Flame Leading Edge and Flow Dynamics in a Swirling, Lifted Flame

Abstract

Flames in high swirl flow fields with vortex breakdown often stabilize aerodynamically in front of interior flow stagnation points. In contrast to shear layer stabilized flames with a nearly fixed, well-defined flame attachment point, the leading edge of aerodynamically stabilized flames can move around substantially as a result of both the inherent dynamics of the vortex breakdown region and externally imposed oscillations. Motion of this flame stabilization point relative to the flow field may have an important dynamical role during combustion instabilities, as it creates flame front wrinkles and heat release fluctuations. For example, a prior study has shown that nonlinear dynamics of the flame response at high forcing amplitudes were related to these leading edge dynamics. This heat release mechanism exists alongside other flame wrinkling processes, arising from such processes as shear layer rollup and swirl fluctuations. This article describes an experimental investigation of flow forcing effects on the dynamics of the leading edge of a swirl stabilized flame. Flame and flow dynamics were characterized using high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) and CH* chemiluminescence imaging. A range of forcing conditions was achieved by varying the forcing frequency, amplitude, and acoustic field symmetry. These results show that the flame leading edge motion is dominated by the natural flow instabilities, particularly the precession of the recirculation zone around the centerline. The fluctuations in leading edge motion at the excitation frequency are much smaller than these natural motions, but are still on the order of the fluid particle displacement associated with the external excitation, indicating that they exhibit an important influence on local flame wrinkling and heat release. Flame response modeling shows that the global, spatially integrated heat release response is controlled by three factors—vortical disturbances, acoustic flow disturbances, and flame leading edge motion. The vortical flow motions dominate the flame response, and the flame leading edge motion is a minor contributor to the overall heat release response. This is an important result, as it shows that the significant motions of the flame leading edge actually have little dynamical significance for understanding the spatially integrated, forced response of the flame.