Laser soot-scattering imaging of a large buoyant diffusion flame

Abstract

A novel diagnostic technique, which makes use of laser light scattered by soot particles, was used in an effort to identify the flame sheets within a natural gas diffusion flame. Soot particles, inherently created and consumed in the flame, were used as the scattering medium, which obviated the need for externally supplied seed material. Since no foreign material was added to the flame, the current technique can be considered truly nonintrusive. The soot distribution within a large buoyant natural gas diffusion flame is argued to be a reasonable marker of the flame sheets. Measurements made in 47.4–190 kW natural gas flames stabilized on a 0.5 m diameter burner show that the flame sheets are highly wrinkled and convoluted surfaces. The flame sheets are distributed fairly uniformly within the instantaneous volume of the flame, based on images of the associated soot, and the instantaneous flame volume is devoid of soot for 40–60% of the time. When soot is present, it is observed as thin sheets which become narrower in regions where the average strain rate is estimated to be greater.