Behaviour of a confined fire located in an unventilated zone

The behaviour of a fire in an enclosure is studied for a configuration where the fuel source is located in the upper hot unventilated zone trapped by a soffit. The experimental study, undertaken in a laboratory-scale compartment with a fuel source above the level of a soffit, included the determination of the parameters (ventilation factor, rate of fuel supply) controlling the combustion or leading to extinction. Measurements (PIV, thermocouples, gas sampling and analysis) were performed to propose a hypothesis on the structure of the flame (flame stabilisation mechanisms, premixed or diffusion types). Video photography is used to determine the area covered by the flames. This information is used as a criterion to identify the combustion regimes. The results show that the gaseous fuel is diluted in the combustion products (CP) in the upper layer and that a recirculatory motion is formed, driven by buoyancy forces, which enhances the mixing of fuel and CP. These then travel horizontally towards the vent along the interface between the lower fresh air and upper zones, and are premixed with the convected air in the enclosure, before entering the reaction zone and being burnt. The flame stabilises at the interface between the upper hot and lower ventilated layers in the compartment. The observed “ghosting flame” is stabilised by a triple flame if the flame speed of the premixed flame is higher than the natural convection velocity induced in the compartment. The flame stability is quantified by a criterion based on the area of the horizontal flame. It has been observed that the combustion is controlled by the available mass fuel flux at the reaction zone if the ventilation is sufficient. This information is essential for the modelling of the phenomena involved in fires with such an underventilated fuel source.     

Temperature evolution,flame behavior and extinction inside compartment with a ceiling vent under the ambient wind

This article presents an experimental and CFD simulation investigation and analysis on temperature evolution and flame behavior inside compartment with a ceiling vent under ambient wind. Experiments were conducted employing a reduced-scale model containing a cubic fire compartment with a ceiling vent under the external wind generated by a wind tunnel. The temperature of windward and leeward inside compartment as well as the flame behavior were recorded for various vent dimensions, heat release rates and wind speeds for a total of 720 test conditions. Results show that there are two types of fire behavior regimes inside the compartment for relatively small- (Bernoulli flow regime) or large vents (oscillatory exchange flow regime). With a relatively small vent, the flame is located at the center of compartment and the temperatures of windward and leeward are almost the same with or without the ambient wind. Then the flame turns to extinct due to lack of oxygen with increasing of fuel supply. However, with a relatively large vent, there is a flame transition from windward to leeward accompanied by the transition of temperature distribution with increasing of fuel supply when subject to ambient wind. Such extinction and transition mechanisms are interpreted by the aid of CFD simulation of global equivalence ratio and flow/oxygen field inside compartment. The critical heat release rate for the occurrence of flame transition decreases with raising wind speed while increases with vent size. Their complex dependence is found to be well represented in terms of a non-dimensional heat release rate as a function of the wind Froude number, employing the vent area-equivalent characteristic diameter as length scale. These new findings facilitate the understanding of the compartment fire evolution with a ceiling vent subject to ambient wind.     

Effect of flow circulation on combustion dynamics of fire whirl

In this paper, the effect of flow circulation on the combustion dynamics of fire whirl is systematically investigated by experiments. New correlations for the burning rate, flame height, radial temperature and mass flow rate are established for fire whirl. It is clarified that flow circulation helps increase both the fuel-flame contact area and the actual fuel surface area, which in turn increases both the heat feedback to the fuel surface and the radial velocity in the ground boundary layer, leading to increase of burning rate. A novel idea for correlation of fire whirl flame height is proposed by assuming that the ratio of the fire whirl flame height to the flame height without circulation solely characterizes the effect of circulation. This idea is fully verified, thereby a new formulation for flame height is established, which successfully decouples the burning rate and the circulation. It is indicated that the fuel-rich core in the flame body of fire whirl significantly affects the radial temperature distribution in the continuous flame region, and the flame body can be described by the combination of a cylinder and a cone. The flow circulation significantly suppresses fire plume radius and thus decreases its increasing rate with vertical distance. It is also demonstrated that the fire whirl flame involves laminarized regions in its lower section, coexisting with turbulent regions in the upper portion. The flow circulation enhances the air entrainment in the ground layer by altering the radial velocity profile and increasing the radial velocity. In the low section of flaming region, the significant decrease of mixture between the combustion products and surrounding air dominates the pure aerodynamic effect of flow circulation on the flame height. Finally, it is clarified that fire whirls maintain higher centerline excess temperature than general pool fires due to the effect of less air entrainment.     

基于光谱分析的油料池火内部传热特性研究

油料池火焰内部分为不同燃烧区域,目前对油池火内部传热特性研究较少。针对油池火内部传热特性研究不足的现状,构建了红外火焰光谱测试系统,研究分析了92#汽油、95#汽油及润滑油池火焰红外光谱特性,对油池火焰不同燃烧区域的光谱信息进行了提取分析,结果表明：三种油料池火焰光谱特征相似,存在多个CO₂,H₂O及炭黑颗粒等燃烧产物的特征发射波段,3.4 μm处C—H伸缩振动峰明显;火焰烟气区主要光谱特征为4～4.5 μm波段范围内高温CO₂发射峰,该区域火焰与空气换热剧烈,温度变化不稳定,火焰脉动频率较高;火焰间歇区的光谱特征是4～4.5 μm波段范围内高温CO₂发射峰,与烟气区相比,火焰间歇区脉动频率相对较低;与烟气区及间歇区相比,火焰连续区燃烧较为稳定,该区域的光谱特征明显,在2.5～3 μm波段范围内炭黑粒子发射光谱强度较高,且在3.4 μm处存在C—H伸缩振动峰,表明油料池火焰光谱3.4 μm处的特征峰由高温油蒸汽产生。油池火焰不同燃烧区域光谱特征分析表明,油池火焰液态油表面的“富燃料层”吸收火焰传热,引起3.4 μm附近油蒸汽分子能级的改变。油池火焰不同燃烧区域发射光谱强度计算表明,火焰连续区的强度最大,其次为间歇区,火焰烟气区与空气对流强烈,测得的发射光谱强度最低。研究结果为火焰—油料传热模型的修正提供了参考。     

Experimental study of burning rates of cardboard box fires near sea level and at high altitude

To study the difference of solid fuel fire characteristics at different altitudes, two series of fire experiments of cardboard boxes filled with shredded office paper were conducted separately in Lhasa (altitude: 3650 m; air pressure: 65 kPa) and Hefei (altitude: 24 m, air pressure: 100.8 kPa), using a specially designed igniter. The measured parameters in the experiments include mass loss and flame axis temperature. Fuel load quantity and configuration were varied in the experiments. The results of the study indicate a likelihood that an ignition will result in smoldering fire at the high altitude. There is also likelihood that incipient phase may occur before the onset of full flaming combustion regardless of the altitude. The fuel mass loss fraction of flaming fires was found to follow a simple form of correlation with time when normalized over the half fuel consumption time, which was found to be inversely proportional to four-third power of the ambient pressure.     

Experimental study of air dilution in oxy-liquid fuel flames

The influence of oxidizer dilution in oxy-liquid ethanol flames is experimentally investigated by using a coaxial air-assisted injector positioned in a vertical combustion chamber. This study accounts for the influence of a two-phase mode since two different injector geometries are used: for the first configuration, a vaporization mode is observed at nominal power in oxy conditions, while for the second one, a brush mode is observed. Dilution with air is applied by keeping oxidizer velocity constant. Flame structure is observed through CH emission: dilution leads to an increase in the flame diameter, and collective effects of two-phase combustion are encouraged. The effect of dilution on oxy flame stability is also studied: for a given oxygen mass fraction in the oxidizer, the oxidizer flow rate is increased until extinction occurs. Dilution leads to a less stable flame, which may be essentially explained by the decrease in laminar flame speed with dilution. For high oxidizer dilution levels, the change in flame structure might be another parameter to consider. Finally, species concentrations are measured using a standard gas sampling technique. NO and CO evolutions with dilution are different between both two-phase combustion regimes. An empirical approach based on thermal NO mechanism and CO oxidation reaction enables one to explain the evolutions for brush mode. For vaporization mode, the residence time in burned gases is also to be considered.     

Measurements of the critical initiation radius and unsteady propagation of n-decane/air premixed flames

Unsteady flame propagation, the critical radius for flame initiation, and multiple flame regimes of n-decane/air mixtures are studied experimentally and computationally using outwardly propagating spherical flames at various equivalence ratios and pressures. The transient flame speeds, trajectories, and critical radius are measured. The experimental results are compared with direct numerical simulations using detailed high temperature kinetic models. Both experimental and numerical results show that there exist multiple flame regimes in the unsteady spherical flame initiation process. The transition between the flame regimes depends strongly on the mixture equivalence ratio (or Lewis number). It is found that there is a critical flame radius and that it increases dramatically as the mixture equivalence ratio and pressure decrease. The large increase of critical flame radius leads to a dramatic increase of the minimum ignition energy. Furthermore, the flame thickness and the radical pool concentration change significantly during the transition from the ignition flame regime to the self-sustained propagating flame regime. For the same steady state flame speeds, the predicted unsteady flame speeds and the critical flame radius differ significantly from the experimental results. Moreover, different chemical kinetic mechanisms predict different unsteady flame speeds. The existence of multiple flame regimes and the large critical radius of lean liquid fuel mixtures make the ignition of lean mixtures at low pressure and the development of a validated kinetic model more challenging. The unsteady flame regimes, speeds, and critical flame radius should be included as targets of future kinetic model development for turbulent combustion modeling.     

Heat fluxes and flame heights in façades from fires in enclosures of varying geometry

Fire spread in high rise buildings from floor to floor occurs if flames emerge and extend on the façade of the building to cause ignition in floors above the floor of fire origin. Even though considerable effort has been exerted to address this issue, proposed relations for flame heights and heat fluxes are incomplete and contradictory because the relevant physics have been poorly clarified. By performing numerous experiments in small scale enclosures having various door-like openings and fire locations, the physics and new relations are underpinned for flames on façade emerging from (under-ventilated) ventilation controlled fires at the floor of fire origin. To limit the variables and uncertainties, propane and methane gas burners created controlled (theoretical) heat release rates at the source. Gas temperatures inside the enclosure and at the opening, heat fluxes on the façade wall, flame contours (by a CCD camera) and heat release rates (by oxygen calorimetry) inside and outside the enclosure have been measured. The gas temperatures inside the enclosure were uniform for aspect ratio (length to width) of the enclosure varying from one to three to one. Previous relations for the air inflow and heat release rate inside the enclosure were verified. These flames are highly radiative because soot can be formed at high temperatures inside the enclosure before the combustion gases and the unburned fuel exit the enclosure. Remarkably the efficiency of combustion is one for well over-ventilated and very under-ventilated fires by it dropped to 80% for burning conditions around stoichiometric. The flame height and heat fluxes have been well correlated by identifying new length scales related to the effective area of the outflow and the length after which the flow turns from horizontal to vertical due to buoyancy. The results can be used for engineering calculations for real fires and for validation of new large eddy scale simulation models.     

Flow characterization and dilution effects of N_2 and CO_2 on premixed CH_4/air flames in a swirl-stabilized combustor

Numerically-aided experimental studies are conducted on a swirl-stabilized combustor to investigate the dilution effects on flame stability, flame structure, and pollutant emissions of premixed CH4/air flames. Our goal is to provide a systematic assessment on combustion characteristics in diluted regimes for its application to environmentally-friendly approaches such as biogas combustion and exhanst-gas recirculation technology. Two main diluting species, N2 and CO2, are tested at various dilution rates. The results obtained by means of optical diagnostics show that five main flame regimes can be observed for Nz-diluted flames by changing excess air and dilution rate. CO2-diluted flames follow the same pattern evolution except that all the domains are shifted to lower excess air. Both N2 and CO2 dilution affect the lean blow- out （LBO） limits negatively. This behavior can be counter-balanced by reactant preheating which is able to broaden the flammability domain of the diluted flames. Flame reactivity is degraded by increasing dilution rate. Meanwhile, flames are thickened in the presence of both diluting species. NOx emissions are significantly reduced with dilution and proved to be relevant to flame stability diagrams： slight augmentation in NOx emission profiles is related to transitional flame states where instability occurs. Although dilution results in increase in CO emissions at certain levels, optimal dilution rates can still be proposed to achieve an ideal compromise.     

CS2燃烧火焰光谱辐射模型的构建与特征污染产物浓度反演研究

CS₂在当今化工等领域占据了重要地位,而CS₂火灾污染事故危害性极大。通过研究CS₂燃烧火焰光谱辐射以探究其火灾污染特性极为必要。搭建了CS₂燃烧火焰光谱测试平台,采用黑体辐射源对VSR仪器进行了标定,通过多用途傅里叶变换(VSR)红外光谱辐射仪测试了5,10和20 cm三种燃烧尺度下CS₂燃烧的火焰光谱,并通过热电偶测试了整个燃烧时间段内不同燃烧时刻下的火焰温度,以及在火焰上方安装了烟气分析仪对火焰中的燃烧产物浓度进行监测。测量了CS₂整个燃烧时间段内火焰温度,以及不同燃烧时间、不同燃烧尺度下的火焰光谱、燃烧产物组分信息。测试结果表明,CS₂火焰中主要含有高温SO₂,CO₂,CO气体和空气中卷入的H₂O分子,并获取了特征污染产物SO₂的浓度。由于现有光谱仪测量分辨率有限,室内实验测量的火焰尺度有限,为了能实现火灾在线监测需要建立一个火焰光谱辐射模型来反演CS₂火灾时的污染物浓度相关信息。基于HITRAN数据库可知在2.7 μm附近为高温水蒸气的发射峰,4.2 μm附近特征峰为高温CO₂气体的发射峰,4.7 μm附近有CO微弱的发射峰,在7.4 μm附近特征峰为高温SO₂气体的发射峰,并获得了CS₂燃烧时产生的SO₂,CO₂,CO和H₂O气体在火焰燃烧相同温度下的吸收系数,通过计算得到了CS₂燃烧时产生的SO₂,CO₂,CO和H₂O混合气体的透过率与发射率,并结合气体辐射传输方程、气体吸收系数等方程,创建了CS₂燃烧的火焰光谱辐射模型。利用该光谱辐射模型反演了不同燃烧时间下特征污染产物SO₂的浓度,并与实验测得的数据进行了对比分析。结果表明,该模型精度高,可用于燃烧产物浓度的定量化反演,SO₂分子含量在燃烧时间20,40,60和80 s时的反演精度分别是89.5%,82.5%,85.6%和86.5%。为遥感反演CS₂型大尺度火灾中燃烧产物的浓度奠定基础。     

高温空气燃烧NOx排放特性的试验研究

通过两种结构烧嘴的热态燃烧试验对比,研究了烧嘴结构、燃气射流速度、过量空气系数对高温空气燃烧过程氮氧化物排放的影响特性。研究结果认为:在燃气喷口两侧布置两个矩形空气喷口的烧嘴,氮氧化物排放量低于圆形空气喷口烧嘴;随着燃气射流速度的提高,高温空气燃烧过程排放的氮氧化物逐渐减少。与普通燃烧过程不同的是,随着过量空气系数的提高,在一定范围内高温空气燃烧的氮氧化物排放量不断增加。分析认为,高温空气燃烧氮氧化物排放量与火焰体积、炉内氧气与燃气混合过程以及燃气射流和空气射流对炉内烟气的卷吸量有关。     

Experimental study and large eddy simulation of effect of terrain slope on marginal burning in shrub fuel beds

This paper presents a combined study of laboratory scale fire spread experiments and a three-dimensional large eddy simulation (LES) to analyze the effect of terrain slope on marginal burning behavior in live chaparral shrub fuel beds. Line fire was initiated in single species fuel beds of four common chaparral plants under various fuel bed configurations and ambient conditions. An LES approach was developed to model fire spreading through a fuel bed with a subgrid scale turbulent combustion model based on a flame surface density concept. By examining two fuel bed slope configurations, it was found that upslope fire spread depends not only on the increased radiant heat transfer but also on the aerodynamic effect created by the interaction of the flame with the inclined surface. Under certain conditions, the convective heat transfer induced by this interaction becomes the dominant mechanism in determining fire spread success. Seventy-three (or 42%) of 173 experimental fires successfully propagated for slopes ranging from −70% to 70%. It was found there exists a critical slope above which fire spread in these live fuel beds was successful, and below which fire spread was unsuccessful. This critical slope for marginal burning varied widely with fuel moisture content and fuel loading. A stepwise logistic regression model was developed from experimental data to predict the probability of successful fire spread. It is expected that this model may be helpful in providing guidelines for prescribed fire application.     

低功率电弧放电辅助甲烷燃烧的实验研究

利用低功率电弧放电辅助甲烷燃烧,研究了在不同甲烷/空气比例的情况下,等离子体对甲烷燃烧的影响。采用发射光谱仪进行光谱诊断,比较有/无等离子体辅助甲烷燃烧火焰发射光谱的异同,讨论了等离子体辅助燃烧可能发生的过程和机理。比较有/无等离子体辅助甲烷燃烧火焰温度的变化。利用气相色谱和烟气分析仪对甲烷燃烧产物中的CH₄、CO 和O₂ 进行分析。实验结果表明,加等离子体后,火焰的温度升高,尾气中的可燃性成分减少,氧气含量降低,在很大程度上提高了甲烷的燃烧效率;甲烷/空气的比例越低,燃烧效率的提高越明显;甲烷的富燃燃烧极限从16%调高到21%。     

Combustion of bimodal nano/micron-sized aluminum particle dust in air

The combustion of bimodal nano/micron-sized aluminum particles with air is studied both analytically and experimentally in a well-characterized laminar particle-laden flow. Experimentally, an apparatus capable of producing Bunsen-type premixed flames was constructed to investigate the flame characteristics of bimodal-particle/air mixtures. The flame speed is positively affected by increasing the mass fraction of nano particles in the fuel formulation despite the lower flame luminosity and thicker flame zone. Theoretically, the flames are assumed to consist of several different regimes for fuel-lean mixture, including the preheat, flame, and post flame zones. The flame speed and temperature distribution are derived by solving the energy equation in each regime and matching the temperature and heat flux at the interfacial boundaries. The analysis allows for the investigation of the effects of particle composition and equivalence ratio on the burning characteristics of aluminum-particle/air mixtures. Reasonable agreement between theoretical results and experimental data was obtained in terms of flame speed. The flame structure of a bimodal particle dust cloud may display either an overlapping or a separated configuration, depending on the combustion properties of aluminum particles at different scales. At low percentages of nano particles in the fuel formulation, the flame exhibits a separated spatial structure with a wider flame regime. At higher nano-particle loadings, overlapping flame configurations are observed.     

A multi-zone chemistry mapping approach for direct numerical simulation of auto-ignition and flame propagation in a constant volume enclosure

A direct numerical simulation (DNS) coupling with multi-zone chemistry mapping (MZCM) is presented to simulate flame propagation and auto-ignition in premixed fuel/air mixtures. In the MZCM approach, the physical domain is mapped into a low-dimensional phase domain with a few thermodynamic variables as the independent variables. The approach is based on the fractional step method, in which the flow and transport are solved in the flow time steps whereas the integration of the chemical reaction rates and heat release rate is performed in much finer time steps to accommodate the small time scales in the chemical reactions. It is shown that for premixed mixtures, two independent variables can be sufficient to construct the phase space to achieve a satisfactory mapping. The two variables can be the temperature of the mixture and the specific element mass ratio of H atom for fuels containing hydrogen atoms. An aliasing error in the MZCM is investigated. It is shown that if the element mass ratio is based on the element involved in the most diffusive molecules, the aliasing error of the model can approach zero when the grid in the phase space is refined. The results of DNS coupled with MZCM (DNS-MZCM) are compared with full DNS that integrates the chemical reaction rates and heat release rate directly in physical space. Application of the MZCM to different mixtures of fuel and air is presented to demonstrate the performance of the method for combustion processes with different complexity in the chemical kinetics, transport and flame–turbulence interaction. Good agreement between the results from DNS and DNS-MZCM is obtained for different fuel/air mixtures, including H₂/air, CO/H₂/air and methane/air, while the computational time is reduced by nearly 70%. It is shown that the MZCM model can properly address important phenomena such as differential diffusion, local extinction and re-ignition in premixed combustion.     

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Different ratios of methane/air in the low power arc discharges assisted methane combustion were studied at atmospheric pressure. Plasma emission spectroscopy was recorded by an optical emission spectrometer. The possible physical and chemical reaction process and mechanisms were discussed. With a plasma in the on or off state, the physical appearances of the methane combustion flame were observed and compared, the temperature of the flame in the main combustion zone was investigated. The gas compositions of CH₄, CO and O₂ were analyzed by the gas chromatography and flue gas analyzer. The results showed that when plasma was in the on state, the temperature of flame increased and the combustion efficiency enhanced in stable combustion due to decrease of CH₄, CO and O₂; the combustion enhancement was more obvious at low ratio of methane/air; the rich combustion limits in terms of the ratio of methane/air was extended from 16% to 21%.     

On transient behavior of non-premixed counter-flow diffusion flames within the REDIM based model reduction concept

In the present work non-stationary behavior of the counter-flow diffusion flame is examined in the context of the recently developed approach of model reduction called REaction–DIffusion Manifolds (REDIM) method. It is a natural extension of the ILDM approach which takes into account both the chemical reaction and the diffusion processes. It has been developed to treat both premixed and non-premixed regimes of combustion. In this work we investigate the ability of the concept to describe transient processes of extinction and re-ignition. A very simple flame configuration and transport model are considered in this current study for the sake of transparency because the main focus is on the transient and non-stationary behavior of flames. H₂/O₂/N₂ combustion system is considered in a non-premixed counter-flow diffusion 1D flame configuration. This study shows how the REDIM concept performs in the transient regimes; it interprets the effect of local extinction and reigniting phenomena using detailed and reduced models. It shows how the unstable/transient behavior of a detailed system can be successfully accounted with the help of the REDIM based reduced model.     

Propagation and extinction of cyclopentadiene flames

Laminar flame speeds and extinction strain rates of cyclopentadiene/air mixture were determined in the counterflow configuration at atmospheric pressure, unburned mixture temperature of 353 K, and for a wide range of equivalence ratios. The experiments were modeled using recently developed kinetic models. Sensitivity analyses showed that both flame propagation and extinction of cyclopentadiene/air mixtures flames depend notably on the fuel kinetics and subsequent intermediates such as cyclopentadienyl, cyclopentadienone, and cyclopentadienoxy. Analyses of the computed flame structures revealed that the high temperature oxidation of cyclopentadiene depends in general on the kinetics of first few intermediates in the oxidation process following the fuel consumption. The potential reaction pathways of the consumption of cyclopentadienyl radicals were discussed and further investigation and validation is recommended for two relevant reactions that could improve the high temperature oxidation kinetic model of cyclopentadiene. The experimental flame data of this study are the first ones to be reported.     

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.     

Direct ignition and S-curve transition by in situ nano-second pulsed discharge in methane/oxygen/helium counterflow flame

A well-defined plasma assisted combustion system with novel in situ discharge in a counterflow diffusion flame was developed to study the direct coupling kinetic effect of non-equilibrium plasma on flame ignition and extinction. A uniform discharge was generated between the burner nozzles by placing porous metal electrodes at the nozzle exits. The ignition and extinction characteristics of CH₄/O₂/He diffusion flames were investigated by measuring excited OH¹ and OH PLIF, at constant strain rates and O₂ mole fraction on the oxidizer side while changing the fuel mole fraction. It was found that ignition and extinction occurred with an abrupt change of OH¹ emission intensity at lower O₂ mole fraction, indicating the existence of the conventional ignition-extinction S-curve. However, at a higher O₂ mole fraction, it was found that the in situ discharge could significantly modify the characteristics of ignition and extinction and create a new monotonic and fully stretched ignition S-curve. The transition from the conventional S-curves to a new stretched ignition curve indicated clearly that the active species generated by the plasma could change the chemical kinetic pathways of fuel oxidation at low temperature, thus resulting in the transition of flame stabilization mechanism from extinction-controlled to ignition-controlled regimes. The temperature and OH radical distributions were measured experimentally by the Rayleigh scattering technique and PLIF technique, respectively, and were compared with modeling. The results showed that the local maximum temperature in the reaction zone, where the ignition occurred, could be as low as 900 K. The chemical kinetic model for the plasma–flame interaction has been developed based on the assumption of constant electric field strength in the bulk plasma region. The reaction pathways analysis further revealed that atomic oxygen generated by the discharge was critical to controlling the radical production and promoting the chain branching effect in the reaction zone for low temperature ignition enhancement.