OH rotational temperature and number density measurements in high-pressure laminar flames using double phase-conjugate four-wave mixing

OH number densities and rotational temperatures up to 9 bar have been measured using double-phase-conjugate four-wave mixing (DPCFWM) in flat laminar premixed methane/air flames. By phase conjugating the backward pump to the forward pump with a phase-conjugate mirror conventional degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) becomes DPCFWM and quantitative measurements of OH radicals and OH rotational temperatures in flames at high pressure are possible. Our results show that conventional DFWM with a standard mirror is a low-biased measurement at high pressure primarly due to a fluctuating interaction volume which results from large fluctuating density gradients at the edge of the flame and from flame movement. A comparison is made between a laser-saturated fluorescence technique, conventional DFWM, and DPCFWM at 1, 5 and 9 bar.     

Laser-induced plasma in methane and dimethyl ether for flame ignition and combustion diagnostics

In this paper we report the investigation of the laser-induced breakdown and ignition behaviour of methane/air and dimethyl ether (DME)/air mixtures. Moreover, the optical emission from the induced plasma is utilized for determining the mixture composition quantitatively by means of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, LIBS and laser ignition of DME have not been reported in literature before. The technique under investigation is finally employed for combustion diagnostics in laminar as well as turbulent flames. In the laminar premixed and non-premixed flames the LIBS spectra allow spatially resolved measurements of the equivalence ratio and enable studying the mixing of gases provided through the burner with the surrounding room air. In addition, the breakdown threshold of the applied laser pulse energy yields an estimate for the local temperature. In the turbulent cases single-shot LIBS spectra are recorded at fixed position allowing the derivation of local statistical fluctuations of the equivalence ratio in partially premixed jet flames. The results show that laser-induced breakdowns have a strong potential for flame diagnostics and, under suitable conditions, for the ignition of combustible mixtures.     

强光一号水开关击穿性能

采用光学诊断和电磁测量相结合的方法对"强光一号"不同结构的水开关的放电特性进行研究,其中包括环-板结构、球-板结构及局部场增强球-板结构。通过理论模拟开关电场分布及"强光一号"加速器水开关击穿电压的实际测量可以分析不同结构的开关工作稳定性,结果表明:环-板结构的水开关具有最稳定的击穿特性,15发放电的时间抖动只有30 ns;局部场增强球-板结构水开关抖动60 ns;球-板结构水开关稳定性最差,抖动达到140 ns。利用纳秒时间分辨可见光分幅相机和光纤传感器对环-板型及局部场增强球-板结构水介质开关进行光学测量,得到了电流通道发展图像以及整个放电过程的光强变化信号。实验结果表明:环-板型水介质开关开始击穿时的平均场强约为190 kV/cm,同时存在多个放电通道,流注呈树枝状分布,其发展速度为几十cm/s。     

喇叭有效口径渐变法测量高功率微波天线近场气体击穿

 设计了喇叭有效口径渐变法测量高功率微波气体击穿的实验方案,通过连续改变喇叭的有效口径改变天线近场的电场强度,使微波传输达到气体击穿的条件。介绍了实验原理及诊断方法,进行了L波段的高功率微波天线近场空气击穿实验,分析了实验中得到的典型波形。结果显示:脉宽30 ns、L波段的微波在0.4×105 Pa空气中击穿阈值为33.9 kV/cm。实验现象与设计吻合,验证了该方案研究微波气体击穿的可行性。     

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.     

Imaging of flames and cold flows in air by diffraction from a laser-induced grating

Nonresonant laser-induced gratings are created in gases employing the second-harmonic output of a Nd: YAG laser in a degenerate four-wave mixing beam geometry. The diffraction efficiency of the gratings has been investigated as a function of laser intensity and gas pressure. Single-shot images of a helium flow in ambient air illustrate that diffraction of light from a laser-induced grating has the potential for remote, two-dimensional diagnostics of gas mixing processes. In addition, this coherent technique is used to image a sooty flame.     

一种准光反射聚焦微波放电大气等离子体装置

设计了一种准光反射聚焦方式的微波放电大气等离子体实验装置,装置包括大气环境模拟室和微波辐射聚焦系统。辐射微波在腔室中心形成kV/cm量级的非均匀强场,击穿大气产生等离子体。通过仿真计算了腔室内的空间辐射场分布,并利用小信号传递的方式进行测量,测量结果与仿真相符,形成的等离子体形态与辐射场分布强弱一致。电磁场在聚焦区域形成驻波,等离子体出现明显分层现象。实验通过拍照记录了不同参数条件下的等离子体图样,等离子体形态随气压升高而收缩,放电区域受场强和气压共同影响。对实验结果进行分析,验证了该装置的能力。     

真空及空气中金属丝电爆炸特性研究

开展了铝丝在真空和空气环境中的电爆炸特性研究.从金属丝电爆炸的电压、电流波形得到了金属丝内的沉积能量,并基于以上电参数特征分析了电爆炸产物的状态,获得了空气中铝丝电爆炸电流暂停时间随初级储能电容充电电压的变化规律.真空和空气中铝丝电爆炸在电压击穿时刻的沉积能量分别为2.8和6 eV/atom.采用波长为532 nm、亚纳秒激光探针对金属丝电爆炸物理过程开展了高时空分辨率的阴影和纹影诊断.阴影图像清晰地展示了不同气氛环境中高密度电爆炸产物的膨胀过程,根据光学诊断图像分析了高密度丝核沉积能量的结构和空气中铝丝电爆炸产生的激波的膨胀轨迹.真空和空气环境中高密度电爆炸产物的平均膨胀速度分别为1.9和3 km/s.基于实验数据和输运参数模型,估算了金属丝在电压击穿时刻的温度.     

Numerical investigation of laminar cross-flow non-premixed flames in the presence of a bluff-body

A knowledge of flame stability regimes in the presence of cylindrical bluff-bodies of various dimensions is essential to design non-premixed burners. The reacting flow field in such cases is reported to be three-dimensional and unsteady. In the literature, only a few experimental investigations with limited measurements are available. Therefore, in this work, a detailed numerical study of laminar cross-flow non-premixed methane–air flames in the presence of a square cylinder is presented. The flow, temperature, species and reaction fields have been predicted using a comprehensive transient three-dimensional reacting flow model with detailed chemical kinetics and variable thermo-physical properties, in order to get a good insight into the flame stabilisation phenomena. Further, analyses of quantities such as local equivalence ratio, cell Damköhler number, species velocity, net consumption rate of methane, which are not easily obtained through experiments even with detailed diagnostics, have been carried out. The influence of the flow field due to varying inlet velocity of the oxidiser, in the presence of the bluff-body, on flame anchoring location has been analysed in detail. Local equivalence ratio contours obtained from non-reacting flow calculations are seen to be quite useful in analysing the mixing process and in the prediction of flame anchoring locations when the flames are not separated. Cell Damköhler number has been calculated using cell size, species velocity of the fuel, which is a derived quantity, and the net reaction rate of the fuel. The flame zone, which is customarily inferred from the contours of temperature, CO and OH, is also shown to be predicted well by the contour line corresponding to a Damköhler number equal to unity. The net reaction rate of CH₄ and the net rates of two dominant reactions, which consume methane, show clearly the variation in the flame anchoring locations in these three cases. Further, the three-dimensionality of these flames are analysed by plotting the mean temperature contours in y–z planes. Finally, the unsteadiness in the separated flame case is analysed.     

快脉冲下有机玻璃击穿特性实验

基于CKP1000脉冲源建立了实验平台,实验获得了单次脉冲、不同脉宽、均匀电场下有机玻璃的击穿场强和击穿时延,对有机玻璃的击穿过程进行了分析。实验脉冲的幅值约为230 kV,前沿760~960 ps,脉宽2.3~4.0 ns（FWHM）,试样的平均厚度为1.1 mm。实验结果表明,随着脉冲宽度从2.3 ns增加至4.0 ns,有机玻璃的平均击穿场强从301 kV/mm降至276 kV/mm,平均击穿时延则基本保持不变,其中前沿760 ps,脉宽约2.3 ns时对应击穿时延的分散性增大。     

Structure and stability characteristics of turbulent planar flames with inhomogeneous jet in a concentric flow slot burner

Turbulent flames with compositionally inhomogeneous mixtures are common in many combustion systems. Turbulent jet flames with a circular nozzle burner were used earlier to study the impact of inhomogeneous mixtures, and these studies showed that the nozzle radius affects the flame stability. Accordingly, planar turbulent flames with inhomogeneous turbulent jet are created in a concentric flow slot burner (CFSB) to avoid this effect in the present study. The stability characteristics, the mixing field structure, and the flame front structure were measured, and the correlations between stability and the mixing field structure were investigated. The mixture fraction field was measured in non-reacting jets at the nozzle exit using highly resolved Rayleigh scattering technique, and the flame front was measured in some selected turbulent flames using high-speed Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) of OH technique. The data show strong correlations between flame stability and the range of mixture fraction fluctuations. The flames are highly stabilized within a mixing field environment with the range of fluctuation in mixture fraction close to the range of the flammability limits. The mixing field structure is also illustrated and discussed using a mixing regime diagram and showed that the scatter of the data of the different cases is consistent with the classified mixing regimes. Lean flames are stabilized in the current slot burner. The flame front structure topology varies consistently from thin, small curvature at the low level of turbulence and higher equivalence ratio to more wrinkled, larger curvature, but a thicker structure at a higher level of turbulence and lower equivalence ratio.     

Influence of pressure on near nozzle flow field and soot formation in laminar co-flow diffusion flames

Soot formation from combustion devices, which tend to operate at high pressure, is a health and environmental concern, thus investigating the effect of pressure on soot formation is important. While most fundamental studies have utilised the co-flow laminar diffusion flame configuration to study the effect of pressure on soot, there is a lack of investigations into the effect of pressure on the flow field of diffusion flames and the resultant influence on soot formation. A recent work has displayed that recirculation zones can form along the centreline of atmospheric pressure diffusion flames. This present work seeks to investigate whether these zones can form due to higher pressure as well, which has never been explored experimentally or numerically. The CoFlame code, which models co-flow laminar, sooting, diffusion flames, is validated for the prediction of recirculation zones using experimental flow field data for a set of atmospheric pressure flames. The code is subsequently utilised to model ethane-air diffusion flames from 2 to 33 atm. Above 10 atm, recirculation zones are predicted to form. The reason for the formation of the zones is determined to be due to increasing shear between the air and fuel steams, with the air stream having higher velocities in the vicinity of the fuel tube tip than the fuel stream. This increase in shear is shown to be the cause of the recirculation zones formed in previously investigated atmospheric flames as well. Finally, the recirculation zone is determined as a probable cause of the experimentally observed formation of a large mass of soot covering the entire fuel tube exit for an ethane diffusion flame at 36.5 atm. Previously, no adequate explanation for the formation of the large mass of soot existed.     

Electron band structure detection by high-order optical harmonic generation in solids

As the threshold field strength for the breakdown in air significantly exceeds the maximum measured thundercloud strength 3 kV/cm/atm, the problem of lightning initiation remains unclear. According to the popular idea, lightning can be initiated from streamer discharges developed in the enhanced electric field in a vicinity of hydrometeors. To test the idea, we carry out numerical simulations of positive streamer development around charged water drops at air pressure typical at thundercloud altitudes and at different background fields, drop sizes and charges. With real drop sizes and charges, the electric field required for the streamer formation is stronger than the measured fields; therefore, second mechanism is required to amplify the local field.     

Effect of electric fields on the ion current signals in a constant volume combustion chamber

Ion current sensing has the potential to become a promising combustion diagnostic technique for mass productive engines. In this paper, the effect of electric fields on ion current signals measured from a series of methane/air flames in a constant volume combustion chamber (CVCC) is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Based on simultaneous flame Schlieren imaging and ion current measurement, the relation between the flame/electrodes contact area and the ion current signal waveform is explored under different electric field configurations. A CFD model, which incorporates flame plasma hydrodynamics, neutral/charged species reaction kinetics and ion-electric field interactions, is constructed. The effect of the electric field on the ion distribution and the charged species flux are analyzed, and the signal amplitude and timing are well predicted under the equivalence ratio range of Ф?=?0.7–1.1. Besides, the behavior of electrons, which is normally neglected in previous studies, is also analyzed in this work. The results show that it will affect the signal as well. The electron produced in the flame front zone can hardly diffuse into the pre-flame zone (<?350?K) even its mobility is 3-4 order higher than those of the positive ions. Therefore, the anode of the ion probe, which placed in the pre-flame zone, cannot detect the ion current signal until it contacts the flame front.     

介质阻挡体放电对甲烷扩散火焰特性的影响

本文在高频交流激励模式下,采用同轴圆柱构型激励器,开展了介质阻挡体放电对空气/甲烷同轴剪切扩散火焰燃烧特性影响实验研究。激励器敷设在外喷嘴环缝以电离空气,采用纹影系统和B型热电偶分别获取流场形态和火焰温度,激励频率为8 kHz,通过改变气体流量和放电电压,分析了不同工况下射流流场、火焰结构和火焰温度在等离子体作用下的变化规律。结果表明:等离子体气动效应能有效增强射流湍流强度,强化空气/甲烷掺混,增大射流角,并随激励电压提高作用效果逐渐增强,实验中未形成明显扩张流动的初始射流在放电电压30 kV时其射流角最大为23.5°。贫燃条件下等离子体激励会改善火焰形态,增强燃烧稳定性,并在流量较低时缩短火焰长度。此外,富燃火焰下游温度会随着激励强度增大不断升高,而贫燃火焰下游温度变化受上游燃烧强度影响存在升高和降低两种情况。     

A study on single fuel droplets combustion in vertical direct current electric fields

Both the electric force working on flames and the natural buoyancy are body forces, so there is a possibility to control the natural buoyancy by applying than electric field. It is important to discuss the body force in the flame because it induces the convective flow around flames. In this circumstance, combustion behavior of single droplets in vertical direct current electric fields was investigated. Ethanol, n-octane, and toluene were used as fuels, and the flame shape and the burning rate constants were measured. The distance between electrodes is 50 mm, and the applied voltage ranged between −4 and 6 kV as the bottom electrode is ground. When the direction of the electric field is opposite to the natural buoyancy direction, the applied voltage exists that make the flame symmetrical in the vertical direction, and the burning rate constants have local minima for ethanol and n-octane at the voltage. However, the minimum burning rate constants are larger than those under microgravity. This means that the electric force roughly balances with natural buoyancy, but it does not completely balance with the same. When the direction of the electric field is in the same direction as the natural buoyancy, there exist some experimental results, which cannot be explained by the assumption that electric field induces the body force only through the positive ions. This suggests that the additional body force is induced by the negative ions. The effects of negative charged soot particles on the combustion behavior are also discussed for the sooty flame of toluene.     

Kinetic parameters,collision rates,energy exchanges and transport coefficients of non-thermal electrons in premixed flames at sub-breakdown electric field strengths

The effects of an electric field on the collision rates, energy exchanges and transport properties of electrons in premixed flames are investigated via solutions to the Boltzmann kinetic equation. The case of high electric field strength, which results in high-energy, non-thermal electrons, is analysed in detail at sub-breakdown conditions. The rates of inelastic collisions and the energy exchange between electrons and neutrals in the reaction zone of the flame are characterised quantitatively. The analysis includes attachment, ionisation, impact dissociation, and vibrational and electronic excitation processes. Our results suggest that Townsend breakdown occurs for E/N = 140 Td. Vibrational excitation is the dominant process up to breakdown, despite important rates of electronic excitation of CO, CO₂ and N₂ as well as impact dissociation of O₂ being apparent from 50 Td onwards. Ohmic heating in the reaction zone is found to be negligible (less than 2% of peak heat release rate) up to breakdown field strengths for realistic electron densities equal to 10¹⁰ cm^?3. The observed trends are largely independent of equivalence ratio. In the non-thermal regime, electron transport coefficients are insensitive to mixture composition and approximately constant across the flame, but are highly dependent on the electric field strength. In the thermal limit, kinetic parameters and transport coefficients vary substantially across the flame due to the spatially inhomogeneous concentration of water vapour. A practical approach for identifying the plasma regime (thermal versus non-thermal) in studies of electric field effects on flames is proposed.     

Positron annihilation in helium,argon and nitrogen liquids under an electric field

We have made new measurements of the lifetimes at 4.19 and 2.92 K in HeI, and at 2.14 and 1.67 K in HeII, without and with electric field. The ortho-positronium lifetime is independent of field up to 20 kV/cm. At 4.19 K, there is no increase observed in the positronium fraction from zero field to 20 kV/cm, in strong disagreement with Manuzio and Rizzuto. Some additional positronium is, however, formed above 20 kV/cm, with a corresponding decrease in lifetime of the free component. At 4.19 K the free positron mean life rises sharply with increasing electric field to a constant value of about 2.14 ns above 5 kV/cm. The increase in the free positron lifetime with field is less marked at 2.92 K. In liquid argon measurements were made at the normal boiling point only, at fields up to 20 kV/cm, above which we experienced electrical breakdown. The ortho-positronium intensity is 7% at zero field and begins to increase at 2.5 kV/cm, reaching 13% at 20 kV/cm at which field value it was still increasing. The ortho-positronium lifetime displayed an 8% increase over this field range. For liquid nitrogen we repeated some of our earlier measurements at 77.3 K and made some measurements at 64.5 K so as to test models for positronium formation in the spur. A good fit to a simple exponential formula is obtained at both temperatures, yielding a single drop-off rate of 0.21 cm/kV.On leave from the Physics Department, University of Toronto, Canada.     

基于光导半导体的MHz高重频可调谐脉冲产生技术研究

随着微波光子学的发展,新型光导微波技术利用高重频脉冲簇激光,入射到线性光导半导体器件中产生可调谐高功率电磁脉冲的方式受到广泛关注。SiC光导半导体开关（PCSS）具有高击穿场强,高饱和载流子速率,高抗辐射能力,高热传导率和高温工作稳定性等优点,是产生高重频、高功率、超短脉冲的重要固态电子器件。介绍了一种基于钒补偿半绝缘4H-SiC PCSS的MHz重复频率亚纳秒脉冲发生器。该发生器采用1 MHz,1030 nm可调谐光脉冲宽度的激光簇驱动源,4H-SiC PCSS的厚度为0.8 mm。整系统可得到最大输出电功率176 kW、最小半高宽约为365 ps的MHz重频短脉冲。     

Structure of propagating edge diffusion flames in hydrocarbon fuel jets

Direct numerical simulations with a C₃-chemistry model have been performed to investigate the transient behavior and internal structure of flames propagating in an axisymmetric fuel jet of methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, or propane in normal earth gravity (1g) and zero gravity (0g). The fuel issued from a 3-mm-i.d. tube into quasi-quiescent air for a fixed mixing time of 0.3 s before it was ignited along the centerline where the fuel–air mixture was at stoichiometry. The edge of the flame formed a vigorously burning peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, and propagated through a flammable mixture layer, leaving behind a trailing diffusion flame. The reaction kernel broadened laterally across the flammable mixture layer and possessed characteristics of premixed flames in the direction of propagation and unique flame structure in the transverse direction. The reaction kernel grew wings on both fuel and air sides to form a triple-flame-like structure, particularly for ethylene and acetylene, whereas for alkanes, the fuel-rich wing tended to merge with the main diffusion flame zone, particularly methane. The topology of edge diffusion flames depend on the properties of fuels, particularly the rich flammability limit, and the mechanistic oxidation pathways. The transit velocity of edge diffusion flames, determined from a time series of calculated temperature field, equaled to the measured laminar flame speed of the stoichiometric fuel–air mixtures, available in the literature, independent of the gravity level.