Effects of ignition location on premixed hydrogen/air flame propagation in a closed combustion tube

The dynamics of premixed hydrogen/air flame ignited at different locations in a finite-size closed tube is experimentally studied. The flame behaves differently in the experiments with different ignition positions. The ignition location exhibits an important impact on the flame behavior. When the flame is ignited at one of the tube ends, the heat losses to the end wall reduce the effective thermal expansion and moderate the flame propagation and acceleration. When the ignition source is at a short distance off one of the ends, the tulip flame dynamics closely agrees with that in the theory. And both the tulip and distorted tulip flames are more pronounced than those in the case with the ignition source placed at one of the ends. Besides, the flame–pressure wave coupling is quite strong and a second distorted tulip flame is generated. When the ignition source is in the tube center, the flame propagates in a much gentler way and the tulip flame can not be formed. The flame oscillations are weaker since the flame–pressure wave interaction is weaker.     

An experimental study of premixed hydrogen/air flame propagation in a partially open duct

High-speed schlieren cinematography and pressure records are used to investigate the dynamics of premixed hydrogen/air flame propagation and pressure build up in a partially open duct with an opening located in the upper wall near the right end of the duct. This work provides basic understanding of flame behaviors and the effects of opening ratio on the combustion dynamics. The flame behaves differently under different opening conditions. The opening ratio has an important influence on the flame propagation and pressure dynamics. When the opening ratio α ≤ 0.075 a significant distorted tulip flame can be formed after the full formation of a classical tulip flame. The propagation speed of flame leading tip increases with the opening ratio. The coupling of flame front with the pressure wave is strong at low opening ratio. Both the pressure growth rate and oscillation amplitude inside the duct increases as the opening ratio decreases. The formation times of tulip and distorted tulip flames and the corresponding distances of flame front increase with the increase of the opening ratio.     

Large eddy simulation of premixed hydrogen/methane/air flame propagation in a closed duct

In this paper, large eddy simulation (LES) is performed to investigate the propagation characteristics of premixed hydrogen/methane/air flames in a closed duct. In LES, three stoichiometric hydrogen/methane/air mixtures with hydrogen fractions (volume fractions) of 0, 50% and 100% are used. The numerical results have been verified by comparison with experimental data. All stages of flame propagation that occurred in the experiment are reproduced qualitatively in LES. For fuel/air mixtures with hydrogen fractions of 0 and 50%, only four stages of “tulip” flame formation are observed, but when the hydrogen fraction is 100%, the distorted “tulip” flame appears after flame front inversion. In the acceleration stage, the LES and experimental flame speed and pressure dynamic coincide with each other, except for a hydrogen fraction of 0. After “tulip” flame formation, all LES and experimental flame propagation speeds and pressure dynamics exhibit the same trends for hydrogen fractions of 0 and 100%. However, when the hydrogen fraction is 50%, a slight periodic oscillation appears only in the experiment. In general, the different structures displayed in the flame front during flame propagation can be attributed to the interaction between the flame front, the vortex and the reverse flow formed in the unburned and burned zones.     

Dynamics of premixed hydrogen/air flame in a closed combustion vessel

The dynamics of a premixed hydrogen/air flame propagating in a closed vessel is investigated using high-speed schlieren cinematography, pressure measurement and numerical simulation. A dynamically thickened flame approach with a 19-step detailed chemistry is employed in the numerical simulation to model the premixed combustion. The schlieren photographs show that a remarkable distorted tulip flame is initiated after a classical tulip flame has been fully produced. A second distorted tulip flame is generated with a cascade of indentations created in succession before the vanishing of the first one. The flame dynamics observed in the experiments is well reproduced in the numerical simulation. The burnt region near the flame front is entirely dominated by a reverse flow during the formation of the distorted tulip flame. The distorted tulip flame can be formed in the absence of vortex motion. The pressure wave leads to periodic flame deceleration and plays an essential role in the distorted tulip formation. The numerical results corroborate the mechanism that the distorted tulip flame formation is a manifestation of Taylor instability.     

Experimental study on the characteristic stages of premixed hydrogen-air flame propagation in a horizontal rectangular closed duct

Deep insight into each stage of premixed hydrogen-air flame propagation in a horizontal rectangular closed duct was experimentally realized with pressure records and high-speed schlieren photographs under various equivalence ratios. The motion patterns of the flame skirt and the contact point sweeping along the wall were divided into multi-section with distinct features. Two types of tulip cusp motions were scrutinized and distinguished within different equivalence ratio ranges. The vibrations of the flame tip position and velocity were determined as common features in the whole observed range of equivalence ratios. But the tulip distortion is conditional and substantially originates from the vibration just with more remarkable amplitude. The change of pressure difference between the measure points respectively close to the left and right ends of the duct correlates well with the flame tip velocity oscillation with a 90° phase prior. The experimental results were compared with the theoretical prediction. Best agreements are only achieved in a narrow range of equivalence ratio ∅=0.91∼2.24$\varnothing =0.91\sim 2.24$, which reveals some limitations of the theoretical model by Bychkov et al.     

Experimental and numerical study on premixed hydrogen/air flame propagation in a horizontal rectangular closed duct

Hydrogen is a promising energy in the future, and it is desirable to characterize the combustion behavior of its blends with air. The premixed hydrogen/air flame microstructure and propagation in a horizontal rectangular closed duct were recorded using high-speed video and Schlieren device. Numerical simulation was also performed on Fluent CFD code to compare with the experimental result. A tulip flame is formed during the flame propagating, and then the tulip flame formation mechanism was proposed based on the analysis. The induced reverse flow and vortex motion were observed both in experiment and simulation. The interactions among the flame, reverse flow and vortices in the burned gas change the flame shape and ultimately it develops into a tulip flame. During the formation of the tulip flame, the tulip cusp slows down and stops moving after its slightly forward moving, and then, it starts to move backward and keeps on a longer time, after that, it moves forward again. The structure of the tulip flame is becoming less stable with its length decreasing in flame propagation direction. The flame thickness increases gradually which is due to turbulence combustion.     

Experimental and numerical study of the effect of initial temperature on the combustion characteristics of premixed syngas/air flame

The effects of different initial temperatures (T = 300–500 K) and different hydrogen volume fractions (5%–20%) on the combustion characteristics of premixed syngas/air flames in rectangular tubes were investigated experimentally. A high-speed camera and pressure sensor were used to obtain flame propagation images and overpressure dynamics. The CHEMKIN-PRO model and GRI Mech 3.0 mechanism were used for simulation. The results show that the flame propagation speed increases with the initial temperature before the flame touches the wall, while the opposite is true after the flame touches the wall. The increase in initial temperature leads to the increase in overpressure rise rate in the early flame propagation process, but the peak overpressure is reduced. The laminar burning velocity (LBV) and adiabatic flame temperature (AFT) increase with increasing initial temperature. The increase in initial temperature makes the peaks of H, O, and OH radicals increase.     

A numerical study of laminar flame speed of stratified syngas/air flames

Numerical simulations are performed to study the flame propagation of laminar stratified syngas/air flames with the San Diego mechanism. Effects of fuel stratification, CO/H₂ mole ratio and temperature stratification on flame propagation are investigated through comparing the distribution of flame temperature, heat release rate and radical concentration of stratified flame with corresponding homogeneous flame. For stratified flames with fuel rich-to-lean and temperature high-to-low, the flame speeds are faster than homogeneous flames due to more light H radical in stratified flames burned gas. The flame speed is higher for case with larger stratification gradient. Contrary to positive gradient cases, the flame speeds of stratified flames with fuel lean-to-rich as well as with temperature low-to-high are slower than homogeneous flames. The flame propagation accelerates with increasing hydrogen mole ratio due to higher H radical concentration, which indicates that chemical effect is more significant than thermal effect. Additionally, flame displacement speed does not match laminar flame speed due to the fluid continuity. Laminar flame speed is the superposition of flame displacement speed and flow velocity.     

Experimental study on the behaviors and shape changes of premixed hydrogen-air flames propagating in horizontal duct

The behaviors and shape changes of premixed hydrogen-air flames at various equivalence ratios propagating in half-open and closed horizontal ducts are experimentally investigated using high-speed schlieren imaging and pressure sensors. The study shows that the premixed hydrogen-air flame undergoes more complex shape changes and exhibits more distinct characteristics than that of other gaseous fuels. One of the outstanding findings is that obvious distortion happens to tulip flame after its full formation when equivalence ratio ranges from 0.84 to 4.22 in the closed duct. The salient tulip flame distortions are specially scrutinized and distinguished from the classical tulip collapse and disappearance. The dynamics of distorting tulip flame is different from that of classical tulip flame. The normal tulip flame can be reproduced after the first distortion followed by another distortion. The initiation of flame shape changes coincides with the deceleration both of pressure rise and flame front speed for flames with tulip distortions. And the formation and dynamics of tulip/distorting tulip flames depend on the mixture composition.     

Experimental study on the premixed syngas-air explosion in duct with both ends open

Premixed flame of stoichiometric syngas-air mixture with various hydrogen volume fractions, 10% ≤ X (H₂) ≤ 90%, propagating in a duct with both ends open is experimentally investigated in this study. Two representative ignition locations, i.e., Ig-1, locating at the center of the duct, and Ig-2, locating at the right open end, are considered. Results show that the tulip flame is first attained in the duct with both ends open at 10% ≤ X (H₂) ≤ 50% as the flame is ignited at Ig-1. However, the flame maintains the convex shape with the cellular structure on the flame surface as the flame is ignited at Ig-2. The cellular structure results from Darrieus-Landau instability, but the Darrieus-Landau instability cannot invert the convex flame front. The flame tip and pressure dynamics have been examined. When the flame is ignited at Ig-1, the flame oscillates violently, and the overpressure profiles oscillate as a Helmholtz-type. When the flame is ignited at Ig-2, the left flame front propagates in an atmospheric pressure with a nearly constant speed. The prominent flame acceleration and oscillation are not observed at Ig-2 because of lacking flame acoustic interaction. What's more, the characteristic time of flame propagation has been compared. The time t_w is shorter while the time t_p is longer than the calculated value, and the time t_e has been delayed by both open ends. The flame propagation process is moderated as the flame propagates in the duct with both ends open.     

Extinction studies of near-limit lean premixed syngas/air flames

Extinction studies of weakly-stretched near-limit lean premixed syngas/air flames were conducted in a twin-flame counterflow configuration. Experiments showed that buoyancy-induced natural convection at normal gravity strongly disturbed these flames. In order to validate the simulation, accurate extinction data was obtained at micro-gravity. Experimental data obtained from the 3.6 s micro-gravity drop tower showed that the extinction equivalence ratio increased with the increasing global stretch rate and decreased with the increasing H₂ mole fraction in the fuel. Numerical simulation was conducted with CHEMKIN software using GRI 3.0 and USC-Mech II mechanisms. The predicted extinction limit trend was in agreement with the micro-gravity experimental data. Sensitivity analyses showed that the competition between the main branching reaction H + O₂ ⇔ O + OH and the main termination reaction H + O₂ + M ⇔ HO₂ + M in the H₂/O₂ chemistry determined the extinction limits of the flames. The dominant species for syngas/air flame extinction was the H radical. The key exothermal reaction changed from OH + CO ⇔ H + CO₂ to OH + H₂ ⇔ H + H₂O with the increasing H₂ mole fraction in the fuel. Also, the mass diffusion played a more important role than chemical kinetics in the flame extinction. When the H₂ mass diffusion was suppressed, the reaction zone was pushed to the stagnation plane and the flame became weaker; while H mass diffusion is suppressed, the reaction zone slightly shifted towards the upstream and the flame was slightly strengthened.     

Heat transfer from an impinging premixed butane/air slot flame jet

Experiments were performed to study the heat transfer characteristics of a premixed butane/air slot flame jet impinging normally on a horizontal rectangular plate. The effects of Reynolds number and the nozzle-to-plate distance on heat transfer were examined. The Reynolds number varied from 800 to 1700, while the nozzle-to-plate distance ranged from 2d_e to 12d_e. Comparisons were made between the heat transfer characteristics of slot jets and circular jets under the same experimental conditions. It was found that the slot flame jet produces more uniform heat flux profile and larger averaged heat fluxes than the circular flame jet.     

Experimental study on the influence of multi-layer wire mesh on dynamics of premixed hydrogen-air flame propagation in a closed duct

Hydrogen, which is considered to be a promising clean energy source, has been studied and applied extensively in industries. In order to improve the safety of hydrogen energy application, an experimental study on the influence of multi-layer wire mesh on dynamics of premixed hydrogen-air flame propagation in a closed duct is conducted. Four different kinds of wire mesh with 40, 45, and 50 layers are chosen in the experiments. High speed schlieren photography is applied to capture the flame shape changes and determine the flame tip speed. Pressure transducer is used to measure the pressure transient. It is found that flame quenches in the cases of adding wire mesh of 60, 80, and 100 mesh with 45 and 50 layers, while for the wire mesh of 40 mesh, 50 layers cannot even quench the flame. Moreover, the multi-layer wire mesh can effectively suppress the flame tip speed, maximum pressure, and sound waves during premixed hydrogen-air flame propagation in the duct. The attenuated maximum pressure reaches approximately 78.6% in the case of adding wire mesh of 100 mesh-50 layers.     

Dynamics of premixed hydrogen-air flame propagation in the duct with pellets bed

Hydrogen, as the promising clean alternative energy in the future, is in the spotlight now all over the world. However, its flammable and explosive hazards should be highly considered during its practical application. In this study, the experiments are performed to study premixed hydrogen-air flame propagation in the duct with pellets bed, especially for fuel-rich condition. High-speed schlieren photography is employed to capture flame front development during the experiments. As well as the pressure transducer, is used to track the pressure buildup in the flame propagation process. Different diameters of pellets and different concentrations of gas mixture are considered in this experimental study. The typical evolutions about the tulip flame are similar in all cases, although the tulip flame formation time caused by the laminar flame speed are different. The flame propagation velocity is pretty enhanced in fuel-lean mixture under the effect of large diameter pellets bed, but it is significantly suppressed in fuel-rich conditions. While for the small diameter pellets (d = 3 mm), the suppression effect on flame propagation and pressure is obtained over a wider range of equivalence ratios, especially a better suppression effect is generated near the stoichiometric condition.     

Direct numerical simulation and analysis of a hydrogen/air swirling premixed flame in a micro combustor

A three dimensional spatially developing hydrogen/air premixed flame in a micro combustor with a moderate Reynolds number and a high swirl number is studied using direct numerical simulation. The inflow mixture is composed of hydrogen and air at an equivalent ratio of 1.0 in the jet core region, and pure air elsewhere. The maximum axial velocity at the inlet is 100 m/s. A fourth-order explicit Runge–Kutta method for time integration and an eighth-order central differencing scheme for spatial discretization are used to solve the full Navier–Stokes (N–S) equation system. A 9 species 19-step reduced mechanism for hydrogen/air combustion is adopted. Vortex and turbulence characteristics are examined. Two instabilities, namely Kalvin–Helmholtz instability and centrifugal instability, are responsible for the transition from laminar flow to turbulence. A cone-like vortex breakdown is observed both in the isothermal swirling flow and in the swirling flame. One dimensional premixed laminar flame is studied, the structure of which is compared with that of the multi-dimensional one. Probability density functions of the curvature and tangential strain rate are presented. It is shown that the flame curvature has a near zero mean, and the flame aligns preferentially with extensive strain. Finally, the turbulent premixed flame regime diagram is used to characterize the flame. It is found that most of the flame elements lie in the laminar flame regime and the thin reaction zones regime.     

Measurement of the instantaneous flame front structure of syngas turbulent premixed flames at high pressure

Instantaneous flame front structure of syngas turbulent premixed flames including the local radius of curvature, the characteristic radius of curvature, the fractal inner cutoff scale and the local flame angle were derived from the experimental OH-PLIF images. The CO/H₂/CO₂/air flames as a model of syngas/air combustion were investigated at pressure of 0.5 MPa and compared to that of CH₄/air flames. The convex and concave structures of the flame front were detected and statistical analysis including the PDF and ADF of the local radius of curvature and local flame angle were conducted. Results show that the flame front of turbulent premixed flames at high pressure is a wrinkled flame front with small scale convex and concave structures superimposed with large scale flame branches. The convex structures are much more frequent than the concave ones on flame front which reflects a general characteristic of the turbulent premixed flames at high pressure. The syngas flames possess much wrinkled flame front with much smaller fine cusps structure compared to that of CH₄/air flames and the main difference is on the convex structure. The effect of turbulence on the general wrinkled scale of flame front is much weaker than that of the smallest wrinkled scale. The general wrinkled scale is mainly dominated by the turbulence vortex scale, while, the smallest wrinkled scale is strongly affected by the flame intrinsic instability. The effect of flame intrinsic instability on flame front of turbulent premixed flame is mainly on the formation of a large number of convex structure propagating to the unburned reactants and enlarge the effective contact surface between flame front and unburned reactants.     

Influence of fuel composition on chemiluminescence emission in premixed flames of CH4/CO2/H2/CO blends

The growing concern about pollutant emissions and depletion of fossil fuels has been a strong motivator for the development of cleaner and more efficient combustion strategies, such as the gasification of coal, biomass or waste, which have increased the interest in using a new type of fuels, mainly composed of CH₄, H₂, CO and CO₂.These new fuels, commonly called syngas, display a wide range of compositions, which affects their combustion characteristics and, in some cases, are more prone to instabilities or flashback. Since flame properties have been demonstrated to be strongly related to equivalence ratio, a precise measurement of the flame stoichiometry is a key pre-requisite for combustion optimization and prevention of unstable regimes. In particular, chemiluminescence emission from flames has been largely tested for stoichiometry monitoring for methane flames, but its use in syngas flames has been far less studied. Consequently, the main goal of this work is analyzing the effect of fuel composition on the chemiluminescence vs. equivalence ratio curves for different fuel blends, as a first approach for a wide range of syngas compositions. The experimental results revealed that the ratio OH*/CH*, which had been widely demonstrated to be the best option for methane, may not be suitable for monitoring with certain fuels, such as those with a high percent of hydrogen. Alternatively, other signals, in particular the ratio OH*/CO₂*, appear as viable stoichiometry indicators in those cases.The analysis was also completed by numerical predictions with CHEMKIN. The comparisons of calculations with different flame models and experimental data reveals differences in the chemiluminescence vs. equivalence ratio curves for the different combustion regimes, depending on the range of the equivalence ratio ranges and fuel compositions. This finding, which confirms previous observations for a much narrower range of fuels, could have important practical consequences for the application of the technique in real combustors.     

Flame chemiluminescence in premixed combustion of hydrogen-enriched fuels

The growing interest in the use of syngas, produced from gasification of a number of fuels such as coal, biomass or waste, has increased the need of developing new strategies of flame control and monitoring in order to ensure a quiet and efficient combustion in the current combustion systems, which had been optimized for conventional fuels.     

Laminar flame speed studies of lean premixed H2/CO/air flames

Laminar flame speeds of lean premixed H₂/CO/air mixtures were measured in the counterflow configuration over a wide range of H₂ content at lean conditions. The values were determined by extrapolating the referenced flame speed to zero stretch rate using the non-linear extrapolation method to reduce the systematic error. Detailed calculation of laminar flame speed was also conducted using PREMIX code coupled with three different kinetic models. In general, simulation results agreed well with the experimental data. Both the experimental and calculation results revealed that the laminar flame speeds of lean premixed H₂/CO/air mixtures increased with H₂ content significantly when H₂ content was small (?15%) and gradually when H₂ content was large (>15%).     

Impinging premixed butane/air circular laminar flame jet--influence of impingement plate on heat transfer characteristics

Experimental studies were performed to study the heat transfer characteristics of an impingement flame jet system consisting of a premixed butane/air circular flame jet impinging vertically upward upon a horizontal rectangular plate at laminar flow condition. There were two impingement plates manufactured with brass and stainless steel respectively used in the present study. The integrated effects of Reynolds number and equivalence ratio of the air/fuel jet, and distance between the nozzle and the plate (i.e. nozzle-to-plate distance) on heat transfer characteristics of the flame jet system had been investigated. The influence in using impingement plate with different thermal conductivities, surface emissivities and roughnesses on heat flux received by the plate was examined via comparison, which had not been reported in previous literatures. A higher resistance to heat transfer had been encountered when the stainless steel impingement plate of lower thermal conductivity was used, which led to a significantly lower heat flux at the stagnation region. However, the heat flux distribution in the wall-jet region of the plate was only slightly affected by using different impingement plates. Because of the significantly lower heat transfer, more fuel was not required to consume and existed at the stagnation region of the stainless steel impingement plate, which would be burned latter in the wall-jet region to release its chemical energy and enhance the local heat flux there.