Analytical predictions of shapes of laminar diffusion flames in microgravity and earth gravity

Abstract

Flame shape is an important observed characteristic of flames that can be used to scale flame properties such as heat release rates and radiation. Flame shape is affected by fuel type, oxygen levels in the oxidiser, inverse burning and gravity. The objective of this study is to understand the effect of high oxygen concentrations, inverse burning, and gravity on the predictions of flame shapes. Flame shapes are obtained from recent analytical models and compared with experimental data for a number of inverse and normal ethane flame configurations with varying oxygen concentrations in the oxidiser and under earth gravity and microgravity conditions. The Roper flame shape model was extended to predict the complete flame shapes of laminar gas jet normal and inverse diffusion flames on round burners. The Spalding model was extended to inverse diffusion flames. The results show that the extended Roper model results in reasonable predictions for all microgravity and earth gravity flames except for enhanced oxygen normal diffusion flames under earth gravity conditions. The results also show trends towards cooler flames in microgravity that are in line with past experimental observations. Some key characteristics of the predicted flame shapes and parameters needed to describe the flame shape using the extended Roper model are discussed.