Comparative investigations of flame kernel development in a laser ignited hydrogen–air mixture and methane–air mixture

Concerns about energy availability and pollutant emissions, such as oxides of nitrogen and particulates have driven concerted efforts toward the design of next generation internal combustion engines, capable of using newer fuels, delivering higher efficiencies and lowering emissions. Among various new engine designs and concepts, laser ignition is one of the promising approaches to attain these objectives.     

Effect of initial pressure on flame–shock interaction of hydrogen–air premixed flames

By utilizing a newly designed constant volume combustion bomb (CVCB), turbulent flame combustion phenomena are investigated using hydrogen–air mixture under the initial pressures of 1 bar, 2 bar and 3 bar, including flame acceleration, turbulent flame propagation and flame–shock interaction with pressure oscillations. The results show that the process of flame acceleration through perforated plate can be characterized by three stages: laminar flame, jet flame and turbulent flame. Fast turbulent flame can generate a visible shock wave ahead of the flame front, which is reflected from the end wall of combustion chamber. Subsequently, the velocity of reflected shock wave declines gradually since it is affected by the compression wave formed by flame acceleration. In return, the propagation velocity of turbulent flame front is also influenced. The intense interaction between flame front and reflected shock can be captured by high-speed schlieren photography clearly under different initial pressures. The results show that the propagation velocity of turbulent flame rises with the increase of initial pressure, while the forward shock velocities show no apparent difference. On the other hand, the reflected shock wave decays faster under higher initial pressure conditions due to the faster flame propagation. Moreover, the influence of initial pressure on pressure oscillations is also analyzed comprehensively according to the experimental results.     

Two-dimensional analytical model of flame characteristic in catalytic micro-combustors for a hydrogen–air mixture

The present paper aims to analytically investigate combustion phenomenon in micro-combustors by using a two-dimensional model. The main objective is to analyze the effects of main parameters such as reaction zone thickness, maximum temperature and quenching distance throughout the combustor under catalytic and non-catalytic conditions. In solution of energy and mass equations, the temperature and mass dependant reaction rates are considered with an iterative procedure. The reaction zone thickness is considered as a variable and is predicted by the solution results of the present study. In order to validate the present model, the normalized magnitude of flame temperature is compared with published data, which shows an acceptable agreement and confirms the accuracy of the predicted data. The results show that the effect of catalytic surface on expanding flammability limits in a lean mixture is larger than the rich one.     

Measurements of the laminar burning velocity of hydrogen–air premixed flames

Experimental and numerical studies on laminar burning velocities of hydrogen–air mixtures were performed at standard pressure and room temperature varying the equivalence ratio from 0.8 to 3.0. The flames were generated using a contoured slot-type nozzle burner (4 mm × 10 mm). Measurements of laminar burning velocity were conducted using particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) combined with Schlieren photography. This technique provides the information of instantaneous local burning velocities in the whole region of the flame front, and laminar burning velocities were determined using the mean value of local burning velocities in the region of non-stretch. Additionally, average laminar burning velocities were determined using the angle method and compared with the data obtained with the PTV method. Numerical calculations were also conducted using detailed reaction mechanisms and transport properties.     

Analysis of entropy generation in counter-flow premixed hydrogen–air combustion

In this paper, entropy generation in counter-flow premixed hydrogen–air combustion confined by planar opposing jets is investigated for the first time. The effects of the equivalence ratio and the inlet Reynolds number (corresponding to the global stretch rate) on entropy generation are studied by numerical evaluating the entropy generation equation. The lattice Boltzmann model proposed in our previous work, instead of traditional numerical methods, is used to solve the governing equations for combustion process. Through the present study, three interesting features of this kind of combustion, which are quite different from that reported in previous literature on entropy generation analysis for reactive flows, are revealed. Moreover, it is observed that the whole investigated domain can be divided into two parts according to the predominant irreversibilities. The total entropy generation number can be approximated as a linear increasing function of the equivalence ratio and the inlet Reynolds number for all the cases under the present study.     

Effects of hydrogen addition and nitrogen dilution on the laminar flame characteristics of premixed methane–air flames

The effect of hydrogen addition and nitrogen dilution on laminar flame characteristics was investigated. The spherical expanding flame technique, in a constant volume bomb, was employed to extract laminar flame characteristics. The mole fraction of hydrogen in the methane–hydrogen mixture was varied from 0 to 1 and the mole fraction of nitrogen in the total mixture (methane–hydrogen–air–diluent) from 0 to 0.35. Measurements were performed at an initial pressure of 0.1 MPa and an initial temperature of 300 K. The mixtures investigated were under stoichiometric conditions. Based on experimental measurements, a new correlation for calculating the laminar burning velocity of methane–hydrogen–air–nitrogen mixtures is proposed. The laminar burning velocity was found to increase linearly with hydrogen mass fraction for all dilution ratios while the burned gas Markstein length decreases with the increase in hydrogen amount in the mixture except for high hydrogen mole fractions (>0.6). Nitrogen dilution has a nonlinear reducing effect on the laminar burning velocity and an increasing effect on the burned gas Markstein length. The experimental results and the proposed correlation obtained are in good agreement with literature values.     

Effects of hydrogen concentration on premixed laminar flames of hydrogen–methane–air

The unstretched laminar burning velocities and Markstein numbers of spherically propagating hydrogen–methane–air flames were studied at a mixture pressure of 0.10 MPa and a mixture temperature of 350 K. The fraction of hydrogen in the binary fuel was varied from 0 to 1.0 at equivalence ratios of 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2. The unstretched laminar burning velocity increased non-linearly with hydrogen fraction for all the equivalence ratios. The Markstein number varied non-monotonically at equivalence ratios of 0.8 and 1.0 and increased monotonically at equivalence ratio of 1.2 with increasing hydrogen fraction. Analytical evaluation of the Markstein number suggested that the trends could be due to the effective Lewis number, which varied non-monotonically with hydrogen fraction at equivalence ratios of 0.8 and 1.0 and increased monotonically at 1.2. The propensity of flame instability varied non-monotonically with hydrogen fraction at equivalence ratios of 0.8 and 1.0.     

A study on flame interaction between methane/air and nitrogen-diluted hydrogen–air premixed flames

Numerical and experimental studies are conducted to grasp downstream interactions between premixed flames stratified with two different kinds of fuel mixture. The selected fuel mixtures are methane and a nitrogen-diluted hydrogen with composition of 30% H₂ + 70% N₂. Extinction limits are determined for methane/air and (30% H₂ + 70% N₂)/air over the entire range of mixture concentrations. These extinction limits are shown to be significantly modified due to the interaction such that a mixture much beyond the flammability limit can burn with the help of a stronger flame. The lean extinction limit shows both the slanted segments of lower and upper branches due to the strong interaction with Lewis numbers of deficient reactant less than unity, while the rich extinction limit has a square shape due to the weak interaction with Lewis numbers of deficient reactant larger than unity. The regimes of negative flame speed show an asymmetric aspect with a single wing shape. The negative flame always appears only when methane is weak. The extent of interaction depends on the separation distance between the flames, which are the functions of the mixtures’ concentrations, the strain rate, the Lewis numbers, and the preferential diffusions of the penetrated hydrogen from the nitrogen-diluted hydrogen flame. The important role of preferential diffusion effects of hydrogen in the flame interaction is also discussed.     

The effect of hydrogen addition on premixed laminar acetylene–hydrogen–air and ethanol–hydrogen–air flames

In the present work, the laminar premixed acetylene–hydrogen–air and ethanol–hydrogen–air flames were investigated numerically. Laminar flame speeds, the adiabatic flame temperatures were obtained utilizing CHEMKIN PREMIX and EQUI codes, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was performed and flame structure was analyzed. The results show that for acetylene–hydrogen–air flames, combustion is promoted by H and O radicals. The highest flame speed (247 cm/s) was obtained in mixture with 95% H₂–5% C₂H₂ at λ = 1.0. The region between 0.95 < X_H2 < 1.0 was referred to as the acetylene-accelerating hydrogen combustion since the flame speed increases with increase the acetylene fraction in the mixture. Further increase in the acetylene fraction decreases the H radicals in the flame front. In ethanol–hydrogen–air mixtures, the mixture reactivity is determined by H, OH and O radicals. For X_H2 < 0.6, the flame speed in this regime increases linearly with increasing the hydrogen fraction. For X_H2 > 0.8, the hydrogen chemistry control the combustion and ethanol addition inhibits the reactivity and reduces linearly the laminar flame speed. For 0.6 < X_H2 < 0.8, the laminar flame speed increases exponentially with the increase of hydrogen fraction.     

Experimental investigations on flame stabilization behavior in a diverging micro channel with premixed methane–air mixtures

In the present paper, experimental investigations on the characterization of flame stabilization behavior in a 2.0 mm wide diverging channel are carried out with premixed methane–air mixtures. The effect of mixture equivalence ratio (Ф) and flow rate on flame shape, position, stability and emissions are reported in this work. The diverging portion of channel is preheated from the bottom side with a sintered metal burner to provide a positive temperature gradient along the direction of fluid flow which helps in stabilizing a flame in the channel. For a range of velocities and equivalence ratios, different types of stable and partially stable flame propagation modes were observed. Flames obtained for rich mixtures exhibited more stable nature as compared to lean mixtures. The flame stability limits were observed to vary between 0.2 m/s and 1.9 m/s for a range of mixture equivalence ratios.     

Research into the formation process of hydrogen–air mixture in hydrogen fueled engines based on CFD

The density of hydrogen is much smaller than that of air, so it is hard for hydrogen and air to form high grade mixture. Furthermore, the diffusing speed of hydrogen is so high that the formation state of mixture changes rapidly. Therefore it will become more difficult to carry through the further research of mixture space–time distributing rule. In order to investigate the formation rule of hydrogen–air mixture and improve the mixture quality, in this paper, computation fluid dynamics (CFD) mode is adopted to carry through three-dimensional numerical simulation research of flow field in hydrogen fueled engine cylinder. The numerical simulation is done in a two-stroke hydrogen fueled engine, and the mixture forming state at different hydrogen-injecting time is contrasted. The evolvement rule of flow field in cylinder and mixture forming state is shown in the result. The simulation results show that, when hydrogen-injecting begins at 260 °CA, the forming quality of the mixture is better than other two states, this is the same as the experimental results. It indicates that CFD is one of the effective methods to analyze the formation of mixture in hydrogen fueled engine.     

Effects of hydrocarbon substitution on atmospheric hydrogen–air flame propagation

In order to evaluate the potential of partial hydrocarbon substitution to improve the safety of hydrogen use in general and the performance of internal combustion engines in particular, the outward propagation and development of surface cellular instability of spark-ignited spherical premixed flames of mixtures of hydrogen, hydrocarbon, and air were experimentally studied at NTP condition in a constant-pressure combustion chamber. With methane, ethylene, and propane being the substituents, the laminar burning velocities, the Markstein lengths, and the propensity of cell formation were experimentally determined, while the laminar burning velocities and the associated flame thicknesses were computed using recent kinetic mechanisms. Results show substantial reduction of laminar burning velocities with hydrocarbon substitution, and support the potential of propane as a suppressant of both diffusional–thermal and hydrodynamic cellular instabilities in hydrogen–air flames. Such a potential, however, was not found for methane and ethylene as substituents.     

Experimental analysis of propagation regimes during the autoignition of a fully premixed methane–air mixture in the presence of temperature inhomogeneities

The present work is devoted to the study of the combustion processes of a homogeneous methane–air mixture subject to thermal stratification within a rapid compression machine (RCM). Temperature fields obtained in nonreactive conditions have been documented in a previous study and the present work aims at correlating these data with the combustion process. The analysis of chemiluminescence images enables the delineation of two propagation regimes, namely spontaneous ignition fronts and deflagrations. The first is observed for short ignition delays, as the fluid features a fairly large and homogeneous hot core zone. The second dominates the combustion process for longer ignition delays. Indeed, despite global homogenization of the temperature fields, the hottest zones are fairly narrow and surrounded by non-negligible thermal gradients, which favors the formation of deflagration. The results thus clearly show a strong correlation between the preignition temperature field and the subsequent combustion process. They are commented on in the light of recent literature. In a second part, quantitative predictions of the occurrence of autoignition fronts and deflagrations are performed by employing a criterion derived from the analysis of direct numerical simulation data (Sankaran et al., 2005). The results are in good agreement with others previously obtained through chemiluminescence imaging for early and intermediate stages of combustion. It is more difficult to reach definitive conclusions for later instants. The present work highlights the relevance but also suggests some limitations of the corresponding criterion for the analysis of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion processes at the cylinder scale. Furthermore, the quantitative data gathered within the RCM demonstrate the relevance of this device for further investigation of these fundamental issues.     

Effects of hydrogen and steam addition on laminar burning velocity of methane–air premixed flame: Experimental and numerical analysis

Effects of hydrogen enrichment and steam addition on laminar burning velocity of methane–air premixed flame were studied both experimentally and numerically. Measurements were carried out using the slot burner method at 1 bar for fresh gases temperatures of 27 °C and 57 °C and for variable equivalence ratios going from 0.8 to 1.2. The hydrogen content in the fuel was varied from 0% to 30% in volume and the steam content in the air was varied from 0 to 112 g/kg (0–100% of relative humidity). Numerical calculations were performed using the COSILAB code with the GRI-Mech 3.0 mechanism for one-dimensional premixed flames. The calculations were implemented first at room temperature and pressure and then extended to higher temperatures (up to 917 K) and pressures (up to 50 bar). Measurements of laminar burning velocities of methane–hydrogen–air and methane–air–steam agree with the GRI-Mech calculations and previous measurements from literature obtained by different methods. Results show that enrichment by hydrogen increases of the laminar burning velocity and the adiabatic flame temperature. The addition of steam to a methane–air mixture noticeably decreases the burning velocity and the adiabatic flame temperature. Modeling shows that isentropic compression of fresh gases leads to the increase of laminar burning velocity.     

Experimental and numerical investigations of hydrogen–air premixed combustion in a converging–diverging micro tube

Experimental and numerical studies of hydrogen–air premixed combustion in a converging–diverging micro tube with inner diameters of the inlet, throat, and outlet of 2, 1, and 2 mm, respectively, have been performed to study the combustion and flame characteristics. The influences of the equivalence ratio (Φ) and inlet velocity (v_in) are investigated. The experiments reveal that the v_in range for stable combustion—between 3.4 and 41.4 m/s—was significantly expanded, particularly when Φ = 1.4. This effect can primarily be attributed to the converging–diverging structure. As Φ increased, both the wall and the flame temperatures exhibited an increasing–decreasing trend; the largest heat loss ratio occurred at Φ = 1.0. The ignition position initially moved upstream and then moved downstream. The flame thickness increased and then decreased, reaching its peak value at Φ = 1.2. The flame length decreased monotonously. As v_in increased, the wall temperature increased, the flame temperature decreased, and the flame moved downstream to grow thicker and longer.     

Simulation of a supersonic hydrogen–air autoignition-stabilized flame using reduced chemistry

A three-step mechanism for H₂-air combustion (Boivin et al., Proc. Comb. Inst. 33 (2010)) was recently designed to reproduce both autoignition and flame propagation, essential in lifted flame stabilization. To study the implications of the use of this reduced chemistry in the context of a turbulent flame simulation, this mechanism has been implemented in a compressible explicit code and applied to the simulation of a supersonic lifted co-flowing hydrogen–air flame. Results are compared with experimental measurements (Cheng et al., C&F (1994)) and simulations using detailed chemistry, showing that the reduced chemistry is very accurate. A new explicit diagnostic to readily identify autoignition regions in the post-processing of a turbulent hydrogen flame simulation is also proposed, based on variables introduced in the development of the reduced chemical mechanism.     

Turbulent burning velocity of hydrogen–air premixed propagating flames at elevated pressures

Lewis number represents the thermo-diffusive effects on laminar flames. That of hydrogen–air mixture varies extensively with the equivalence ratio due to the high molecular diffusivity of hydrogen. In this study, the influences of pressure and thermo-diffusive effects on spherically propagating premixed hydrogen–air turbulent flames were studied using a constant volume fan-stirred combustion vessel. It was noted that the ratio of the turbulent to unstretched laminar burning velocity increased with decreasing equivalence ratio and increasing mixture pressure. Turbulent burning velocity was dominated by three factors: (1) purely hydrodynamic factor, turbulence Reynolds number, (2) relative turbulence intensity to reaction speed, the ratio of turbulence intensity to unstretched laminar burning velocity, and (3) sensitivity of the flame to the stretch due to the thermo-diffusive effects, Lewis and Markstein numbers. A turbulent burning velocity correlation in terms of Reynolds and Lewis numbers is presented.     

Survey of experimental data and assessment of calculation methods of properties for the air–water mixture

Thermodynamic properties of the air–water mixture at elevated temperatures and pressures are of importance in the design and simulation of the advanced gas turbine systems with water addition. In this paper, comprehensive available experimental data and calculation methods for the air–water mixture were reviewed. It is found that the available experimental data are limited, and the determined temperature is within 75 °C. New experimental data are needed to supply in order to verify the model further. Three kinds of models (ideal model, ideal mixing model and real model) were used to calculate saturated vapor composition and enthalpy for the air–water mixture, and the calculated results of these models were compared with experimental data and each other. The comparison shows that for the calculation of saturated vapor composition, the reliable range of the ideal model and ideal mixing model is up to 10 bar. The real model is reliable over a wide temperature and pressure range, and the model proposed by Hyland and Wexler is the best one of today. However, the reliability of the Hyland and Wexler model approved by experimental data is only up to 75 °C and 50 bar, and it is necessary to propose a new predictive model based on the available experimental data to be used up to elevated temperatures and pressures. In the calculation of enthalpy, compared to the ideal model, the calculated results of the ideal mixing model are closer to those of real model.