Flame Centerline Research Articles

Heat transfer characteristics of methane-air premixed jet flames with flat/hemispherical walls

Abstract The in-depth study of the mutual coupling between the flame and the wall can significantly enhance the efficiency of actual combustion devices. A two-dimensional numerical model of the heat transfer characteristics of methane-air premixed jet flames with flat/hemispherical walls has been developed. An examination of the effects of wall shape on the heat transfer characteristics of methane/air flames was conducted as a function of the equivalence ratio (ϕ=0.9-1.5), the mixture Reynolds number (Re=300-800), and the burner-to-plate distance (H/d=1-6). As the equivalence ratio and Reynolds number increase, the flame temperature increases on the surface near the wall, and the temperature near the flame centerline is higher under the influence of a hemispherical wall than it is under the influence of a plate. In addition, the wall's heat flux increases as both the equivalence ratio and the Reynolds number increase. It is observed that the heat flux of the hemispherical wall is greater than that of the flat plate near the stagnation point, whereas it is smaller at a distance from the stagnation point. Due to the burner-to-plate distance, thermal efficiency is maximized when the flame premixed cone contacts the impact surface, which is the desired condition for optimal performance. Due to different operating conditions, the efficiency of heat transfer is always higher under the action of a flat plate than under the action of a hemispherical wall.

Effect of strain rate on nanoparticles and soot in counterflow flames of ethylene/ethanol and ethylene/OME3

This study delves into the impact of strain rate on soot and nanoparticle formation in counterflow diffusion flames (CDFs). While strain rate is generally known to reduce soot, understanding of nanoparticle formation remains limited. Strain rate (up to 207 s−1) effects in ethylene flames are here investigated along with ethanol and for the first time oxymethylene ether-3 (OME3). Ethanol and OME3 are well known to reduce particulate emission in several combustion conditions, however, especially for OME3, their effects at different strain rates lack comprehensive information. In soot-forming CDFs, two distinct zones emerge: a pyrolytic zone from the fuel nozzle to the stagnation plane (S.P.), and an oxidative zone from the oxidizer nozzle to the S.P., analogous to the centerline and wings of a coflow diffusion flame. The study aims to unravel the intricate relationship between strain rate, oxygenated fuel, and soot and nanoparticle formation in these two zones. Laser-induced fluorescence, attributed to nanoparticles, laser-induced incandescence, attributed to soot, and scattering were used to track particle formation. Both nanoparticles and soot are formed in both pyrolytic and oxidative zones, with smaller sizes in the former, emphasizing dominant nucleation and coagulation processes. Findings indicate a general particle reduction with strain rate for all the fuel blends, suggesting an inhibition effect on particle nucleation and growth. The effect of strain rate differs for pyrolytic and oxidative zones, with particle reduction in the pyrolytic zone slightly more sensitive to strain rate due to lower kinetic timescales present in this zone of the flame. Oxygenated fuels generally decrease particle formation, however, in pyrolytic zones a slight increase of nanoparticles can be detected. This effect is more evident at low strain rates, and it disappears as strain rate increases. OME3 exhibits higher reactivity and lower sensitivity to strain rate. The insights from this study contribute to developing cleaner combustion technologies, especially in blending oxygenated fuels with traditional ones. Further research is recommended for broader applicability, considering high strain rates and a wider range of dilution conditions.

Spline-based Abel Transform (SAT) radial property reconstruction for noise and trapping correction: Application to axisymmetric sooting flames

In combustion research, optical diagnostics often necessitate Abel inversion to deconvolve the measurements of axisymmetric flames, especially to determine local soot temperature fields from integrated flame radiative emission measurements. However, traditional Abel inversion methods can considerably amplify experimental noise, especially towards the flame centerline. Although various strategies exist to mitigate this issue, they typically do not address the correction of signal trapping within the flame. The present paper introduces an adapted Abel inversion tool that combines resistance to experimental noise with a mechanism to correct signal trapping effects. The tool employs noise-free Abel inversion using piecewise spline functions. Its effectiveness is validated through numerical comparisons with conventional methods. The practical application is demonstrated in the measurement of soot temperature in a canonical laminar diffusion ethylene flame. This is achieved by using multi-wavelength line-of-sight attenuation (LOSA) and emission measurements. The tool corrects for the signal trapping effect in emission data by integrating extinction profiles, thus enabling a more precise soot temperature analysis. The current study also compares two techniques of temperature measurement based on thermal emission: traditional two-color pyrometry and a calibrated emission and absorption ratio method. The study further explores the effects of signal trapping, scattering contribution, and the absorption function ratio on soot temperature determination based on experimental profiles. The findings suggest that signal trapping and scattering contributions have a negligible impact on measurements at the wavelengths examined. However, the choice of absorption function ratio significantly influences the outcomes of two-color pyrometry, highlighting the advantage of the one color emission/absorption technique for the determination of sooting flames temperature measurements.

Effects of low ambient pressure on the flame characteristics of ethanol−gasoline blended pool fire

The flame characteristics of Ethanol−Gasoline pool fire with different blend ratios were experimentally studied in a large−scale pressure−controlled compartment with ambient pressure of 40 kPa, 61 kPa, 80 kPa, and 101 kPa. The flame height, centerline temperature, and radiant heat flux were measured. The flame height increases notably with decreasing ambient pressure, but the flame temperature (intermittent and plume regions) slightly increases. With increasing ethanol ratio, the flame height and temperature decrease monotonously under large ambient pressure, but show a non−monotonic variation with a peak value at low ambient pressure and ethanol ratio of 10 %∼20 %. Heskestad’s flame height and temperature correlations were not suitable for blends pool fire under low ambient pressure. The new modified model for flame height correlation with ambient pressure and combustion heat of blends, and flame temperature correlation with flame height, fuel property parameter, and ambient pressure were developed with a better prediction. The addition of ethanol and decrease of ambient pressure led to the reduction of radiation loss from flame, and the non−monotonic variation with a peak value also occurs with increasing ethanol ratio at relatively large ambient pressure and ethanol ratio of 20 %. A new modified model based on the classical solid flame model was also developed to predict the radiative fraction, considering the ambient pressure, stoichiometric ratio, and the ratio of the combustion heat to the vaporization heat.

Maturity characterization of soot in laminar coflow diffusion flames of methane/anisole under different oxygen indices

Anisole fuel has gained increased attention, since it is considered a biofuel, and its addition to gasoline increases the octane number, improving the engine performance. This study focuses on the comprehensive characterization of soot maturity and sooting propensity of a well-controlled laminar coflow diffusion flame fueled with anisole and using methane as the carrier gas. Four laminar non-premixed flames were established below the smoke point. The oxidizer composition ranged from a molar fraction of oxygen (oxygen index, OI) of 21% to 35% (doped with pure oxygen), while keeping constant the total volumetric flow rate of oxidizer stream. Multi-wavelength line-of-sight attenuation experiments were performed from visible to infrared wavelengths, and the measurements of the extinction coefficient and flame temperature were used to retrieve two dimensional fields of soot temperature, volume fraction, radiative intensity and degree of soot maturity. In general, the sooting propensity and radiative behavior of the anisole flames follows a similar trend than typical hydrocarbon fuels when increasing the OI. However, the spatial distribution of soot volume fraction is enhanced, particularly near the flame centerline. In contrast, the soot production is promoted by the OI, near the flame wings. The same effect can be observed for the soot temperature. Indeed, temperature increases, promoting formation and oxidation processes, specially at the locations near the maximum soot volume fraction. In general, the maturity of soot particles is affected as the OI is changed. Also, it is observed that the degree of maturity is enhanced by flame temperature. In order to support these local observations, a statistical analysis was carried out. Finally, the results obtained yield a curated database for validating detailed soot production models of oxygenated fuels, and to gain further insights on the evolution of soot maturity and propensity of these particular fuels under different oxidizer conditions.

Initial interpretation of Laser-induced Incandescence (LII) signals from flame-generated TiO2 particles: Towards a quantitative characterization of the flame synthesis processes

Among various optical diagnostics for the characterization of particle formation in flames, laser-induced incandescence (LII), developed for soot particles, is attracting attention for the study of flame synthesis of metal-oxides. Among them, TiO2 nanoparticles are widely used for pigments and photocatalysts. Recent works have shown the feasibility of LII for flame-synthesized TiO2, but extensive research is still needed to quantitatively characterize TiO2 production in flames with LII measurements. In this work, the first attempt towards the characterization of TiO2 synthesis in flames is provided as a normalized volume fraction. To achieve this, TiO2 nanoparticles are generated in a laminar coflow diffusion flame of argon-diluted hydrogen and air with pre-vaporized titanium isopropoxide (TTIP). A 355 nm laser is used to irradiate the flame-generated particles. Spectral, temporal, and spatial measurements are performed at various flame heights. First, laser-induced emission (LIE) at prompt is investigated for different laser fluences to identify the operating conditions that ensure the LII-like nature of the measured signals. The LIE at high fluence presents sharp features that contain information on the atomic composition of the particles and of the vaporized species when compared to reference spectra of carbon black and high-purity TiO2 particles. Then, the LII signal at lower fluence is used to obtain an estimation of the spatial evolution of the normalized volume fraction and of the LII signal decay time. These results are finally used to discuss the major aerosol processes along the flame centerline.

Effect of oxygen concentration on the velocity in buoyant turbulent diffusion flames

To better understand fire dynamics of buoyant turbulent diffusion flames under different oxygen concentrations (OCs, volumetric basis), we have recently conducted measurements on the flame temperature, radiation, and soot temperature and volume fraction under normal and reduced OCs. In the present study, particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique was employed to investigate the effect of OC (20.9%, 16.8%, and 15.2%) on the velocity field of the same flames with a theoretical heat release rate (HRR) of 15 kW. The statistics of the velocity field, such as mean and standard deviation of velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, Reynolds stress, and turbulent viscosity, were investigated and compared among different OCs. Results show that OC has minimal effect on the velocity distribution at heights close to the flame length. However, at lower heights above burner (HABs), turbulent mixing is reduced under reduced OCs, and the velocity shows an increased value at the flame centerline but with a narrower profile along the radial direction. Finally, a comparison with previous data was conducted and analyzed to further explore the fire dynamics. This study improves the physical understanding of related fire dynamics under reduced OCs and provides a comprehensive dataset for turbulent fire modeling validation.

Study on the application of laser diagnosis technology in the rapid real time measurement of soot

Based on previous soot studies, this paper proposes a new method to quantify the evolution of the soot generation mechanism in flames. The soot distribution in inverse diffusion flame at different fuel gas velocities was quantitatively measured by laser-induced incandescent (LII) technique, and the soot structure evolution was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and field emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM). Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and numerical simulation were used to investigate the association between the intensity ratio of hydrocarbon atoms of at different positions of the flame and soot formation. Meanwhile, a detailed chemical kinetic simulation of the formation process of soot was carried out, and the flame structure was divided in more detail. The flame state in different regions and the key reactions of soot formation were analyzed. The results presented that the volume fraction of soot measured by LII is consistent with the height-dependent graphitization of the flame and is identical to the yellow definition of the flame. The variation of the C/H atomic intensity ratio reflected the soot formation in flame. The CH intensity ratio in the flame axial direction showed a bimodal distribution, corresponding to the blue phase of soot precursor formation and the yellow phase of soot formation, respectively. In addition, the CH atomic intensity ratio and the CH atomic molar ratio showed a parabolic transition from incipient to mature soot in the soot production region. The CH intensity ratios at different heights are linear in the radial direction, and the main core region of soot production can be obtained when the CH intensity ratio is 0.10 ∼ –0.13. With radial distance increases, it is clear results that the most sensitive reaction of (precursor) A1 changes from C6H5OH + H = A1 + OH to C2H3 + HCO=C3H3 + OH. It reveals that with the increase of yellow light, the soot structure along the flame center line is gradually graphitized, and the graphitization degree is the highest at the axial height of 18.0De ∼ 22.4De. This is consistent with the distribution of CH atomic intensity ratio. The present results demonstrate that LIBS can quickly achieve the initial measurement of soot and provide a new method for the study of flame soot during its evolution.

Influence of a self-formed three-stage dual-wing-shaped carbon on reduction of soot emission from acetylene diffusion flame

This paper reports the formation of a self-formed three-stage dual-wing-shaped carbon (TSDWSC) from acetylene diffusion flame for the first time. The TSDWSC grows naturally from the protrusion at the outlet of the nozzle, while the emission of soot can be greatly reduced. The evolution of the TSDWSC involves three stages: the first unclosed dual-wing, the second unclosed dual-wing and the unmatured third dual-wing. The effects of protrusion, the flow rate of acetylene and various burner nozzle diameters on the formation of the TSDWSC are investigated. The experimental results show that with the increase of the protrusion height, the time when the first stage begins to appear decreases. With the increase of the acetylene flow rate, the stage number of the final dual-wing-shaped carbon increases. The TSDWSC can only be generated when the nozzle inner diameter is 2 or 3 mm. Using a two-color thermometer, the flame temperature distribution along the flame centerline is measured after the complete growth of the TSDWSC. The results show that the temperature of the TSDWSC area in the lower part is remarkably lower than that of the flame area in the upper part. The efficiency of reducing soot emission increases gradually with the evolution of the TSDWSC and reaches 100%, while the temperature of the flame area in the upper also rises gradually. X-ray diffraction (XRD) result indicates the formation of carbon crystals.

Dynamics of soot surface growth and agglomeration by enclosed spray combustion of jet fuel

Understanding the dynamics of soot formation and growth during combustion of jet fuel is essential for mitigation of aircraft engine emissions. Here, soot formation during enclosed spray combustion of jet fuel is investigated for its capacity to form soot with comparable characteristics to that from aircraft engines. For this, microscopy, scanning mobility particle, X-ray diffraction & Raman spectroscopy measurements and discrete element modeling (DEM) are employed along the flame centerline at various Effective eQuivalence Ratios (EQR). The DEM-derived mobility and primary particle size distribution dynamics are in excellent agreement with those measured at 5–63 cm height above the burner (HAB) for the measured temperature and soot volume fraction. At low EQR (1.46 and 1.59), soot surface growth stops at residence time, t = 4–7 ms, resulting in median soot primary particle diameters, d¯p, of ∼ 14 nm. At longer t (high HAB), agglomeration takes over increasing the median mobility diameter from 16 to 88 or 145 nm at EQR of 1.46 or 1.59, respectively, without altering d¯p and having the disorder over graphitic Raman band ratio, D/G = 0.9 ± 0.01 and a crystallite length, Lc = 1.24 ± 0.02 nm. In contrast, increasing EQR from 1.59 to 1.88, enhances soot surface growth, increases d¯p up to 23 nm and results in more graphitic soot having D/G = 0.8 ± 0.01 and Lc = 1.47 ± 0.01 nm. Furthermore, the D/G of soot is inversely proportional to its d¯p that is determined largely by surface growth.

Study on effects of NH3 and/or H2 addition on the characteristics of soot formation and gas emissions in a laminar ethylene diffusion flame

The effects of NH3 and/or H2 addition on the soot formation and gas emission in a laminar ethylene diffusion flame were investigated with laser diagnosis methods, thermophoretic sampling method and a Fourier Transform infrared device in this work. The flame doped with N2 was also studied to evaluate dilution effect. The soot, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), OH evolutions with flame height and the gas emission were obtained. The flame temperature was simulated to identify the thermal effect, and found the temperature rise of H2 enriched flame is slightly larger than that of the flame with NH3 by <50 K. This indicates the temperature does not dominate the soot evolution. NH3 addition can obviously suppress PAH and soot formation by both dilutive and chemical effects, and the rich soot region moves from the two wings to the flame centerline with flame height increases. However, H2 addition chemically promotes soot formation. The soot formation of flames with NH3-H2 blends is between the flames doped with pure NH3 and H2. Adding the blends with low ratio NH3 and high ratio H2 can achieve dramatic soot reduction and moderate NOx emission. This result is significant for guiding future utilization of carbon-free fuel.

Effects of ammonia on morphological characteristics and nanostructure of soot in the combustion of diesel surrogate fuels

The morphological characteristics and nanostructure of soot particles in pure n-heptane (C7H16) and n-heptane/ammonia co-flow diffusion flames were analyzed and compared using thermophoretic sampling and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation combining with quantitative image information extraction methods. The results showed that the overall formation and evolution of soot particles in NH3-doped n-heptane flames along the flame centerline were similar with that without NH3-doping. However, compared to n-heptane flame, the peak average diameter of primary soot particles and the peak gyration radius of soot aggregates in NH3-doped flames were reduced by about 45% and 37%, respectively, which indicated that the growth of both primary soot particles via surface reaction/condensation and soot aggregates via coagulation were significantly decreased. Meanwhile, the fractal dimension of soot aggregates was lower with NH3 addition as the structure of soot aggregates was looser and tended to be more chain-like. After NH3 doping, the peak average fringe length inside soot particles was decreased by 13%, and the inter-fringe spacing and tortuosity of soot were increased by 8% and 3%, respectively. This represented a more disordered microcrystal structure and lower degree of graphitization of soot particles, meaningfully indicating a higher oxidation reactivity.

Assessment of physical soot inception model in normal and inverse laminar diffusion flames

Despite the extensive studies, accurate and reliable modeling of the soot inception process, especially at high pressure conditions, amenable to multi-dimensional flame simulations remains a challenge. In this study, the physical inception model was comprehensively evaluated in the fully-resolved simulations of laminar normal diffusion flame (NDF) and inverse diffusion flame (IDF) at elevated pressures. The effects of inception models on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soot predictions were quantitatively analyzed, including the selection of soot precursors and collision efficiency models. The results show that the quantitative PAH predicted by different collision efficiency models can differ by an order of magnitude. Compared to the constant efficiency, the temperature-dependent collision efficiency was found to improve the quantitative PAH predictions and the prediction of the spatial soot distribution in NDF, with an increased level of soot on the flame centerline. The inclusion of small-sized PAH species (such as A2, A2R5, and A3) as soot precursors was also found to improve the quantitative prediction of soot volume fraction. The physical inception model performs well in NDF using the optimal parameters. Moreover, simultaneous measurements of PAH and soot were performed in IDF configuration for the evaluation of the physical inception model. Contrary to NDF, PAHs and soot are formed on the outer side of the flame and cannot be oxidized in IDF. The experiment observed that the PAHs concentration increased in the post-flame region, while the soot concentration remained unchanged. However, the opposite trend was obtained in simulations, that is, the PAHs concentration decreased while the soot concentration increased, because the physical inception model predicts the inception behavior in the post-flame area, resulting in persistent transformation of PAHs into soot particles. To improve the predictions in IDF, the radical effects in the inception process need to be considered in the model.

Evaluation of a Turbulent Jet Flame Flashback Correlation Applied to Annular Flow Configurations With and Without Swirl

Abstract The adaptation of high hydrogen content fuels for low emissions gas turbines represents a potential opportunity to reduce the carbon footprint of these devices. The high flame speed of hydrogen air mixtures combined with the small quenching distances poses a challenge for using these fuels in situations where a significant premixing is desired. In particular, flashback in either the core flow or along the walls (i.e., boundary layer flashback) can be exacerbated with high hydrogen content fuels. In this work, the ability of a flashback correlation previously developed for round jet flames is evaluated for its ability to predict flashback in an annular flow. As a first step, an annular flow is generated with a centerbody located at the centerline of the original round jet flame. Next, various levels of axial swirl is added to that annular flow. Additional flashback data are obtained for various mixtures of hydrogen and methane and hydrogen and carbon monoxide for all the annular flow configurations. Pressures from 3 to 8 bar are tested with mixture temperatures up to 750 K. Flashback is induced by slowly increasing the equivalence ratio. The results obtained show that the same form of the correlation developed for round jet flames can be used to correlate flashback behavior for the annular flow case with and without swirl despite the presence of the centerbody. Adjustments to some of the constants in the original model were made to obtain the best fit, but in general, the correlation is quite similar to that developed for the round jet flame. A significant difference with the annular flow configurations is the determination of the appropriate gradient at the wall, which in the present case is determined using a cold flow computational fluid dynamics simulation.

3D Flame surface density measurements via orthogonal cross-planar mie scattering in a low-turbulence bunsen flame

Quasi-instantaneous Mie scattering measurements were conducted to determine the flame surface location using two orthogonal planes to obtain the 3D orientation and measurement of 3D flame surface density (FSD) on a stabilised piloted Bunsen burner with turbulence levels of 1 to 2.5 times the laminar flame speed. A double-pulsed 527 nm high-frequency laser (part of a high-frequency particle image velocimetry dual-head setup) was split into two separated laser beams through a polarizer to generate laser sheets at 3 kHz on a vertical plane and a horizontal plane. The vertical plane across the centerline of the Bunsen-stabilized flame was kept constant, whilst the height of the horizontal plane was adjusted from the base of the flame for different heights. The flame edge was defined as the location where droplet tracers disappear, and calculated based on the local change in the number density of the flame edge. Projections of the flame normal vector onto two measurement planes were used to calculate directing angles on each plane, and the 3D FSD was estimated based on the measured angles at the intersecting lines of two planes. A comparison of the 2D to 3D FSD magnitudes was made, for cases with and without mean angle corrections. The results show that the 2D FSD approximations are lower than the 3D measurements by a factor of 20–30% if uncorrected, and up to 28% after corrections.

The effects of 1-methylnaphthalene addition to n-dodecane on the formation of soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in laminar coflow diffusion flames

1-Methylnaphthalene (1-MN) is a typical diaromatic component in petroleum-based fuels and has been widely chosen to represent aromatic fractions in surrogate fuels of diesel and jet fuels. In this study, experimental and modeling studies were performed to investigate the formation of typical polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soot in coflow methane/air diffusion flames doped with 1-methylnaphthalene/n-dodecane mixtures, and explore chemical effects of 1-methylnaphthalen on key soot formation steps. The laser-induced incandescence (LII) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques were used to obtained the soot volume fraction and relative concentration of typical PAHs along the flame centerline, respectively. A novel apparatus-independent indicator, yield aromatic index (YAI), was first proposed to quantify the formation tendency of a specific aromatic product in a flame. It can be found that the addition of 1-methylnaphthalene in the fuel mixtures has a significantly promoting effect on soot formation processes. The correlation between the mass fraction of 1-methylnaphthalene and sooting tendency shows a strong linear relationship. As to the PAH formation tendency, YAIA2R5 have the smaller deviations from corresponding YSIs than YAIA2&A3 and YAIA4, which indicating that A2R5 can be a type of important species leading to soot inception and have strong contribution to soot formation. Through the chemical kinetic analysis, A2R5 is proved to be a key coupling point of two A4 formation pathways, which start from n-dodecane and 1-methylnaphthalene, respectively. As a small amount of 1-methylnaphthalene is introduced into the fuel, the dominant approach to A2R5 rapidly shifts to a more efficient pathway, and is continually enhanced with increasing 1-methylnaphthalene at a moderate trend. The results reveal that 1-methylnaphthalene in the fuel can stride over the rate limiting step of the soot formation process of non-aromatic fuels, eventually leading to an obviously increasing sooting tendency. This study aims to provide useful information for the development of soot nucleation mechanisms and the control of soot formation processes.

Measurements of Soot Particulate Emissions of Ammonia-Ethylene Flames Using Laser Extinction Method

Ammonia (NH3) has emerged as an attractive carbonless fuel that can be co-fired with hydrocarbon fuel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. To understand the influence of NH3 on soot formation when co-fired with hydrocarbons, the soot formation propensity is experimentally investigated via a laminar diffusion jet flame. A stable ethylene (C2H4) jet flame doped with NH3 at different volume percentages was established for the investigation of soot formation tendency. OH* chemiluminescence imaging revealed the change of flame structure, in which the signals emitted from the heat release region weakened with increasing NH3 addition, while the peak intensity shifted from the flame wings towards flame centerline region. The laser extinction method used to measure the soot volume fraction (SVF) at different heights above the burner, which showed the effect of NH3 on soot suppression is significant, owing to the interaction between N-containing compounds with carbon atoms that result in the reduction of key intermediate products required for the formation of benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The effect of soot inhibition appears to be stronger for the low NH3 blend fraction. The chemistry effect of NH3 on soot reduction for C2H4 flame is ascertained by comparing with N2-doped C2H4 flame at the same volume percentage. This work highlights the need for improved understanding of hydrocarbon fuel with NH3 to enable detailed understanding on the soot generation and oxidation process.

Investigation of soot inception limits and chemiluminescence characteristics of laminar coflow diffusion flames in C/O ratio space

This study investigates soot inception limits of laminar coflow diffusion flames in the carbon-to-oxygen atom (C/O) ratio space, as well as the mechanism of flame structure affecting soot inception. And chemiluminescence characteristics in flames are evaluated. Oxy-ethylene flames with the same adiabatic flame temperature (2500 K) and different stoichiometric mixture fractions (Zst, 0.3–0.6) are investigated by relocating CO2 from oxidant to fuel. The position of soot inception and the chemiluminescence of CH*, C2*, and CO2* are measured by a hyperspectral imager. A numerical model with a detailed kinetic mechanism is used to obtain the temperature and gas-phase species concentration. The results prove that the critical C/O ratio favorable for soot inception is 0.53, and the critical temperatures on the flame centerline and sheet are 1322 K and 1632 K, respectively. The comparatively low temperature on the flame centerline can cause soot inception, as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentration and residence time can guarantee the collision and cluster formation of PAHs. Although fuel pyrolysis is promoted on the flame sheet, oxygen-containing species dilutes the concentrations of fuel pyrolysis products and PAHs to limit soot inception, necessitating high temperatures for chemical bond formation. Furthermore, the mixture fraction, local C/O ratio, and net reaction and production rate are calculated, and the key reaction paths are also identified. The results demonstrate that the increase of Zst achieves the suppression of soot inception by lowering the formation of benzene and PAHs in the high C/O ratio (>0.5) zone, improving the oxygenation in the low C/O ratio (<0.5) zone, and compressing the C/O ratio space favorable for soot formation. Meanwhile, the (CH* and C2*) chemiluminescence zone with a C/O ratio of roughly 0.5 exists in the flame. With Zst increases, the CH* and C2* chemiluminescence diminishes at the flame root and enhances downstream, whereas CO2* chemiluminescence remains unaltered.

Evaluation of in-cylinder endoscopic two-colour soot pyrometry of diesel combustion

Flame temperature and soot concentration imaging was performed using endoscopic two-colour (2C) soot pyrometry to investigate the characteristics of in-cylinder diesel engine combustion processes and provide validation data for engine simulation and design. To appropriately interpret the 2C image results, this paper focuses on the uncertainty and challenges of the technique, the line-of-sight nature of the measurement and presents comparable information for validation exercises. A line-of-sight flame light intensity model was created to explore how the temperature T and soot concentration KL measured by the 2C technique can relate to non-uniform flame temperature and soot distributions. It was found that T and KL measured from the 2C technique were likely to relate differently to the actual distribution depending on where in the flame the measurement was taken and on assumptions made about the flame spatial structure. Assessment has been made of the range of the maximum and minimum flame temperatures (assumed to correspond to reaction zone temperature and flame centreline respectively) that are consistent with measured temperature T and soot concentration KL. The analysis of uncertainties, flame temperature and soot distribution along the line-of-sight, and image averaging allows for better quantitative comparison of 2C soot pyrometry images to CFD simulation, which increases confidence in simulation-driven engine development.

LES of nanoparticle synthesis in the spraysyn burner: A comparison against experiments

The synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles from iron nitrate in the SpraySyn spray flame reactor was investigated by experiment and simulation. The focus was on the spray and flame structure, the particle growth by nucleation and coagulation, and the unresolved effects and their impact on the dispersed phase. The reacting flow was modeled in large eddy simulations with the premixed flamelet generated manifolds technique, including modifications for aerosol nucleation. Particle dynamics were described with a sectional model and a subgrid scale coagulation kernel. The particle size distributions at different distances from the burner surface were obtained using a particle mass spectrometer. The experiments and simulations are in good agreement for the flame centreline velocity and both size distribution and mean size of the particles (for particles larger 1 nm - the approximate detection limit of the experiment). Furthermore, simulations enabled to interpret the temporal evolution of the particle size distribution.