Numerical Study of Methane–Oxygen Premixed Flame Characteristics in Non-adiabatic Cylindrical Meso-Scale Reactors with the Backward-Facing Step

Abstract

In the present study, the effects of reactor diameter, inlet velocity, velocity profile, equivalence ratio (Phi, Ф), and outer wall convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients on flame characteristics in cylindrical non-adiabatic meso-scale reactors with the backward-facing step were investigated numerically. The results showed that these parameters could strongly affect the mole fraction of radical species within the flame zone. Also, it was shown that as compared to the reactor with 3 mm inner diameter, increasing the inlet velocity in the reactor with 5 mm inner diameter may lead to the opposite effect on the flame location. In addition, it was observed that the velocity profile could sensibly affect the flame location, temperature, and the species mole fractions in the meso-scale reactors. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the effect of equivalence ratio on the flame characteristics was more crucial for the reactors with smaller diameters. Furthermore, it was maintained that the outer wall convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients could cause the flame instability in the meso-scale reactors because of decreasing the mole fraction of important species such as O, H, and OH in the vicinity of the reactor inner wall.