An experimental study on the effect of swirl number on pollutant formation in propane bluff-body stabilized swirl diffusion flames

Abstract

The combustion characteristics of propane/air bluff-body stabilized swirl diffusion flames within the turbulent regime are studied experimentally to determine the effect of the swirl number on the flame dynamics and pollutant emissions. The investigated burner consists of a central bluff body with an annulus to introduce the tangential and axial air flows. Results show that in low annulus Reynolds numbers (ReS), the temperature distribution is more affected by the overall equivalence ratio (φo), which is calculated based on the flow rates of the air supplies and the fuel jet. However, by increasing ReS, the impact of swirl number becomes more apparent. Analysis of the combustion products demonstrates a reduction in CO concentration with increasing the geometric swirl number which becomes more evident in higher annulus Reynolds numbers. In addition, the trend of NO emission is strongly analogous to the temperature distribution which is an indication of thermal NO formation. Measurements demonstrate that in lower annulus Reynolds numbers, the dominant factor is the overall equivalence ratio, while with increasing the annulus Reynolds number, the swirl number represents more significance.