Mechanisms Leading to Stabilization and Incomplete Combustion in Lean CH4/H2 Swirling Wall-Impinging Flames

Abstract

Abstract In gas turbines, confined highly turbulent flames unavoidably propagate in the vicinity of a relatively cool combustor liner, affecting both the local flame structure and global operation of the combustion system. In our recent work, we demonstrated, using simultaneous [OH] × [CH2O] PLIF and stereo-PIV, that lean CH4/H2 flames at a high Karlovitz number can present a highly broken structure near wall, highlighted by a diffuse CH2O cloud which suggests local quenching and incomplete oxidation. Such high Karlovitz numbers were achieved using an inclined plate, which substantially extended the lean flammability of the low swirl flames. Yet, how a cooled wall acting as a heat sink played a conducive role in stabilizing high Ka flames remains unanswered. In addition, the origin of the CH2O cloud is also unclear. Hence, in this work, we look to better understand the stabilization mechanisms for lean and ultra-lean flames on the same configuration, and how they may change with a parametric variation of plate incident angle, plate-nozzle distance, and bulk velocity up to the critical values that lead to flame blow off. The results show that the impinging swirling flow creates a low speed region that helps hold the flame, while the wall prevents mixing with ambient cold air. The production of diffuse CH2O, which indicates the occurrence of local quenching, is associated with a mean strain rate K beyond the extinction strain rate Ke. For CH4 flames, most of the reaction zones reside within |K|/Ke < 1; for 70% H2 flames at ϕ = 0.4, the reaction zones are highly broken and scattered in a large area where |K|/Ke < 8, the interspace of which is fully filled by CH2O. In other words, high H2 fraction flames appear to be more robust to persistent strain rate, thus extending their stability envelope. However, these flames can subsist as highly broken flames featuring strong incomplete combustion.