Effect of electric fields on the stabilization of premixed laminar bunsen flames at low AC frequency: Bi-ionic wind effect

The stabilization characteristics of laminar premixed bunsen flames have been investigated experimentally by applying AC electric fields at low frequency below 60 Hz together with DC in the single electrode configuration. The blowoff velocity has been measured for varying AC voltage and frequency. A transition frequency between low and high frequency regimes has been identified near 40–50 Hz, where AC electric fields have minimal effect on flame stabilization. In the low frequency regime, the blowoff velocity decreased linearly with AC voltage such that the flames became less stable. This was consistent with the DC result, implying the influence of the ionic wind effect. The variation of blowoff velocity with AC frequency showed a non-monotonic behavior in that the velocity decreased and then increased, exhibiting minimum blowoff velocity near 6–8 Hz. Based on the molecular kinetic theory, the developing degree of ionic wind was derived. By considering the ionic wind effects arising from both positive and negative ions in a flame zone, the bi-ionic wind effect successfully explained the non-monotonic behavior of blowoff velocity with AC frequency in the low frequency regime.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

逆向射流火焰稳定特性的实验研究

本文初步揭示了逆向射流的火焰稳定机理及火焰稳定准则。     

An experimental comparative study of the stabilization mechanism of biogas-hydrogen diffusion flame

This work describes an experimental study of the effect of hydrogen addition on the stabilization characteristics of laminar biogas diffusion flame. The focus is to identify and compare various factors influencing the blowoff process. Three compositions of biogas, BG₄₀, BG₅₀ and BG₆₀ were considered and the amount of hydrogen added was varied from 5% to 25% of the biogas by volume.With increasing hydrogen addition, the critical flow velocity beyond which the flame blows off increases faster than the laminar burning velocity (LBV) does, indicating that flame stabilization is not solely dependent on laminar burning velocity. An exponential relationship is observed between LBV and flame propagation speed. Therefore, both flame propagation speed and LBV, together with other factors, contribute to flame stabilization. The reason for no stable lift for either biogas or H₂-biogas flame is analyze by Schmidt number calculation, and the results agree with the literature. Also found is that hydrogen added to biogas accelerates the fuel mass diffusion, which may play an important role for stabilization of the nozzle-attached flame.The CO₂-C₃H₈ and BG₆₀ flames were compared to exclude the possible dominant role played by insufficient heat release and/or excessive heat loss due to CO₂ present in biogas. Tested on varied-size burners show that flame stabilization depends on burner pore size, where larger diameter allows better flame stability. The universal equation for predicting blowout/blowoff velocity in the literature was found to be invalid for H₂-enriched biogas flame and a new scaling law was put forwards.     

Effect of electric fields on the propagation speed of tribrachial flames in coflow jets

The effect of electric fields on the propagation speed of tribrachial (or triple) flames has been investigated in a coflow jet by observing the transient flame propagation behavior after ignition. The propagation speed of tribrachial edges when no electric fields were applied showed typical behavior by having an inverse proportionality to the mixture fraction gradient at the flame edge. The behavior of flame propagation with electric fields was investigated by applying high voltage to the central fuel nozzle, thereby having a single-electrode configuration. The enhancement of propagation speed has been observed by varying the applied voltage and frequency for ac electric fields. The propagation speed of tribrachial flames was also investigated by applying positive and negative dc voltages to the nozzle, and similar improvements of the propagation speed were also observed. The propagation speeds of tribrachial flames in both the ac and dc electric fields correlated well with the electric field intensity, defined by the applied electric voltage divided by the distance between the nozzle electrode and the edge of the tribrachial flame.     

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.     

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。     

Autoignited laminar lifted flames of methane/hydrogen mixtures in heated coflow air

Autoignited lifted flame behavior in laminar jets of methane/hydrogen mixture fuels has been investigated experimentally in heated coflow air. Three regimes of autoignited lifted flames were identified depending on initial temperature and hydrogen to methane ratio. At relatively high initial temperature, addition of a small amount of hydrogen to methane improved ignition appreciably such that the liftoff height decreased significantly. In this hydrogen-assisted autoignition regime, the liftoff height increased with jet velocity, and the characteristic flow time – defined as the ratio of liftoff height to jet velocity – correlated well with the square of the adiabatic ignition delay time. At lower temperature, the autoignited lifted flame demonstrated a unique feature in that the liftoff height decreased with increasing jet velocity. Such behavior has never been observed in lifted laminar and turbulent jet flames. A transition regime existed between these two regimes at intermediate temperature.     

Boundary-velocity gradient and premixed flame blowoff in U-bend tubes with secondary flow

The effect of a non-uniform boundary-velocity gradient along the rim of a circular nozzle burner on flame stabilization, including partial liftoff and blowoff, has been investigated experimentally by using U-bend tubes as nozzles for both laminar methane/air and propane/air premixed flames. Secondary flow, induced by the imbalance between pressure force and centrifugal force inside the U-bend tube, generated non-uniform and non-axi-symmetric flow. The intensity of the secondary flow was controlled by varying the flow rate and the radius of curvature of the U-bend tubes. Unique features of flames were visualized with direct photography and planar laser-induced fluorescence for OH-radicals. As the flow-rate increases, the flame lifted off partially from the nozzle rim, and the nozzle attached region decreased with increasing flow rate. Finally, blowoff occurred. Stability of flames was mapped as functions of equivalence ratio, nozzle-exit velocity, and the radius of curvature. The flames in the U-bend tubes had larger velocities at blowoff compared to the case with a straight-tube burner. Flow-field measurement using a laser Doppler velocimeter showed that local boundary-velocity gradients at the critical conditions of partial liftoff and blowoff in the U-bend tubes agreed well with those in the straight-tube burner. Also, such conditions can be described with overall flow characteristics in U-bend tubes, represented by the Dean number.     

Autoignited laminar lifted flames of propane in coflow jets with tribrachial edge and mild combustion

Characteristics of laminar lifted flames have been investigated experimentally by varying the initial temperature of coflow air over 800 K in the non-premixed jets of propane diluted with nitrogen. The result showed that the lifted flame with the initial temperature below 860 K maintained the typical tribrachial structure at the leading edge, which was stabilized by the balance mechanism between the propagation speed of tribrachial flame and the local flow velocity. For the temperature above 860 K, the flame was autoignited without having any external ignition source. The autoignited lifted flames were categorized in two regimes. In the case with tribrachial edge structure, the liftoff height increased nonlinearly with jet velocity. Especially, for the critical condition near blowout, the lifted flame showed a repetitive behavior of extinction and reignition. In such a case, the autoignition was controlled by the non-adiabatic ignition delay time considering heat loss such that the autoignition height was correlated with the square of the adiabatic ignition delay time. In the case with mild combustion regime at excessively diluted conditions, the liftoff height increased linearly with jet velocity and was correlated well with the square of the adiabatic ignition delay time.     

Effects of multi-component diffusion and heat release on laminar diffusion flame liftoff

Numerical simulations were conducted of the liftoff and stabilization phenomena of laminar jet diffusion flames of inert-diluted C₃H₈ and CH₄ fuels. Both non-reacting and reacting jets were investigated, including multi-component diffusivities and heat release effects (buoyancy and gas expansion). The role of Schmidt number for non-reacting jets was investigated, with no conclusive Schmidt number criterion for liftoff previously arrived at in similarity solutions. The cold-flow simulation for He-diluted CH₄ fuel does not predict flame liftoff; however, adding heat release reaction lead to the prediction of liftoff, which is consistent with experimental observations. Including reaction was also found to improve liftoff height prediction for C₃H₈ flames, with the flame base location differing from that in the similarity solution - the intersection of the stoichiometric and iso-velocity (equal to 1-D flame speed) is not necessary for flame stabilization (and thus liftoff). Possible mechanisms other than that proposed for similarity solution may better help to explain the stabilization and liftoff phenomena.     

Stability characteristics of non-premixed turbulent jet flames of hydrogen and syngas blends with coaxial air

The stability characteristics of attached hydrogen (H₂) and syngas (H₂/CO) turbulent jet flames with coaxial air were studied experimentally. The flame stability was investigated by varying the fuel and air stream velocities. Effects of the coaxial nozzle diameter, fuel nozzle lip thickness and syngas fuel composition are addressed in detail. The detachment stability limit of the syngas single jet flame was found to decrease with increasing amount of carbon monoxide in the fuel. For jet flames with coaxial air, the critical coaxial air velocity leading to flame detachment first increases with increasing fuel jet velocity and subsequently decreases. This non-monotonic trend appears for all syngas composition herein investigated (50/50 → 100/0% H₂/CO). OH^∗ chemiluminescence imaging was performed to qualitatively identify the mechanisms responsible for the flame detachment. For all fuel compositions, local extinction close to the burner rim is observed at lower fuel velocities (ascending stability limit), while local flame extinction downstream of the burner rim is observed at higher fuel velocities (descending stability limit). Extrema of the non-monotonic trends appear to be identical when the nozzle fuel velocity is normalized by the critical fuel velocity obtained for the single jet cases.     

Effect of hydrogen percentage and air jet Reynolds number on fuel lean flame stability of LPG-fired inverse diffusion flame with hydrogen enrichment

The flame type studied in this paper is a circumferential-fuel – jet inverse diffusion flame, and the fuel is liquefied petroleum gas enriched with hydrogen gas. Fuel lean flame stability limit regarding to the volumetric percentage of hydrogen and the air jet Reynolds number was investigated. There were three flame stable-related limits examined: local extinction limit, restore limit, and complete extinction limit. Global Energy Consumption Rate of fuel, fuel jet velocity, and overall equivalence ratio of the air/fuel mixture at the three stable-related limits were presented. Experimental results indicate that with hydrogen addition, the inverse diffusion flame can sustain burning with a lower global energy than without it. The most significant stabilization effect was obtained with 30% hydrogen addition for complete extinction limit and 30%–90% for local extinction limit. The corresponding fuel jet velocity at complete extinction limit also decreases with hydrogen addition. However, fuel jet velocities at local extinction limit and restore limit increase significantly, when hydrogen percentage is larger than 70%. Air jet Reynolds number does not show notable influence on Global Energy Consumption Rate or fuel jet velocity at the three stability limits. In addition, overall equivalence ratio, which is an important parameter of inverse diffusion flame combustion dropping dramatically with air jet Reynolds number when it is less than 2000.     

Determining factor for the blowoff limit of a flame spreading in an opposed turbulent flow, in a narrow solid-fuel duct

This study clarified the blowoff mechanism for a flame spreading in an opposed turbulent flow in narrow solid fuel ducts. To clarify this mechanism, two experiments were conducted. The first experiment was to investigate the influence of ambient pressure and fuel duct size on the blowoff limit. The results indicated that the flow velocity at the point when blowoff occurred, Vg,t, increased with ambient pressure. This tendency could not be confirmed by a well-known expression for the Damköhler number, which is defined as the ratio of the characteristic flow time to the characteristic chemical time. Subsequently, to clarify the determining factor for the blowoff, the second experiment, which observed the flow field near the flame leading edge, was conducted. The results show that the flow separation in front of the flame leading edge, which provided sufficient residence time of oxidizer and gaseous fuel, is necessary for the flame to spread in an opposed oxidizer flow. From the results, it is found that the oxidizer friction velocity, u_∗, which is an indicator of the turbulent momentum transfer, is the determining factor for the flame blowoff limit. When the friction velocity is larger than a critical value, flame blowoff occurs in the fuel duct, due to the absence of flow separation.     

Liftoff behavior and combustion characteristic of jet flame in a coflow burner

Stabilization and autoignition mechanisms of lifted flames have been widely investigated to improve combustion efficiency and safety of combustion equipment. This paper focuses on liftoff behavior and combustion characteristic of methane and propane flames under various coflow conditions in a coflow burner. Unlike the case of free jet flame in ambient air, the different tendencies of liftoff height changes with jet velocity for both methane and propane flames in vitiated coflow illustrate a transition from conventional combustion to Moderate & Intense Low Oxygen Dilution (MILD) combustion. Flame temperature difference with radial position measured by primary spectrum pyrometry proves the transition regime.