Effect of microsecond repetitively pulsed discharges on lean blow-off limit and emission of rapidly-mixed ammonia/air swirling flames

Abstract

This work aims to implement an actuator integrating a swirl burner with electrodes to explore stable and low-emission combustion of ammonia/air. The cavity structure holds a plasma torch driven by low-power microsecond repetitively pulsed discharges (µRPDs) in the nozzle, which serves as a pretreatment for ammonia/air gas before it enters the combustion region. The plasma generates strong excited N2, OH, and atomic H* and O* signals, and fitting N2 spectra indicates a rotational temperature of ∼3000 K and vibrational temperature of ∼4500 K. The flame without plasma is easier to detach from the wall and operate as a cone-shaped structure in the confined quartz tube, while plasma can help attach the flame and extend the lean blow-off limit from ∼0.6 to 0.4∼0.5 in a Reynolds number range of ∼3000 to 7500. Then, optical diagnostics for OH radical and NH2* chemiluminescence are performed to enable analysis of intermediate chemistry. The NH2* signals are distributed at the edge of the OH profile in both attachment and detachment cases. Finally, flue gas analyzers are used to find an optimal lean equivalence ratio where plasma anchors a stable ammonia/air flame with a relatively low emission of approximately 200 ppm NO and zero NH3 and H2.