Experimental investigation of the effect of fuel nozzle geometry on the stability of a swirling non-premixed methane flame

An experimental investigation on the stability of a swirling non-premixed methane flame is reported in this paper. Methane gas is supplied through a central nozzle, and combustion (co-flow) air is supplied through an annulus surrounding the nozzle. Two main parameters were varied independently, which are the nozzle geometry and swirl strength; however the exit velocity of the central (fuel nozzle) jet and co-airflow were also varied to provide a wide range of test conditions. Two nozzles were tested: a contracted circular (referred to hereafter as CCN) and a rectangular (referred to hereafter as RN), which have similar equivalent diameter, D_e (defined as the diameter of a round slot having the same exit area as the nozzle geometry). The contracted circular nozzle has a diameter of 4.82 mm, and the rectangular nozzle has a diameter of 4.71 with an aspect ratio of 2:1. The swirl strength of the co-flow was varied by changing the vanes’ angle. The main results obtained from this study show that the rectangular nozzle exhibits higher entrainment and jet spreading rates compared with its CCN counterpart. In addition, the results revealed that increasing the swirl strength creates a flow recirculation zone which is larger with the RN compared with that of the corresponding CCN. These flow features associated with the RN lead to an enhanced mixing which consequently promotes better flame stability compared with its CCN counterpart.