Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Albertov 8, 128 43 Prague (Czech Republic); Musil, Stanislav; Dědina, Jiří [Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the ASCR, v. v. i., Veveří 97, 602 00 Brno (Czech Republic)

2015-07-01

A detailed optimization of relevant experimental parameters of two hydride atomizers for atomic fluorescence spectrometry: flame-in-gas-shield atomizer with a two-channel shielding unit and a standard atomizer for atomic fluorescence spectrometry, miniature diffusion flame, was performed. Arsine, generated by the reaction with NaBH{sub 4} in a flow injection arrangement, was chosen as the model hydride. Analytical characteristics of both the atomizers (sensitivity, noise, limits of detection) were compared. Under optimum conditions sensitivity obtained with flame-in-gas-shield atomizer was approximately twice higher than with miniature diffusion flame. The additional advantage of flame-in-gas-shield atomizer is significantly lower flame emission resulting in a better signal to noise ratio. The resulting arsenic limits of detection for miniature diffusion flame and flame-in-gas-shield atomizer were 3.8 ng l{sup −1} and 1.0 ng l{sup −1}, respectively. - Highlights: • We optimized and compared two hydride atomizers for atomic fluorescence spectrometry. • Miniature diffusion flame and flame-in-gas-shield atomizer were optimized. • The limit of detection for arsenic was 1.0 ng l{sup −1}.

Experimental characterization of methane inverse diffusion flame

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.

2014-06-26

This article presents 10-kHz images of OH-PLIF simultaneously with 2-D PIV measurements in an inverse methane diffusion flame. Under a constant fuel flow rate, the central air jet Re was varied, leading to air to fuel velocity ratio, Vr, to vary from 8.3 to 66.5. Starting from Vr = 20.7, the flame is commonly characterized by three distinct zones. The length of the lower fuel entrainment region is inversely proportional to Vr. The flames investigated resemble a string shear layer confining this zone, and converging into the second distinct region, the flame neck zone. The third region is the rest of the flame, which spreads in a jet-like manner. The inverse diffusion flames exhibit varying degrees of partial premixing, depending upon on the velocity ratio Vr, and this region of partial premixing evolves into a well-mixed reaction zone along the flame centerline. The OH distribution correlated with the changes in the mean characteristics of the flow through reduction in the local Reynolds number due to heat release. The existence of a flame suppresses or laminarizes the turbulence at early axial locations and promotes fluctuations at the flame tip for flames with Vr < 49.8. In addition, the flame jet width can be correlated to the OH distribution. In upstream regions of the flames, the breaks in OH are counterbalanced by flame closures and are governed by edge flame propagation. These local extinctions were found to occur at locations where large flow structures were impinging on the flame and are associated with a locally higher strain rate or correlated to the local high strain rates at the flame hole edges without this flow impinging. Another contributor to re-ignition was found to be growing flame kernels. As the flames approach global blow-off, these kernels become the main mechanism for re-ignition further downstream of the flames. At low Vr, laminarization within the early regions of the flame provides an effective shield, preventing the jet flow from

Flex-flame burner and combustion method

Science.gov (United States)

Soupos, Vasilios; Zelepouga, Serguei; Rue, David M.; Abbasi, Hamid A.

2010-08-24

A combustion method and apparatus which produce a hybrid flame for heating metals and metal alloys, which hybrid flame has the characteristic of having an oxidant-lean portion proximate the metal or metal alloy and having an oxidant-rich portion disposed above the oxidant lean portion. This hybrid flame is produced by introducing fuel and primary combustion oxidant into the furnace chamber containing the metal or metal alloy in a substoichiometric ratio to produce a fuel-rich flame and by introducing a secondary combustion oxidant into the furnace chamber above the fuel-rich flame in a manner whereby mixing of the secondary combustion oxidant with the fuel-rich flame is delayed for a portion of the length of the flame.

Aerosol counterflow two-jets unit for continuous measurement of the soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosols.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikuska, Pavel; Vecera, Zbynek

2005-09-01

A new type of aerosol collector employing a liquid at laboratory temperature for continuous sampling of atmospheric particles is described. The collector operates on the principle of a Venturi scrubber. Sampled air flows at high linear velocity through two Venturi nozzles "atomizing" the liquid to form two jets of a polydisperse aerosol of fine droplets situated against each other. Counterflow jets of droplets collide, and within this process, the aerosol particles are captured into dispersed liquid. Under optimum conditions (air flow rate of 5 L/min and water flow rate of 2 mL/min), aerosol particles down to 0.3 microm in diameter are quantitatively collected in the collector into deionized water while the collection efficiency of smaller particles decreases. There is very little loss of fine aerosol within the aerosol counterflow two-jets unit (ACTJU). Coupling of the aerosol collector with an annular diffusion denuder located upstream of the collector ensures an artifact-free sampling of atmospheric aerosols. Operation of the ACTJU in combination with on-line detection devices allows in situ automated analysis of water-soluble aerosol species (e.g., NO2-, NO3-)with high time resolution (as high as 1 s). Under the optimum conditions, the limit of detection for particulate nitrite and nitrate is 28 and 77 ng/m(3), respectively. The instrument is sufficiently rugged for its application at routine monitoring of aerosol composition in the real time.

Mathematical Model and Program for the Sizing of Counter-flow Natural Draft Wet Cooling Towers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor-Eduard Cenușă

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Assuring the necessary temperature and mass flow rate of the cooling water to the condenser represents an essential condition for the efficient operation of a steam power plant. The paper presents equations which describe the physical phenomena and the mathematical model for the design of counter-flow natural draft wet cooling towers. Following is given the flow-chart of the associated computer program. A case study is made to show the results of the computer program and emphasize the interdependence between the main design parameters.

Gravitational Effects on Cellular Flame Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Dunsky, C. M.; Fernandez-Pello, A. C.

1991-01-01

An experimental investigation has been conducted of the effect of gravity on the structure of downwardly propagating, cellular premixed propane-oxygen-nitrogen flames anchored on a water-cooled porous-plug burner. The flame is subjected to microgravity conditions in the NASA Lewis 2.2-second drop tower, and flame characteristics are recorded on high-speed film. These are compared to flames at normal gravity conditions with the same equivalence ratio, dilution index, mixture flow rate, and ambient pressure. The results show that the cellular instability band, which is located in the rich mixture region, changes little under the absence of gravity. Lifted normal-gravity flames near the cellular/lifted limits, however, are observed to become cellular when gravity is reduced. Observations of a transient cell growth period following ignition point to heat loss as being an important mechanism in the overall flame stability, dominating the stabilizing effect of buoyancy for these downwardly-propagating burner-anchored flames. The pulsations that are observed in the plume and diffusion flame generated downstream of the premixed flame in the fuel rich cases disappear in microgravity, verifying that these fluctuations are gravity related.

Research on flame retardation of wool fibers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enomoto, Ichiro; Ametani, Kazuo; Sawai, Takeshi

1990-01-01

Flame retardant, vinyl phosphonate oligomer, was uniformly impregnated in wool fibers, and by irradiating low energy electron beam or cobalt-60 gamma ray, the flame retardation of fabrics was attempted, as the results, the following knowledges were obtained. At the rate of sticking of flame retardant lower than that in cotton fabrics, sufficient flame retarding property can be given. The flame retarding property withstands 30 times of washing. The lowering of strength due to the processing hardly arose. For the flame retardation, gamma-ray was more effective than electron beam. Since the accidents of burning clothes have occurred frequently, their flame retardation has been demanded. So far the flame retardation of cotton fabrics has been advanced, but this time the research on the flame retardation of wool fabrics was carried out by the same method. The experimental method is explained. As for the performance of the processed fabrics, the rate of sticking of the flame retardant, the efficiency of utilization, the flame retarding property, the endurance in washing and the tensile and tearing strength were examined. As the oxygen index was higher, the flame retarding property was higher, and in the case of the index being more than 27, the flame retarding property is sufficient, that is, the rate of sticking of 6% in serge and 5% in muslin. (K.I.)

Laminar flame properties and flame acceleration prediction of hydrogen-methane mixtures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coudoro, K. [Inst. de Combustion, Aerothermique, Reactivite et Environnement CNRS Orleans (France); Inst. de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire, DSR/SAGR, Fontenay-aux-Roses (France); Chaumeix, N. [Inst. de Combustion, Aerothermique, Reactivite et Environnement CNRS Orleans (France); Bentaib, A. [Inst. de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire, DSR/SAGR, Fontenay-aux-Roses (France); Paillard, C-E. [Inst. de Combustion, Aerothermique, Reactivite et Environnement CNRS Orleans (France)

2011-07-01

The combustion of a binary mixture of methane and hydrogen has been studied using 2 different experimental setups: the spherical bomb to investigate the fundamental flame properties of this mixture with air, initially at 100 kPa, at different initial temperatures (300 - 363 K) and for a wide range of equivalence ratios (0.8 - 1.4); ENACCEF to investigate the flame acceleration phenomena in smooth tube for mixtures initially at ambient conditions and for equivalence ratios ranging between 0.57 and 0.84. A detailed kinetic mechanism has been used to derive the activation energies needed for the flame acceleration analysis. (author)

Lifted Turbulent Jet Flames

Science.gov (United States)

1993-04-14

flame length L simultaneously with h, and measuring the visible radiation I simultaneously with h. L(t) was found to be nearly uncorrelated with h(t...variation of 7i/2 /76 with ýh. These experiments included measuring the flame length L simultaneously with h, and measuring the visible radiation I...Measurements of Liftoff Height and Flame Length ... 66 4.5 Simultaneous Measurements of Liftoff Height and Radiation ....... 71 4.6 D scussion

Flame retardancy and thermal degradation of cotton textiles based on UV-curable flame retardant coatings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xing, Weiyi [State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzai Road, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Science and Technology of China, 166 Ren' ai Road, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123 (China); Jie, Ganxin [State Key Laboratory of Environmental Adaptability for Industrial Products, China National Electric Apparatus Research Institute, Guangzhou 510300 (China); Song, Lei; Hu, Shuang; Lv, Xiaoqi; Wang, Xin [State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzai Road, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Hu, Yuan, E-mail: yuanhu@ustc.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzai Road, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Science and Technology of China, 166 Ren' ai Road, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123 (China)

2011-01-20

The flame retardant coatings were prepared through UV-curable technique using tri(acryloyloxyethyl) phosphate (TAEP) and triglycidyl isocyanurate acrylate (TGICA). Results from FTIR-ATR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that flame retardant coatings were successfully coated onto the surface of cotton fabrics. The flame retardancy of the treated fabrics was studied by Micro-scale Combustion Calorimeter (MCC) and limited oxygen index (LOI). The cottons coated flame retardant coatings had the lower peak heat release rate (PHRR), heat release capacity (HRC), total heat of combustion (THC) and higher LOI value compared with untreated cotton. The results from TGA test showed that the flame retardant coatings lowered the decomposition temperature of treated fabric. The thermal decomposition of cottons was monitored by real time FTIR analysis and thermogravimetric analysis/infrared spectrometry (TGA-IR). The enhanced flame retardant action might be caused by thermal decomposition of TAEP structure, producing acidic intermediates, which could react with fabrics to alter its thermal decomposition process.

On the theory of turbulent flame velocity

OpenAIRE

Bychkov, Vitaly; Akkerman, Vyacheslav; Petchenko, Arkady

2012-01-01

The renormalization ideas of self-similar dynamics of a strongly turbulent flame front are applied to the case of a flame with realistically large thermal expansion of the burning matter. In that case a flame front is corrugated both by external turbulence and the intrinsic flame instability. The analytical formulas for the velocity of flame propagation are obtained. It is demonstrated that the flame instability is of principal importance when the integral turbulent length scale is much large...

Investigation of flame structure in plasma-assisted turbulent premixed methane-air flame

Science.gov (United States)

Hualei, ZHANG; Liming, HE; Jinlu, YU; Wentao, QI; Gaocheng, CHEN

2018-02-01

The mechanism of plasma-assisted combustion at increasing discharge voltage is investigated in detail at two distinctive system schemes (pretreatment of reactants and direct in situ discharge). OH-planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique is used to diagnose the turbulent structure methane-air flame, and the experimental apparatus consists of dump burner, plasma-generating system, gas supply system and OH-PLIF system. Results have shown that the effect of pretreatment of reactants on flame can be categorized into three regimes: regime I for voltage lower than 6.6 kV; regime II for voltage between 6.6 and 11.1 kV; and regime III for voltage between 11.1 and 12.5 kV. In regime I, aerodynamic effect and slower oxidation of higher hydrocarbons generated around the inner electrode tip plays a dominate role, while in regime III, the temperature rising effect will probably superimpose on the chemical effect and amplify it. For wire-cylinder dielectric barrier discharge reactor with spatially uneven electric field, the amount of radicals and hydrocarbons are decreased monotonically in radial direction which affects the flame shape. With regard to in situ plasma discharge in flames, the discharge pattern changes from streamer type to glow type. Compared with the case of reactants pretreatment, the flame propagates further in the upstream direction. In the discharge region, the OH intensity is highest for in situ plasma assisted combustion, indicating that the plasma energy is coupled into flame reaction zone.

Strained flamelets for turbulent premixed flames, I: Formulation and planar flame results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kolla, H.; Swaminathan, N. [Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 1PZ (United Kingdom)

2010-05-15

A strained flamelet model is proposed for turbulent premixed flames using scalar dissipation rate as a parameter. The scalar dissipation rate of reaction progress variable is a suitable quantity to describe the flamelet structure since it is governed by convection-diffusion-reaction balance and it is defined at every location in the flamelets, which are represented by laminar flames in reactant-to-product opposed flow configuration. The mean reaction rate is obtained by using the flamelets reaction rate and the joint pdf of the progress variable and its dissipation rate. The marginal pdf of the progress variable is presumed to be {beta}-pdf and the pdf of the conditional dissipation rate is taken to be log-normal. The conditional mean dissipation rate is obtained from modelled mean dissipation rate. This reaction rate closure is assessed using RANS calculations of statistically planar flames in the corrugated flamelets and thin reaction zones regimes. The flame speeds calculated using this closure are close to the experimental data of Abdel-Gayed et al. (1987) for flames in both the regimes. Comparisons with other reaction rate closures showed the benefits of the strained flamelets approach. (author)

Laminar Flame Speeds of Gasoline Surrogates Measured with the Flat Flame Method

KAUST Repository

Liao, Y.-H.; Roberts, William L.

2016-01-01

© 2016 American Chemical Society. The adiabatic, laminar flame speeds of gasoline surrogates at atmospheric pressure over a range of equivalence ratios of = 0.8-1.3 and unburned gas temperatures of 298-400 K are measured with the flat flame method

Comparative study of the performance of the M-cycle counter-flow and cross-flow heat exchangers for indirect evaporative cooling – Paving the path toward sustainable cooling of buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhan, Changhong; Duan, Zhiyin; Zhao, Xudong; Smith, Stefan; Jin, Hong; Riffat, Saffa

2011-01-01

This paper provides a comparative study of the performance of cross-flow and counter-flow M-cycle heat exchangers for dew point cooling. It is recognised that evaporative cooling systems offer a low energy alternative to conventional air conditioning units. Recently emerged dew point cooling, as the renovated evaporative cooling configuration, is claimed to have much higher cooling output over the conventional evaporative modes owing to use of the M-cycle heat exchangers. Cross-flow and counter-flow heat exchangers, as the available structures for M-cycle dew point cooling processing, were theoretically and experimentally investigated to identify the difference in cooling effectiveness of both under the parallel structural/operational conditions, optimise the geometrical sizes of the exchangers and suggest their favourite operational conditions. Through development of a dedicated computer model and case-by-case experimental testing and validation, a parametric study of the cooling performance of the counter-flow and cross-flow heat exchangers was carried out. The results showed the counter-flow exchanger offered greater (around 20% higher) cooling capacity, as well as greater (15%–23% higher) dew-point and wet-bulb effectiveness when equal in physical size and under the same operating conditions. The cross-flow system, however, had a greater (10% higher) Energy Efficiency (COP). As the increased cooling effectiveness will lead to reduced air volume flow rate, smaller system size and lower cost, whilst the size and cost are the inherent barriers for use of dew point cooling as the alternation of the conventional cooling systems, the counter-flow system is considered to offer practical advantages over the cross-flow system that would aid the uptake of this low energy cooling alternative. In line with increased global demand for energy in cooling of building, largely by economic booming of emerging developing nations and recognised global warming, the research

Flame dynamics of a meso-scale heat recirculating combustor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vijayan, V.; Gupta, A.K. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)

2010-12-15

The dynamics of premixed propane-air flame in a meso-scale ceramic combustor has been examined here. The flame characteristics in the combustor were examined by measuring the acoustic emissions and preheat temperatures together with high-speed cinematography. For the small-scale combustor, the volume to surface area ratio is small and hence the walls have significant effect on the global flame structure, flame location and flame dynamics. In addition to the flame-wall thermal coupling there is a coupling between flame and acoustics in the case of confined flames. Flame-wall thermal interactions lead to low frequency flame fluctuations ({proportional_to}100 Hz) depending upon the thermal response of the wall. However, the flame-acoustic interactions can result in a wide range of flame fluctuations ranging from few hundred Hz to few kHz. Wall temperature distribution is one of the factors that control the amount of reactant preheating which in turn effects the location of flame stabilization. Acoustic emission signals and high-speed flame imaging confirmed that for the present case flame-acoustic interactions have more significant effect on flame dynamics. Based on the acoustic emissions, five different flame regimes have been identified; whistling/harmonic mode, rich instability mode, lean instability mode, silent mode and pulsating flame mode. (author)

Impact of flame-wall interaction on premixed flame dynamics and transfer function characteristics

KAUST Repository

Kedia, K.S.; Altay, H.M.; Ghoniem, A.F.

2011-01-01

In this paper, we numerically investigate the response of a perforated-plate stabilized laminar methane-air premixed flame to imposed inlet velocity perturbations. A flame model using detailed chemical kinetics mechanism is applied and heat exchange

Counter-flow elutriation of clinical peripheral blood mononuclear cell concentrates for the production of dendritic and T cell therapies

OpenAIRE

Stroncek, David F; Fellowes, Vicki; Pham, Chauha; Khuu, Hanh; Fowler, Daniel H; Wood, Lauren V; Sabatino, Marianna

2014-01-01

Introduction Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) concentrates collected by apheresis are frequently used as starting material for cellular therapies, but the cell of interest must often be isolated prior to initiating manufacturing. Study design and methods The results of enriching 59 clinical PBMC concentrates for monocytes or lymphocytes from patients with solid tumors or multiple myeloma using a commercial closed system semi-automated counter-flow elutriation instrument (Elutra, Teru...

Mechanistic aspects of ionic reactions in flames

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Egsgaard, H.; Carlsen, L.

1993-01-01

Some fundamentals of the ion chemistry of flames are summarized. Mechanistic aspects of ionic reactions in flames have been studied using a VG PlasmaQuad, the ICP-system being substituted by a simple quartz burner. Simple hydrocarbon flames as well as sulfur-containing flames have been investigated...

Direct numerical simulations of non-premixed ethylene-air flames: Local flame extinction criterion

KAUST Repository

Lecoustre, Vivien R.; Arias, Paul G.; Roy, Somesh P.; Luo, Zhaoyu; Haworth, Daniel C.; Im, Hong G.; Lu, Tianfeng; Trouvé , Arnaud C.

2014-01-01

difference and explicit time integration schemes. The ethylene/air chemistry is simulated with a reduced mechanism that is generated based on the directed relation graph (DRG) based methods along with stiffness removal. The numerical configuration

Turbulent premixed flames on fractal-grid-generated turbulence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soulopoulos, N; Kerl, J; Sponfeldner, T; Beyrau, F; Hardalupas, Y; Taylor, A M K P [Mechanical Engineering Department, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Vassilicos, J C, E-mail: ns6@ic.ac.uk [Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2013-12-15

A space-filling, low blockage fractal grid is used as a novel turbulence generator in a premixed turbulent flame stabilized by a rod. The study compares the flame behaviour with a fractal grid to the behaviour when a standard square mesh grid with the same effective mesh size and solidity as the fractal grid is used. The isothermal gas flow turbulence characteristics, including mean flow velocity and rms of velocity fluctuations and Taylor length, were evaluated from hot-wire measurements. The behaviour of the flames was assessed with direct chemiluminescence emission from the flame and high-speed OH-laser-induced fluorescence. The characteristics of the two flames are considered in terms of turbulent flame thickness, local flame curvature and turbulent flame speed. It is found that, for the same flow rate and stoichiometry and at the same distance downstream of the location of the grid, fractal-grid-generated turbulence leads to a more turbulent flame with enhanced burning rate and increased flame surface area. (paper)

Physical and Chemical Processes in Turbulent Flames

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-23

equiangular sectors, defined as the ratio of the actual flame length to the length of a circular-arc of radius equal to the average flame radius. Assuming... flame length ratio obtained directly from the experiments, without any assumption. As explained earlier (Eq. 2.8) the length ratio, (LR=dl(G0)/dl0) is...spherically expanding flames, with the length ratio on the measurement plane, at predefined equiangular sectors, defined as the ratio of the actual flame length to

Extinction of corrugated hydrogen/air flames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizomoto, M.; Asaka, Y.; Ikai, S.; Law, C.K.

1982-01-01

Recent studies on flammability limits reveal the importance of flow nonuniformity, flame curvature, and molecular and thermal diffusivities in determining the extinguishability and the associated limits of premixed fuel/air flames. In particular, it is found that conditions which favor extinction of a lean flame may cause intensification of a rich flame. In the present study the authors have experimentally determined the extinction characteristics and limits of highly curved hydrogen/air flames as represented by the opening of bunsen flame tips. Results show that the tip opens at a constant fuel equivalence ratio of phi = 1.15, regardless of the velocity and uniformity of the upstream flow. This critical mixture concentration, while being rich, is still on the lean side of that corresponding to the maximum burning velocity (phi = 1.8), implying that for highly diffusive systems, the relevant reference concentration is that for maximum burning velocity instead of stoichiometry

Analysis of Flame Extinguishment and Height in Low Frequency Acoustically Excited Methane Jet Diffusion Flame

Science.gov (United States)

Zong, Ruowen; Kang, Ruxue; Liu, Chen; Zhang, Zhiyang; Zhi, Youran

2018-01-01

The exploration of microgravity conditions in space is increasing and existing fire extinguishing technology is often inadequate for fire safety in this special environment. As a result, improving the efficiency of portable extinguishers is of growing importance. In this work, a visual study of the effects on methane jet diffusion flames by low frequency sound waves is conducted to assess the extinguishing ability of sound waves. With a small-scale sound wave extinguishing bench, the extinguishing ability of certain frequencies of sound waves are identified, and the response of the flame height is observed and analyzed. Results show that the flame structure changes with disturbance due to low frequency sound waves of 60-100 Hz, and quenches at effective frequencies in the range of 60-90 Hz. In this range, 60 Hz is considered to be the quick extinguishing frequency, while 70-90 Hz is the stable extinguishing frequency range. For a fixed frequency, the flame height decreases with sound pressure level (SPL). The flame height exhibits the greatest sensitivity to the 60 Hz acoustic waves, and the least to the 100 Hz acoustic waves. The flame height decreases almost identically with disturbance by 70-90 Hz acoustic waves.

Flame dynamics in a micro-channeled combustor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, Taaha; Balachandran, Ramanarayanan; Markides, Christos N.

2015-01-01

The increasing use of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) has generated a significant interest in combustion-based power generation technologies, as a replacement of traditional electrochemical batteries which are plagued by low energy densities, short operational lives and low power-to-size and power-to-weight ratios. Moreover, the versatility of integrated combustion-based systems provides added scope for combined heat and power generation. This paper describes a study into the dynamics of premixed flames in a micro-channeled combustor. The details of the design and the geometry of the combustor are presented in the work by Kariuki and Balachandran [1]. This work showed that there were different modes of operation (periodic, a-periodic and stable), and that in the periodic mode the flame accelerated towards the injection manifold after entering the channels. The current study investigates these flames further. We will show that the flame enters the channel and propagates towards the injection manifold as a planar flame for a short distance, after which the flame shape and propagation is found to be chaotic in the middle section of the channel. Finally, the flame quenches when it reaches the injector slots. The glow plug position in the exhaust side ignites another flame, and the process repeats. It is found that an increase in air flow rate results in a considerable increase in the length (and associated time) over which the planar flame travels once it has entered a micro-channel, and a significant decrease in the time between its conversion into a chaotic flame and its extinction. It is well known from the literature that inside small channels the flame propagation is strongly influenced by the flow conditions and thermal management. An increase of the combustor block temperature at high flow rates has little effect on the flame lengths and times, whereas at low flow rates the time over which the planar flame front can be observed decreases and the time of

Flame dynamics in a micro-channeled combustor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussain, Taaha; Balachandran, Ramanarayanan, E-mail: r.balachandran@ucl.ac.uk [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London (United Kingdom); Markides, Christos N. [Clean Energy Processes Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom)

2015-01-22

The increasing use of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) has generated a significant interest in combustion-based power generation technologies, as a replacement of traditional electrochemical batteries which are plagued by low energy densities, short operational lives and low power-to-size and power-to-weight ratios. Moreover, the versatility of integrated combustion-based systems provides added scope for combined heat and power generation. This paper describes a study into the dynamics of premixed flames in a micro-channeled combustor. The details of the design and the geometry of the combustor are presented in the work by Kariuki and Balachandran [1]. This work showed that there were different modes of operation (periodic, a-periodic and stable), and that in the periodic mode the flame accelerated towards the injection manifold after entering the channels. The current study investigates these flames further. We will show that the flame enters the channel and propagates towards the injection manifold as a planar flame for a short distance, after which the flame shape and propagation is found to be chaotic in the middle section of the channel. Finally, the flame quenches when it reaches the injector slots. The glow plug position in the exhaust side ignites another flame, and the process repeats. It is found that an increase in air flow rate results in a considerable increase in the length (and associated time) over which the planar flame travels once it has entered a micro-channel, and a significant decrease in the time between its conversion into a chaotic flame and its extinction. It is well known from the literature that inside small channels the flame propagation is strongly influenced by the flow conditions and thermal management. An increase of the combustor block temperature at high flow rates has little effect on the flame lengths and times, whereas at low flow rates the time over which the planar flame front can be observed decreases and the time of

Radiation Effects on the Thermodiffusive Instability of Premixed Flames on a Cylindrical Porous Flame Holder

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Minglong; Yang, Lijun

2017-10-01

A linear analysis method was used to investigate the mechanics of radiation heat loss and mass transfer in the porous wall of premixed annular flames and their effect on thermodiffusive instability. The dispersion relation between the disturbance wave growth rate and wavenumber was calculated numerically. Results showed that radiation heat loss elevated the annular flame slightly away from the porous wall. In the annular flame with small Lewis numbers, radiation heat loss changed the thermodiffusive instability from a pulsating to a cellular state, while for the large Lewis numbers, only the pulsating instability was represented. Increasing radiation heat loss and the radius of the porous wall enhanced the instability of the annular flames. Heat losses decreased with the continued increase in thickness of the porous wall and the decrease in porosity. Annular flames with long-wave mode along the angular direction were more unstable than the shortwave mode.

POLYAMIDE 6 WITH A FLAME RETARDANT ENCAPSULATED BY POLYAMIDE 66: FLAME RETARDATION, THERMO-DECOMPOSITION AND THE POTENTIAL MECHANISM

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wei-cheng Xiong; Li Chen; Bin Zhao; De-yi Wang; Yu-zhong Wang

2012-01-01

A novel encapsulated flame retardant containing phosphorus-nitrogen (MSMM-Al-P) was prepared by encapsulating with polyamide 66 (PA66-MSMM-Al-P) for the flame retardation of polyamide 6 (PA6).The structure and thermal properties of PA66-MSMM-Al-P were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis.The flammability of PA6 containing' flame retardants (MSMMAl-P and PA66-MSMM-Al-P) was investigated by the limiting oxygen index test,vertical burning test and cone calorimeter.The flame retardancy and cone calorimetric analyses suggested a synergistic effect between PA66 and MSMM-Al-P in the flame-retardant PA6.Thermal stability of the flame-retardant PA6 was also investigated.

Flame visualization in power stations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hulshof, H J.M.; Thus, A W; Verhage, A J.L. [KEMA Fossil Generation, Arnhem (Netherlands)

1994-01-01

The study on the title subject is aimed at the determination of the form of the flame and the radiation temperature of the flames of the burners in electric power plants. The adjustment of the burners in a boiler is assessed on the basis of the total performance, in which the NO[sub x]- and CO-concentrations in the flue gases are normative. By comparing the burners mutually, deviating adjustments can be observed, applying optical monitoring techniques. Measurements have been carried out of the coal flames in the unit Gelderland13 of the Dutch energy production company EPON and of the gas flames at the Claus plant A and B of the Dutch energy company EPZ. The final aim of the title study is to draft guidelines, based on the measured flame data, by means of which for every individual burner the adjustment of the fuel supply, the relation with the air supply and the swirl of the combustion air can be optimized

Analysis of Flame Characteristics in a Laboratory-Scale Turbulent Lifted Jet Flame via DNS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haiou Wang

2013-09-01

Full Text Available A fully compressible 3D solver for reacting flows has been developed and applied to investigate a turbulent lifted jet flame in a vitiated coflow by means of direct numerical simulation (DNS to validate the solver and analyze the flame characteristics. An eighth-order central differencing scheme is used for spatial discretization and a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method is employed for time integration. The DNS results agree well with the experimental measurements for the conditional means of reactive scalars. However, the lift-off height is under predicted. The mean axial velocity develops into a self-similar profile after x/D = 6. The normalized flame index is employed to characterize the combustion regime. It is found that at the flame base the gradients of the reactants are opposed and diffusion combustion is dominant. Further downstream, the contribution of premixed combustion increases and peaks at x/D = 8. Finally, the stabilization process is examined. The turbulent lifted flame is proved to stabilize in the lean mixtures and low scalar dissipation rate regions.

Energy cascade with small-scale thermalization, counterflow metastability, and anomalous velocity of vortex rings in Fourier-truncated Gross-Pitaevskii equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krstulovic, Giorgio; Brachet, Marc

2011-01-01

The statistical equilibria of the (conservative) dynamics of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) with a finite range of spatial Fourier modes are characterized using a new algorithm, based on a stochastically forced Ginzburg-Landau equation (SGLE), that directly generates grand-canonical distributions. The SGLE-generated distributions are validated against finite-temperature GPE-thermalized states and exact (low-temperature) results obtained by steepest descent on the (grand-canonical) partition function. A standard finite-temperature second-order λ transition is exhibited. A mechanism of GPE thermalization through a direct cascade of energy is found using initial conditions with mass and energy distributed at large scales. A long transient with partial thermalization at small scales is observed before the system reaches equilibrium. Vortices are shown to disappear as a prelude to final thermalization and their annihilation is related to the contraction of vortex rings due to mutual friction. Increasing the amount of dispersion at the truncation wave number is shown to slow thermalization and vortex annihilation. A bottleneck that produces spontaneous effective self-truncation with partial thermalization is characterized in the limit of large dispersive effects. Metastable counterflow states, with nonzero values of momentum, are generated using the SGLE algorithm. Spontaneous nucleation of the vortex ring is observed and the corresponding Arrhenius law is characterized. Dynamical counterflow effects on vortex evolution are investigated using two exact solutions of the GPE: traveling vortex rings and a motionless crystal-like lattice of vortex lines. Longitudinal effects are produced and measured on the crystal lattice. A dilatation of vortex rings is obtained for counterflows larger than their translational velocity. The vortex ring translational velocity has a dependence on temperature that is an order of magnitude above that of the crystal lattice, an effect

Turbulent Flame Speed Scaling for Positive Markstein Number Expanding Flames in Near Isotropic Turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhuri, Swetaprovo; Wu, Fujia; Law, Chung

2012-11-01

In this work we clarify the role of Markstein diffusivity on turbulent flame speed and it's scaling, from analysis and experimental measurements on constant-pressure expanding flames propagating in near isotropic turbulence. For all C0-C4 hydrocarbon-air mixtures presented in this work and recently published C8 data from Leeds, the normalized turbulent flame speed data of individual mixtures approximately follows the recent theoretical and experimental ReT, f 0 . 5 scaling, where the average radius is the length scale and thermal diffusivity is the transport property. We observe that for a constant ReT, f 0 . 5 , the normalized turbulent flame speed decreases with increasing Mk. This could be explained by considering Markstein diffusivity as the large wavenumber, flame surface fluctuation dissipation mechanism. As originally suggested by the theory, replacing thermal diffusivity with Markstein diffusivity in the turbulence Reynolds number definition above, the present and Leeds dataset could be scaled by the new ReT, f 0 . 5 irrespective of the fuel considered, equivalence ratio, pressure and turbulence intensity for positive Mk flames. This work was supported by the Combustion Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001198 and by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

LES of a laboratory-scale turbulent premixed bunsen flame using FSD, PCM-FPI and thickened flame models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hernandez Perez, F.E.; Yuen, F.T.C.; Groth, C.P.T.; Gülder, O.L.

2011-01-01

Large-eddy simulations (LES) of a turbulent premixed Bunsen flame were carried out with three subfilter-scale (SFS) modelling approaches for turbulent premixed combustion. One approach is based on the artificially thickened flame and power-law flame wrinkling models, the second approach is based on

Accuracy improvement of the modified EDM model for non-premixed turbulent combustion in gas turbine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiong Li

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Eight bluff body and swirl turbulent diffusion flames resembling the flow field and combustion inside gas turbine combustors are simulated and the simulation results are compared with experimental data. It is revealed that the original modified EDM model could not predict the temperature profile accurately. A more accurate model is developed and validated for gas turbine combustion application. However, this model under predicts the flame temperature for the regular round jet flames indicating that no universal form of the modified EDM model could be achieved for the combustion simulation of both gas furnaces and gas turbines.

Experimental and modeling study of the oxidation of n- and iso-butanal

KAUST Repository

Veloo, Peter S.; Dagaut, P.; Togbé , Casimir; Dayma, Guillaume; Sarathy, Mani; Westbrook, Charles K.; Egolfopoulos, Fokion N.

2013-01-01

Understanding the kinetics of large molecular weight aldehydes is essential in the context of both conventional and alternative fuels. For example, they are key intermediates formed during the low-temperature oxidation of hydrocarbons as well as during the high-temperature oxidation of oxygenated fuels such as alcohols. In this study, an experimental and kinetic modeling investigation of n-butanal (. n-butyraldehyde) and iso-butanal (. iso-butyraldehyde or 2-methylpropanal) oxidation kinetics was performed. Experiments were performed in a jet stirred reactor and in counterflow flames over a wide range of equivalence ratios, temperatures, and pressures. The jet stirred reactor was utilized to observe the evolution of stable intermediates and products for the oxidation of n- and iso-butanal at elevated pressures and low to intermediate temperatures. The counterflow configuration was utilized for the determination of laminar flame speeds. A detailed chemical kinetic interpretative model was developed and validated consisting of 244 species and 1198 reactions derived from a previous study of the oxidation of propanal (propionaldehyde). Extensive reaction pathway and sensitivity analysis was performed to provide detailed insight into the mechanisms governing low-, intermediate-, and high-temperature reactivity. The simulation results using the present model are in good agreement with the experimental laminar flame speeds and well within a factor of two of the speciation data obtained in the jet stirred reactor. © 2013 The Combustion Institute.

Experimental and modeling study of the oxidation of n- and iso-butanal

KAUST Repository

Veloo, Peter S.

2013-09-01

Understanding the kinetics of large molecular weight aldehydes is essential in the context of both conventional and alternative fuels. For example, they are key intermediates formed during the low-temperature oxidation of hydrocarbons as well as during the high-temperature oxidation of oxygenated fuels such as alcohols. In this study, an experimental and kinetic modeling investigation of n-butanal (. n-butyraldehyde) and iso-butanal (. iso-butyraldehyde or 2-methylpropanal) oxidation kinetics was performed. Experiments were performed in a jet stirred reactor and in counterflow flames over a wide range of equivalence ratios, temperatures, and pressures. The jet stirred reactor was utilized to observe the evolution of stable intermediates and products for the oxidation of n- and iso-butanal at elevated pressures and low to intermediate temperatures. The counterflow configuration was utilized for the determination of laminar flame speeds. A detailed chemical kinetic interpretative model was developed and validated consisting of 244 species and 1198 reactions derived from a previous study of the oxidation of propanal (propionaldehyde). Extensive reaction pathway and sensitivity analysis was performed to provide detailed insight into the mechanisms governing low-, intermediate-, and high-temperature reactivity. The simulation results using the present model are in good agreement with the experimental laminar flame speeds and well within a factor of two of the speciation data obtained in the jet stirred reactor. © 2013 The Combustion Institute.

Turbulence-chemistry interactions in reacting flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barlow, R.S.; Carter, C.D. [Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA (United States)

1993-12-01

Interactions between turbulence and chemistry in nonpremixed flames are investigated through multiscalar measurements. Simultaneous point measurements of major species, NO, OH, temperature, and mixture fraction are obtained by combining spontaneous Raman scattering, Rayleigh scattering, and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). NO and OH fluorescence signals are converted to quantitative concentrations by applying shot-to-shot corrections for local variations of the Boltzmann fraction and collisional quenching rate. These measurements of instantaneous thermochemical states in turbulent flames provide insights into the fundamental nature of turbulence-chemistry interactions. The measurements also constitute a unique data base for evaluation and refinement of turbulent combustion models. Experimental work during the past year has focused on three areas: (1) investigation of the effects of differential molecular diffusion in turbulent combustion: (2) experiments on the effects of Halon CF{sub 3}Br, a fire retardant, on the structure of turbulent flames of CH{sub 4} and CO/H{sub 2}/N{sub 2}; and (3) experiments on NO formation in turbulent hydrogen jet flames.

Pt coating on flame-generated carbon particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, In Dae; Lee, Dong Geun

2008-01-01

Carbon black, activated carbon and carbon nanotube have been used as supporting materials for precious metal catalysts used in fuel cell electrodes. One-step flame synthesis method is used to coat 2-5nm Pt dots on flame-generated carbon particles. By adjusting flame temperature, gas flow rates and resident time of particles in flame, we can obtain Pt/C nano catalyst-support composite particles. Additional injection of hydrogen gas facilitates pyrolysis of Pt precursor in flame. The size of as-incepted Pt dots increases along the flame due to longer resident time and sintering in high temperature flame. Surface coverage and dispersion of the Pt dots is varied at different sampling heights and confirmed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive Spectra (EDS) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Crystallinity and surface bonding groups of carbon are investigated through X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscoy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy

Statistics, distillation, and ordering emergence in a two-dimensional stochastic model of particles in counterflowing streams

Science.gov (United States)

Stock, Eduardo Velasco; da Silva, Roberto; Fernandes, H. A.

2017-07-01

In this paper, we propose a stochastic model which describes two species of particles moving in counterflow. The model generalizes the theoretical framework that describes the transport in random systems by taking into account two different scenarios: particles can work as mobile obstacles, whereas particles of one species move in the opposite direction to the particles of the other species, or particles of a given species work as fixed obstacles remaining in their places during the time evolution. We conduct a detailed study about the statistics concerning the crossing time of particles, as well as the effects of the lateral transitions on the time required to the system reaches a state of complete geographic separation of species. The spatial effects of jamming are also studied by looking into the deformation of the concentration of particles in the two-dimensional corridor. Finally, we observe in our study the formation of patterns of lanes which reach the steady state regardless of the initial conditions used for the evolution. A similar result is also observed in real experiments involving charged colloids motion and simulations of pedestrian dynamics based on Langevin equations, when periodic boundary conditions are considered (particles counterflow in a ring symmetry). The results obtained through Monte Carlo simulations and numerical integrations are in good agreement with each other. However, differently from previous studies, the dynamics considered in this work is not Newton-based, and therefore, even artificial situations of self-propelled objects should be studied in this first-principles modeling.

30 CFR 14.20 - Flame resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Flame resistance. 14.20 Section 14.20 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TESTING, EVALUATION, AND APPROVAL OF... § 14.20 Flame resistance. Conveyor belts for use in underground coal mines must be flame-resistant and...

US-Japan Seminar on Modeling in Combustion Science

CERN Document Server

Takeno, Tadao

1995-01-01

The articles in this volume treat various problems in combustion science that are of importance in applications to technology and to environmental sciences. The authors treat turbulence in premixed and non-premixed flames as well as pressure interactions and wave phenomena. Also supersonic flows and detonations are discussed. The main emphasis, however, is on the modelling and numerical treatment of combustion phenomena. The book addresses researchers in physics and engineering, and mathematicians from scientific computing.

An abstraction layer for efficient memory management of tabulated chemistry and flamelet solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Weise, Steffen; Messig, Danny; Meyer, Bernd; Hasse, Christian

2013-06-01

A large number of methods for simulating reactive flows exist, some of them, for example, directly use detailed chemical kinetics or use precomputed and tabulated flame solutions. Both approaches couple the research fields computational fluid dynamics and chemistry tightly together using either an online or offline approach to solve the chemistry domain. The offline approach usually involves a method of generating databases or so-called Lookup-Tables (LUTs). As these LUTs are extended to not only contain material properties but interactions between chemistry and turbulent flow, the number of parameters and thus dimensions increases. Given a reasonable discretisation, file sizes can increase drastically. The main goal of this work is to provide methods that handle large database files efficiently. A Memory Abstraction Layer (MAL) has been developed that handles requested LUT entries efficiently by splitting the database file into several smaller blocks. It keeps the total memory usage at a minimum using thin allocation methods and compression to minimise filesystem operations. The MAL has been evaluated using three different test cases. The first rather generic one is a sequential reading operation on an LUT to evaluate the runtime behaviour as well as the memory consumption of the MAL. The second test case is a simulation of a non-premixed turbulent flame, the so-called HM1 flame, which is a well-known test case in the turbulent combustion community. The third test case is a simulation of a non-premixed laminar flame as described by McEnally in 1996 and Bennett in 2000. Using the previously developed solver 'flameletFoam' in conjunction with the MAL, memory consumption and the performance penalty introduced were studied. The total memory used while running a parallel simulation was reduced significantly while the CPU time overhead associated with the MAL remained low.

Structure of diffusion flames from a vertical burner

Science.gov (United States)

Mark A. Finney; Dan Jimenez; Jack D. Cohen; Isaac C. Grenfell; Cyle Wold

2010-01-01

Non-steady and turbulent flames are commonly observed to produce flame contacts with adjacent fuels during fire spread in a wide range of fuel bed depths. A stationary gas-fired burner (flame wall) was developed to begin study of flame edge variability along an analagous vertical fuel source. This flame wall is surrogate for a combustion interface at the edge of a deep...

Pole solutions for flame front propagation

CERN Document Server

Kupervasser, Oleg

2015-01-01

This book deals with solving mathematically the unsteady flame propagation equations. New original mathematical methods for solving complex non-linear equations and investigating their properties are presented. Pole solutions for flame front propagation are developed. Premixed flames and filtration combustion have remarkable properties: the complex nonlinear integro-differential equations for these problems have exact analytical solutions described by the motion of poles in a complex plane. Instead of complex equations, a finite set of ordinary differential equations is applied. These solutions help to investigate analytically and numerically properties of the flame front propagation equations.

Synergistic Effect of Nanosilica Aerogel with Phosphorus Flame Retardants on Improving Flame Retardancy and Leaching Resistance of Wood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaodan Zhu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Nanosilica (Nano-SiO2 sol fabricated by a sol-gel process was introduced into wood modification with phosphorus flame retardants to improve the flame retardancy and leaching resistance of wood. The obtained materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA, cone calorimetric (CONE, and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR. The residual rate of flame retardants before and after leaching was determinated by a leaching resistance. The results showed that the phosphorus flame retardants and SiO2 sol could reside in the poplar wood and are widely distributed in the vessels, pits, wood timber, and the spaces between wood cells of poplar substrate. TGA and CONE results indicated that the introduction of nano-SiO2 aerogel with phosphorus flame retardants had a significantly synergistic effect on improving the flame retardancy and inhibiting the release of smoke and toxic gases. In addition, the leaching resistance test, combined with infrared analysis and EDS analysis, confirmed that the phosphorus flame retardants were able to be fixed by SiO2 aerogel in the wood.

Numerical Investigation of Soot Formation in Non-premixed Flames

KAUST Repository

Abdelgadir, Ahmed Gamaleldin

2017-01-01

Soot is a carbon particulate formed as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels. Due to the health hazard posed by the carbon particulate, government agencies have applied strict regulations to control soot emissions from road vehicles, airplanes

Two- and Three-Dimensional Measurements in Turbulent Nonpremixed Flames

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Long, Marshall

2000-01-01

... and fuel Raman scattering. These experiments showed that proper parameterization of mixture fraction-dependent terms appearing in the expression for mixture fraction can improve accuracy for lean values of mixture fraction...

Flame emission, atomic absorption and fluorescence spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horlick, G.

1980-01-01

Six hundred and thirty references are cited in this review. The information in the review is divided into 12 major areas: books, reviews, and bibliographies; fundamental studies in flames; developments in instrumentation; measurement techniques and procedure; flame emission spectrometry; flame atomic absorption spectrometry; flame molecular absorption spectrometry; electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectroscopy; hydride generation techniques; graphite furnace atomic emission spectrometry; atomic fluorescence spectrometry; and analytical comparisons

Analysis of cloud condensation nuclei composition and growth kinetics using a pumped counterflow virtual impactor and aerosol mass spectrometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. G. Slowik

2011-08-01

Full Text Available We present a new method of determining the size and composition of CCN-active aerosol particles. Method utility is illustrated through a series of ambient measurements. A continuous-flow thermal-gradient diffusion chamber (TGDC, pumped counterflow virtual impactor (PCVI, and Aerodyne time-of-flight mass spectrometer (AMS are operated in series. Ambient particles are sampled into the TGDC, where a constant supersaturation is maintained, and CCN-active particles grow to ~2.5 ± 0.5 μm. The output flow from the TGDC is directed into the PCVI, where a counterflow of dry N₂ gas opposes the particle-laden flow, creating a region of zero axial velocity. This stagnation plane can only be traversed by particles with sufficient momentum, which depends on their size. Particles that have activated in the TGDC cross the stagnation plane and are entrained in the PCVI output flow, while the unactivated particles are diverted to a pump. Because the input gas is replaced by the counterflow gas with better than 99 % efficiency at the stagnation plane, the output flow consists almost entirely of dry N₂ and water evaporates from the activated particles. In this way, the system yields an ensemble of CCN-active particles whose chemical composition and size are analyzed using the AMS. Measurements of urban aerosol in downtown Toronto identified an external mixture of CCN-active particles consisting almost entirely of ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate, with CCN-inactive particles of the same size consisting of a mixture of ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and organics. We also discuss results from the first field deployment of the TGDC-PCVI-AMS system, conducted from mid-May to mid-June 2007 in Egbert, Ontario, a semirural site ~80 km north of Toronto influenced both by clean air masses from the north and emissions from the city. Organic-dominated particles sampled during a major biogenic event exhibited higher CCN activity and/or faster

Particle Emissions from Domestic Gas Cookers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Glarborg, Peter; Livbjerg, Hans; Wagner, Ayten Yilmaz

2010-01-01

The authors experimentally studied the formation of submicron particles from a domestic gas cooker in a compartment free from external particle sources. The effects of fuel (methane, natural gas, odorant-free natural gas), primary aeration, flow rate, and fuel sulphur content on particle emissions...... of the emitted particles were found to have a mean value of about 7 nm for partially premixed flames, increasing to ∼10 nm for nonpremixed flames. The quantity of primary air had a strong impact on the particle emissions, showing a minimum at a primary aeration level of 60-65%. Presence of sulphur in small...... quantities may enhance particle formation under some conditions, but results were not conclusive....

Structure and stabilization of hydrogen-rich transverse.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lyra, Sgouria [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Wilde, B [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Kolla, Hemanth [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Seitzman, J. [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Lieuwen, T. C. [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Chen, Jacqueline H. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

2014-07-01

This paper reports the results of a joint experimental and numerical study of the ow characteristics and flame stabilization of a hydrogen rich jet injected normal to a turbulent, vitiated cross ow of lean methane combustion products. Simultaneous high-speed stereoscopic PIV and OH PLIF measurements were obtained and analyzed alongside three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of inert and reacting JICF with detailed H₂/CO chemistry. Both the experiment and the simulation reveal that, contrary to most previous studies of reacting JICF stabilized in low-to-moderate temperature air cross ow, the present conditions lead to an autoigniting, burner-attached flame that initiates uniformly around the burner edge. Significant asymmetry is observed, however, between the reaction zones located on the windward and leeward sides of the jet, due to the substantially different scalar dissipation rates. The windward reaction zone is much thinner in the near field, while also exhibiting significantly higher local and global heat release than the much broader reaction zone found on the leeward side of the jet. The unsteady dynamics of the windward shear layer, which largely control the important jet/cross flow mixing processes in that region, are explored in order to elucidate the important flow stability implications arising in the reacting JICF. Vorticity spectra extracted from the windward shear layer reveal that the reacting jet is globally unstable and features two high frequency peaks, including a fundamental mode whose Strouhal number of ~0.7 agrees well with previous non-reacting JICF stability studies. The paper concludes with an analysis of the ignition, ame stabilization, and global structure of the burner-attached flame. Chemical explosive mode analysis (CEMA) shows that the entire windward shear layer, and a large region on the leeward side of the jet, are highly explosive prior to ignition and are dominated by non-premixed flame structures after

Blowoff dynamics of bluff body stabilized turbulent premixed flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chaudhuri, Swetaprovo; Kostka, Stanislav; Renfro, Michael W.; Cetegen, Baki M. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut, 191 Auditorium Road, U-3139, Storrs, CT 06269 (United States)

2010-04-15

This article concerns the flame dynamics of a bluff body stabilized turbulent premixed flame as it approaches lean blowoff. Time resolved chemiluminescence imaging along with simultaneous particle image velocimetry and OH planar laser-induced fluorescence were utilized in an axisymmetric bluff body stabilized, propane-air flame to determine the sequence of events leading to blowoff and provide a quantitative analysis of the experimental results. It was found that as lean blowoff is approached by reduction of equivalence ratio, flame speed decreases and the flame shape progressively changes from a conical to a columnar shape. For a stably burning conical flame away from blowoff, the flame front envelopes the shear layer vortices. Near blowoff, the columnar flame front and shear layer vortices overlap to induce high local stretch rates that exceed the extinction stretch rates instantaneously and in the mean, resulting in local flame extinction along the shear layers. Following shear layer extinction, fresh reactants can pass through the shear layers to react within the recirculation zone with all other parts of the flame extinguished. This flame kernel within the recirculation zone may survive for a few milliseconds and can reignite the shear layers such that the entire flame is reestablished for a short period. This extinction and reignition event can happen several times before final blowoff which occurs when the flame kernel fails to reignite the shear layers and ultimately leads to total flame extinguishment. (author)

Development and exploitation of optical diagnoses based on radicals fluorescence. Application to automotive engines; Developpement et exploitation de diagnostics optiques bases sur la fluorescence de radicaux. Application aux moteurs automobiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Auge, M.

2005-12-15

During this PhD, we have developed an optical technique based on radicals fluorescence. The objective was to obtain more information on combustion phenomena. We first have applied the OH and HCHO PLIF technique simultaneously in laminar premixed counter-flow flames under pressure. With this technique, we have obtained the local heat release rate of the flame and an estimation of the laminar flame speed and the thickness of the flame for different fuels and pressure. We have then applied this technique on a Diesel fuel jet in combustion placed in a high pressure cell to understand the different phenomena occurring. Then PLIF at 355 nm was applied in direct and indirect injection spark ignition engine to detect the unburned. We have demonstrated the high potential of the technique used during this PhD to obtain local heat release rate of a flame. We have also progressed in our comprehension of the phenomena occurring during the combustion processes. (author)

Prediction of flame formation in highly preheated air combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jang Sik; Choi, Gyung Min; Kim, Duck Jool; Katsuki, Masashi

2008-01-01

Fundamental information about the ignition position and shape of a flame in highly preheated air combustion was obtained, and the suitability of the suggested reduced kinetic mechanism that reflects the characteristics of the highly preheated air combustion was demonstrated. Flame lift height and flame length with variations of premixed air temperature and oxygen concentration were measured by CH chemiluminescence intensity, and were computed with a reduced kinetic mechanism. Flame attached near a fuel nozzle started to lift when preheated air temperature became close to auto-ignition temperature and/or oxygen concentration reduced. The flame lift height increased but the flame length decreased with decreasing preheated air temperature and flame length reversed after a minimum value. Calculated results showed good agreement with those of experiment within tolerable error. Flame shape shifted from diffusion flame shape to partial premixed flame shape with increasing lift height and this tendency was also observed in the computation results

Prediction of flame formation in highly preheated air combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Jang Sik; Choi, Gyung Min; Kim, Duck Jool [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Katsuki, Masashi [Osaka University, Osaka (Japan)

2008-11-15

Fundamental information about the ignition position and shape of a flame in highly preheated air combustion was obtained, and the suitability of the suggested reduced kinetic mechanism that reflects the characteristics of the highly preheated air combustion was demonstrated. Flame lift height and flame length with variations of premixed air temperature and oxygen concentration were measured by CH chemiluminescence intensity, and were computed with a reduced kinetic mechanism. Flame attached near a fuel nozzle started to lift when preheated air temperature became close to auto-ignition temperature and/or oxygen concentration reduced. The flame lift height increased but the flame length decreased with decreasing preheated air temperature and flame length reversed after a minimum value. Calculated results showed good agreement with those of experiment within tolerable error. Flame shape shifted from diffusion flame shape to partial premixed flame shape with increasing lift height and this tendency was also observed in the computation results

Premixed Flames Under Microgravity and Normal Gravity Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Krikunova, Anastasia I.; Son, Eduard E.

2018-03-01

Premixed conical CH4-air flames were studied experimentally and numerically under normal straight, reversed gravity conditions and microgravity. Low-gravity experiments were performed in Drop tower. Classical Bunsen-type burner was used to find out features of gravity influence on the combustion processes. Mixture equivalence ratio was varied from 0.8 to 1.3. Wide range of flow velocity allows to study both laminar and weakly turbulized flames. High-speed flame chemoluminescence video-recording was used as diagnostic. The investigations were performed at atmospheric pressure. As results normalized flame height, laminar flame speed were measured, also features of flame instabilities were shown. Low- and high-frequency flame-instabilities (oscillations) have a various nature as velocity fluctuations, preferential diffusion instability, hydrodynamic and Rayleigh-Taylor ones etc., that was explored and demonstrated.

Subwoofer and nanotube butterfly acoustic flame extinction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aliev, Ali E.; Mayo, Nathanael K.; Baughman, Ray H.; Mills, Brent T.; Habtour, Ed

2017-01-01

Nonchemical flame control using acoustic waves from a subwoofer and a lightweight carbon nanotube thermoacoustic projector was demonstrated. The intent was to manipulate flame intensity, direction and propagation. The mechanisms of flame suppression using low frequency acoustic waves were discussed.

Effectiveness of Flame Retardants in TufFoam.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abelow, Alexis Elizabeth [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Nissen, April [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Massey, Lee Taylor [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Whinnery, LeRoy L. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-12-01

An investigation of polyurethane foam filled with known flame retardant fillers including hydroxides, melamine, phosphate-containing compounds, and melamine phosphates was carried out to produce a low-cost material with high flame retardant efficiency. The impact of flame retardant fillers on the physical properties such a s composite foam density, glass transition temperature, storage modulus, and thermal expansion of composite foams was investigated with the goal of synthesizing a robust rigid foam with excellent flame retardant properties.

The dilution effect on the extinction of wall diffusion flame

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghiti Nadjib

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The dynamic process of the interaction between a turbulent jet diffusion methane flame and a lateral wall was experimentally studied. The evolution of the flame temperature field with the Nitrogen dilution of the methane jet flame was examined. The interaction between the diffusion flame and the lateral wall was investigated for different distance between the wall and the central axes of the jet flame. The dilution is found to play the central role in the flame extinction process. The flame response as the lateral wall approaches from infinity and the increasing of the dilution rate make the flame extinction more rapid than the flame without dilution, when the nitrogen dilution rate increase the flame temperature decrease.

The structure of horizontal hydrogen-steam diffusion flames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, C.K.; Guerrero, A.

1997-01-01

This paper summarizes a systematic study on the stability, peak temperature and flame length of various horizontal hydrogen-steam diffusion flames in air. Results from this study are discussed in terms of their impact on hydrogen management in a nuclear containment building after a nuclear reactor accident. They show that, for a certain range of emerging hydrogen-steam compositions, a stable diffusion flame can anchor itself at the break in the primary heat transport system. The length of this flame can be up to 100 times the break diameter. This implies that creation of a stable diffusion flame at the break is a possible outcome of the deliberate ignition mitigation scheme. The high temperature and heat flux from a diffusion flame can threaten nearby equipment. However, due to the presence of steam and turbulent mixing with surrounding air, the peak temperatures of these diffusion flames are much lower than the adiabatic constant pressure combustion temperature of a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture. These results suggest that the threat of a diffusion flame anchored at the break may be less severe than conservative analysis would indicate. Furthermore, such a flame can remove hydrogen at the source and minimize the possibility of a global gas explosion. (author)

Flame structure of methane inverse diffusion flame

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.; Roberts, William L.

2014-01-01

This paper presents high speed images of OH-PLIF at 10. kHz simultaneously with 2D PIV (particle image velocimetry) measurements collected along the entire length of an inverse diffusion flame with circumferentially arranged methane fuel jets. For a

Ion measurements in premixed methane-oxygen flames

KAUST Repository

Alquaity, Awad

2014-07-25

Ions are formed as a result of chemi-ionization processes in combustion systems. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in understanding flame ion chemistry due to the possible application of external electric fields to reduce emissions and improve combustion efficiency by active control of combustion process. In order to predict the effect of external electric fields on combustion plasma, it is critical to gain a good understanding of the flame ion chemistry. In this work, a Molecular Beam Mass Spectrometer (MBMS) is utilized to measure ion concentration profiles in premixed methane-oxygen-argon burner-stabilized flames. Lean, stoichiometric and rich flames at atmospheric pressure are used to study the dependence of ion chemistry on equivalence ratio of premixed flames. The relative ion concentration profiles are compared qualitatively with previous methane-oxygen studies and show good agreement. The relative ion concentration data obtained in the present study can be used to validate and improve ion chemistry models for methane-oxygen flames.

Experimental investigations on the contribution of the splash-zones in counter-flow cooling towers for water cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vladea, I.; Barbu, V.

1976-01-01

The relatively high cost of cooling tower packs has led to investigate the contribution of the splash-zones in counter-flow cooling towers, and thereby to determine whether the pack could not be reduced so far, as to be - under certain circumstance - completely eliminated. In this case, one would come to a pure splash cooling tower which would contain inside the equipment required for drop formation only. This problem was investigated experimentally, and it was found that the pack of such a cooling tower could not be eliminated without a reduction in tower effectiveness. (orig.) [de

Early structure of LPG partially premixed conically stabilized flames

KAUST Repository

Elbaz, Ayman M.

2013-01-01

This paper presents experimental investigation of LPG partially premixed turbulent flames stabilized within a conical nozzle burner under constant degree of partial premixing. The stability limits and mean flame structure are presented based on the mean gas temperature and the concentration of CO, O 2, NO, and HC at the flame early region of reaction. The investigation covered the influence of the nozzle cone angle, the jet exit velocity and the jet equivalence ratio. The stability results show that the flames with cone are more stable than those without cone. For conical stabilized flames, the stability results exhibit three different sensitivity regions between the jet velocity and equivalence ratio. The inflame measurements prove that the flame stability could be attributed to the triple flame structure at the flame leading edge. The data show that the triple flame structure is influenced by cone angle, the jet velocity and the equivalence ratio. The flame is believed to be controlled by the recirculation flow inside the cone. Increasing the cone angle induced higher air entrainment to the reaction zone as depicted by a higher O 2 concentration within the flame leading edge. Increasing the jet velocity to a certain limit enhances the intensity of combustion at the flame leading edge, while excessive increase in jet velocity reduces this intensity. At a fixed jet velocity the higher the equivalence ratio, the higher the amount of fuel diffused and engulfed to the reaction zone, the more delay of the combustion completion and the higher the emission concentrations of the flame. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Effect of Lewis number on ball-like lean limit flames

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Zhen

2017-10-13

The lean limit flames for three different fuel compositions premixed with air, representing three different mixture Lewis numbers, stabilized inside a tube in a downward flow are examined by experiments and numerical simulations. The CH* chemiluminescence distribution in CH4–air and CH4–H2–air flames and the OH* chemiluminescence distribution in H2–air flames are recorded in the experiments. Cell-like flames are observed for the CH4–air mixture for all tested equivalence ratios. However, for CH4–H2–air and H2–air flames, ball-like lean limit flames are observed. Flame temperature fields are measured using Rayleigh scattering. The experimentally observed lean limit flames are predicted qualitatively by numerical simulation with the mixture-averaged transport model and skeletal mechanism of CH4. The results of the simulations show that the entire lean limit flames of CH4–H2–air and H2–air mixtures are located inside a recirculation zone. However, for the lean limit CH4–air flame, only the leading edge is located inside the recirculation zone. A flame structure with negative flame displacement speed is observed for the leading edges of the predicted lean limit flames with all three different fuel compositions. As compared with 1D planar flames, the fuel transport caused by convection is less significant in the present 2D lean limit flames for the three different fuel compositions. For the trailing edges of the three predicted lean limit flames, a diffusion dominated flame structure is observed.

Energy performance of an innovative liquid desiccant dehumidification system with a counter-flow heat and mass exchanger using potassium formate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jradi, Muhyiddine; Riffat, Saffa

2014-01-01

An innovative micro-scale liquid desiccant dehumidification system is numerically investigated. The liquid desiccant dehumidification unit employs a counter-flow low-cost and efficient heat and mass exchange core, improving the thermal performance and eliminating desiccant carryover...... that the dehumidifier effectiveness is directly proportional to the intake air temperature, intake air relative humidity and liquid desiccant flow rate where the effectiveness is inversely proportional to the intake air velocity and the heat exchanger air channel height....

Cyber-Based Turbulent Combustion Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-28

in flow-field structures between the laminar and turbulent counter-flowing fuel injection is clearly illustrated in figure 1. As a consequence , it...flame thickness by comparing with benchmark of AFRL/RZ ( UNICORN ) suppressing the oscillatory numerical behavior. These improvements in numerical...fraction with the benchmark results of AFRL/RZ. This validating base is generated by the UNICORN program on the finest mesh available and the local

Effects of Buoyancy on Laminar and Turbulent Premixed V-Flame

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Robert K.; Bedat, Benoit

1997-01-01

Turbulent combustion occurs naturally in almost all combustion systems and involves complex dynamic coupling of chemical and fluid mechanical processes. It is considered as one of the most challenging combustion research problems today. Though buoyancy has little effect on power generating systems operating under high pressures (e.g., IC engines and turbines), flames in atmospheric burners and the operation of small to medium furnaces and boilers are profoundly affected by buoyancy. Changes in burner orientation impacts on their blow-off, flash-back and extinction limits, and their range of operation, burning rate, heat transfer, and emissions. Theoretically, buoyancy is often neglected in turbulent combustion models. Yet the modeling results are routinely compared with experiments of open laboratory flames that are obviously affected by buoyancy. This inconsistency is an obstacle to reconciling experiments and theories. Consequently, a fundamental understanding of the coupling between turbulent flames and buoyancy is significant to both turbulent combustion science and applications. The overall effect of buoyancy relates to the dynamic interaction between the flame and its surrounding, i.e., the so-called elliptical problem. The overall flame shape, its flowfield, stability, and mean and local burning rates are dictated by both upstream and downstream boundary conditions. In steady propagating premixed flames, buoyancy affects the products region downstream of the flame zone. These effects are manifested upstream through the mean and fluctuating pressure fields to influence flame stretch and flame wrinkling. Intuitively, the effects buoyancy should diminish with increasing flow momentum. This is the justification for excluding buoyancy in turbulent combustion models that treats high Reynolds number flows. The objectives of our experimental research program is to elucidate flame-buoyancy coupling processes in laminar and turbulent premixed flames, and to

Active Control of High Speed Jet Flames Using Counterflow

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Krothapalli, Anjaneyulu

2003-01-01

.... An optical temperature measurement technique, refereed to as Laser Speckle Displacement (LSD) was developed for instantaneous temperature field measurements. It is shown that the technique is easy to implement and can be used in conjunction with PIV for simultaneous velocity and temperature measurements in reacting flows.

Investigating Soot Morphology in Counterflow Flames at Elevated Pressures

KAUST Repository

Amin, Hafiz Muhammad Fahid

2018-01-01

Practical combustion devices such as gas turbines and diesel engines operate at high pressures to increase their efficiency. Pressure significantly increases the overall soot yield. Morphology of these ultra-fine particles determines their airborne

Flame Structure of Vitiated Fuel-Rich Inverse Diffusion Flames in a Cross-Flow (Postprint)

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

downstream of the slot. The flame length increases as the blowing ratio increases as a result of the greater mass of air which reacts. Ignition of...attributed to the greater penetration of the jet into the cross-stream. It is noted that the flame lengths are similar for the different blowing ratios

Turbulent structure and dynamics of swirled, strongly pulsed jet diffusion flames

KAUST Repository

Liao, Ying-Hao

2013-11-02

The structure and dynamics of swirled, strongly pulsed, turbulent jet diffusion flames were examined experimentally in a co-flow swirl combustor. The dynamics of the large-scale flame structures, including variations in flame dimensions, the degree of turbulent flame puff interaction, and the turbulent flame puff celerity were determined from high-speed imaging of the luminous flame. All of the tests presented here were conducted with a fixed fuel injection velocity at a Reynolds number of 5000. The flame dimensions were generally found to be more impacted by swirl for the cases of longer injection time and faster co-flow flow rate. Flames with swirl exhibited a flame length up to 34% shorter compared to nonswirled flames. Both the turbulent flame puff separation and the flame puff celerity generally decreased when swirl was imposed. The decreased flame length, flame puff separation, and flame puff celerity are consistent with a greater momentum exchange between the flame and the surrounding co-flow, resulting from an increased rate of air entrainment due to swirl. Three scaling relations were developed to account for the impact of the injection time, the volumetric fuel-to-air flow rate ratio, and the jet-on fraction on the visible flame length. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment Counter-Flow Spectrometer and Impactor Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poellot, Michael [University of North Dakota

2016-03-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility Aerial Facility (ARM AAF) counter-flow spectrometer and impactor (CSI) probe was flown on the University of North Dakota Cessna Citation research aircraft during the Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment (IPHEX). The field campaign took place during May and June of 2014 over North Carolina and its coastal waters as part of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Global Precipitation Measurement validation campaign. The CSI was added to the Citation instrument suite to support the involvement of Jay Mace through the NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite program and flights of the NASA ER-2 aircraft, which is a civilian version of the Air Force’s U2-S reconnaissance platform. The ACE program funded extra ER-2 flights to focus on clouds that are weakly precipitating, which are also of interest to the Atmospheric System Research program sponsored by DOE.

Stability and Behaviors of Methane/Propane and Hydrogen Micro Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimoto, Takamitsu; Kinoshita, Koichiro; Kitamura, Hideki; Tanigawa, Ryoichi

The flame stability limits essentially define the fundamental operation of the combustion system. Recently the micro diffusion flame has been remarked. The critical conditions of the flame stability limit are highly dependent on nozzle diameter, species of fuel and so on. The micro diffusion flame of Methane/Propane and Hydrogen is formed by using the micro-scale nozzle of which inner diameter is less than 1mm. The configurations and behaviors of the flame are observed directly and visualized by the high speed video camera The criteria of stability limits are proposed for the micro diffusion flame. The objectives of the present study are to get further understanding of lifting/blow-off for the micro diffusion flame. The results obtained are as follows. (1) The behaviors of the flames are classified into some regions for each diffusion flame. (2) The micro diffusion flame of Methane/Propane cannot be sustained, when the nozzle diameter is less than 0.14 mm. (3) The diffusion flame cannot be sustained below the critical fuel flow rate. (4) The minimum flow which is formed does not depends on the average jet velocity, but on the fuel flow rate. (5) the micro flame is laminar. The flame length is decided by fuel flow rate.

Flow Regimes of Air-Water Counterflow Through Cross Corrugated Parallel Plates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

de Almeida, V.F.

2000-06-07

Heretofore unknown flow regimes of air-water counterflow through a pair of transparent vertical parallel cross corrugated plates were observed via high-speed video. Air flows upward driven by pressure gradient and water, downward driven by gravity. The crimp geometry of the corrugations was drawn from typical corrugated sheets used as filling material in modern structured packed towers. Four regimes were featured, namely, rivulet, bicontinuous, flooding fronts, and flooding waves. It is conceivable that the regimes observed might constitute the basis for understanding how gas and liquid phases contend for available space in the interstices of structured packings in packed towers. Flow regime transitions were expressed in terms of liquid load (liquid superficial velocity) and gas flow factor parameters commonly used in pressure drop and capacity curves. We have carefully examined the range of parameters equivalent to the ill-understood high-liquid-flow operation in packed towers. More importantly, our findings should prove valuable in validating improved first-principles modeling of gas-liquid flows in these industrially important devices.

Flame spread along thermally thick horizontal rods

Science.gov (United States)

Higuera, F. J.

2002-06-01

An analysis is carried out of the spread of a flame along a horizontal solid fuel rod, for which a weak aiding natural convection flow is established in the underside of the rod by the action of the axial gradient of the pressure variation that gravity generates in the warm gas surrounding the flame. The spread rate is determined in the limit of infinitely fast kinetics, taking into account the effect of radiative losses from the solid surface. The effect of a small inclination of the rod is discussed, pointing out a continuous transition between upward and downward flame spread. Flame spread along flat-bottomed solid cylinders, for which the gradient of the hydrostatically generated pressure drives the flow both along and across the direction of flame propagation, is also analysed.

Tomographic reconstruction of OH* chemiluminescence in two interacting turbulent flames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Worth, Nicholas A; Dawson, James R

2013-01-01

The tomographic reconstruction of OH* chemiluminescence was performed on two interacting turbulent premixed bluff-body stabilized flames under steady flow conditions and acoustic excitation. These measurements elucidate the complex three-dimensional (3D) vortex–flame interactions which have previously not been accessible. The experiment was performed using a single camera and intensifier, with multiple views acquired by repositioning the camera, permitting calculation of the mean and phase-averaged volumetric OH* distributions. The reconstructed flame structure and phase-averaged dynamics are compared with OH planar laser-induced fluorescence and flame surface density measurements for the first time. The volumetric data revealed that the large-scale vortex–flame structures formed along the shear layers of each flame collide when the two flames meet, resulting in complex 3D flame structures in between the two flames. With a fairly simple experimental setup, it is shown that the tomographic reconstruction of OH* chemiluminescence in forced flames is a powerful tool that can yield important physical insights into large-scale 3D flame dynamics that are important in combustion instability. (paper)

Chaotic radiation/turbulence interactions in flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menguec, M.P.; McDonough, J.M.

1998-11-01

In this paper, the authors present a review of their recent efforts to model chaotic radiation-turbulence interactions in flames. The main focus is to characterize soot volume fraction fluctuations in turbulent diffusion flames, as they strongly contribute to these interaction. The approach is based on the hypothesis that the fluctuations of properties in turbulent flames are deterministic in nature, rather than random. The authors first discuss the theoretical details and then they briefly outline the experiments conducted to measure the scattered light signals from fluctuating soot particles along the axis of an ethylene-air diffusion flame. They compare the power spectra and time series obtained from experiments against the ad-hoc and rigorous models derived using a series of logistic maps. These logistic maps can be used in simulation of the fluctuations in these type of flames, without extensive computational effort or sacrifice of physical detail. Availability of accurate models of these kinds allows investigation of radiation-turbulence interactions at a more fundamental level than it was previously possible.

Characterization of high-pressure, underexpanded hydrogen-jet flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schefer, R.W.; Houf, W.G.; Williams, T.C. [Combustion Research Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94551 (United States); Bourne, B.; Colton, J. [SRI International, 333 Ravenwood Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States)

2007-08-15

Measurements were performed to characterize the dimensional and radiative properties of large-scale, vertical hydrogen-jet flames. This data is relevant to the safety scenario of a sudden leak in a high-pressure hydrogen containment vessel and will provide a technological basis for determining hazardous length scales associated with unintended hydrogen releases at storage and distribution centers. Jet flames originating from high-pressure sources up to 413 bar (6000 psi) were studied to verify the application of correlations and scaling laws based on lower-pressure subsonic and choked-flow jet flames. These higher pressures are expected to be typical of the pressure ranges in future hydrogen storage vessels. At these pressures the flows exiting the jet nozzle are categorized as underexpanded jets in which the flow is choked at the jet exit. Additionally, the gas behavior departs from that of an ideal-gas and alternate formulations for non-ideal gas must be introduced. Visible flame emission was recorded on video to evaluate flame length and structure. Radiometer measurements allowed determination of the radiant heat flux characteristics. The flame length results show that lower-pressure engineering correlations, based on the Froude number and a non-dimensional flame length, also apply to releases up to 413 bar (6000 psi). Similarly, radiative heat flux characteristics of these high-pressure jet flames obey scaling laws developed for low-pressure, smaller-scale flames and a wide variety of fuels. The results verify that such correlations can be used to a priori predict dimensional characteristics and radiative heat flux from a wide variety of hydrogen-jet flames resulting from accidental releases. (author)

New optical method for heat flux measurements in stagnation point laminar methane/air flames and hydrogen/methane/air flames using thermographic phosphors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elmnefi, Mohamed Salem

2010-11-24

In the present study, a new optical method was implemented to study the heat transfer from flat stagnation point flames which can be regarded as one-dimensional in the central part. Premixed methane-air flames and hydrogen-methane-air flames were investigated. The effects of burner-to-plate distance and the fresh gas mixture velocity on heat transfer were examined. Experiments were performed using light induced phosphorescence from thermographic phosphors to study the wall temperatures and heat fluxes of nearly one-dimensional flat premixed flames impinging upward normally on a horizontal water cooled circular flat plate. The investigated flames were stoichiometric, lean and rich laminar methane/air flames with different equivalence ratios of {phi} =1, {phi} = 0.75 and {phi} = 1.25 and stoichiometric laminar hydrogen/methane/air flames. Mixtures of air with 10, 25, 50 and 75 % hydrogen in methane (CH{sub 4}) as well as a pure hydrogen flames at ambient pressure were investigated. The central part of this plate was an alumina ceramic plate coated from both sides with chromium doped alumina (ruby) and excited with a Nd:YAG laser or a green light emitting diode (LED) array to measure the wall temperature from both sides and thus the heat flux rate from the flame. The outlet velocity of the gases was varied from 0.1 m/s to 1.2 m/s. The burner to plate distance ranged from 0.5 to 2 times the burner exit diameter (d = 30 mm).The accuracy of the method was evaluated. The measured heat flux indicate the change of the flame stabilization mechanism from a burner stabilized to a stagnation plate stabilized flame. The results were compared to modeling results of a one dimensional stagnation point flow, with a detailed reaction mechanism. In order to prove the model, also measured gas phase temperatures by OH LIF for a stoichiometric stagnation point flame were discussed. It turns out that the flame stabilization mechanism and with it the heat fluxes change from low to high

Recent measurements of flame acceleration in semiconfined geometries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abou-Arab, T.W. (King Fahd Univ. of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran (SA). Mechanical Engineering Dept.); Enayet, M.M.; Kamel, M.M. (Cairo Univ., Giza (EG). Mechanical Power Engineering Dept.)

1991-04-01

Turbulent premixed combustion under certain conditions may lead to large flame speeds sufficient to cause significant damage to nearby structures. Experiments, both large and small scale, have confirmed that obstructions cause severe flame acceleration to occur. In these cases, flame speeds as high as 800 ms{sup -1} may be achieved. In this work experimental investigation of some factors affecting flame acceleration in a semiconfined channel has been carried out. The experimental facility and the developed ionization gap measuring technique are also described. It has been found that the presence of obstacles, degree of confinement, height of fuel-air cloud (FAC), as well as fuel concentration gradient in the FAC have profound effects on the rate at which the flame accelerates. Finally, consideration of the flame acceleration as a possible mechanism for the transition to detonation will be discussed. (author).

Isomer-specific combustion chemistry in allene and propyne flames

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, Nils; Miller, James A. [Combustion Research Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94551 (United States); Westmoreland, Phillip R. [Department of Chem. Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (United States); Kasper, Tina [Combustion Research Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94551 (United States); Department of Chemistry, Bielefeld University, D-33615 Bielefeld (Germany); Kohse-Hoeinghaus, Katharina [Department of Chemistry, Bielefeld University, D-33615 Bielefeld (Germany); Wang, Juan; Cool, Terrill A. [School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)

2009-11-15

A combined experimental and modeling study is performed to clarify the isomer-specific combustion chemistry in flames fueled by the C{sub 3}H{sub 4} isomers allene and propyne. To this end, mole fraction profiles of several flame species in stoichiometric allene (propyne)/O{sub 2}/Ar flames are analyzed by means of a chemical kinetic model. The premixed flames are stabilized on a flat-flame burner under a reduced pressure of 25 Torr (=33.3 mbar). Quantitative species profiles are determined by flame-sampling molecular-beam mass spectrometry, and the isomer-specific flame compositions are unraveled by employing photoionization with tunable vacuum-ultraviolet synchrotron radiation. The temperature profiles are measured by OH laser-induced fluorescence. Experimental and modeled mole fraction profiles of selected flame species are discussed with respect to the isomer-specific combustion chemistry in both flames. The emphasis is put on main reaction pathways of fuel consumption, of allene and propyne isomerization, and of isomer-specific formation of C{sub 6} aromatic species. The present model includes the latest theoretical rate coefficients for reactions on a C{sub 3}H{sub 5} potential [J.A. Miller, J.P. Senosiain, S.J. Klippenstein, Y. Georgievskii, J. Phys. Chem. A 112 (2008) 9429-9438] and for the propargyl recombination reactions [Y. Georgievskii, S.J. Klippenstein, J.A. Miller, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 9 (2007) 4259-4268]. Larger peak mole fractions of propargyl, allyl, and benzene are observed in the allene flame than in the propyne flame. In these flames virtually all of the benzene is formed by the propargyl recombination reaction. (author)

Flame Length

Data.gov (United States)

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — Flame length was modeled using FlamMap, an interagency fire behavior mapping and analysis program that computes potential fire behavior characteristics. The tool...

Log-Normality and Multifractal Analysis of Flame Surface Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Abhishek; Chaudhuri, Swetaprovo; Law, Chung K.

2013-11-01

The turbulent flame surface is typically highly wrinkled and folded at a multitude of scales controlled by various flame properties. It is useful if the information contained in this complex geometry can be projected onto a simpler regular geometry for the use of spectral, wavelet or multifractal analyses. Here we investigate local flame surface statistics of turbulent flame expanding under constant pressure. First the statistics of local length ratio is experimentally obtained from high-speed Mie scattering images. For spherically expanding flame, length ratio on the measurement plane, at predefined equiangular sectors is defined as the ratio of the actual flame length to the length of a circular-arc of radius equal to the average radius of the flame. Assuming isotropic distribution of such flame segments we convolute suitable forms of the length-ratio probability distribution functions (pdfs) to arrive at corresponding area-ratio pdfs. Both the pdfs are found to be near log-normally distributed and shows self-similar behavior with increasing radius. Near log-normality and rather intermittent behavior of the flame-length ratio suggests similarity with dissipation rate quantities which stimulates multifractal analysis. Currently at Indian Institute of Science, India.

Dynamics of premixed hydrogen/air flames in mesoscale channels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pizza, Gianmarco [Paul Scherrer Institute, Combustion Research, CH-5232, Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Aerothermochemistry and Combustion Systems Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, CH-8092, Zurich (Switzerland); Frouzakis, Christos E.; Boulouchos, Konstantinos [Aerothermochemistry and Combustion Systems Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, CH-8092, Zurich (Switzerland); Mantzaras, John [Paul Scherrer Institute, Combustion Research, CH-5232, Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Tomboulides, Ananias G. [Department of Engineering and Management of Energy Resources, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani (Greece)

2008-10-15

Direct numerical simulation with detailed chemistry and transport is used to study the stabilization and dynamics of lean ({phi}=0.5) premixed hydrogen/air atmospheric pressure flames in mesoscale planar channels. Channel heights of h=2, 4, and 7 mm, and inflow velocities in the range 0.3{<=}U{sub IN}{<=}1100cm/ s are investigated. Six different burning modes are identified: mild combustion, ignition/extinction, closed steady symmetric flames, open steady symmetric flames, oscillating and, finally, asymmetric flames. Chaotic behavior of cellular flame structures is observed for certain values of U{sub IN}. Stability maps delineating the regions of the different flame types are finally constructed. (author)

Flame Retardant Polyamide Fibres: The Challenge of Minimising Flame Retardant Additive Contents with Added Nanoclays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Horrocks

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This work shows that halogen-free, flame retarded polyamide 6 (PA6, fabrics may be produced in which component fibres still have acceptable tensile properties and low levels (preferably ≤10 wt % of additives by incorporating a nanoclay along with two types of flame retardant formulations. The latter include (i aluminium diethyl phosphinate (AlPi at 10 wt %, known to work principally in the vapour phase and (ii ammonium sulphamate (AS/dipentaerythritol (DP system present at 2.5 and 1 wt % respectively, believed to be condense phase active. The nanoclay chosen is an organically modified montmorillonite clay, Cloisite 25A. The effect of each additive system is analysed in terms of its ability to maximise both filament tensile properties relative to 100% PA6 and flame retardant behaviour of knitted fabrics in a vertical orientation. None of the AlPi-containing formulations achieved self-extinguishability, although the presence of nanoclay promoted lower burning and melt dripping rates. The AS/DP-containing formulations with total flame retardant levels of 5.5 wt % or less showed far superior properties and with nanoclay, showed fabric extinction times ≤ 39 s and reduced melt dripping. The tensile and flammability results, supported by thermogravimetric analysis, have been interpreted in terms of the mechanism of action of each flame retardant/nanoclay type.

Preparation of Flame Retardant Modified with Titanate for Asphalt Binder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Improving the compatibility between flame retardant and asphalt is a difficult task due to the complex nature of the materials. This study explores a low dosage compound flame retardant and seeks to improve the compatibility between flame retardants and asphalt. An orthogonal experiment was designed taking magnesium hydroxide, ammonium polyphosphate, and melamine as factors. The oil absorption and activation index were tested to determine the effect of titanate on the flame retardant additive. The pavement performance test was conducted to evaluate the effect of the flame retardant additive. Oxygen index test was conducted to confirm the effect of flame retardant on flame ability of asphalt binder. The results of this study showed that the new composite flame retardant is more effective in improving the compatibility between flame retardant and asphalt and reducing the limiting oxygen index of asphalt binder tested in this study.

A conservative, thermodynamically consistent numerical approach for low Mach number combustion. Part I: Single-level integration

Science.gov (United States)

Nonaka, Andrew; Day, Marcus S.; Bell, John B.

2018-01-01

We present a numerical approach for low Mach number combustion that conserves both mass and energy while remaining on the equation of state to a desired tolerance. We present both unconfined and confined cases, where in the latter the ambient pressure changes over time. Our overall scheme is a projection method for the velocity coupled to a multi-implicit spectral deferred corrections (SDC) approach to integrate the mass and energy equations. The iterative nature of SDC methods allows us to incorporate a series of pressure discrepancy corrections naturally that lead to additional mass and energy influx/outflux in each finite volume cell in order to satisfy the equation of state. The method is second order, and satisfies the equation of state to a desired tolerance with increasing iterations. Motivated by experimental results, we test our algorithm on hydrogen flames with detailed kinetics. We examine the morphology of thermodiffusively unstable cylindrical premixed flames in high-pressure environments for confined and unconfined cases. We also demonstrate that our algorithm maintains the equation of state for premixed methane flames and non-premixed dimethyl ether jet flames.

Two-dimensional simulations of steady perforated-plate stabilized premixed flames

KAUST Repository

Altay, H. Murat

2010-03-17

The objective of this work is to examine the impact of the operating conditions and the perforated-plate design on the steady, lean premixed flame characteristics. We perform two-dimensional simulations of laminar flames using a reduced chemical kinetics mechanism for methane-air combustion, consisting of 20 species and 79 reactions. We solve the heat conduction problem within the plate, allowing heat exchange between the gas mixture and the solid plate. The physical model is based on a zero-Mach-number formulation of the axisymmetric compressible conservation equations. The results suggest that the flame consumption speed, the flame structure, and the flame surface area depend significantly on the equivalence ratio, mean inlet velocity, the distance between the perforated-plate holes and the plate thermal conductivity. In the case of an adiabatic plate, a conical flame is formed, anchored near the corner of the hole. When the heat exchange between themixture and the plate is finite, the flame acquires a Gaussian shape stabilizing at a stand-off distance, that grows with the plate conductivity. The flame tip is negatively curved; i.e. concave with respect to the reactants. Downstream of the plate, the flame base is positively curved; i.e. convex with respect to the reactants, stabilizing above a stagnation region established between neighboring holes. As the plate\\'s thermal conductivity increases, the heat flux to the plate decreases, lowering its top surface temperature. As the equivalence ratio increases, the flame moves closer to the plate, raising its temperature, and lowering the flame stand-off distance. As the mean inlet velocity increases, the flame stabilizes further downstream, the flame tip becomes sharper, hence raising the burning rate at that location. The curvature of the flame base depends on the distance between the neighboring holes; and the flame there is characterized by high concentration of intermediates, like carbon monoxide. © 2010 Taylor

Aerodynamic features of flames in premixed gases

Science.gov (United States)

Oppenheim, A. K.

1984-01-01

A variety of experimentally established flame phenomena in premixed gases are interpreted by relating them to basic aerodynamic properties of the flow field. On this basis the essential mechanism of some well known characteristic features of flames stabilized in the wake of a bluff-body or propagating in ducts are revealed. Elementary components of the flame propagation process are shown to be: rotary motion, self-advancement, and expansion. Their consequences are analyzed under a most strict set of idealizations that permit the flow field to be treated as potential in character, while the flame is modelled as a Stefan-like interface capable of exerting a feed-back effect upon the flow field. The results provide an insight into the fundamental fluid-mechanical reasons for the experimentally observed distortions of the flame front, rationalizing in particular its ability to sustain relatively high flow velocities at amazingly low normal burning speeds.

Properties of plasma flames sustained by microwaves and burning hydrocarbon fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Yong Cheol; Uhm, Han Sup

2006-01-01

Plasma flames made of atmospheric microwave plasma and a fuel-burning flame were presented and their properties were investigated experimentally. The plasma flame generator consists of a fuel injector and a plasma flame exit connected in series to a microwave plasma torch. The plasma flames are sustained by injecting hydrocarbon fuels into a microwave plasma torch in air discharge. The microwave plasma torch in the plasma flame system can burn a hydrocarbon fuel by high-temperature plasma and high atomic oxygen density, decomposing the hydrogen and carbon containing fuel. We present the visual observations of the sustained plasma flames and measure the gas temperature using a thermocouple device in terms of the gas-fuel mixture and flow rate. The plasma flame volume of the hydrocarbon fuel burners was more than approximately 30-50 times that of the torch plasma. While the temperature of the torch plasma flame was only 868 K at a measurement point, that of the diesel microwave plasma flame with the addition of 0.019 lpm diesel and 30 lpm oxygen increased drastically to about 2280 K. Preliminary experiments for methane plasma flame were also carried out, measuring the temperature profiles of flames along the radial and axial directions. Finally, we investigated the influence of the microwave plasma on combustion flame by observing and comparing OH molecular spectra for the methane plasma flame and methane flame only

On the Comparison of the Long Penetration Mode (LPM) Supersonic Counterflowing Jet to the Supersonic Screech Jet

Science.gov (United States)

Farr, Rebecca A.; Chang, Chau-Lyan; Jones, Jess H.; Dougherty, N. Sam

2015-01-01

Classic tonal screech noise created by under-expanded supersonic jets; Long Penetration Mode (LPM) supersonic phenomenon -Under-expanded counter-flowing jet in supersonic free stream -Demonstrated in several wind tunnel tests -Modeled in several computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations; Discussion of LPM acoustics feedback and fluid interactions -Analogous to the aero-acoustics interactions seen in screech jets; Lessons Learned: Applying certain methodologies to LPM -Developed and successfully demonstrated in the study of screech jets -Discussion of mechanically induced excitation in fluid oscillators in general; Conclusions -Large body of work done on jet screech, other aero-acoustic phenomenacan have direct application to the study and applications of LPM cold flow jets

Flame oscillations in tubes with nonslip at the walls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akkerman, V' yacheslav; Bychkov, Vitaly; Petchenko, Arkady [Institute of Physics, Umeaa University, SE-901 87 Umeaa (Sweden); Eriksson, Lars-Erik [Department of Applied Mechanics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Goeteborg (Sweden)

2006-06-15

A laminar premixed flame front propagating in a two-dimensional tube is considered with nonslip at the walls and with both ends open. The problem of flame propagation is solved using direct numerical simulations of the complete set of hydrodynamic equations including thermal conduction, diffusion, viscosity, and chemical kinetics. As a result, it is shown that flame interaction with the walls leads to the oscillating regime of burning. The oscillations involve variations of the curved flame shape and the velocity of flame propagation. The oscillation parameters depend on the characteristic tube width, which controls the Reynolds number of the flow. In narrow tubes the oscillations are rather weak, while in wider tubes they become stronger with well-pronounced nonlinear effects. The period of oscillations increases for wider tubes, while the average flame length scaled by the tube diameter decreases only slightly with increasing tube width. The average flame length calculated in the present work is in agreement with that obtained in the experiments. Numerical results reduce the gap between the theory of turbulent flames and the experiments on turbulent combustion in tubes. (author)

Dependence of flame length on cross sections of burners

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hackeschmidt, M.

1983-06-01

This article analyzes the relation between the shape of burner muzzle and the resulting flame jet in a combustion chamber. Geometrical shapes of burner muzzles, either square, circular or triangular are compared as well as proportions of flame dimensions. A formula for calculating flame lengths is derived, for which the mathematical value 'contact profile radius' for burner muzzle shape is introduced. The formula for calculating flame lengths allows a partial replacement of the empirical flame mixing factor according to N.Q. Toai, 1981. The geometrical analysis does not include thermodynamic and reaction kinetic studies, which may be necessary for evaluating heterogenous (coal dust) combustion flames with longer burning time. (12 refs.)

Experimental study of a premixed oscillating flame stabilized inside the tube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, B.I.; Shin, H.D. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1998-04-01

An experimental study of premixed oscillating flame stabilized inside the tube has been conducted in order to examine the kinematic behavior of premixed flame under the flow oscillation and flame/flow interaction. Flow oscillation is accomplished by an acoustic excitation. Oscillating nature of flow has been studied with and without the flame using velocity and pressure measurements by a LDV and microphone, respectively Kinematic behavior of the oscillating flame is examined using triggered ICCD camera system. Velocity oscillation and flame oscillation is the same frequency as that produced by the acoustic excitation and flame shape has a similarity at various phase of oscillation. Upstream velocity field near the flame zone is greatly influenced by the flame oscillation. This is the typical example of flame/flow interaction. (author). 9 refs., 7 figs.

Formation and stabilization of multiple ball-like flames at Earth gravity

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Zhen

2018-03-20

Near-limit low-Lewis-number premixed flame behavior is studied experimentally and numerically for flames of H–CH–air mixtures that are located in a 55 mm diameter tube and below a perforated plate in a downward mixture flow. A combustion regime diagram is experimentally identified in terms of equivalence ratio and ratio of H to CH (variation of fuel Lewis number). Planar flames, cell-like flames, distorted cap-like flames, and arrays of ball-like flames are progressively observed in the experiments as the equivalence ratio is decreased. The experimentally observed ball-like lean limit flames experience chaotic motion, which is accompanied by sporadic events of flame splitting and extinction, while the total number of simultaneously burning flamelets remains approximately the same. In separate experiments, the multiple ball-like lean limit flames are stabilized by creating a slightly non-uniform mixture flow field. The CH* chemiluminescence distributions of the lean limit flames are recorded, showing that the ball-like lean limit flame front becomes more uniform in intensity and its shape approaches a spherical one with the increase of H content in the fuel. Numerical simulations are performed for single representative flames of the array of stabilized flamelets observed in the experiments. The simulated ball-like lean limit flame is further contrasted with the single ball-like flame that forms in a narrow tube (13.5 mm inner diameter) with an iso-thermal wall. The numerical results show that the ball-like lean limit flames present in the array of ball-like flames are more affected by the buoyancy-induced recirculation zone, compared with that in the narrow tube, revealing why the shape of the ball-like flame in the array deviates more from a spherical one. All in all, the wall confinement is not crucial for the formation of ball-like flames at terrestrial gravity.

Linear response of stretch-affected premixed flames to flow oscillations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, H.Y.; Law, C.K. [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Lieuwen, T. [School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332 (United States)

2009-04-15

The linear response of 2D wedge-shaped premixed flames to harmonic velocity disturbances was studied, allowing for the influence of flame stretch manifested as variations in the local flame speed along the wrinkled flame front. Results obtained from analyzing the G-equation show that the flame response is mainly characterized by a Markstein number {sigma}{sub C}, which measures the curvature effect of the wrinkles, and a Strouhal number, St{sub f}, defined as the angular frequency of the disturbance normalized by the time taken for the disturbance to propagate the flame length. Flame stretch is found to become important when the disturbance frequency satisfies {sigma}{sub C}St{sub f}{sup 2}{proportional_to} O(1), i.e. St{sub f}{proportional_to} O({sigma}{sub C}{sup -1/2}). Specifically, for disturbance frequencies below this order, stretch effects are small and the flame responds as an unstretched one. When the disturbance frequencies are of this order, the transfer function, defined as the ratio of the normalized fluctuation of the heat release rate to that of the velocity, is contributed mostly from fluctuations of the flame surface area, which is now affected by stretch. Finally, as the disturbance frequency increases to St{sub f}{proportional_to} O({sigma}{sub C}{sup -1}), i.e. {sigma}{sub C}St{sub f}{proportional_to} O(1), the direct contribution from the stretch-affected flame speed fluctuation to the transfer function becomes comparable to that of the flame surface area. The present study phenomenologically explains the experimentally observed filtering effect in which the flame wrinkles developed at the flame base decay along the flame surface for large frequency disturbances as well as for thermal-diffusively stable and weakly unstable mixtures. (author)

Effect of Lewis number on ball-like lean limit flames

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Zhen; Shoshin, Yuriy; Hernandez Perez, Francisco; van Oijen, Jeroen A.; de Goey, Laurentius P.H.

2017-01-01

–air and H2–air flames, ball-like lean limit flames are observed. Flame temperature fields are measured using Rayleigh scattering. The experimentally observed lean limit flames are predicted qualitatively by numerical simulation with the mixture

Flame spread over inclined electrical wires with AC electric fields

KAUST Repository

Lim, Seung J.

2017-07-21

Flame spread over polyethylene-insulated electrical wires was studied experimentally with applied alternating current (AC) by varying the inclination angle (θ), applied voltage (VAC), and frequency (fAC). For the baseline case with no electric field applied, the flame spread rate and the flame width of downwardly spreading flames (DSFs) decreased from the horizontal case for −20° ≤ θ < 0° and maintained near constant values for −90° ≤ θ < −20°, while the flame spread rate increased appreciably as the inclination angle of upwardly spreading flames (USFs) increased. When an AC electric field was applied, the behavior of flame spread rate in DSFs (USFs) could be classified into two (three) sub-regimes characterized by various functional dependences on VAC, fAC, and θ. In nearly all cases of DSFs, a globular molten polyethylene formed ahead of the spreading flame edge, occasionally dripping onto the ground. In these cases, an effective flame spread rate was defined to represent the burning rate by measuring the mass loss due to dripping. This effective spread rate was independent of AC frequency, while it decreased linearly with voltage and was independent of the inclination angle. In DSFs, when excessively high voltage and frequency were applied, the dripping led to flame extinction during propagation and the extinction frequency correlated well with applied voltage. In USFs, when high voltage and frequency were applied, multiple globular molten PEs formed at several locations, leading to ejections of multiple small flame segments from the main flame, thereby reducing the flame spread rate, which could be attributed to the electrospray phenomenon.

Leading-Edge Velocities and Lifted Methane Jet Flame Stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Wang

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Current interest exists in understanding reaction-zone dynamics and mechanisms with respect to how they counterpropagate against incoming reactants. Images of flame position and flow-field morphology are presented from flame chemiluminescence and particle image velocimetry (PIV measurements. In the present study, PIV experiments were carried out to measure the methane jet lifted-flame flow-field velocities in the vicinity of the flame leading edge. Specifically, velocity fields within the high-temperature zone were examined in detail, which complements previous studies, whose prime focus is the flow-field upstream of the high-temperature boundary. PIV data is used not only to determine the velocities, but, along with chemiluminescence images, to also indicate the approximate location of the reaction zone (further supported by/through the leading-edge flame velocity distributions. The velocity results indirectly support the concept that the flame is anchored primarily through the mechanism of partially premixed flame propagation.

Synthesis of Nano-Particles in Flames

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johannessen, Tue

flame burner and a premixed burner with a precursor jet. The experimental setups and results are shown and discussed in detail. Alumina powder with specific surface area between 45 m2/g and 190 m2/g was obtained.Temperature and flow fields of the flame processes are analysed by numerical simulations...... energy expression.Furthermore, the model is validated by comparison with experimental data of the flame synthesis of titania by combustion of TiCl4 previously presented by Pratsinis et al. (1996).The combination of particle dynamics and CFD simulations has proved to be an efficient method......The scope of this work is to investigate the synthesis of aluminum oxide particles in flames from the combustion of an aluminum alkoxide precursor.A general introduction to particles formation in the gas phase is presented with emphasis on the mechanisms that control the particle morphology after...

Nanocellular foam with solid flame retardant

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Liang; Kelly-Rowley, Anne M.; Bunker, Shana P.; Costeux, Stephane

2017-11-21

Prepare nanofoam by (a) providing an aqueous solution of a flame retardant dissolved in an aqueous solvent, wherein the flame retardant is a solid at 23.degree. C. and 101 kiloPascals pressure when in neat form; (b) providing a fluid polymer composition selected from a solution of polymer dissolved in a water-miscible solvent or a latex of polymer particles in a continuous aqueous phase; (c) mixing the aqueous solution of flame retardant with the fluid polymer composition to form a mixture; (d) removing water and, if present, solvent from the mixture to produce a polymeric composition having less than 74 weight-percent flame retardant based on total polymeric composition weight; (e) compound the polymeric composition with a matrix polymer to form a matrix polymer composition; and (f) foam the matrix polymer composition into nanofoam having a porosity of at least 60 percent.

Soot Formation in Freely-Propagating Laminar Premixed Flames

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, K.-C.; Hassan, M. I.; Faeth, G. M.

1997-01-01

Soot formation within hydrocarbon-fueled flames is an important unresolved problem of combustion science. Thus, the present study is considering soot formation in freely-propagating laminar premixed flames, exploiting the microgravity environment to simplify measurements at the high-pressure conditions of interest for many practical applications. The findings of the investigation are relevant to reducing emissions of soot and continuum radiation from combustion processes, to improving terrestrial and spacecraft fire safety, and to developing methods of computational combustion, among others. Laminar premixed flames are attractive for studying soot formation because they are simple one-dimensional flows that are computationally tractable for detailed numerical simulations. Nevertheless, studying soot-containing burner-stabilized laminar premixed flames is problematical: spatial resolution and residence times are limited at the pressures of interest for practical applications, flame structure is sensitive to minor burner construction details so that experimental reproducibility is not very good, consistent burner behavior over the lengthy test programs needed to measure soot formation properties is hard to achieve, and burners have poor durability. Fortunately, many of these problems are mitigated for soot-containing, freely-propagating laminar premixed flames. The present investigation seeks to extend work in this laboratory for various soot processes in flames by observing soot formation in freely-propagating laminar premixed flames. Measurements are being made at both Normal Gravity (NG) and MicroGravity (MG), using a short-drop free-fall facility to provide MG conditions.

Unsteady Flame Embedding (UFE) Subgrid Model for Turbulent Premixed Combustion Simulations

KAUST Repository

El-Asrag, Hossam

2010-01-04

We present a formulation for an unsteady subgrid model for premixed combustion in the flamelet regime. Since chemistry occurs at the unresolvable scales, it is necessary to introduce a subgrid model that accounts for the multi-scale nature of the problem using the information available on the resolved scales. Most of the current models are based on the laminar flamelet concept, and often neglect the unsteady effects. The proposed model\\'s primary objective is to encompass many of the flame/turbulence interactions unsteady features and history effects. In addition it provides a dynamic and accurate approach for computing the subgrid flame propagation velocity. The unsteady flame embedding approach (UFE) treats the flame as an ensemble of locally one-dimensional flames. A set of elemental one dimensional flames is used to describe the turbulent flame structure at the subgrid level. The stretched flame calculations are performed on the stagnation line of a strained flame using the unsteady filtered strain rate computed from the resolved- grid. The flame iso-surface is tracked using an accurate high-order level set formulation to propagate the flame interface at the coarse resolution with minimum numerical diffusion. In this paper the solver and the model components are introduced and used to investigate two unsteady flames with different Lewis numbers in the thin reaction zone regime. The results show that the UFE model captures the unsteady flame-turbulence interactions and the flame propagation speed reasonably well. Higher propagation speed is observed for the lower than unity Lewis number flame because of the impact of differential diffusion.

Flame acceleration in the early stages of burning in tubes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bychkov, Vitaly; Fru, Gordon; Petchenko, Arkady [Institute of Physics, Umeaa University, S-901 87 Umeaa (Sweden); Akkerman, V' yacheslav [Institute of Physics, Umeaa University, S-901 87 Umeaa (Sweden); Nuclear Safety Institute (IBRAE) of Russian Academy of Sciences, B. Tulskaya 52, 115191 Moscow (Russian Federation); Eriksson, Lars-Erik [Department of Applied Mechanics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Goeteborg (Sweden)

2007-09-15

Acceleration of premixed laminar flames in the early stages of burning in long tubes is considered. The acceleration mechanism was suggested earlier by Clanet and Searby [Combust. Flame 105 (1996) 225]. Acceleration happens due to the initial ignition geometry at the tube axis when a flame develops to a finger-shaped front, with surface area growing exponentially in time. Flame surface area grows quite fast but only for a short time. The analytical theory of flame acceleration is developed, which determines the growth rate, the total acceleration time, and the maximal increase of the flame surface area. Direct numerical simulations of the process are performed for the complete set of combustion equations. The simulations results and the theory are in good agreement with the previous experiments. The numerical simulations also demonstrate flame deceleration, which follows acceleration, and the so-called ''tulip flames''. (author)

Experimental Studies of Hydrocarbon Flame Phenomena: Enabling Combustion Control

Science.gov (United States)