Flame Heat Release Research Articles

CFD simulation of the increased electric boost effects on the glass melting process in a real glass furnace to support decarbonisation of glass industry

Abstract The glass industry plays a pivotal role in modern manufacturing, providing essential materials for a multitude of applications ranging from construction to consumer goods. However, the substantial energy demands, primarily driven by the intense heat required to melt raw materials within furnaces, pose significant challenges. Traditionally, thermal energy is sourced from combustion processes in dedicated chambers. Yet, in the pursuit of efficiency and environmental sustainability, there is a growing preference for integrated systems. Notably, the utilization of electrode installations within glass baths emerges as a promising choice for direct melting augmentation through electricity in a more efficient way. This study introduces a sophisticated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, developed by the authors, tailored to simulate the real operation of a glass furnace. The model fully couples the reactive flow in the combustion space (the furnace) with convective motions within the glass tank including the effect of the electrodes. By changing the thermal energy from combustion with varying levels of electrode operation (keeping the same overall heat flux to the glass), the furnace behaviour is investigated. The research specifically examines the effects of electrode operation on crucial furnace parameters, including flame heat release and convective motions inside the glass bath, across different scenarios. Insights are gained into the complex interplay between electrode operation, thermal dynamics, and glass quality within the furnace environment. The findings of this study not only deepen the understanding of fundamental processes within glass manufacturing but also offer actionable insights for industry stakeholders. By elucidating the intricate relationship between electrode operation and glass melting process, this research provides practical guidance for optimizing furnace design and operation, enhancing efficiency and CO2 reduction, with the same product quality, in the glass industry.

Study on the acoustic disturbance characteristics of the spray flame

The axial sound field was added to the ethanol spray flame as a perturbation element to study the dynamic response and combustion characteristics. A forced acoustic field is applied to a small oscillating flame. In cases where the frequency of the external sound field matches the eigenfrequency, even small amplitude self-excited flames demonstrate significant instability. As the intensity of the sound field increases, the amplitude of pressure oscillations sharply rises, and the pressure and flame heat release oscillations are in-phase. When the sound field operates at frequencies other than the eigenfrequency, it has an inhibitory effect on the evaporation and combustion process of ethanol droplets. Consequently, intensifying the sound field leads to a reduction in both the area of the evaporation combustion zone and the axial temperature of the flame. The CO formation is influenced by both temperature and the sound field, showing a pattern of increasing and then decreasing with the increase of sound intensity. Additionally, NOx generation exhibits higher emission concentrations in low-temperature and short flames, which is more likely to prompt NOx and is not closely related to frequency.

Low-temperature reactivity, extinction, and heat release rate of non-premixed cool flame at elevated pressures

Understanding the fundamental characteristics of high-pressure cool flames is crucial for the development of advanced and efficient low-temperature combustion engine technologies. The pressure dependency of multi-oxygen addition branching reactions in low-temperature chemistry significantly influences the dynamics, structure, and reactivity of cool flame. This study investigates the non-premixed cool flame of diethyl ether (DEE) at elevated pressures. The results show that pressure rise promotes low-temperature chemistry and significantly extends the extinction limit of cool flame. It is found that the cool flame heat release rate is correlated with the product of pressure and the square root of the pressure-weighted strain rate, Q∼aP·P, which is different from that of hot flames, Q∼aP. The radical index concept for atmospheric cool flames is extended to high-pressure cool flames allowing to decouple the mass and thermal transports from the chemical kinetics term to evaluate the fuel reactivity at elevated pressures. The radical index shows that the low-temperature reactivity of DEE is enhanced with the pressure and is higher than n-dodecane by a factor of 19, 18.3, and 16.4 for 1, 3, and 5 atm, respectively. Kinetic analysis reveals that pressure rise results in QOOH stabilization and promotions of the second O2 addition and the chain-branching reaction pathway for multiple OH radical productions.

Numerical investigation of ammonia-propane cofiring characteristics utilizing air and hydrogen peroxide as oxidizers

In the present study, we have investigated the impact of introducing different amounts of hydrogen peroxide into the air on the co-combustion behavior of propane and ammonia. Various combustion criteria including flame speed, ignition delay, heat release, NO emission, and reaction pathways have been explored within different compositions of propane/ammonia/air/hydrogen peroxide. This investigation has been performed through the kinetic study applying a detailed mechanism compromising 188 species and 1604 reactions. According to the findings, air replacement by hydrogen peroxide might improve the laminar burning velocity, heat release rate, flame temperature. The substantial reactivity of hydrogen peroxide leads to a significant increase in OH and H radicals, consequently accelerating the reaction rates as the hydrogen peroxide content in the oxidizer increases. The reaction H + O2↔O + OH (R906) plays the most significant role in enhancing flame propagation in a fuel/air mixture. However, as the hydrogen peroxide content in the mixture increases, the influence of this reaction diminishes, and the reaction H2O2(+M)↔2OH(+M) (R929) becomes more dominant. Initially, NO levels increase with the addition of hydrogen peroxide, but they start to decline at higher proportions of hydrogen peroxide. The initial increase may be attributed to the higher flame temperature, while the subsequent decrease could be linked to a substantial reduction in atmospheric nitrogen levels in the oxidizer. In situations where, pure hydrogen peroxide is used as the oxidizer, there is no production of NOx in pure propane combustion due to the lack of nitrogen. When compared to pure ammonia combustion, cofiring results in approximately half the amount of NOx emissions.

Size scale effect on mass burning flux and flame behavior of solid fuels

The study investigates the horizontal fuel size effect on free-burning fires for PMMA plates and wood cribs. The fuel size effect on mass burning flux and flame behavior is mainly discussed and compared with typical pool fires. For the PMMA plate and liquid pool, when the fuel size is small (< 10 cm), either the 3D sidewall burning of PMMA or the container wall heated by flame can promote the burning flux at the horizontal projection area. As the fuel size increases, these side wall burning or heating effects decrease, causing the drop in burning flux with fuel scale for both the PMMA plate and liquid pool. For small-scale wood cribs, fire cannot self-sustain due to the large airflow cooling. With the increase in wood crib size, the burning rate first remains constant and then gradually increases, driven by the enhanced internal radiation. As the fuel size increases above 20–30 cm, the flame radiation dominates the burning flux for all fuel types. Fire dynamics simulator (FDS) was adopted to simulate the horizontal size effect by setting a varied fire source (horizontal projection) area. First, the flame geometry and heat release rate (HRR) of simulations were validated against experimental results. Subsequently, the validated fire model generates cases covering a broad range of fire scales. Finally, a new correlation of flame height with the fire heat release rate and fuel size is proposed, and its prediction capability is validated in the numerical fire modeling. This study quantifies the size effect on the burning rate for common solid fuels and provides valuable information for the numerical modeling of multi-scale fires.

Spray swirling flame dynamic under combined modulation of air and fuel

Combustion instability is still a main challenge in developing advanced gas turbine combustors. It is essential to conduct instability control once it occurs. In this paper, liquid fuel modulation by a high-speed on/off valve is used to control flame oscillation generated by loudspeakers. Spray swirling flame dynamic under the combined modulation of air and fuel is experimentally studied. Flame dynamical characteristics and coherent structures at different excitation phase delays are discussed with nonlinear time-series analysis and proper orthogonal decomposition method. Experimental results show flame heat release rate fluctuation is decreased by 86% at 40° while flame instability is intensively enhanced at 220°. Phase portraits and recurrence plots show the flame is in a chaotic oscillation with low amplitude aperiodic oscillations at 40° while it suffers from the largest fluctuation at 220°. Difference in flame dynamic is caused by the destructive (out of phase) and constructive (in phase) interference of heat release rate fluctuations induced by air excitation and fuel modulation. Flame returns back to its nature dynamical behavior under out-of-phase modulation. Longitudinal modes of the spray flame are enhanced while the spiral modes are inhibited under in-phase modulation.

Modeling and Experimental Validation of Pre-Chamber Jet Penetration Considering Jet Density and Ejection Pressure Variations

Abstract Although pre-chamber (PC) is regarded as a promising solution to enhance ignition in lean-burn gas engines, a lack of comprehensive understanding of PC jet penetration dynamics remains. This study proposed a zero-dimensional (0-D) model for PC jet penetration, considering the mixing of combustion products and unburned gases and floating ejection pressure. A combustion completion degree was defined employing fuel property and heat release to estimate varying jet density. Pressure differences between PC and the main chamber (MC) were referred to as the ejection pressure. Then, this model was validated against experiments from a constant volume chamber and a rapid compression and expansion machine with CH4-H2 blends at different equivalent ratios. Results showed that the proposed model can provide a good prediction in stationary and turbulent fields with the calibrated model coefficient. The overall jet penetration exhibits a t0.5 dependence due to its single-phase characteristic and the relative lower density compared to ambient gas in MC. The flame propagation speed and heat release in PC influence the combustion completion degree at the start of jet ejection, the mass fraction of burned gas in jet increases with the equivalent ratio. Jet penetration is primarily driven by ejection pressure, with tip dynamics barely affected by the pressure difference after the peak. Tip penetration intensity increases with increased fuel equivalent ratio and H2 addition, owing to the faster flame propagation. These findings can offer useful suggestions for model-based design and combustion model development for gas engines.

Synchronization under saturable nonlinearity.

In this theoretical work, we introduce a nonlinear gain saturation law representative of the experimentally observed properties manifested by phenomena ranging from aeroacoustic shear layers in self-sustained cavity oscillations to flame heat release rate in thermoacoustic instabilities. Furthermore, this type of saturable gain may be relevant for a wider class of physical systems, such as active laser media in photonics. The nonlinearity discussed herein governs the fullscale behavior of a self-oscillator exhibiting linear loss under large amplitude perturbations, in contrast to the cubic damping and linear gain of the Van der Pol model. A distinctive characteristic of the proposed equation is the simple, well behaved gain term in the slow timescale dynamics.

The flame macrostructure and thermoacoustic instability in a centrally staged burner operating in different pilot stage equivalence ratios

The main focus of this paper is to discover the link between flame macrostructure and thermoacoustic instability in a centrally staged swirl burner. In practical combustors, the flow rate in the pilot stage is much smaller than that in the main stage. However, the modification in the pilot stage could alter the flame macrostructure while maintaining a similar total flow rate. Therefore, the thermoacoustic instability was examined at different flame macrostructures by varying the pilot stage equivalence ratio under identical main stage inlet conditions. High-frequency planar laser measurements and chemiluminescence measurement were conducted to enhance spatial and temporal accuracy, providing a more comprehensive understanding of thermoacoustic instability. Two different flame macrostructures, S-type and I-type flames, were identified based on the preheating zone distribution. They exhibit distinct thermoacoustic instabilities, with the I-type flames demonstrating more intense instability than S-type flames. The results indicate that the variation of flame macrostructure influences the coupling of flame heat release and flow field. Specifically, the preheating zone and heat release of I-type flames exhibit greater sensitivity to flow field fluctuations, resulting in a more intense and complex fluctuation of the flame. This discrepancy leads to variations in thermoacoustic instability intensity, as well as the changes in the phase coupling between heat release and acoustic pressure, which in turn impact the total Rayleigh index. Meanwhile, significant differences exist in the distribution pattern and range of flow field fluctuations between I-type and S-type flames.

The Suppression Effect of Water Mist Released at Different Stages on Lithium-Ion Battery Flame Temperature, Heat Release, and Heat Radiation

Thermal runaway (TR) is a serious thermal disaster that occurs in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) under extreme conditions and has long been an obstacle to their further development. Water mist (WM) is considered to have excellent cooling capacity and is widely used in the field of fire protection. When used in TR suppression, WM also exhibits strong fire-extinguishing and anti-re-ignition abilities. Therefore, it has received widespread attention and research interest among scholars. However, most studies have focused on the cooling rate and suppression effect of TR propagation, and few have mentioned the effect of WM on flame heat transfer, which is a significant index in TR propagation suppression. This study has explored the suppression effect of WM released at different TR stages and has analyzed flame temperature, heat release, and heat radiation under WM conditions. Results show that the flame extinguishing duration for WM under different TR stages was different. WM could directly put out the flame within several seconds of being released when SV opened, 3 min after SV opening and when TR ended, and 3 min for WM when TR was triggered. Moreover, the heat radiation of the flame in relation to the battery QE could be calculated, and the case of WM released 3 min after SV opening exhibited the greatest proportion of heat radiation cooling η (with a value of 88.4%), which was same for the specific cooling capacity of WM Qm with a value of 1.7 × 10−3 kJ/kg. This is expected to provide a novel focus for TR suppression in LIBs.

Experimental Combustion and Flame Characterization of a Chemical Looping-Based Oxidative Dehydrogenation Byproduct Fuel Mixture Containing High CO2 Dilution

Abstract This study investigates the combustion performance of a CO2-rich fuel mixture containing ethane and methane as active species using a constant volume combustion chamber. This fuel is obtained as a byproduct of a chemical looping-based oxidative dehydrogenation (Cl-ODH) process ethylene production. The byproduct gas mixture has 40.79% CO2, 39.49% ethane, and 4.88% methane by weight with other minor compounds. Using this fuel for energy extraction would improve the process efficiency of the ethane to ethylene conversion. After initial combustion modeling, the gas fuel mixture was reduced to just the major species: CO2, ethane, and methane. The mixture was then tested for flammability limits and combustion performance under spark-ignition conditions. Effects of ambient conditions like temperatures between 300 and 400 K with initial pressures from 1 to 10 bar were tested. The effects of stoichiometry were tested to understand flame velocities and heat release. The fuel mixture showed an overall reduced flame velocity compared to gasoline. Instability in combustion was believed to be caused by the dissociation of ethane under elevated conditions. At higher pressures, the flame produces lower cumulative heat release. Simulations were also performed using a model tuned to replicate the operations of the combustion chamber used in the experiments. Heat release and unburnt fuel mass data were calculated to identify the discrepancies in the combustion completeness at elevated pressures. The effects of CO2 quenching the flame coupled with the increased dissociation of the fuel species can lead to up to more than 75% of the fuel mixture being unburnt. Data from this study were used to modify a small-scale spark-ignition engine to use this fuel and produce usable energy.

Experimental investigation on the effects of transverse injection distribution scheme on dual flame dynamics subjected to flow disturbances

Combustion instability has become a major problem in low-emission annular gas turbine combustors. It is of practical importance to investigate the effects of transverse nozzle distribution scheme on multi-flame dynamics subjected to external acoustic perturbations. In this study, the responses of heat release rate perturbations from dual propane/air laminar premixed flames to axial acoustic perturbations have been experimentally measured. Specifically, the velocity disturbance upstream the flame base has been measured by two-microphone method and the flame heat release rate perturbation is obtained by the photomultiplier tube with CH* filter lens. The dynamic evolution of dual flames is captured by the high-speed camera and then analyzed with the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method. Results indicate that there is a critical distribution distance, where the peak gain of the dual flame transfer function is the largest. And the direct injection dual flame transfer function can behave as the low-pass filter. Furthermore, the dual flame transfer function behaves nonlinearly with the increase of the injection angle. The dual flame transfer function for large injection angle can behave as the hybrid mode of the low-pass filter and the band-pass filter. The POD analysis reveals that the coupling effect of gas thermal expansion and stretch effect would contribute to the interaction between dual flame front dynamics. The transverse injection distribution scheme (dual flame distance and injection angle) has a significant effect on the dual flame front dynamics, which in turn affects the flame heat release rate disturbance. The bulk mean flow velocity can enhance the interaction effect between dual flame front dynamics.

Dynamic Response Mechanism of Ethanol Atomization–Combustion Instability under a Contrary Equivalence Ratio Adjusting Trend

This study experimentally explored the effects of equivalence ratio settings on ethanol fuel combustion oscillations with a laboratory-scale combustor. A contrary flame equivalence ratio adjusting trend was selected to investigate the dynamic characteristics of an ethanol atomization burner. Research findings denote that optimizing the equivalence ratio settings can prevent the occurrence of combustion instability in ethanol burners. In the combustion chamber, the sound pressure amplitude increased from 138 Pa to 171 Pa and eventually dropped to 38 Pa, as the equivalence ratio increased from 0.45 to 0.90. However, the sound pressure amplitude increased from 35 Pa to 199 Pa and eventually dropped to 162 Pa, as the equivalence ratio decreased from 0.90 to 0.45. The oscillation frequency of the ethanol atomization burner presents a migration characteristic; this is mainly due to thermal effects associated with changes in the equivalence ratio that increase/decrease the speed of sound in burnt gases, leading to increased/decreased oscillation frequencies. The trend of the change in flame heat release rate is basically like that of sound pressure, but the time-series signal of the flame heat release rate is different from that of sound pressure. It can be concluded that the reversible change in equivalence ratio will bring significant changes to the amplitude of combustion oscillations. At the same time, the macroscopic morphology of the flame will also undergo significant changes. The flame front length decreased from 25 cm to 18 cm, and the flame frontal angle increased from 23 to 42 degrees when the equivalence ratio increased. A strange phenomenon has been observed, which is that there is also sound pressure fluctuation inside the atomized air pipeline, and it presents a special square waveform. This study explored the equivalence ratio adjusting trends on ethanol combustion instability, which will provide the theoretical basis for the design of ethanol atomization burners.

Experimental investigations of the fire behavior of composites impacted by kerosene/air turbulent flame

In this research, we conducted an experimental analysis of a Kerosene/air burner designed according to the FAA's proposed ISO 2685 standard. The burner serves as a vital tool for generating flames and burnt gases, simulating real-world conditions relevant to fire safety studies. The core objective of this study was to comprehensively characterize the burner's behavior. Through a series of experiments, we investigated the influence of the equivalence ratio on several key parameters, including the spatial distribution of gas temperature (monitored using thermocouples), heat flux (measured with heat flux gauges), and the composition of gas emission species. Notably, our findings revealed a significant correlation between the equivalence ratio and these parameters. Specifically, we observed that as the equivalence ratio increased, so did the flame temperature, heat flux, and heat release rate. This increase continued until a critical equivalence ratio value of 1.03 was reached, resulting in a flame temperature of 1101.5°C and a heat flux of 140 kW/m2. Furthermore, our study encompassed a pyrolysis test on various composite materials, including Carbon-phenolic, Carbon-BMI, and Carbon-PEKK. The comparative analysis of these materials highlighted the superiority of Carbon-PEKK, which exhibited the lowest mass loss, the highest back-face temperature without experiencing significant material delamination, and the lowest concentration of gas emission species. Importantly, our investigation also delved into the influence of the equivalence ratio on the flow's turbulence characteristics, a critical factor in comprehending the burner's performance and its interactions with materials in the context of fire safety scenarios. These findings contribute to a better understanding of combustion dynamics, which is invaluable for enhancing fire safety measures and developing more efficient flame-generating systems.

Flame evolution and pressure dynamics of premixed stoichiometric ammonia/hydrogen/air in a closed duct

Ammonia is regarded as a promising energy carrier due to its zero-carbon emissions and its suitability for long-distance, large-scale storage, and transportation. Ammonia/hydrogen mixed combustion is an important way to solve the problem of high ignition temperature and low flame speed in the process of ammonia combustion. This study systematically investigates the evolution of flames and pressure dynamics in a closed duct for ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures with varying hydrogen blending ratio (0–100 %). Simultaneously, the study assesses the impact of flame instability and heat release on the evolution of ammonia/hydrogen/air flames and pressure dynamics. The results show that the flame tip speed and overpressure increase with the increase of hydrogen blending ratio and initial pressure, and when the hydrogen blending ratio is more than 25 %, the growth range of flame tip speed peak and overpressure peak value increases significantly. At the same time, the flame thickness decreases after hydrogen blending, the hydrodynamic instability increases, and the degree of wrinkles on the flame surface increases, which promotes flame acceleration. The Froude number increases significantly, the influence of buoyancy instability gradually weakens, and the flame core does not undergo significant displacement. In the later stage of flame propagation, both the flame front propagation velocity and pressure show significant pulsation phenomena. The heat release calculation results show that hydrogen blending significantly increases the adiabatic flame temperature. Consistent with the evolution law of overpressure, when the hydrogen blending ratio is greater than 25 %, the net heat release increases significantly. The elementary reaction with the highest heat release rate changes from the chain termination reaction R41 to the chain termination reaction R3. The research results can provide theoretical basis and experimental data support for the formulation of safety standards during the regulation and utilization of the combustion structure of ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures.

Experimental study on conical flame transfer functions considering velocity profiles

This paper investigates the linear thermoacoustic dynamic response of laminar premixed stoichiometric propane/air flames under different oncoming flow velocity profiles. Experiments focused on four nozzle thickness-to-diameter ratios: 0.75, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.75, and three different mean bulk velocities: 1.1m/s, 1.2m/s and 1.3m/s. As the nozzle thickness-to-diameter ratio increases, the velocity profile transitions from a developing velocity profile to a fully developed velocity profile. The flame transfer function (FTF) gain exceeds unity at low frequencies. Notably, the effect of the velocity profile is mainly manifested in the moderate frequency range where the FTF gain decreases. When the velocity profile approaches the resonance frequency of the corresponding small orifice, the decline in FTF gain becomes less pronounced. For fully developed velocity profiles, the decrease in mean bulk velocity leads to an increase in FTF gain at low frequencies, but a more rapid decrease at higher frequencies. Additionally, this paper also investigates segmented flame transfer functions (segFTFs) at various axial positions along the flame. With the increase in frequency, the effect of flame front disturbance on FTF changes from the overall flame displacement caused by flame root stand-off distance, to the effect of flame front wrinkle counteracting effect. The different velocity profiles significantly impact the flame dynamic response, thereby affecting the flame heat release rate and consequently the FTF.

Experimental investigation of the plasma-assisted spray combustion of methanol/water mixtures

To achieve the goal of net zero by 2050, carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced using carbon–neutral fuels, and methanol is a feasible choice for gas turbines, IC engines, and furnaces. Methanol can be prepared by bio-process or thermal catalytic processes, but the crude product contains much water. Crude methanol must be dehydrated into high-grade methanol to enable its use as fuel. The dehydration process is the most energy-intensive step in methanol production. Therefore, this study investigated the feasibility of adding different proportions of water to methanol as a fuel for plasma-assisted spray combustion by using low-power gliding arc plasma. Based on the current sprayer setup, using plasma to sustain water-content methanol is more energy-efficient than refining it. The results delineate that plasma can sustain the combustion of methanol in a spray, even when the methanol contains 60 % water. The length and lift-off height of the flame are related to the water content of the fuel. To illustrate this distinguishing phenomenon, this study used CH and OH fluorescence to conduct a more in-depth analysis. The distribution of CH* radicals indicated that the gliding arc plasma enhanced the flame heat release rate, which may be why the flammability limit extended to greater proportions of water with methanol. It's fascinating to observe that blended fuel with higher water content can result in higher OH chemiluminescence signals. This suggests that the dissociation of water vapor, caused by the thermal effect of the gliding arc, plays a crucial role at the flame base locations. In addition, the flammability limits, emissions, and combustion efficiency of methanol/water spray combustion with and without plasma assistance were all examined.

The impact of equivalence ratio on the fire characteristics of Kerosene/air flame produced by NexGen burner for aeronautic application

This paper provides an experimental investigation of a Kerosene/air flame (produced by the NexGen burner designed by the FAA, and here calibrated for ISO 2685/AC20-135 standards fire tests conditions), which is used to generate flame/burnt gases impinging on material samples in the field of fire safety. The purpose of this study is to characterize this burner, and experimental means are implemented to better understand the effects of the equivalence ratio on the spatial distribution of the gas temperature (thermocouples) and the heat flux (heat flux gauge). A parametric study was carried out by varying the global equivalence ratio (ER); highlighting a flickering phenomenon, a relation between the ER and the heat flux, and determining empirical correlations. Hence, the measured flame temperature, heat flux, and heat release rate increase up to a critical value of equivalence ratio equal to 1.03 (flame temperature (1101.5 °C) and heat flux (140 kW/m2).

Feasibility on equivalence ratio measurement via OH*, CH*, and C2* chemiluminescence and study of soot emissions in co-flow non-premixed DME/C1–C2 hydrocarbon flames

The effects of dimethyl ether (DME) addition to methane and ethylene fuels on the combustion characteristics of heat release, soot emissions, and flame temperature were investigated experimentally and numerically in a non-premixed laminar flame configuration. The flame-heat release soot-volume fraction was measured experimentally using CH*, OH*, and C2* chemiluminescence and planar two-color soot pyrometry, respectively. The CH*, OH*, and C2* were used to locate flame-heat release regions as well as to investigate the soot signal’s effect on their measurements. The ratios of the chemiluminescence pairs (OH*/CH* and OH*/C2*) were studied for the feasibility of map local equivalence ratios. Numerical calculations across a full range of DME mixing ratios were performed through 1D laminar flame simulations implemented with a detailed mechanism to provide an indication of the flame structures and profiles of key species including OH*, OH, CH*, CH, CH3, C3H3, C2H2, heat release rate (HRR), and flame temperature. An existing developed soot model was used in a 2D computational study to investigate its validity for modeling soot for DME (oxygenated fuel)/C2H4/N2 flames. Parametric studies have been carried out on some key parameters in the soot model to find optimum values that can be used in future studies. Although soot radiation intensities increased at a small amount (25%vol) of DME addition in the DME/methane flames, the soot pyrometry results showed a reduced soot volume fraction with an increased DME mixture ratio in both DME/methane and DME/ethylene flames studied, agreeing with the key conclusion of 1D numerical results. The flame HRR decreases with the increasing addition of DME to methane and ethylene flames and correlates with the trend of OH* and CH* profiles. The 1D simulation showed a non-monotonic correlation between OH*/CH* ratios and equivalence ratios, implying a limited use of OH*/CH* for the equivalence ratio measurement in non-premixed flames with DME additions.

Laser interferometric detection of heat release rate perturbation field of acoustically perturbed laminar premixed flames

Laser interferometry, which was originally used to measure density perturbation, has been previously used to determine the heat release rate perturbation, which is a key factor in the analysis of combustion instability. However, its spatial accuracy is still unsatisfied. In the present work, an improved fringe Fourier analysis method is proposed to process the results obtained from the laser interferometry measurement, aiming to accurately determine the spatial distribution of flame heat release rate perturbation. The measurement of heat release rate perturbation was performed on a acoustic perturbed laminar premixed flame, with the burner outlet diameter of 8 mm. Interference patterns generated by two laser beams with a diameter of 70 mm were recorded at a frame rate of 6000 Hz. A spatial dependent fringe processing method, referred as the improved fringe Fourier analysis, was developed to demodulate the interference phase from the fringe patterns. The proper orthogonal decomposition analysis was performed on these results to analyze the component of interference signals. Validation of the present technique was conducted by comparing the heat release rate perturbation field resulting from the laser interferometric technique to those from the CH* chemiluminescence from the flame. Comparisons were performed both for the global and local values, and the low-frequency natural oscillation effects were analyzed. Finally, a refraction correction method based on background-oriented Schlieren is proposed to compensate the beam deflection caused by flame.