Dynamics of triple-flames in ignition of turbulent dual fuel mixture: A direct numerical simulation study

Pilot-ignited dual fuel combustion involves a complex transition between the pilot fuel autoignition and the premixed-like phase of combustion, which is challenging for experimental measurement and numerical modelling, and not sufficiently explored. To further understand the fundamentals of the dual fuel ignition processes, the transient ignition and subsequent flame development in a turbulent dimethyl ether (DME)/methane-air mixing layer under diesel engine-relevant conditions are studied by direct numerical simulations (DNS). Results indicate that combustion is initiated by a two-stage autoignition that involves both low-temperature and high-temperature chemistry. The first stage autoignition is initiated at the stoichiometric mixture, and then the ignition front propagates against the mixture fraction gradient into rich mixtures and eventually forms a diffusively-supported cool flame. The second stage ignition kernels are spatially distributed around the most reactive mixture fraction with a low scalar dissipation rate. Multiple triple flames are established and propagate along the stoichiometric mixture, which is proven to play an essential role in the flame developing process. The edge flames gradually get close to each other with their branches eventually connected. It is the leading lean premixed branch that initiates the steady propagating methane-air flame. The time required for the initiation of steady flame is substantially shorter than the autoignition delay time of the methane-air mixture under the same thermochemical condition. Temporal evolution of the displacement speed at the flame front is also investigated to clarify the propagation characteristics of the combustion waves. Cool flame and propagation of triple flames are also identified in this study, which are novel features of the pilot-ignited dual fuel combustion.     

用高空气球搭载微重力实验研究浮力对预混V形火焰的影响

在地面实验中观测到的燃烧现象,包含了浮力的影响。利用微重力实验在浮力消失后研究火焰,有助于深入理解燃烧过程。本文介绍了利用高空气球搭载微重力实验对甲烷－空气预混Ｖ形火焰的研究。实验提供了长时间微重力环境下火焰的动态图像。利用计算机图像处理方法对火焰图像的分析表明,在本实验的工况下,微重力下预混Ｖ形火焰锋面的张角比正常重力下变大,皱折和摆动加剧。这说明浮力确实影响预混燃烧过程。     

Flame kernel characterization of laser ignition of natural gas–air mixture in a constant volume combustion chamber

In this paper, laser-induced ignition was investigated for compressed natural gas–air mixtures. Experiments were performed in a constant volume combustion chamber, which simulate end of the compression stroke conditions of a SI engine. This chamber simulates the engine combustion chamber conditions except turbulence of air–fuel mixture. It has four optical windows at diametrically opposite locations, which are used for laser ignition and optical diagnostics simultaneously. All experiments were conducted at 10 bar chamber pressure and 373 K chamber temperature. Initial stage of combustion phenomena was visualized by employing Shadowgraphy technique using a high speed CMOS camera. Flame kernel development of the combustible fuel–air mixture was investigated under different relative air–fuel ratios (λ=1.2?1.7) and the images were interrogated for temporal propagation of flame front. Pressure-time history inside the combustion chamber was recorded and analyzed. This data is useful in characterizing the laser ignition of natural gas–air mixture and can be used in developing an appropriate laser ignition system for commercial use in SI engines.     

Liquid flame: combustion of metal suspensions in liquid sulfur

Thermodynamic calculations show that some metals can react with sulfur without the formation of gaseous products at normal pressure and yet demonstrate sufficiently high flame temperatures to support the propagation of stable flames. For example, a stoichiometric ternary mixture of iron, manganese, and sulfur demonstrates gasless combustion at an equimolar concentration of iron and of manganese with an adiabatic flame temperature of about 2000 °C. Differential thermal analysis of the mixture shows no exothermic reactions below 280 °C. Therefore, sulfur in the mixture can be safely melted (m.p. 119 °C), converting a powder blend into a liquid suspension that is free from gas bubbles. Symmetrical cylindrical flames in shallow pools of suspensions of Fe and Mn powders in liquid sulfur and combustion of the same liquid mixtures in preheated narrow steel tubes have been studied to determine flame propagation speeds as a function of mixture composition. It was found that, contrary to the behavior of the calculated flame temperature, flame speed decreases with the increase of the manganese content in the mixture and is not affected by mixture dilution with the combustion product. Direct measurements of the flame temperatures by thermocouples indicated a weak dependence of the peak flame temperature on mixture composition and revealed a two-stage flame structure. The existence of the two distinct reaction zones in the mixture of two reactive metals with sulfur is in accordance with qualitative theoretical predictions by the theory of flame with parallel reactions existing in the literature. According to theory, the reaction with the higher flame speed in a corresponding binary single-metal–sulfur mixture will form the leading stage of the complex flame front and will govern the flame propagation speed in the ternary composition. The speed of flame propagation in pure Fe–S mixture is almost three times higher than the flame speed in Mn–S mixture. As a result, the iron–sulfur reaction dominates the flame propagation mechanism in Fe–Mn–S suspension.     

逆向复式射流预燃室燃烧器煤粉颗粒行为预报

1引言预燃室燃烧技术是近十多年来开发研究的一种高燃烧效率低NO。的燃烧技术门．它是一种分级燃烧技术。燃料在预燃室内只是部分地燃烧,在贫氧的一次火焰区内脱挥发分,从而减少了NO。的形成。自1982年以来,我国开发研究了很多种类的预燃室,如旋流、大速差l‘］、偏置射流预燃室等。工程热物理研究所研究开发了逆向复式射流预燃室燃烧器l‘,‘］。经实验室和工业实验证明,该预燃室有极优良的火焰稳定性能和煤种适应性,能够实现较低的NOx排放。本文针对逆向射流预燃室内这一独特的流场结构,利用数值模拟来预报煤粉颗粒在其内的运…     

堆积床内非驻定过滤燃烧的一维研究

多孔介质内气体过滤燃烧不同于自由流中燃烧,燃气与多孔介质强烈换热.热波波速和燃烧波波速是燃烧过程的特征参数.以惰性堆积床内的甲烷/空气的低速过滤燃烧为例,提出一维解析模型,用摄动理论推导出燃烧波波速,用直接求解方法和格林函数方法给出充分发展后的和瞬态的燃烧温度分布,并进行计算验证.     

Flame enhancement of ethylene/methane mixtures by ozone addition

As one of the longest lasting species in plasma-assisted combustion, ozone has a pronounced effect on ignition and flame propagation. Many previous studies, however, have only investigated the combustion enhancement by ozone for single-component fuels. In the present study, the impact of ozone addition on multi-component fuel mixtures is examined through one-dimensional laminar flame simulations across a range of temperatures, pressures, residence times, and mixture compositions. Due to the presence of an alkene (ethylene), ozone is consumed through pre-flame ozonolysis reactions even at room temperature. The flame speed is shown to be dependent on the domain length (residence time), and a new reference flame speed is defined for ozonolysis-assisted flame propagation. It is also found that the flame speed enhancement by ozone is highly nonlinear, as a small amount of ethylene produces a disproportionate boost in the laminar flame speed. Finally, the competition between ozonolysis, ozone decomposition, and other ozone reactions in a mixture of alkenes and alkanes is examined in detail. Increases in the pressure, temperature, and equivalence ratio (for rich mixtures) favor ozonolysis reactions over other ozone reactions. The results of this study provide important insights into the timescales, length scales, and reaction pathways that govern ozone-assisted combustion of multi-component fuels in real combustors.     

微小圆管中分裂火焰的实验与理论研究

对丙烷/空气在内径2 mm的圆管内的预混燃烧进行了实验研究,借助于高速数码摄像机发现了分裂火焰现象,其中一个为向上游传播的较亮的常规火焰,另一个为向下游传播的较暗的微弱火焰。这些火焰先后熄灭,经过一段时间后又重复发生自着火、分裂、反向传播、灭火过程。这种现象在富燃、化学恰当比以及贫燃火焰中都有存在。一维非稳态计算表明化...     

Soot formation and temperature field structure in co-flow laminar methane-air diffusion flames at pressures from 10 to 60 atm

The effects of pressure on soot formation and the structure of the temperature field were studied in co-flow methane-air laminar diffusion flames over a wide pressure range, from 10 to 60 atm in a high-pressure combustion chamber. The selected fuel mass flow rate provided diffusion flames in which the soot was completely oxidized within the visible flame envelope and the flame was stable at all pressures considered. The spatially resolved soot volume fraction and soot temperature were measured by spectral soot emission as a function of pressure. The visible (luminous) flame height remained almost unchanged from 10 to 100 atm. Peak soot concentrations showed a strong dependence on pressure at relatively lower pressures; but this dependence got weaker as the pressure is increased. The maximum conversion of the fuel’s carbon to soot, 12.6%, was observed at 60 atm at approximately the mid-height of the flame. Radial temperature gradients within the flame increased with pressure and decreased with flame height above the burner rim. Higher radial temperature gradients near the burner exit at higher pressures mean that the thermal diffusion from the hot regions of the flame towards the flame centerline is enhanced. This leads to higher fuel pyrolysis rates causing accelerated soot nucleation and growth as the pressure increases.     

冲击压缩下甲烷-空气混合气体状态参数实验研究

 为研究强冲击状态下混入少量空气的甲烷气体的冲击状态参数,利用二级轻气炮加载技术,使加速到5 km/s的钨合金飞片撞击封装有常态下空气混入量依次为零（纯甲烷气体）、1%、5%、10%的甲烷-空气混合气体铝靶。采用六通道瞬态光学高温计记录冲击压缩气体的光辐射历程曲线,得到了相同初始条件下4种不同比例混合气体的冲击状态参数。结果表明,在强冲击压缩下,混合气体的冲击温度随着空气混入比例的增大而增高,冲击波后混合气体存在非平衡辐射过程。采用Saha电离平衡方程,对空气混入量为10%的混合气体的电离度进行了估算。结果表明,常态下空气含量C_air≤10%的甲烷 空气混合气体具有电探针保护能力。     

甲烷-空气预混V形火焰的CARS实验研究

本文将相干反斯托克斯(CARS)理论光谱计算和实验光谱分析的方法应用于预混V形火焰燃烧的温度测量实验,利用N2的Q支CARS谱线,使用单脉冲宽带方法获得了预混V形火焰的CARS信号光谱强度特性,测量了V形火焰水平方向和竖直方向上的温度分布特征,从中得出了火焰锋面的厚度,分析了火焰锋面的皱褶与摆动对CARS信号的影响。同时测量了不同燃料系数下V形火焰燃烧产物的温度,得出了温度随燃料系数的变化趋势,为进一步研究预混 V形火焰的结构提供了依据。     

Simultaneous phosphor and CARS thermometry at the wall-gas interface within a combustor

Phosphor thermometry and vibrational coherent anti-stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) were applied simultaneously to examine gas-solid interfaces in a generic combustor. For this purpose, an internally air-cooled obstacle was installed within an optically accessible, pressurized combustion chamber. During the operation of a turbulent, swirled n-heptane flame, the obstacle’s surface temperature and the surface-normal gas temperature distribution were measured. The surface temperature was determined by Thermographic Phosphors, materials whose phosphorescence decay times depend on their temperature. Following a pulsed UV laser excitation (355 nm), the 659 nm emission band of Mg₄FGeO₆:Mn was monitored by a photomultiplier tube.Non-invasive temperature measurements in the flue gas region of the n-heptane spray flame near the surface were performed pointwise by vibrational CARS of diatomic nitrogen. Beams from a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) and a modeless broadband dye laser (607 nm) were phase-matched within a surface-parallel, planar BOXCARS configuration. This allowed gas phase thermometry as close as 30 μm to the surface.The thermal boundary layer and wall temperature measurements were consistent with each other. This demonstrates the potential of spectrocopic techniques to study gas-solid interfaces with high temporal and spatial resolution. Using the interior surface temperature within the cooling channel measured by a thermocouple, the heat flux through the wall and the local heat transfer coefficient at the front side of the obstacle were estimated.     

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.     

Geometrical study of spark ignition in two dimensions

Spark ignition, as the first step during the combustion in Otto engines, has a profound impact on the further development of the flame kernel. Over the last ten years growing concern for environment protection, including low emission of pollutants has increased the interest in the numerical simulation of ignition phenomena to guarantee successful flame kernel development even for lean mixtures.

However, the process of spark ignition in a combustible mixture is not yet fully understood. The use of detailed reaction mechanisms, combined with electrodynamical modelling of the spark, is necessary to optimize ignition of lean mixtures.

This work presents simulations of the coupling of flow, chemical reactions and transport with discharge processes in order to investigate the development of a stable flame kernel initiated by an electrical spark. A two-dimensional code to simulate the early stages of flame kernel formation, shortly after the breakdown discharge, has been developed. The model includes Joule heating. The spark plasma channel formed as a consequence of the breakdown is incorporated into the initial conditions. The computations include the initial phase (1–5 µs), which is governed by pressure wave formation, but also the transition to flame propagation. A thorough study of the influence of the electrodes' geometry, i.e. shape and size, and gap width, has been performed for air and a lean H₂–air mixture. Also a detailed methane-air mechanism was chosen as another example including combustion.

Due to the fast expansion of the plasma channel, together with the geometrical complexity of the electrodes, a complicated flow field develops after the emission of a pressure wave by the expanding channel. Special numerical methods, including artificial viscosity, are required to resolve the complicated flow field during these first 1–5 µs. The heat release through chemical reactions and transport processes is almost negligible during this short phase. The second phase, i.e. the development of a propagating flame and the flame kernel expansion, can last up to several milliseconds and is dominated by diffusive processes and chemical reactions. It has been found that the geometry greatly influences the developing flame kernel and the flow field. As soon as chemical reactions begin to contribute significantly to the heat release, the effect becomes smaller.     

Influence of wall heat loss on the emission characteristics of premixed ammonia-air swirling flames interacting with the combustor wall

The influence of wall heat loss on the emission characteristics of ammonia-air swirling flames has been investigated employing Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence imaging of OH radicals and Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometry of the exhaust gases in combustors with insulated and uninsulated walls over a range of equivalence ratios, ?, and pressures up to 0.5 MPa. Strong influence of wall heat loss on the flames led to quenching of the flame front near the combustor wall at 0.1 MPa, resulting in large unburned NH₃ emissions, and inhibited the stabilization of flames in the outer recirculating zone (ORZ). A decrease in heat loss effects with an increase in pressure promoted extension of the fuel-rich stabilization limit owing to increased recirculation of H₂ from NH₃ decomposition in the ORZ. The influence of wall heat loss resulted in emission trends that contradict already reported trends in literature. NO emissions were found to be substantially low while unburned NH₃ and N₂O emissions were high at fuel-lean conditions during single-stage combustion, with values such as 55 ppmv of NO, 580 ppmv of N₂O and 4457 ppmv of NH₃ at ? = 0.8. In addition, the response of the flame to wall heat loss as pressure increased was more important than the effects of pressure on fuel-NO emission, thereby leading to an increase in NO emission with pressure. It was found that a reduction in wall heat loss or a sufficiently long fluid residence time in the primary combustion zone is necessary for efficient control of NH₃ and N₂O emissions in two-stage rich-lean ammonia combustors, the latter being more effective for N₂O in addition to NO control. This study demonstrates that the influence of wall heat loss should not be ignored in emissions measurements in NH₃-air combustion, and also advances the understanding of previous studies on ammonia micro gas turbines.     

Simulation of hydrodynamic phenomena attendant on the flame front propagation in a tube behind a piston

The propagation of a propane-air flame in a model internal combustion chamber, a tube with one or two pistons, is studied experimentally. Situations are simulated in which the flame front moves in a semiopen flat or cylindrical tube between two pistons or between a piston and the closed end of the tube. The time dependence of the flame front position and acceleration is obtained for the case of the variable tube length and combustible mixture volume. Self-oscillation conditions for the flame front and piston are determined. A relation between their amplitude-frequency characteristics is found. It is established that the piston paradox motion effect, i.e., the motion of the piston toward the flame front, depends on the length of the tube. It is demonstrated that the piston effect is related to the formation of a “tulip” flame. An explanation to the observed hydrodynamic phenomena is given.     

Propagation and extinction of an unsteady spherical spray flame front

Experimental evidence seems to indicate that the life of a laminar spherical flame front propagating through a fresh mixture of air and liquid fuel droplets can be roughly split into three stages: (1) ignition, (2) radial propagation with a smooth flame front and (3) propagation with flame front cellularization and/or pulsation. In this work, the second stage is analysed using the slowly varying flame approach, for a fuel rich flame. The droplets are presumed to vaporize in a sharp front ahead of the reaction front. Evolution equations for the flame and evaporation fronts are derived. For the former the combined effect of heat loss due to droplet vaporization and radiation plays a dominant explicit role. In addition, the structure of the evaporation front is deduced using asymptotics based on a large parameter associated with spray vaporization. Numerical calculations based on the analysis point to the way in which the spray modifies conditions for flame front extinction. Within the framework of the present simplified model the main relevant parameters turn out to be the initial liquid fuel load in the fresh mixture and/or the latent heat of vaporization of the fuel.     

A numerical modeling of the acceleration of a flame by an additional energy input ahead of its front

The acceleration of a flame after an additional energy input ahead of its front was simulated using numerical methods. The combustion of a hydrogen-air mixture in a semiopen channel was considered. The calculations were performed within the framework of a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of premixed flames, with consideration given to heat transfer, multicomponent diffusion, and chemical kinetics. It was demonstrated that, when the interaction of the flame front with the near-wall boundary layer is taken into account, even a moderate energy input could substantially promote the development of the Landau-Darrieus instability and, possibly, deflagration to detonation transition.     

Capturing multi-regime combustion in turbulent flames with a virtual chemistry approach

Multiple flame regimes are encountered in industrial combustion chambers, where premixed, stratified and non-premixed flame regions may coexist. To obtain a predictive tool for pollutant formation predictions, chemical flame modeling must take into account the influence of such complex flame structure. The objective of this article is to apply and compare two reduced chemistry models on both laminar and turbulent multi-regime flame configurations in order to analyze their capabilities in predicting flame structure and CO formation. The challenged approaches are (i) a premixed flamelet-based tabulated chemistry method, whose thermochemical variables are parameterized by a mixture fraction and a progress variable, and (ii) a virtual chemical scheme which has been optimized to retrieve the properties of canonical premixed and non-premixed 1-D laminar flames. The methods are first applied to compute a series of laminar partially-premixed methane-air counterflow flames. Results are compared to detailed chemistry simulations. Both approaches reproduced the thermal flame structure but only the virtual chemistry captures the CO formation in all ranges of equivalence ratio from stoichiometry premixed flame to pure non-premixed flame. Finally, the two chemical models combined with the Thickened Flame model for LES are challenged on a piloted turbulent jet flame with inhomogeneous inlet, the Sydney inhomogeneous burner. Mean and RMS of temperature and CO mass fraction radial profiles are compared to available experimental data. Scatter data in mixture fraction space and Wasserstein metric of numerical and experimental data are also studied. The analyses confirm again that the virtual chemistry approach is able to account for the impact of multi-regime turbulent combustion on the CO formation.     

Characterization of the effects of pressure and hydrogen concentration on laminar burning velocities of methane–hydrogen–air mixtures

The aim of the present work was to characterize both the effects of pressure and of hydrogen addition on methane/air premixed laminar flames. The experimental setup consists of a spherical combustion chamber coupled to a classical shadowgraphy system. Flame pictures are recorded by a high speed camera. Global equivalence ratios were varied from 0.7 to 1.2 for the initial pressure range from 0.1 to 0.5 MPa. The mole fraction of hydrogen in the methane + hydrogen mixture was varied from 0 to 0.2. Experimental results were compared to calculations using a detailed chemical kinetic scheme (GRIMECH 3.0). First, the results for atmospheric laminar CH₄/air flames were compared to the literature. Very good agreements were obtained both for laminar burning velocities and for burned gas Markstein length. Then, increasing the hydrogen content in the mixture was found to be responsible for an increase in the laminar burning velocity and for a reduction of the flame dependence on stretch. Transport effects, through the reduction of the fuel Lewis number, play a role in reducing the sensitivity of the fundamental flame velocity to the stretch. Finally, when the pressure was increased, the laminar burning velocity decreased for all mixtures. The pressure domain was limited to 0.5 MPa due to the onset of instabilities at pressures above this value.