Observations on Jet-Flame Blowout

The mechanisms that cause jet-flame blowout, particularly in the presence of air coflow, are not completely understood. This work examines the role of fuel velocity and air coflow in the blowout phenomenon by examining the transient behavior of the reaction zoneat blowout. The results of video imaging of a lifted methane-air diffusion flame at near blowout conditions are presented. Two types of experiments are described. In the first investigation, a flame is established and stabilized at a known, predetermined downstream location with a constant coflow velocity, and then the fuel velocity is subsequently increased to cause blowout. In the other, an ignition source is used to maintain flame burning near blowout and the subsequent transient behavior to blowout upon removal of the ignition source is characterized. Data from both types of experiments are collected at various coflow and jet velocities. Images are used to ascertain the changes in the leading edge of the reaction zone prior to flame extinction that help to develop a physically-based model to describe jet-flame blowout. The data report that a consistent predictor of blowout is the prior disappearance of the axially oriented flame branch. This is witnessed despite a turbulent flames' inherent variable behavior. Interpretations are also made in the light of analytical mixture fraction expressions from the literature that support the notion that flame blowout occurs when the leading edge reaches the vicinity of the lean-limit contour, which coincides approximately with the conditions for loss of the axially oriented flame structure.

Effect of Hydrogen Content and Dilution on Laminar Burning Velocity and Stability Characteristics of Producer Gas-Air Mixtures

Producer gas is one of the promising alternative fuels with typical constituents of H2, CO, CH4, N2, and CO2. The laminar burning velocity of producer gas was computed for a wide range of operating conditions. Flame stability due to preferential diffusional effects was also investigated. Computations were carried out for spherical outwardly propagating flames and planar flames. Different reaction mechanisms were assessed for the prediction of laminar burning velocities of CH4, H2, H2-CO, and CO-CH4and results showed that the Warnatz reaction mechanism with C1 chemistry was the smallest among the tested mechanisms with reasonably accurate predictions for all fuels at 1 bar, 300 K. To study the effect of variation in the producer gas composition, each of the fuel constituents in ternary CH4-H2-CO mixtures was varied between 0 to 48%, while keeping diluents fixed at 10% CO2and 42% N2by volume. Peak burning velocity shifted fromϕ=1.6to 1.1 as the combined volumetric percentage of hydrogen and CO varied from 48% to 0%. Unstable flames due to preferential diffusion effects were observed for lean mixtures of fuel with high hydrogen content. The present results indicate that H2has a strong influence on the combustion of producer gas.