近贫燃极限甲烷/空气火焰的层流燃烧速度研究

利用微重力条件下向外传播的球形火焰,对贫燃极限附近甲烷/空气预混火焰的层流燃烧速度进行了测量,得到当量比从0.512(本文微重力实验中测定的可燃极限)到0.601范围内的零拉伸层流燃烧速度,并与前人实验数据和使用3种化学反应动力学模型的计算结果进行了比较.本文实验结果与已有的微重力实验数据非常接近,而其他研究者在常重力...     

微重力下环境压力对火焰传播的影响

研究表明,在微重力环境中,当强制对流速度很小时,环境压力的增大会加强氧气的扩散,减弱辐射热损失对火焰的冷却效应,使火焰传播速度增大。但随着强制对流速度的增大,对流成为质量传递的主要途径,化学反应速率受化学反应动力学因素控制,火焰传播速度对压力的变化不敏感。     

富燃料丙烷/空气预混火焰特性的微重力实验研究

地面常重力(1g)条件下,丙烷/空气预混火焰向上传播的富燃极限为9.2%C_3H_8,而向下传播时的富燃极限仅为6.3%C_3H_8,二者之间存在明显差距。利用微重力条件下的实验,对燃料浓度从6.5%到8.6%(微重力实验中测定的可燃极限)范围内的丙烷/空气预混火焰特性进行了研究。实验发现,重力对近极限丙烷/空气火焰的传播有显著影响,影响程度随着当量比的增加而增大。微重力下丙烷/空气的富燃极限为8.6%C_3H_8(φ=2.24),明显高于1g条件下向下传播火焰的可燃极限,略低于向上传播火焰的可燃极限。随着当量比的增大,根据压力变化曲线计算的火焰层流燃烧速度从8.5cm/s逐渐减小到2.7 cm/s,可燃极限处的层流燃烧速度与前人实验数据一致。     

辐射传热对微重力环境下预混火焰传播特性的影响

1引言在火焰中，辐射过程是一种重要的传热方式。对该过程尽可能精确的计算，对于改进燃烧设备的设计、改善设备的运行性能十分有益。在正常重力环境下，与其它的释热现象相比，预混火焰中的辐射热损失十分微弱，因而，过去对预混火焰的分析中，往往忽略了辐射热损失的影响。近年来，对微重力（ug）环境下的预混火焰的研究结果表明，可燃极限与＃s最小点火能无关，自媳灭火焰（SEFs）发生时；其释放的能量比通常观察到的点火极限时的能量大几个数量级山，因此火焰伸张并不能解释“g环境下观察到的实验结果，辐射热损失可能是影响＃g火焰可…     

表面辐射热损失对微重力静止环境下火焰传播特性的影响

采用数值模拟方法研究了静止微重力环境中,表面辐射热损失对燃料表面火焰传播特性的影响以及表面辐射和压力对火焰传播特性的共同影响。结果表明,随着表面辐射增大,火焰传播速度减小,在考虑表面辐射后,随着压力的增大,火焰传播速度增大。采用无量纲参数分析了表面辐射对火焰传播速度的影响,进一步阐明了微重力环境下的火焰传播机理。     

圆柱火焰的可燃极限及稳定性分析

本文从理论上分析了有辐射热损失和曲率的圆柱火焰,推导出了关于火焰位置、火焰温度同热损失和来流速度之间的关系式。并在此基础上对圆柱火焰的可燃极限进行了研究,结果表明热损失对可燃极限产生很大的影响。另外,作者运用线性稳定分析法对有辐射热损失的圆柱火焰作了稳定性分析,得出了判断圆柱火焰稳定与否的通用表达式。     

辐射热损失对球形火焰传播速度的影响

本文通过理论分析和数值模拟系统地研究了辐射热损失对球形火焰传播速度的影响。研究结果表明辐射热损失的影响分为直接影响和间接影响;直接影响指辐射热损失会降低火焰温度,从而降低火焰传播速度;间接影响指辐射热损失导致的冷却会引起逆向火焰传播的流动,从而降低火焰传播速度。对近可燃极限预混气体,直接影响起主导作用;对高辐射强度预混气体,间接影响起主导作用。本文研究的结果对球形火焰法测量火焰传播速度有着重要的指导意义。     

喷管直径对微尺度扩散火焰特性的影响

对均匀空气流中微尺度甲烷扩散燃烧进行了数值模拟,重点考察微喷管内的流动和传热传质对微尺度燃烧特性的影响.研究结果表明,在保持燃料喷出速度一定的条件下,随着喷管直径的减小,喷管内与甲烷喷出速度相反方向上发生热量和质量的传递,燃料与空气的混合在喷管内已经发生,火焰的一部分热量回流到喷管内顶热了未燃混合气,同时也增加了火焰的热损失.当管径为0.15 mm时,甲烷在微喷管内就开始发生化学反应,在进行微尺度解析计算时,必须包含一定的喷管区域.     

微重力和常重力环境中柱状固体材料表面火焰传播实验研究

在微重力和常重力环境中,对不同氧气浓度下柱状聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)表面火焰传播现象进行了实验研究。微重力实验观测了低速强迫对流中的火焰传播,地面实验研究了浮力对流影响下火焰向下传播的规律,分析了氧气浓度与流动对火焰传播的影响。微重力和常重力下的火焰在形态和传播速度上具有显著区别。结合微重力和常重力的实验结果,将火焰传播速度随气流速度的变化关系分为三个区:辐射控制区,传热控制区和化学反应控制区。     

窄通道内热厚材料表面火焰传播的实验研究

利用高度为14 mm的水平窄通道对微重力条件下聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)和聚乙烯(PE)塑料材料表面的火焰传播进行了地面实验模拟研究。在环境气体氧气浓度为30%和50%、低速气流速度小于15 cm/s的实验条件下,实验测量了窄通道内材料表面火焰传播速度随气流速度的变化,它们与微重力下热厚材料火焰传播速度的理论预测结果符合得相当好。分析认为,窄通道能够有效地限制浮力对流,提高燃料表面固相热辐射在火焰传播中的相对作用,从而提供模拟微重力下热厚材料表面火焰传播特性的实验环境。     

Study on unsteady molten insulation volume change during flame spreading over wire insulation in microgravity

Tests with flames spreading over wire insulation in microgravity were performed at varying external opposed flow conditions to examine the influence of flow velocity in the time dependent volume change of molten insulation. In the experiments, low density polyethylene insulated Nickel–chrome wire specimens were used and the oxygen concentration was fixed at 30% (N₂ balanced). The results show that the time dependent changes in molten insulation volume are related to the opposed flow velocity. Further, as opposed flow velocity increases, the volume change rate decreases monotonically. By subtracting the volume change rate from the volume supply rate from the solid part to the molten part, which is calculated by multiplying the rate of spreading of molten insulation at the leading edge by the cross sectional area of the insulation, a pyrolysis volume rate for the polyethylene was established. The pyrolysis volume rate is defined as the amount of consumed molten insulation volume per unit time. After these calculations, it was found that the pyrolysis volume rate increases monotonically with increases in the opposed flow velocity. Further, numerical calculations of time dependent volume change in the molten insulation at different flow velocities were made. The numerical results show good agreement with the experimental results of the molten insulation volume change during the 0–4.5 s of microgravity measured here. By using the numerical calculations for this initial short period, the time dependent volume change in molten insulation during longer-term microgravity is predicted. The calculated results show that the volume finally reaches a steady state value in flow velocities of 10–250 mm/s investigated here. These results provide insight into the mechanism of flame spreading over wire insulation, especially the unsteadiness of the flame in flame spreading events.     

A three-dimensional model of steady flame spread over a thin solid in low-speed concurrent flows

Athree-dimensional model of a steady concurrent flame spread over a thin solid in a low-speed flowtunnel in microgravity has been formulated and numerically solved. The gas-phase combustion model includes the full Navier-Stokes equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, energy and species. The solid is assumed to be a thermally thin, non-charring cellulosic sheet and the solid model consists of continuity and energy equations whose solution provides boundary conditions for the gas phase. The gas-phase reaction is represented by a one-step, second-order, finite-rate Arrhenius kinetics and the solid pyrolysis is approximated by a one-step, zeroth-order decomposition obeying an Arrhenius law. Gas-phase radiation is neglected but solid radiative loss is included in the model. Selected results are presented showing detailed three-dimensional flame structures and flame spread characteristics.

In a parametric study, varying the tunnel (solid) widths and the flow velocity, two important three-dimensional effects have been investigated, namely wall heat loss and oxygen side diffusion. The lateral heat loss shortens the flame and retards flame spread. On the other hand, oxygen side diffusion enhances the combustion reaction at the base region and pushes the flame base closer to the solid surface. This closer flame base increases the solid burnout rate and enhances the steady flame spread rate. In higher speed flows, three-dimensional effects are dominated by heat loss to the side-walls in the downstream portion of the flame and the flame spread rate increases with fuel width. In low-speed flows, the flames are short and close to the quenching limit. Oxygen side diffusion then becomes a dominant mechanism in the narrow three-dimensional flames. The flame spreads faster as the solid width is made narrower in this regime. Additional parametric studies include the effect of tunnelwall thermal condition and the effect of adding solid fuel sample holders.     

Opposed flow flame spread over an array of thin solid fuel sheets in a microgravity environment

In this work a numerical study has been carried out to gain physical insight into the phenomena of opposed flow flame spread over an array of thin solid fuel sheets in a microgravity environment. The two-dimensional (2D) simulations show that the flame spread rates for the multiple-fuel configuration are higher than those for the flame spreading over a single fuel sheet. This is due to reduced radiation losses from the flame and increased heat feedback to the solid fuel. The flame spread rate exhibits a non-monotonic variation with decrease in the interspace distance between the fuel sheets. Higher radiation heat feedback primarily as gas/flame radiation was found to be responsible for the increase in the flame spread rate with the reduction of the interspace distance. It was noted that as the interspace distance between the fuel sheets was reduced below a certain value, no steady solution could be obtained. However, at very small interspace distances, steady state spread rates were obtained. Here, due to oxygen starvation the flame spread rate decreased and eventually at some interspace distance the flame extinguished. With fuel emittance (equal to absorptance) reduced to ‘0’ the flame spread rate was nearly independent of the interspace distance, except at very small distances where the flame spread rate dropped due to oxygen starvation. A flame extinction plot with the extinction oxygen level was constructed for the multiple-fuel configuration at various interspace distances. The default fuel with an emittance of 0.92 was found to be more flammable in the multiple-fuel configuration than in a single fuel sheet configuration. For a fuel emittance equal to zero, the extinction oxygen limit decreases for both the single and the multiple fuel sheet configurations. However, the two flammability curves cross over at a certain fuel separation distance. The multiple-fuel configurations become less flammable compared to the single fuel sheet configuration below a certain separation distance.     

On the existence of steady-state gaseous microgravity spherical diffusion flames in the presence of radiation heat loss

Whether steady-state gaseous microgravity spherical diffusion exist in the presence of radiation heat loss is an important fundamental question and has important implications for spacecraft fire safety. In this work, experiments aboard the International Space Station and a transient numerical model are used to investigate the existence of steady-state microgravity spherical diffusion flames. Gaseous spherical diffusion flames stabilized on a porous spherical burner are employed in normal (i.e., fuel flowing into an ambient oxidizer) and inverse (i.e., oxidizer flowing into an ambient fuel) flame configurations. The fuel is ethylene and the oxidizer oxygen, both diluted with nitrogen. The flow rate of the reactant gas from the burner is held constant. It is found that steady-state gaseous microgravity spherical diffusion flames can exist in the presence of radiation heat loss, provided that the steady-state flame size is less than the flame size for radiative extinction, and the flame develops fast enough that radiation heat loss does not drop the flame temperature below the critical temperature for radiative extinction (1130 K). A simple model is provided that allows for the identification of initial conditions that can lead to steady-state spherical diffusion flames. In the spherical, infinite domain configuration, the characteristic time for the diffusion-controlled system to effectively reach steady-state is found to be on the order of 100,000 s. Despite a narrow range of attainable conditions, flames that exhibit steady-state behavior are observed aboard the ISS for up to 870 s, even with the constraint of a finite boundary. Steady-state flames are simulated using the numerical model for over 100,000 s.     

Prediction of soot and thermal radiation in a model gas turbine combustor burning kerosene fuel spray at different swirl levels

Combustion of kerosene fuel spray has been numerically simulated in a laboratory scale combustor geometry to predict soot and the effects of thermal radiation at different swirl levels of primary air flow. The two-phase motion in the combustor is simulated using an Eulerian–Lagragian formulation considering the stochastic separated flow model. The Favre-averaged governing equations are solved for the gas phase with the turbulent quantities simulated by realisable k–? model. The injection of the fuel is considered through a pressure swirl atomiser and the combustion is simulated by a laminar flamelet model with detailed kinetics of kerosene combustion. Soot formation in the flame is predicted using an empirical model with the model parameters adjusted for kerosene fuel. Contributions of gas phase and soot towards thermal radiation have been considered to predict the incident heat flux on the combustor wall and fuel injector. Swirl in the primary flow significantly influences the flow and flame structures in the combustor. The stronger recirculation at high swirl draws more air into the flame region, reduces the flame length and peak flame temperature and also brings the soot laden zone closer to the inlet plane. As a result, the radiative heat flux on the peripheral wall decreases at high swirl and also shifts closer to the inlet plane. However, increased swirl increases the combustor wall temperature due to radial spreading of the flame. The high incident radiative heat flux and the high surface temperature make the fuel injector a critical item in the combustor. The injector peak temperature increases with the increase in swirl flow mainly because the flame is located closer to the inlet plane. On the other hand, a more uniform temperature distribution in the exhaust gas can be attained at the combustor exit at high swirl condition.     

Flame balls dynamics in divergent channel

A three-dimensional reaction-diffusion model for lean low-Lewis-number premixed flames with radiative heat losses propagating in divergent channel is studied numerically. Effects of inlet gas velocity and heat-loss intensity on flame structure at low Lewis numbers are investigated. It is found that continuous flame front exists at small heat losses and the separate flame balls settled within restricted domain inside the divergent channel at large heat losses. It is shown that the time averaged flame balls coordinate may be considered as important characteristic analogous to coordinate of continuous flame stabilized in divergent channel.     

Gravity effects on partially premixed flames: an experimental-numerical investigation

While premixed and nonpremixed microgravity flames have been extensively investigated, the corresponding literature regarding partially premixed flames (PPFs) is sparse. We report the first experimental investigation of burner-stabilized microgravity PPFs. Partially premixed flames with multiple reaction zones are established in microgravity on a Wolfhard–Parker slot burner in the 2.2 s drop tower at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Microgravity measurements include flame imaging, and thermocouple and radiometer data. Detailed simulations are also used to provide further insight into the steady and transient response of these flames to variations in g. The flame topology and interactions between the various reaction zones are strongly influenced by gravity. The flames widen substantially in microgravity. During the transition from normal to microgravity, the flame structure experiences a fast change and another relatively slower transient change. The fast response is due to the altered advection as the value of g is reduced, while the slow response is due to the changes in the diffusive fluxes. The radiative heat loss from the flames increases in microgravity. A scaling analysis based on a radiation Damköhler number is able to characterize the radiation heat loss.