The effects of hydrogen addition on the stability limits of methane jet diffusion flames

The flame stability limits of confined jet diffusion flames (JDFs) flowing into a co-axial oxidizing stream was studied both experimentally and analytically. Methane and hydrogen and their mixtures were used as the fuel. The experiments were conducted with two different jet diameters and within a wide range of co-flowing stream velocities and hydrogen concentrations in methane or air stream. The hydrogen diffusion flame was found to have a much larger region of stable operation than the methane JDF. Higher stability of the methane JDFs was achieved by the addition of hydrogen to either the jet fuel or the surrounding air stream. A hysteresis phenomena were observed in the reattachment process of lifted flames.It was found that the conditions prior to ignition of the flame, such as the value of co-flowing stream and jet velocities and position of the ignitor, have significant effect on the type of flame stabilization mechanism and flame blowout limits. The optimum ignition conditions for achieving higher blowout limits were investigated. The blowout limits of lifted JDFs were significantly affected by the velocity of co-flowing stream.The present study also reports the results of the calculation of the blowout limits of lifted JDFs using as a criterion the ratio of mixing time scale to characteristic combustion time scale. The agreement of the experimental and calculated data was satisfactory.     

Flame stabilization in a lifted non-premixed turbulent hydrogen jet with coaxial air

To understand hydrogen jet liftoff height, the stabilization mechanism of turbulent lifted jet flames under non-premixed conditions was studied. The objectives were to determine flame stability mechanisms, to analyze flame structure, and to characterize the lifted jet at the flame stabilization point. Hydrogen flow velocity varied from 100 to 300 m/s. Coaxial air velocity was regulated from 12 to 20 m/s. Simultaneous velocity field and reaction zone measurements used, PIV/OH PLIF techniques with Nd:YAG lasers and CCD/ICCD cameras. Liftoff height decreased with increased fuel velocity. The flame stabilized in a lower velocity region next to the faster fuel jet due to the mixing effects of the coaxial air flow. The non-premixed turbulent lifted hydrogen jet flames had two types of flame structure for both thin and thick flame base. Lifted flame stabilization was related to local principal strain rate and turbulent intensity, assuming that combustion occurs where local flow velocity and turbulent flame propagation velocity are balanced.     

Reignition phenomenon of high‐speed hydrogen jet diffusion flame

An experimental study deals with a high‐speed hydrogen jet diffusion flame ejected vertically upward from a straight circular nozzle. Consideration is given to the reignition phenomenon that occurs after blow‐off of the main flame. The Schlieren technique and image‐processing method with the aid of the high‐speed video camera are employed to visualize the flame shape, particularly the flame base near the nozzle tip and to investigate the time history of the flame morphology. It is found that: (i) the flame reignition phenomenon of hydrogen jet diffusion flames appears only in a certain region of mass flow rates; (ii) the small‐sized flame‐let remains in the vicinity of the nozzle rim at the mass flow rates that the reignition occurs; (iii) a further increase in mass flow rates makes the flame‐let extinguish and no reignition occurs; (iv) the time interval of flame reignition extends with an increase in mass flow rates; and (v) the flow rates of the onset and end of the reignition and the existence of flame‐let formed near the nozzle rim are affected by the rim thickness of the fuel nozzle. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrogen enrichment for improved lean flame stability

The stability characteristics of a premixed, swirl-stabilized flame were studied to determine the effects of hydrogen addition on flame stability under fuel-lean conditions. The burner configuration consisted of a centerbody with an annular, premixed methane/air jet introduced through five, 45° swirl vanes. Flame stability was studied over a range of operating conditions. Under fuel-rich conditions the flame was lifted from the burner surface due to the mixing with entrained ambient air that was needed to form a flammable mixture. As the fuel/air mixture ratio was decreased toward stoichiometric, the resulting increase in flame speed allowed the flame to propagate upstream through the low-velocity wake region and attach to the centerbody face. The maximum blowout velocity occurred at stoichiometric conditions, and decreased as the mixture became leaner. OH PLIF measurements were used to study the behavior of OH mole fraction as the lean stability limit was approached. Near the lean stability limit the overall OH mole fraction decreased, the flame decreased in size and the high OH region took on a more shredded appearance. The addition of up to 20% hydrogen to the methane/air mixture resulted in a significant increase in the OH concentration and extended the lean stability limits of the burner.     

The hysteresis phenomenon in flame lift-off on a bluff-body burner under airflow dominant conditions

We investigated the behavior of the lifted flame on a bluff-body burner under the airflow dominant condition by the higher annular airflow velocity and the lower central fuel jet one and found the appearance of the hysteresis phenomenon in lift-off height of the flame that depends on the history of the fuel jet velocity. The hysteresis behavior is entirely different from the case of the fuel flow dominant condition by the higher central fuel jet velocity and lower annular airflow one. The observation by shadowgraph revealed that the occurrence of the phenomenon has a relation to the interaction between the fuel jet and the recirculation airflow region on the burner.     

The blowout mechanism of turbulent jet diffusion flames

The complicated flame stabilization mechanisms and flame/flow interactions in the blowout of turbulent nonpremixed jet flames are experimentally studied using phenomenological observation, 2D Rayleigh scattering, 2D laser-induced predissociative fluorescence (LIPF) images of OH, and particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques. The blowout process may be categorized into four characteristic regions: pulsating, onset of receding, receding, and extinction. Based on experimental findings, a blowout mechanism is proposed. The maximum “waistline” point of the stoichiometric contour, defined as the point where the radial distance between the elliptic stoichiometric contour and the jet axis reaches a maximum value, can be regarded as the dividing point separating the unstable and stable regions for the lifted flame in the blowout process. If the flame base is pushed beyond the maximum “waistline” point, the flame will step into the pulsating region and become unstable, triggering the blowout process. The triple flame structure is identified and found to play an important role in flame stabilization within the stable liftoff and pulsating regions. In the pulsating region, the stabilization point of the triple flame moves along the stoichiometric contour, stabilizing the flame where the flame base is bounded by the contours of lean and rich limits. If the flame is pushed beyond the tip of the stoichiometric contour, the stabilization point and triple flame structure vanish and the flame becomes lean. The flame then recedes downstream continuously and finally extinguishes.     

Blowoff characteristics of bluff-body stabilized conical premixed flames with upstream spatial mixture gradients and velocity oscillations

This experimental study concerns determination of blowoff equivalence ratios for lean premixed conical flames for different mixture approach velocities ranging from 5 to 16 m/s in the presence of spatial mixture gradients and upstream velocity modulation. Conical flames were anchored on a disk-shaped bluff body that was attached to a central rod in the burner nozzle. A combustible propane-air mixture flowed through a converging axisymmetric nozzle with a concentric insert, allowing radial mixture variation by tailoring the composition in the inner and outer parts of the nozzle. The radial mixture profiles were characterized near the location of the flame holder by laser Rayleigh light scattering. Additionally, a loudspeaker at the nozzle base allowed introduction of periodic velocity oscillations with an amplitude of 9% of the mean flow velocity up to a frequency of 350 Hz. The flame blowoff equivalence ratio was experimentally determined by continuously lowering the fuel flow rates and determining the flame detachment point from the flame holder. Flame detachment was detected by a rapid reduction of CH* emission from the flame base imaged by a photomultiplier detector. It was found that the flame blowoff is preceded by progressive narrowing of the flame cone for the case of higher inner jet equivalence ratios. In this case, the fuel-lean outer flow cannot sustain combustion, and clearly this is not a good way of operating a combustor. Nevertheless, the overall blowoff equivalence ratio is reduced by inner stream fuel enrichment. A possible explanation for this behavior is given based on the radial extent of the variable-equivalence-ratio mixture burning near the flame stabilization region. Fuel enrichment in the outer flow was found to have no effect on blowoff as compared to the case of uniform mixture. The results were similar for the whole range of mean flow velocities and upstream excitation frequencies.     

湍流射流火焰抬举高度的实验研究

湍流射流燃烧作为工业燃烧室中普遍存在的燃烧方式,研究湍流射流火焰不仅能促进实际燃烧室的设计改造,更能增强对湍流燃烧理论的理解。在轴对称伴流射流燃烧器实验平台上,研究了湍流自由射流火焰抬举高度随射流速度的变化及氮气稀释和伴流速度对火焰抬举高度的影响。实验结果表明湍流自由射流燃烧火焰抬举高度随射流速度呈线性增长;随氮气稀释摩尔分数的增加其抬举高度的线性斜率增大,射流火焰吹出喷嘴的雷诺数降低,火焰更易发生抬举;同时,氮气稀释摩尔分数的增加也导致射流火焰发生吹熄时雷诺数减小,射流火焰在射流速度完全进入湍流之前发生吹熄;伴流速度小于0.3 m/s时对火焰抬举高度的影响不大,当伴流速度大于0.3 m/s时抬举高度随伴流速度的增加呈线性增长,当射流速度大于20 m/s时,伴流速度的影响降低;对比伴流与稀释对抬举高度的影响可知射流速度大于30 m/s时对伴流的敏感性大于稀释,而在射流速度小于30 m/s时对稀释更敏感。     

Stable negative edge flame formation in a counterflow burner

In nonpremixed combustion, edge flames can form as a region of flame propagation or flame recession. Forwardly propagating edge flames, as occur in lifted flames, have a local gas velocity at the flame edge that is from unburned partially premixed fuel and air into the flame. These flames represent an ignition process, and permit the flame itself to either stabilize against an incoming gas stream or propagate into unburned fuel and air. Negative edge flames represent the opposite case of a local gas velocity from burned products through the flame edge. The negative edge flame represents a local extinction process, and occurs, for example, during vortex-induced extinction of a nonpremixed flame sheet. A technique for generating steady negative edge flames in a standard counterflow burner is presented, which permits detailed examination of their properties. A coannular counterflow burner is used to create a strain gradient that quenches a central diffusion flame. Unlike previous research on strain-induced flame edges, the axisymmetric flow field ensures gas flow from products through the edge. Measurements of the edge flame's sensitivity to global strain rates and fuel mixtures are presented, along with measurements of the edge flame structure using OH fluorescence and CH emission imaging.     

Hysteresis and transition in swirling nonpremixed flames

Strongly swirling nonpremixed flames are known to exhibit a hysteresis when transiting from an attached long, sooty, yellow flame to a short lifted blue flame, and vice versa. The upward transition (by increasing the air and fuel flow rates) corresponds to a vortex breakdown, i.e. an abrupt change from an attached swirling flame (unidirectional or with a weak bluff-body recirculation), to a lifted flame with a strong toroidal vortex occupying the bulk of the flame. Despite dramatic differences in their structures, mixing intensities and combustion performance, both flame types can be realised at identical flow rates, equivalence ratio and swirl intensity. We report here on comprehensive investigations of the two flame regimes at the same conditions in a well-controlled experiment in which the swirl was generated by the rotating outer pipe of the annular burner air passage. Fluid velocity measured with PIV (particle image velocimetry), the qualitative detection of reaction zones from OH PLIF (planar laser-induced fluorescence) and the temperature measured by CARS (coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy) revealed major differences in vortical structures, turbulence, mixing and reaction intensities in the two flames. We discuss the transition mechanism and arguments for the improved mixing, compact size and a broader stability range of the blue flame in comparison to the long yellow flame.     

Jet impingement onto a conical cavity: Effects of annular nozzle outer angle and jet velocity on heat transfer and skin friction

Jet impingement onto a conical cavity results in complicated flow structure in the region of the cavity. Depending on the nozzle geometric configurations and jet velocities, enhancement in the heat transfer rates from the cavity surface is possible. In the present study, annular nozzle and jet impingement onto a conical cavity are considered and heat transfer rates from the cavity surfaces are examined for various jet velocities, two outer angles of the annular nozzle, and two cavity depths. A numerical scheme adopting the control volume approach is used to simulate the flow situation and predict the heat transfer rates. It is found that increasing jet velocity at the nozzle exit modifies the flow structure in the cavity while altering the heat transfer rates and skin friction; in which case, increasing nozzle outer angle and jet velocity enhances the heat transfer rates and skin friction.     

某型低排放燃烧室喷嘴结构优化研究

为提高干低排放燃烧室火焰稳定性,对某燃气轮机干低排放燃烧室喷嘴进行了结构优化,增加了中心预混值班喷嘴,同时对燃料分配进行调整,分析了值班火焰对燃烧室的火焰稳定性和污染物排放的影响。计算结果表明：值班路过量空气系数为1.5,两级旋流过量空气系数相同时,可有效拓宽燃烧室贫燃熄火边界,同时保持较低的污染物排放。最后通过试验测试了燃烧室的贫燃熄火特性和压力脉动特性,初步验证了值班喷嘴结构对稳定燃烧的作用。     

On the stability of a turbulent non-premixed biogas flame: Effect of low swirl strength

Biogas like other low calorific value fuels has a very narrow stable region when operating in diffusion flame mode owing to their low burning velocity in conjunction with the unburned flow high velocity. This paper presents an experimental study on the effect of the burner geometry on the stability limits of a turbulent non-premixed biogas flame. The main focus of the study is on the role of the low swirl strength of the co-airflow, and the fuel nozzle diameter. The results revealed that the swirl plays a dominant role on the flame mode (attached or lifted) as well as on its operating/stability limits. However, the results revealed that the swirl effect prevails only at relatively moderate to high co-airflow velocity. That is, the swirl does not have an apparent effect at weak co-airflow when the flame is attached. Whereas, it becomes dominant at relatively high co-airflow velocity where the attached flame lifts off and stabilizes at a distance above the burner. Correlations were proposed to describe the lifted biogas flame blowout limits.     

Lifted flames on fuel jets in co-flowing air

The three principal theories for the stabilization of lifted flames on turbulent jets of fuel are reviewed in the light of the most recent flame imaging experiments in the literature. Most of these experiments have been conducted with a small co-flow of air, but the observations are relevant to lift-off with higher ratios of co-flowing air to fuel jet velocity. The similarity solutions for jets in co-flow are developed, and data from a variety of fluid dynamic sources are assessed to yield the governing parameters for mean flow, turbulence and mixture fraction. New data for lifted flames on a methane jet in diffusing streams of co-flowing air are then presented. These data provide essential information on the intermittency, and on the properties of the jet conditioned on the presence of turbulent fluid. However, the co-flow lifts the flame to stabilize in better-mixed regions than in its absence. The ‘premixture’ model is confirmed for this situation, in which the lift-off heights were more than 20 jet diameters and where there is little intermittency at the stabilization radius. Nevertheless, mixing data for this geometry in the absence of a flame show that, with lift-off heights less than 20 jet diameters, the base of the flame would have been in the outer regions of the jet where the mixture of fuel in air only reaches stoichiometric proportions intermittently, with the passage of large eddies. Trading on many papers from the recent literature where this was the case, both experimental and computational insights as to the processes in this region are reviewed. A question remains about how ignition is maintained in these experiments with low turbulent lift-off. It is hypothesized that the mechanism is the diffusive heating of the slowly moving surrounding air which then provides an energy store for the incoming eddies. Further time-resolved observations of reaction zone and high temperature gas structure are required to test this model.     

Extinction limits and associated uncertainties of nonpremixed counterflow flames of methane,ethylene, propylene and n-butane in air

Fundamental flame characteristics derived from counterflow flames are routinely used in chemical kinetic model optimization and validation. This paper reports an experimental and computational investigation aimed at understanding and quantifying the source of uncertainties associated with such characterization of extinction limits of fuel–air mixtures, ranging from low extinction strain rate methane–air flames to high-extinction strain rate ethylene–air flames. In the experiments, two pairs of convergent nozzles with exit diameters of 7.9 mm and 14.5 mm were used to introduce opposed jets of nonpremixed fuel and air to establish a planar flame in the counterflow mixing region. Velocity profiles and extinction data were measured using both LV and PIV setups. Experiments were conducted at various nozzle separation distances to investigate potential differences in axial velocity profiles along the axial and radial directions and the corresponding local extinction strain rates. The slope of axial velocity in the axial and radial directions at the air outlet boundary was found to increase with decreasing nozzle separation distance. The variation of local extinction strain rate with changes in separation distance was within the uncertainty of experimental data. Using a C1–C4 chemical kinetic model, quasi one-dimensional computations have been performed to quantify the experimentally determined boundary condition effects on the predicted extinction strain rate of counterflow flames.     

Lifted methane-air jet flames in a vitiated coflow

The present vitiated coflow flame consists of a lifted jet flame formed by a fuel jet issuing from a central nozzle into a large coaxial flow of hot combustion products from a lean premixed H₂/air flame. The fuel stream consists of CH₄ mixed with air. Detailed multiscalar point measurements from combined Raman-Rayleigh-LIF experiments are obtained for a single base-case condition. The experimental data are presented and then compared to numerical results from probability density function (PDF) calculations incorporating various mixing models. The experimental results reveal broadened bimodal distributions of reactive scalars when the probe volume is in the flame stabilization region. The bimodal distribution is attributed to fluctuation of the instantaneous lifted flame position relative to the probe volume. The PDF calculation using the modified Curl mixing model predicts well several but not all features of the instantaneous temperature and composition distributions, time-averaged scalar profiles, and conditional statistics from the multiscalar experiments. A complementary series of parametric experiments is used to determine the sensitivity of flame liftoff height to jet velocity, coflow velocity, and coflow temperature. The liftoff height is found to be approximately linearly related to each parameter within the ranges tested, and it is most sensitive to coflow temperature. The PDF model predictions for the corresponding conditions show that the sensitivity of flame liftoff height to jet velocity and coflow temperature is reasonably captured, while the sensitivity to coflow velocity is underpredicted.     

Mechanisms of flame stabilization and blowout in a reacting turbulent hydrogen jet in cross-flow

The mechanisms contributing to flame stabilization and blowout in a nitrogen-diluted hydrogen transverse jet in a turbulent boundary layer cross-flow (JICF) are investigated using three-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) with detailed chemistry. Non-reacting JICF DNS were performed to understand the relative magnitude and physical location of low velocity regions on the leeward side of the fuel jet where a flame can potentially anchor. As the injection angle is reduced from 90° to 70°, the low velocity region was found to diminish significantly, both in terms of physical extent and magnitude, and hence, its ability to provide favorable conditions for flame anchoring and stabilization are greatly reduced. In the reacting JICF DNS a stable flame is observed for 90° injection angle and, on average, the flame root is in the vicinity of low velocity magnitude and stoichiometric mixture. When the injection angle is smoothly transitioned to 75° a transient flame blowout is observed. Ensemble averaged quantities on the flame base reveal two phases of the blowout characterized by a kinematic imbalance between flame propagation speed and flow normal velocity. In the first phase dominant flow structures repeatedly draw the flame base closer to the jet centerline resulting in richer-than-stoichiometric mixtures and high velocity magnitudes. In the second phase, in spite of low velocity magnitudes and a return to stoichiometry, due to jet bending and flame alignment normal to the cross-flow, the flow velocity normal to the flame base increases dramatically perpetuating the blowout.     

High-fidelity resolution of the characteristic structures of a supersonic hydrogen jet flame with heated co-flow air

In the present paper, direct numerical simulation (DNS) is performed to analyze the characteristic structures of a supersonic jet lifted hydrogen-air flame with Reynolds number of 22, 000, and Mach number of 1.2. The fuel consisting of 85% H₂ and 15% N₂ by volume is injected into hot co-flow air from a round orifice. Overall 975 million grids are used to compute the complex multi-scales phenomena. A Damköhler number and a flame index are defined to analyze combustion modes and the mixedness of the flame. Complicated characteristic elements of the supersonic jet lifted flame are observed, i.e. a stable laminar flame base with auto-ignition as the stabilization mechanism, a violent mixing region in which vigorous turbulent combustion occurs with both fuel-lean and fuel-rich mixtures, and a flame region consisting of outer diffusion combustion and inner weaker premixed combustion in the far field. At the leading edge of the fame base, auto-ignition takes place primarily in the fuel-lean mixture where the mixedness mode is opposed. Downstream of the laminar flame base, the combustion becomes turbulent due to the intensified mixing of fuel and air, which results in the subequilibrium values of temperature and OH concentration. Detonation occurs near the sonic layer, and then sustains the combustion in higher dissipative mixture. The flame near the stochiometric condition keeps non-premixed, and the other non-premixed flame elements could be observed in the very fuel-rich region. Through the reacting field the premixed flame appears near the shear layer. The combustion intensity decreases in the far field where the inner non-premixed flame disappears gradually.     

Effect of Annular Slit Geometry on Characteristics of Spiral Jet

A spiral flow using an annular slit connected to a conical cylinder does not need special device to generate a tangential velocity component of the flow and differs from swirling flows. Pressurized fluid is supplied to an annular chamber and injected into the convergent nozzle through the annular slit. The annular jet develops into the spiral flow. In the present study, a spiral jet discharged out of nozzle exit was obtained by using a convergent nozzle and an annular slit set in nozzle inlet, and the effect of annular slit geometry on characteristics of the spiral jet was investigated by using a Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) experimentally. Furthermore, velocity distributions of the spiral jet were compared with those of a normal jet.     

Stabilization of air coflowed ammonia jet flame at elevated ambient temperatures

Ammonia is a promising carbon-free fuel, while, understanding of ammonia jet flame is still in lack. In this work, a novel facility was applied and air coflowed ammonia jet flames were achieved in an elevated ambient temperature range, 723–923K. Stabilization regimes and limits were investigated. Stable lifted flame with a classical triple structure was observed, and critical aerodynamic parameters were measured at three specific regimes, liftoff, reattachment and blowoff. Attached flame can only be retained under laminar conditions with flow Reynolds number <150. A linear correlation between velocities of fuel jet and coflow under critical conditions was uncovered, which is different from the literature research on methane flames. Effects of partially premixing and N₂ dilution were considered. Partially premixing was found harmful to stabilization at 823K, while this influence becomes unclear at 923K. Differently, a linearly adverse effect was observed under both N₂-diluted jet and coflow conditions at different temperatures.