On Swirl Stabilized Flame Characteristics Near the Weak Extinction Limit

Abstract

One of the most promising methods for reducing NOx emissions of jet engines is the lean combustion process. In order to realize this concept the percentage of air flowing through the combustor dome has to be drastically increased. This requirement leads to nozzles with high effective area and to high mean velocities in the primary zone of the combustor chamber. The investigation of the lean blow out limit for those nozzles is of main interest for the design of lean combustor technology. It is reported on investigation of a kerosene-fueled, swirl stabilized flame at atmospheric conditions. Two lean operation conditions are investigated, one in stable regime and the other very close to the weak extinction limit. It has been determined, that the flame shape changes when shifted from the stable regime to the other one close to the weak extinction limit (also referred to further as LBO — lean blowout). Since all field measurement schemes are similar, the gained data can be associated and conclusions regarding the flame stabilization at lean conditions can be drawn. The velocity data yields information about the topology of both isothermal and reacting flow fields in the combustion chamber. The internal recirculation and the corner recirculation zones can be well distinguished, because it can be measured directly in the nozzle exit plane. The comparison of the experimental data at stable and near LBO conditions shows the importance of inner and outer recirculation zones for the stabilization process. Furthermore, a comparison with a gaseous fuel nozzle will exhibit the differences between liquid and gaseous fuel combustion.