Effect of heat transfer on the distributions of OH and CH radicals in the boundary layer with ethanol combustion

The reasons for formation of superequilibrium concentrations of radicals are studied by means of joint consideration of experimental data on the distributions of CH and OH molecules formed during diffusion combustion of ethanol and data on heat transfer in the chemical reaction region. The air flow velocity near the stagnation point in experiments with combustion is 0.7 m/sec, and the flow velocity along a flat plate is 10 m/sec (the turbulence levels are 1 and 18%). Mutual locations of specific features in the distributions of the heat-release rate and temperature are analyzed and compared with the distributions of OH and CH radicals. For all turbulence levels and flow velocities considered, the maximum concentration of radicals is reached on the boundaries of the heat-release region, whose locations are determined by molecular transport mechanisms. It is demonstrated that this conclusion is applicable to experimental data on diffusion combustion of a submerged hydrogen jet in air. __________ Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 44, No. 6, pp. 3–11, November–December, 2008.