Influence of Burner Geometry on Heat Transfer Characteristics of Methane/Air Flame Impinging on Flat Surface

An experimental study has been conducted to find the heat transfer characteristics of methane/air flames impinging normally to a flat surface using different burner geometries. The burners used were of nozzle, tube, and orifice type each with a diameter of 10 mm. Due to different exit velocity profiles, the flame structures were different in each case. Because of nearly flat velocity profile, the flame spread was more in case of orifice and nozzle burners as compared to tube burner. Effects of varying the value of Reynolds number (600–2500), equivalence ratio (0.8–1.5) and dimensionless separation distance (0.7–8) on heat transfer characteristics on the flat plate have been investigated for the tube burner. Different flame shapes were observed for different impingement conditions. It has been observed that the heat transfer characteristics were intimately related to flame shapes. Heat transfer characteristics were discussed for the cases when the flame inner reaction cone was far away, just touched, and was intercepted by the plate. Negative heat fluxes at the stagnation point were observed when the inner reaction cone was intercepted by the plate due to impingement of cool un-burnt mixture directly on the surface. Different heat transfer characteristics were observed for different burner geometries with similar operating conditions. In case of tube burner, the maximum heat flux is around the stagnation point and decay is faster in the radial direction. In case of nozzle and orifice burner, the heat transfer distribution is more uniform over the surface.     

Determination of Soot Particle Size in a Premixed Flame: a Static and Dynamic Light Scattering Study

In this contribution we report upon our static and dynamic light scattering experiments to characterize soot particles in flames. We studied sooting laminar premixed flame with acetylene as fuel mixed with air as oxidizer. The air equivalence ratio of the combustion was larger than one. We used a Kaskan type burner with circular geometry and a stabilizing flow of nitrogen around the flame. We focused on the determination of the size of the soot particles in the center of the flame as a function of height above burner. In addition we investigated the influence of the mixing ratio of the gases on the size of the particles. Our results show that static light scattering is better suited than dynamic light scattering for a fast and reliable characterization of soot particles in flames. The latter needs detailed a priori information about the flame to allow the unique determination of sizes from the diffusion measurements. The soot particles grow monotonously with height above burner and with decreasing air equivalence ratio. The aggregates have a fractal dimension lower than two.     

Flame patterns of acoustic wave and flame interaction in a cylindrical tube

In this short paper, flame and acoustic wave interactions under laboratory conditions have been reported. The test rig consists of a cylindrical Perspex tube and a fuel tube (burner) positioned along the central axis of the tube. The acoustic characteristics of the rig are measured. The flame instability with and without acoustic excitation has been investigated. A high shutter speed colour camera has been applied to capture many interesting unstable flame patterns. It has been found that strong flame instability only occurs at particular frequencies. The position of the burner inside the cylindrical tube also has an effect on flame instability.     

Combustion dynamics of inverted conical flames

An inverted conical flame anchored on a central bluff-body in an unconfined burner configuration features a distinctive acoustic response. This configuration typifies more complex situations in which the thermo-acoustic instability is driven by the interaction of a flame with a convective vorticity mode. The axisymmetric geometry investigated in this article features a shear region between the reactive jet and the surrounding atmosphere. It exhibits self-sustained oscillations for certain operating conditions involving a powerful flame collapse phenomenon with sudden annihilation of flame surface area. This is caused by a strong interaction between the flame and vortices created in the outer jet shear layer, a process which determines the amplitude of heat release fluctuation and its time delay with respect to incident velocity perturbations. This process also generates an acoustic field that excites the burner and synchronizes the vortex shedding mechanism. The transfer functions between the velocity signal at the burner outlet and heat release are obtained experimentally for a set of flow velocities fluctuations levels. It is found that heat release fluctuations are a strong function of the incoming velocity perturbation amplitude and that the time delay between these two quantities is mainly determined by the convection of the large scale vortices formed in the jet shear layer. A model is formulated, which suitably describes the observed instabilities.     

A new dual matrix burner for one-dimensional investigation of aerosol flames

In spray-flame synthesis of nanoparticles, a precise understanding of the reaction processes is necessary to find optimal process parameters for the formation of the desired products. Coupling the chemistries of flame, solvent, and gas-phase species initially formed from the particle precursor in combination with the complex flow geometry of the spray flame means a special challenge for the modeling of the reaction processes. A new burner has been developed that is capable to observe the reaction of precursor solutions frequently used in spray-flame synthesis. The burner provides an almost flat, laminar, and steady flame with homogeneous addition of a fine aerosol and thus enables detailed investigation and modeling of the coupled reactions independent of spray formation and turbulent mixing. With its two separate supply channel matrices, the burner also enables the use of reactants that would otherwise react with each other already before reaching the flame. These features enable the investigation of a wide range of flame-based synthesis methods for nanoparticles and, due to the flat-flame geometry, kinetics models for these processes can be developed and validated. This work describes the matrix burner development and its gas flow optimization by simulation. Droplet-size distributions generated by ultrasonic nebulization and their interaction with the burner structure are investigated by phase-Doppler anemometry. As an example for nanoparticle-forming flames from solutions, iron-oxide nanoparticle-generating flames using iron(III) nitrate nonahydrate dissolved in 1-butanol were investigated. This effort includes measurements of two-dimensional maps of the flame temperature by a thermocouple and height-dependent concentration profiles of the main species by time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Experimental data are compared with 1D simulations using a reduced reaction mechanism. The results show that the new burner is well suited for the development of reaction models for precursors supplied in the liquid phase usually applied in spray-flame synthesis configurations.     

Experimental investigation on burner lip thickness effect on the liftoff and blowout velocities of jet diffusion flame

This experimental study addresses issue on the effect of burner lip thickness on the liftoff and blowout velocities of jet diffusion flame discharging into quiescent air. Burner tubes of two kinds of inner diameter (2 and 3 mm) with a wide range of lip thicknesses (0.25–16.5 mm) are implemented with methane or propane jet diffusion flame, respectively. The results show that the burner lip thickness has a profound effect on flame liftoff velocities, especially the blowout velocities. With the increase of the lip thickness, the blowout velocities firstly increase, then decrease and lastly remain unchanged. Specifically, the blowout velocities of 2 and 3 mm inner diameters tubes reach the maximum values when the corresponding burner lip thicknesses are 2 and 1.5 mm, respectively. In addition, compared with free (unconfined) jet diffusion flame, the jet confinement results in slight reductions of flame liftoff and blowout velocities. The existence range of lifted flame issuing from larger diameter burner tube is wider than that of smaller diameter burner tube. The existence range of propane lifted flame is wider than that of methane.     

Thermoacoustic oscillations in ducted domestic heating systems

Thermoacoustic oscillation is a significant problem in ducted domestic heating systems fitted with fully premixing burners as well as in combustion systems of industrial scale. This paper reports experiments using a burner closely representative of practical designs in which high-intensity free-field sound has been used to simulate the feedback which may be excited naturally in installations with different acoustic properties. This experimental approach facilitates study of the non-linear response of the burner/flame sub-system to feedback of different frequencies and direct measurement of the acoustic impedance of the burner under operational conditions. A function proportional to the Rayleigh integral has been evaluated directly from the experimental results. It is found that the head of this type of burner divides the typical installation into a quarter-wave tube and a Helmholtz resonator which must couple unstably for thermoacoustic oscillations to be autoexciting. It is further found that there is a strong interaction between the acoustic field and the mean flow which modifies significantly the behaviour of the burner as a Helmholtz resonator and thus the stability of the whole system.     

Beamline setup for in situ measurements of particles in turbulent spray flames using small angle X-ray scattering

The particle formation in spray flame synthesis (SFS) is a fast and complex process involving many sub-steps that may happen simultaneously. To investigate the mechanisms that typically lead to small aggregated primary particles, a sophisticated technique for in situ measurements in the flame is necessary to provide information about primary particles and the aggregates as well. This work describes the development of an in situ measurement setup using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to investigate the entire particle formation mechanism of zirconia nanoparticles in and above a turbulent spray flame. In preparation for the in situ measurements, a beamline for single crystal diffractometry at Karlsruhe Research Accelerator (KARA) was adapted for low scattering SAXS experiments including optimizations of the optics and measurement protocol. As a result, a significant dependence of scattering intensity was detected as a function of the height above the burner. A detailed analysis of the SAXS data and comparison with TEM images allow insights into the primary particle growth, the development of fractal properties and the aggregation process.     

煤粉燃烧火焰辐射光谱实验研究

针对煤粉燃烧辐射光谱问题,利用光纤光谱仪对煤粉平面火焰炉实验装置煤粉燃烧火焰辐射光谱进行了测量,详细分析了煤粉辐射光谱特征,并基于普朗克辐射传热定律,通过对光谱仪波长响应特性的标定,得到火焰绝对辐射强度随波长的分布情况,进而利用最小二乘法获得火焰温度与辐射率参数,由此提出基于煤粉燃烧火焰辐射光谱测量的火焰参数测量方法。利用该方法对不同燃烧条件下煤粉燃烧参数进行测量,开展了不同燃烧参数下煤粉火焰辐射光谱实验研究,研究结果表明：煤粉燃烧火焰辐射在200～1 100 nm波段具有较强且连续的光谱特征,基于普朗克辐射定律与最小二乘法可实现煤粉燃烧火焰温度与辐射率的测量;煤粉燃烧火焰辐射光谱在590,766,769和779 nm附近可见明显的Na和K等碱金属痕量元素原子光谱发射谱线,并且这些原子谱线的出现与火焰温度有关;随着煤粉浓度的提高,虽然燃烧温度变化不大,但由于火焰辐射率的增加,造成辐射光谱强度的大幅提升。这对锅炉煤粉燃烧优化具有重要参考价值。     

An analytical model for the prediction of the dynamic response of premixed flames stabilized on a heat-conducting perforated plate

The dynamic response of a premixed flame stabilized on a heat-conducting perforated plate depends critically on their coupled thermal interaction. The objective of this paper is to develop an analytical model to capture this coupling. The model predicts the mean flame base standoff distance; the flame base area, curvature and speed; and the burner plate temperature given the operating conditions; the mean velocity, temperature and equivalence ratio of the reactants; thermal conductivity and the perforation ratio of the burner. This coupled model is combined with our flame transfer function (FTF) model to predict the dynamic response of the flame to velocity perturbations. We show that modeling the thermal coupling between the flame and the burner, while accounting for the two-dimensionality of the former, is critical to predicting the dynamic response characteristics such as the overshoot in the gain curve (resonant condition) and the phase delay. Good agreement with the numerical and experimental results is demonstrated over a range of conditions.     

Heat Transfer and Emission Characteristics of Impinging Rich Methane and Ethylene Jet Flames

Flame impingement heat transfer has widespread industrial and domestic applications and attaining high heat flux as well as low emission of pollutants is the important prerequisite for all such applications. In this article, the heat transfer and emission characteristics of a laminar flame jet impinging on a flat target plate have been investigated experimentally. The effect of reactant jet Reynolds number, equivalence ratio and burner to plate separation distance on the average heat flux, and emissions of CO and NO_x are studied using methane and ethylene fuels. Results indicate that the heat flux is maximized under certain operating conditions of jet Re, equivalence ratio, and separation distance between the burner and the target. Fuel type is found to have an effect on the heat transfer rate because of the varying luminosity of the flame with different fuels. Operating regimes that produce lower emission of pollutants are also identified. Findings of this article have direct industrial relevance to flame impingement heat transfer applications that have small target plate-to-burner port diameter ratios.     

On-line measurement of temperature and water vapor in CH_4 /air premixed flame using near-infrared diode laser

We establish a single diode laser sensor system to obtain temperature and water concentration in CH4/air premixed flame.Line-of-sight properties are analyzed,but line-of-sight results are not path average values for temperature measurements.The measurements are performed on a flat burner based on scannedwavelength direct absorption spectroscopy using two adjacent water lines at 7153.75 and 7154.35 cm 1.Real-time results are acquired using a data acquisition card with a Labview data processing program.The standard uncertainties of the temperature and water concentration measurements are 2.3% and 5.1%,respectively.     

Three-dimensional recomposition of the absorption field inside a nonbuoyant sooting flame

A remote scanning retrieval method was developed to investigate the soot layer produced by a laminar diffusion flame established over a flat plate burner in microgravity. Experiments were conducted during parabolic flights. This original application of an inverse problem leads to the three-dimensional recomposition by layers of the absorption field inside the flame. This technique provides a well-defined flame length that substitutes for other subjective definitions associated with emissions.     

Characterization of OH,H2O,and temperature profiles in industrial flame treatment systems interacting with polymer films

Industrial flame treatment is a common technique for oxidizing polymer films to improve adhesion and wettability. These processes are strongly influenced by flame properties such as temperature and the concentration of key combustion radicals (e.g., OH). In this work, we perform in-situ laser absorption measurements of line-of-sight averaged temperature, H₂O and OH for an industrial premixed ribbon burner interacting with a chilled-roller polymer-treatment system. Measurements in the unobstructed flame exhibit profiles typical of premixed flames. The addition of a chilled roller above the flame significantly alters the temperature of the flame throughout its vertical profile and shifts the location of the maximum OH concentration above the burner. Measurements at the surface of the polymer, together with post analysis of the surface oxidation, directly verify previous numerical modeling results and surface characterization studies that suggested that the hydroxyl radical in the flame (OH) is critical to surface oxidation. This study may enable future active control of premixed burner systems to maintain desired wettability and adhesion properties of polymer films.     

Characteristics and structure of inverse flames of natural gas

Characteristics and structure of nominally non-premixed flames of natural gas are investigated using a burner that employs simultaneously two distinct features: fuel and oxidiser direct injection, and inverse fuel and oxidiser delivery. At low exit velocities, the result is an inverse diffusion flame that has been noted in the past for its low NO_x emissions, soot luminosity, and narrow stability limits. The present study aimed at extending the burner operating range, and it demonstrated that the inverse flame exhibits a varying degree of partial premixing dependent on the discharge nozzle conditions and the ratio of inner air jet and outer fuel jet velocities. These two variables affect the flame length, temperature distributions, and stability limits. Temperature measurements and Schlieren visualisation show areas of enhanced turbulent mixing in the shear region and the presence of a well-mixed reaction zone on the flame centreline. This reaction zone is enveloped by an outer diffusion flame, yielding a unique double-flame structure. As the fuel–air equivalence ratio is decreasing with an increase in the inner jet velocity, the well-mixed reaction zone extends considerably. These findings suggest a method for establishing a flame of uniform high temperature by optimising the coaxial nozzle geometry and flow conditions. The normalised flame length is decreasing exponentially with the air/fuel velocity ratio. Measurements demonstrate that the inverse flame stability limits change qualitatively with varying degree of partial premixing. At the low premixing level, the flame blow-out is a function of the inner and outer jet velocities and the nozzle conditions. The flame blow-out at high degree of partial premixing occurs abruptly at a single value of the inner air jet velocity, regardless of the fuel jet velocity and almost independent of the discharge nozzle conditions.     

Diode laser atomic fluorescence temperature measurements in low-pressure flames

Temperature measurements have been performed in a low-pressure flame by the technique of diode laser induced atomic fluorescence. The experiments were done in a near-stoichiometric flat-flame of premixed methane, oxygen and nitrogen, at a pressure of 5.3 kPa. Indium atoms were seeded to the flame and probed using blue diode lasers; the lineshapes of the resulting fluorescence spectra were used to determine the flame temperature at a range of heights above the burner plate. The particular issues associated with the implementation of this measurement approach at low pressure are discussed, and it is shown to work especially well under these conditions. The atomic fluorescence lineshape thermometry technique is quicker to perform and requires less elaborate equipment than other methods that have previously been implemented in low-pressure flames, including OH-LIF and NO-LIF. There was sufficient indium present to perform measurements at all locations in the flame, including in the pre-heat zone close to the burner plate. Two sets of temperature measurements have been independently performed by using two different diode lasers to probe two separate transitions in atomic indium. The good agreement between the two sets of data provides a validation of the technique. By comparing thermocouple profiles recorded with and without seeding of the flame, we demonstrate that any influence of seeding on the flame temperature is negligible. The overall uncertainty of the measurements reported here is estimated to be ±2.5% in the burnt gas region.     

Development of a pseudo-uniform structural quantity for use in active structural acoustic control of simply supported plates: an analytical comparison

Active structural acoustic control has been an area of research and development for over two decades with an interest in searching for an "optimal" error quantity. Current error quantities typically require the use of either a large number of transducers distributed across the entire structure, or a distributed shaped sensor, such as polyvinylidene difluoride. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a control objective function for flat, simply-supported plates that is based on transverse and angular velocity components combined into a single composite structural velocity quantity, termed V(comp). Although multiple transducers are used, they are concentrated at a single location to eliminate the need for transducers spanning most or all of the structure. When used as the objective function in an active control situation, squared V(comp) attenuates the acoustic radiation over a large range of frequencies. The control of squared V(comp) is compared to other objective functions including squared velocity, volume velocity, and acoustic energy density. The analysis presented indicates that benefits of this objective function include control of radiation from numerous structural modes, control largely independent of sensor location, and need to measure V(comp) at a single location and not distributed measurements across the entire structure.     

Investigation on thermal accommodation coefficient and soot absorption function with two-color Tire-LII technique in rich premixed flames

Although the two-color laser-induced incandescence technique (2C-LII) has proved to be a significant tool for soot diagnostics, many efforts are still required to gain a whole understanding of the chemical and physical processes involved. Time-resolved two-color LII measurements are carried out in a rich ethylene/air premixed flame at different heights above the burner and by changing the laser fluence. The prompt LII at two wavelengths and the corresponding soot incandescence temperature are obtained at different stages of the soot growth and under different laser irradiations. The decay rate of the LII signals, as a method for soot sizing, is investigated at different laser fluence. The time-resolved LII curves, obtained in the low laser fluence regime, are analyzed by a numerical simulation, available on the web. By considering the gas/particle initial temperature obtained with thermocouple measurements and by knowing soot particle diameter with previous TEM and extinction/scattering measurements, information about soot parameters, such as absorption function and thermal accommodation coefficient are obtained. The presence of the so-called young or mature soot along the flame height is strictly related to different optical and heat-exchange properties necessary to fit all the experimental data available.     

An analytical study of the flame dynamics of a transversely forced asymmetric two-dimensional Bunsen flame

Combustion instabilities in annular combustors are of great interest because of their industrial relevance. Azimuthal acoustic modes, which involve transverse acoustic forcing to flames, have become a key process related to annular combustor instabilities. Transverse mean flow may be a factor that affects azimuthal oscillations. This paper provides an analytical model for a transversely forced two-dimensional Bunsen flame under transverse mean flow. The model is established using a low-amplitude perturbation assumption applied to a G-equation formulation. Forced flame displacement and flame transfer functions (FTFs) are calculated. The results are verified based on numerical solutions of the G-equation. Effects of frequency, transverse mean flow velocity and vertical mean flow velocity on the FTFs are discussed. The symmetric flame without transverse mean flow has a vanishing response to transverse acoustic forcing, while asymmetric flames, which are formed with transverse mean flow, have a bandpass response to transverse forcing. The response at very low and high forcing frequencies is small, with higher transfer function gains only in a certain frequency range. This bandpass response, which is inherently linked to the asymmetry of the flame, is an important factor to account for when considering the flame dynamics related to transverse acoustic effects.