Model flames in the Boussinesq limit: Rising bubbles

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Using the Boussinesq buoyancy approximation, we study a bubble of reaction products rising in the reactant fluid under the influence of gravity. Reaction on the surface of the bubble (the flame) results in an increase of the volume of the bubble. We consider fluids with low Prandtl and high Froude numbers (heat diffusion dominates over viscous dissipation, and burning dominates over gravitational effects). We show that, under these conditions, all initially small bubbles follow the same growth pattern, regardless of the flame speed, the reaction type, the gravity, the viscosity, the initial size, and, to some extent, the initial shape of the bubble. In the initial stage of this similarity solution a bubble grows radially in an essentially motionless fluid until it reaches some critical size, which is determined by the laminar flame speed, the gravitational acceleration, and the Atwood number. Once the bubble reaches the critical size, convection becomes significant and the bubble evolves into a more complicated, mushroom-like shape. The similarity solution is expressed using the critical bubble size for the unit length and the critical size divided by the laminar flame speed as the unit time.