Results of Experiments and Models for Predicting Stability Limits of Turbulent Swirling Flames

Abstract

Swirling flames are used in many industrial applications, such as process furnaces, boilers, and gas turbines due to their excellent mixing, stability, emission, and burnout characteristics. The wide-spread use of swirl burners in the process and energy industries and, in particular, new concepts for the reduction of NOx emissions, raises the need for simple-to-use models for predicting lean stability limits of highly turbulent flames stabilized by internal recirculation. Based on recently published experimental data of the first author concerning the reaction structures of swirling flames operating near the extinction limit, different methods for predicting lean blow-off limits have been developed and tested. The aim of the investigations was to find stabilization criteria that allow predictions of blow-off limits of highly turbulent recirculating flames without the requirement for measurements in those flames. Several similarity criteria based on volumetric flow rates, burner size, and material parameters of the cold gases were found to be capable of predicting stability limits of premixed and (in some cases) nonpremixed flames at varying swirl intensities, burner scales and fuel compositions. A previously developed numerical field model, combining, a k–ε model with a combined “assumed-shape joint-PDF”/eddy-dissipation reaction model was also tested for its potential for stability prediction.