Simultaneous stereo‐PIV and OH×CH2O PLIF measurements in turbulent ultra lean CH4/H2 swirling wall‐impinging flames

We present experimental results from turbulent low-swirl lean H₂/CH₄ flames impinging on an inclined, cooled iso-thermal wall, based on simultaneous stereo-PIV and OH×CH₂O PLIF measurements. By increasing the H₂ fraction in the fuel while keeping Karlovitz number (Ka) fixed in a first series of flames, a fuel dependent near-wall flame structure is identified. Although Ka is constant, flames with high H₂ fraction exhibit significantly more broken reaction zones. In addition, these high H₂ fraction flames interact significantly more with the wall, stabilizing through the inner shear layer and well inside the near-wall swirling flow due to a higher resistance to mean strain rate. This flame-wall interaction is argued to increase the effective local Ka due to heat loss to the wall, as similar flames with a (near adiabatic) ceramic wall instead of a cooled wall exhibit significantly less flame brokenness. A second series of leaner flames were investigated near blow-off limit and showed complete quenching in the inner shear layer, where the mean strain rate matches the extinction strain rate extracted from 1D flames. For pure CH₄ flames (Ka ≈ 30), the reaction zone remains thin up to the quenching point, while conversely for the 70% H₂ flames (Ka ≈ 1100), the reaction zone is highly fragmented. Remarkably, in all near blow-off cases with CH₄ in the fuel, a large cloud of CH₂O persists downstream the quenching point, suggesting incomplete combustion. Finally, ultra lean pure hydrogen flames were also studied for equivalence ratios as low as 0.22, and through OH imaging, exhibit a clear transition from a cellular flame structure to a highly fragmented flame structure near blow-off.     

The blow-off and transient characteristics of co-firing ammonia/methane fuels in a swirl combustor

Recent studies have demonstrated that ammonia could be one of the most promising hydrogen carrier candidates which can be used in large-scale power plants. However, it is challenging to burn ammonia in gas turbines due to its narrow flame stabilization limits. This study investigates the blow-off characteristics and flame macrostructure transition behavior of ammonia/air flame (i.e. NH₃ flame) and ammonia/methane/air flame (i.e. 50%NH₃ flame) in a swirl combustor. Methane/air flame (i.e. CH₄ flame) is also demonstrated for comparative purposes. The flow field and instantaneous OH profile are measured with PIV and OH-PLIF technique, respectively. Large eddy simulation (LES) is conducted to extend understandings of the experimental findings. The results show that the NH₃ flame possesses a poor lean flame stability limit which can be largely extended by adding CH₄ in the fuel. Moreover, changing swirl number (S) shows no apparent effect on the lean blow-off limit (?_b) for the NH₃ flame. On the contrary, a clear extension on ?_b is found for the 50%NH₃ flame when increasing S. Four flame macrostructure modes can be identified when decreasing equivalence ratio (?). The transition from flame II to flame III (?_t describes the transition equivalence ratio) can be considered as the early warning of blow-off for a swirl stabilized flame. It is found that for the NH₃ flame, there is no clear flame macrostructure transition at small inlet velocities (U < 3.8 m/s), i.e., ?_b ≈ ?_t, while the difference between ?_b and ?_t will be observed as the inlet velocity increases. However, for the 50%NH₃ and CH₄ flames, a clear flame macrostructure transition from flame II to flame III is observed even for a lower inlet velocity. The LES results show that the NH₃ flame has a faster blow-off process compared to the CH₄ flame, which is mainly attributed to the excessive stretch causing local extinction during the blow-off process.     

Effects of Schmidt number on non-monotonic liftoff height behavior in laminar coflow-jet flames with diluted methane and ethylene

Stabilization characteristics of laminar lifted jet flames in a coflow were investigated experimentally to elucidate the effect of Schmidt number in methane and ethylene fuels diluted with N₂, He, and Ar. A non-monotonic (decreasing and then increasing) liftoff height (H_L) behavior with jet velocity (U₀) was observed previously for methane fuel diluted with N₂. To further elucidate the fuel Schmidt number (Sc_F) effect in exhibiting such a non-monotonic (U-shaped) behavior, various diluents (N₂, He, and Ar) were added to the fuel streams and methane and/or ethylene fuels were used. The result showed three flame types in terms of Sc_F and fuel density; nozzle-attached flame, stationary lifted flame, and oscillating flame. Among stationary lifted flames, two distinct H_L behaviors with U₀ were observed; monotonic and non-monotonic H_L behaviors. A critical Schmidt number (Sc_F,cr1) existed over which monotonically increasing behavior was observed. A second critical Schmidt number (Sc_F,cr2) also existed such that U-shaped behavior was observed for Sc_F,cr2<Sc_F<Sc_F,cr1. An oscillating lifted flame was observed for Sc_F<Sc_F,cr2. The oscillating and stationary lifted flames can be categorized in terms of the density differences among the fuel, air, and burnt gas. For the increasing H_L cases (including the increasing regime in U-shaped behavior), H_L behavior can be characterized in terms of Sc_F, the density difference between fuel and air, Sc_F,cr1, and U₀. While the decreasing H_L regime in the U-shaped behavior can be characterized with Sc_F and/or the Richardson number (defined based on the density difference between fuel and air). Oscillating flames were observed with the frequency range of 2.1–2.7 Hz by the repetitive action of positive (by burnt gas) and negative (when the fuel heavier than air) buoyancies.     

Effect of Lewis number on premixed laminar lean-limit flames stabilized on a bluff body

In this paper, we present a study on the effect of Lewis number, Le, on the stabilization and blow-off of laminar lean limit premixed flames stabilized on a cylindrical bluff body. Numerical simulations and experiments are conducted for propane, methane and two blends of hydrogen with methane as fuel gases, containing 20% and 40% of hydrogen by volume, respectively. It is found that the Le?>?1 flame blows-off via convection from the base of the flame (without formation of a neck) when the conditions for flame anchoring are not fulfilled. Le?≤?1 flames exhibit a necking phenomenon just before lean blow-off. This necking of the flame front is a result of the local reduction in mass burning rates causing flame merging and quenching of the thin flame tube formed. The structure of these flames at the necking location is found to be similar to tubular flames. It is found that extinction stretch rates for tubular flames closely match values at the neck location of bluff-body flames of corresponding mixtures, suggesting that excessive flame stretch is directly responsible for blow-off of the studied Le?≤?1 flames. After quenching of the neck, the upstream part forms a steady and stable residual flame in the wake of the bluff body while the downstream part is convected away.     

Stability characteristics and flowfields of turbulent non-premixed swirling flames

A simple, yet representative, burner geometry is used for the investigation of highly swirling turbulent unconfined, non-premixed, flames of natural gas. The burner configuration comprises a ceramic faced bluff-body with a central fuel jet. The bluff-body is surrounded by an annulus that delivers a swirling primary flow of air. The entire burner assembly is housed in a wind tunnel providing a secondary co-flowing stream of air. This hybrid bluff-body/swirl burner configuration stabilizes complex turbulent flames not unlike those found in practical combustors, yet is amenable to modelling because of its well-defined boundary conditions. Full stability characteristics including blow-off limits and comprehensive maps of flame shapes are presented for swirling flames of three different fuel mixtures: compressed natural gas (CNG), CNG–air (1:2 by volume) and CNG–H₂ (1:1 by volume).

It is found that with increased fuel flow, flame blow-off mode may change with swirl number, S_g. At low swirl, the flame remains stable at the base but blows off in the neck region further downstream. At higher swirl numbers, the flames peel off completely from the burner's base. Swirling CNG–air flames are distinct in that they only undergo base blow-off. In the low range of swirl number, increasing S_g causes limited improvement in the blow-off limits of the flames investigated and (for a few cases) can even lead to some deterioration over a small intermediate range of S_g. It is only above a certain threshold of swirl that significant improvements in blow-off limits appear. Six flames are selected for further detailed flowfield and composition measurements and these differ in the combination of swirl number, primary axial velocity through the annulus, U_s, and bulk fuel jet velocity, U_j. Only velocity field measurements are presented in this paper. A number of flow features are resolved in these flames, which resemble those already associated with non-reacting swirling flows of equivalent swirl obtained with the present burner configuration. Additionally, asymmetric flowfields inherent to some flames are revealed where the fluidic centreline of the flow (defined in the two-dimensional (U–W velocity pair) velocity field by the ?ω? = 0 tangential velocity contour), meanders strongly on either side of the geometric centreline downstream by about one bluff-body diameter. Flow structures revealed by the velocity data are correlated to flame shapes to yield a better understanding of how the velocity field influences the flames physical characteristics.     

Turbulent burning velocity and its related statistics of ammonia‐hydrogen‐air jet flames at high Karlovitz number: Effect of differential diffusion

To clarify the role of differential diffusion in highly turbulent premixed flames, a series of turbulent premixed ammonia/hydrogen/air flames were investigated using the NH-PLIF diagnostics. The investigated flames have almost the same laminar burning velocity, S_L, but are characterized by different Lewis number, Le, from 0.56 to 1.77. The Karlovitz number, Ka, of these flames ranges from 11 to 1052, and the turbulence intensity, u’/S_L, covers from 10 to 156. It is observed that the global consumption speed, S_T,GC/S_L, of sub-unity Le flames is much larger than that of super-unity Le flames at high Ka, indicating that the differential diffusion plays a significant role in highly turbulent flames. The flame surface density and the area ratio of turbulent flames with different Le are, however, similar under wide turbulent conditions. The stretch factor of sub-unity Le flames is estimated to be significantly larger than that of super-unity Le cases. The enhanced S_T,GC of sub-unity Le flames is suggested to be attributed to the promotion of local burning rates by the couple effect of differential diffusion and turbulent flame stretch within the flame brush, rather than the enlargement of flame surface area at high Ka. Furthermore, three correlations for the S_T,GC were developed based on Damkohler's second hypothesis with consideration of the Le effect. The correlation of S_T,GC/S_L ∼ (Re_T·Le^-2)^0.5 is further validated by using small-scale methane/air and large-scale ammonia/air flames at high Ka, where Re_T is turbulent Reynolds number. It suggests that the S_T,GC is roughly inversely proportional to the Le, and the differential diffusion effect should be included in the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of highly turbulent flames.     

Effects of OH concentration and temperature on NO emission characteristics of turbulent non-premixed CH4/NH3/air flames in a two-stage gas turbine like combustor at high pressure

This study examined the effects of OH concentration and temperature on the NO emission characteristics of turbulent, non-premixed methane (CH₄)/ammonia (NH₃)/air swirl flames in two-stage combustors at high pressure. Emission data were obtained using large-eddy simulations with a finite-rate chemistry method from model flames based on the energy fraction of NH₃ (E_NH3) in CH₄/NH₃ mixtures. Although NO emissions at the combustor exit were found to be significantly higher than those generated by CH₄/air and NH₃/air flames under both lean and stoichiometric primary zone conditions, these emissions could be lowered to approximately 300 ppm by employing far-rich equivalence ratios (?) of 1.3 to 1.4 in the primary zone. This effect was possibly due to the lower OH concentrations under far-rich conditions. An analysis of local flame characteristics using a newly developed mixture fraction equation for CH₄/NH₃/air flames indicated that the local temperature and NO and OH concentration distributions with local ? were qualitatively similar to those in NH₃/air flames. That is, the maximum local NO and OH concentrations appeared at local ? of 0.9, although the maximum temperature was observed at local ? of 1.0. Both the temperature and OH concentration were found to gradually decrease with the partial replacement of CH₄ with NH₃. Consequently, NO emissions from CH₄/NH₃ flames were maximized at E_NH3 in the range of 20% to 30%, after which the emissions decreased. Above 2100 K, the NO emissions from CH₄/NH₃ flames increased exponentially with temperature, which was not observed in NH₃/air flames because of the lower flame temperatures in the latter. But, the maximum NO concentration in CH₄/NH₃ flames was occurred at a temperature slightly below the maximum temperature, just as in NH₃/air flames. The apparent exponential increase in NO emissions from CH₄/NH₃ flames is attributed to a similar trend in the OH concentration at high temperatures.     

Multiple mapping conditioning of turbulent jet diffusion flames

The multiple mapping conditioning (MMC) approach is applied to two non-piloted CH₄/H₂/N₂ turbulent jet diffusion flames with Reynolds numbers of Re = 15,200 and 22,800. The work presented here examines primarily the suitability of MMC to simulate CH₄/H₂ flames with varying Re numbers. The equations are solved in a prescribed Gaussian reference space with only one stochastic reference variable emulating the fluctuations of mixture fraction. The mixture fraction is considered as the only major species on which the remaining minor species are conditioned. Fluctuations around the conditional means are ignored. It is shown that the statistics of the mapped reference field are an accurate model for the statistics of the physical field for both flames. A transformation of the Gaussian reference space introduced in previous work on MMC is used to express the MMC model in the same form as CMC. The most important advantage of this transformation is that the conditionally averaged scalar dissipation term is in a closed form. The corresponding temperature and reactive species predictions are generally in good agreement with experimental data. The application to real laboratory flames and the assessment of the new conditional scalar dissipation model for the closure of the singly conditioned CMC equation is the major novelty of this paper. The results are therefore primarily examined with respect to changes of the conditionally averaged quantities in mixture fraction space.     

Effects of CO2 dilution on partially premixed CH4-air flames in swirl and bluff body stabilized combustor

The effect of CO₂ dilution on the flame characteristics and pollutant emission of a partially premixed CH₄-air flame in a confined bluff body and swirl influenced flowfield is investigated using optical and laser diagnostic methods. The non-premixed burner produced a converging-diverging flowfield at the burner exit and a lifted flame is produced at all test cases, with an upstream movement of the flame with decreasing global equivalence ratios (?_g). Based on variations in ?_g, two flame stabilization modes – bluff body influenced and swirl stabilized – with a transition mode in-between is observed for the cases with (flame FB) and without dilution (flame FM). The characteristics of the heat release zone are influenced by dilution, with the FB flames being longer and also less intense when compared to FM flames. Pollutant measurement at 30 mm downstream from the combustor exit highlighted the ultra-low NO_x capability of the IIST-GS2 burner. CO₂ dilution leads to a reduction in NO_x emission due to both thermal and chemical effects. For ?_g ≥ 0.7 extreme low levels of CO and unburned hydrocarbons (UHC) are observed for both cases. For ?_g ≤ 0.6 the dramatic increase of both CO and UHC maybe due to the lower flame temperatures and shorter flame zone residence times, respectively.     

Computational study on lean and rich combustion of flame ball,counterflow flame and planar flame: Their limits and stoichiometries

To investigate (fuel-)lean/rich limits and essential stoichiometries, i.e., the borders of lean/rich combustion, one-dimensional steady computations with detailed chemistry for flame balls, counterflow flames, and stretch-free planar flames were conducted using a CH₄/O₂/Xe mixture that has been used in microgravity experiments. As continuous converged solutions were obtained under lean/rich conditions, it was suggested that the existence of flame ball not only under lean but also under rich condition. Flame radii and temperatures of flame balls decreased and increased toward the lean/rich limits from their maximum and minimum values, respectively. The lean limits were wider in the order of the flame ball, counterflow flame, and stretch-free planar flame. Therefore, the lean flammability limit corresponded to the lean limit of the flame ball in the mixture. Conversely, the rich limits were wider in the order of the counterflow flame, stretch-free planar flame, and flame ball. Thus, the rich flammability limit corresponded to the rich limit of the counterflow flame in the mixture. Essential stoichiometry, which represents the actual stoichiometry depending on the dominant transport in near-flame front, was not uniquely determined as conventional stoichiometry (ϕ = 1); it was located between the equivalence ratio of ϕ = 1 and ϕ_c, where ϕ _c denotes the critical equivalence ratio is evaluated using the fuel and oxidizer Lewis number of a target mixture. The results indicated that the essential stoichiometry of the stretch-free planar flame corresponded to ϕ = 1, that of the flame ball corresponded to ϕ = ϕ _c, and that of the stretched flame was located between ϕ = 1 and ϕ _c depending on the stretch rate.     

Heat release rate as represented by [OH] × [CH2O] and its role in autoignition

Data from a recent instantaneous, simultaneous, high-resolution imaging experiment of Rayleigh temperature and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) of OH and CH₂O at the base of a turbulent lifted methane flame issuing into a hot vitiated coflow are analysed and contrasted to reference flames to further investigate the stabilization mechanisms involved. The use of the product of the quantified OH and semi-quantified CH₂O images as a marker for heat release rate is validated for transient autoigniting laminar flames. This is combined with temperature gradient information to investigate the flame structure. Super-equilibrium OH, the nature of the profiles of heat release rate with respect to OH mole fraction, and comparatively high peak heat release rates at low temperature gradients is found in the kernel structures at the flame base, and found to be indicative of autoignition stabilization.     

Reaction zone structures and mixing characteristics of partially premixed swirling CH4/air flames in a gas turbine model combustor

The mixing, reaction progress, and flame front structures of partially premixed flames have been investigated in a gas turbine model combustor using different laser techniques comprising laser Doppler velocimetry for the characterization of the flow field, Raman scattering for simultaneous multi-species and temperature measurements, and planar laser-induced fluorescence of CH for the visualization of the reaction zones. Swirling CH₄/air flames with Re numbers between 7500 and 60,000 have been studied to identify the influence of the turbulent flow field on the thermochemical state of the flames and the structures of the CH layers. Turbulence intensities and length scales, as well as the classification of these flames in regime diagrams of turbulent combustion, are addressed. The results indicate that the flames exhibit more characteristics of a diffusion flame (with connected flame zones) than of a uniformly premixed flame.     

On the oscillating flame characteristics in nonpremixed laminar coflow-jets: An experimental and numerical study

This study investigates the characteristics of oscillating lifted flames in laminar coflow-jets experimentally and numerically by varying both fuel density (by varying propane and n-butane mixtures) and coflow density (by diluting air with N₂/He mixtures). Two different lifted flame oscillation behaviors are observed depending on these parameters: oscillating tribrachial lifted flame (OTLF) and oscillating mode-change lifted flame (OMLF), where a rapid increase in flame radius is observed. The regimes of the two flames are identified from experiments, which shows that OMLF occurs only when the effect of the negative buoyancy on the flow field by the fuel heavier than air becomes significant at low fuel jet velocity. OMLFs are also identified to distinguish OTLF regime from flame extinction, which implies that an OMLF can be extinguished when the positive buoyancy becomes weak, losing its stabilizing effect, or when the negative buoyancy becomes strong, further enhancing its destabilizing effect. Transient numerical simulations of both OTLF and OMLF reveal that the OMLF occurs by a strong toroidal vortex and a subsequent counterflow-like structure induced by relatively-strong negative buoyancy. Such a drastic flow redirection significantly changes the fuel concentration gradient such that the OMLF changes its mode from a tribrachial flame mode (decreasing edge speed with fuel concentration gradient) to the premixed flame-like transition mode when the fuel concentration gradient becomes very small (increasing edge speed with fuel concentration gradient). Again, a tribrachial flame mode is recovered during a rising period of flame edge and repeats an oscillation cycle.     

Charmed Deuteron

Possible existence of bound states of a charmed baryon, Λ _c , Σ _c , Σ* _c with a nucleon, N, as well as two charmed baryons, Λ _c Λ _c , etc., are examined in the meson exchange potential approach. The heavy quark spin symmetry induces a strong tensor coupling between Λ _c N, Σ _c N and Σ* _c N states, which causes a bound state of Λ _c N (J = 0⁺ and 1⁺) states. Such a bound state is also seen in the spin-singlet Λ _c Λ _c channel, which resembles the H dibaryon in the strange sector.     

The stabilization mechanism and structure of turbulent hydrocarbon lifted flames

The structure and stabilization mechanism of turbulent lifted non-premixed hydrocarbon flames have been investigated using combined laser imaging techniques. The techniques include Rayleigh scattering, laser induced predissociation fluorescence of OH, LIF of PAH, LIF of CH₂O, and planar imaging velocimetry. The geometrical structure of multi-reaction zones and flow field at the stabilization region have been simultaneously measured in 16 hydrocarbon flames. The data reveal the existence of triple flame structure at the stabilization region of turbulent lifted flames. Increasing the jet velocity leads to an increase of the lift-off height and to a broadening of the lift-off region. Further analysis of the stabilization criterion at the lift-off height based on the premixed nature of triple-flame propagation and flow field data has been presented and discussed.     

Quantitative Radar REMPI measurements of methyl radicals in flames at atmospheric pressure

Spatially resolved quantitative measurements of methyl radicals (CH₃) in CH₄/air flames at atmospheric pressure have been achieved using coherent microwave Rayleigh scattering from Resonance enhanced multi-photon ionization, Radar REMPI. Relative direct measurements of the methyl radicals were conducted by Radar REMPI via the two-photon resonance of the $ 3p^{2} A_{2}^{\prime \prime } 0_{0}^{0} $ state and subsequent one-photon ionization. Due to the proximity of the argon resonance state of 2s ²2p ⁵4f [7/2, J = 4](4+1 REMPI by 332.5 nm) with the CH₃ state of $ 3p^{2} A_{2}^{\prime \prime } 0_{0}^{0} $ (2+1 REMPI by 333.6 nm), in situ calibration with argon was performed to quantify the absolute concentration of CH₃. The REMPI cross sections of CH₃ and argon were calculated based on time-dependent quantum perturbation theory. The measured CH₃ concentration in CH₄/air flames was in good agreement with numerical simulations performed using detailed chemical kinetics. The Radar REMPI method has shown great flexibility for spatial scanning, large signal-to-noise ratio for measurements at atmospheric pressures, and significant potential to be straightforwardly generalized for the quantitative measurements of other radicals and intermediate species in practical and relevant combustion environments.     

Flow measurement around a cycloidal propeller

Abstract  

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the flow around a cycloidal propeller. Flow fields were obtained using a particle image velocimetry system whose data acquisition was synchronized with the propeller’s angular position. The chord-based Reynolds number was Re _c = u _r c/υ = 1.4 × 10⁴, where u _r is the rotational velocity of the propeller and c is the chord length of the airfoil. Flow characteristics such as mean velocity, vorticity and the RMS value of velocity fluctuation were derived from the measurements. The results demonstrated the presence of a downwash around the propeller during the generation of lift. Detailed observations around each airfoil visualized distinct vortex shedding and reattaching flow at certain phase angles of the propeller.     

Low-temperature x-ray diffraction studies of the crystallographic parameters and thermal expansion of (CH3)2NH2Al(SO4)2 · 6H2O crystals

The a, b, c, and β crystallographic parameters of the (CH₃)₂NH₂Al(SO₄)₂ · 6H₂O crystal (DMAAS) have been measured by x-ray diffraction in the 90–300-K temperature range. The thermal expansion coefficients along the principal crystallographic axes α_a, α_b, and α_c have been determined. It was shown that, as the temperature is increased, the parameter α decreases and b increases, whereas c decreases for T<T _c (where T _c is the transition temperature) and increases for T>T _c, so that one observes a minimum in the c=f(T) curve in the region of the phase transition (PT) temperature T _c ～ 152 K. The thermal expansion coefficients α_a, α_b, and α_c vary in a complicated manner with increasing temperature, more specifically, α_a and α_c assume negative values at low temperatures, and the α_a=f(T), α_b=f(T), and α_c=f(T) curves exhibit anomalies at the PT point. The crystal has been found to be substantially anisotropic in thermal expansion.     

LES of oxy-fuel jet flames using the Eulerian Stochastic Fields method with differential diffusion

The Eulerian Stochastic Fields (ESF) Monte Carlo method to solve the transported PDF (TPDF) equation is extended to account for differential diffusion effects by incorporating species individual molecular diffusivities. The method has been applied in Large Eddy simulation (LES) to non-piloted oxy-fuel jet flames at different Reynolds numbers experimentally investigated by Sevault et al. [1]. Due to the high H₂ content in the fuel stream and CO₂ in the oxidizer these flames pose new challenges to combustion modeling as the flame structures are different compared to CH₄/air flames. The simulations show very good agreement with the experiments in terms of mixture fraction conditional mean values for temperature and mayor species on the fuel lean side and the reaction zone, deviations on the fuel rich side are discussed. The trend and location of localized extinction is reproduced well in the simulations, as well as differential diffusion effects in the near field. Additionally, it is shown that a neglect of differential diffusion in the combustion model leads to a lifted flame.