OH Mole Fraction Research Articles

Study on chemical kinetics of plasma-assisted energetic material combustion

Abstract The combustion kinetic mechanism of C4H8N8O8(HMX) is established, with 30 components and 94 reactions. To account for the effects of plasma ignition and assisted combustion, the model incorporates reactions involving H free radicals at varying mole fractions. The thermodynamic parameters of products and combustion pathways of HMX are analysed by using Chemkin. The result of sensitivity analysis shows that the reaction of N2O+H=OH+N2 has a great influence on the ignition delay time. H and OH radicals play a positive role in ignition, while OH has higher activity than H. The sensitivity analysis of OH shows that N2O+H=OH+N2 has high sensitivity and highest reaction rate. As the mole fraction of H in the reaction chamber increases, the generation rate of OH increases. The reaction rate at 0.2 mole concentration of H is twice higher than 0.1 mole concentration. The increase of OH mole fraction increases the reactivity and decreases the ignition delay time.

Effect of H2/CO addition on soot formation in ethylene diffusion flame

Coupling the San Diego gas phase reaction mechanism and the Moss Brookes soot model using FLUENT14.0 software, the effect of adding H2/CO on the fuel side on soot formation in an ethylene/air laminar diffusion flame was studied. A specific analysis was conducted on the effects of H2, CO and its chemical effects on flame temperature, soot volume fraction, mole fractions of important intermediate products OH, H, and C2H2, as well as rate of soot mass nucleation, surface growth, and oxidation. In the numerical calculation, the virtual substances FH2 and FCO are set to separate the chemical effect of H2 and CO and to analyze the chemical effect of adding H2 and CO on soot formation. The results show that the flame temperature increases slightly, and the soot volume fraction decreases monotonically with adding H2 and CO. The chemical effect of H2 increases the temperature, the mole fraction of C2H2 and H, the soot nucleation rate, and the surface growth rate, and finally, it promotes soot formation. The chemical effect of CO increases the temperature and H mole fraction, reduces the OH mole fraction, and then increases the soot surface growth rate and reduces the soot oxidation rate. The higher soot nucleation, surface growth rate, and lower oxidation rate jointly promote soot formation.

Multiple species imaging from CFD fused H2O absorption spectral tomography and transfer learning

Laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS) tomography is well-proved in combustion diagnosis but has difficulty especially in the simultaneous imaging of multi-species concentrations. A multiple species imaging method from single species LAS tomography was proposed on the basis of computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) and transfer learning. CFD simulation of the methane/air flat flame was conducted to reveal the relationship among multiple species. A back propagation neural network was pre-trained with the dataset obtained from CFD simulation to predict projection values of OH mole fractions from H2O absorption lines at 7185.6 cm−1 and 7444.4 cm−1. The measurement of flat flame by a single wavelength planar laser-induced fluorescence fused LAS tomography system was conducted for network fine-tuning and experiment verification. Distributions of OH mole fractions in lean-burn conditions and nearly complete combustion conditions were quantitatively reconstructed well, while annulus profiles in fuel-rich conditions were qualitatively retrieved. Reconstructed images with two-fifth experiment data used in the network fine-tuning showed a 31.3% decline in image error compared to those without fine-tuning. This proposed method enables LAS tomography of multiple species via only one species with enough measured projections, and also shows potential in image error reduction by introducing more projections.

Effects of simultaneous CO2 addition to the fuel and oxidizer streams on soot formation in co-flow diffusion ethylene flame

Soot formation in a co-flow diffusion ethylene flame with the addition of CO2 to the fuel (the CO2-F), oxidizer (the CO2-O), and fuel/oxidizer (the CO2-F/O) streams was numerically and experimentally investigated in this study. The effects of different CO2 addition ways on soot inception, soot condensation, H-abstraction-C2H2-addition (HACA) and oxidation by O2/OH processes, were quantitatively analyzed by introducing the integrated reaction rates over the whole computational domain. The simulated and experimental results showed that the CO2-F/O was the most effective in inhibiting soot formation and flame temperature, followed by the CO2-O, and the CO2-F. Compared with the CO2-F, the suppression effect of the CO2-O on soot inception was weaker due to the higher concentration of benzo(ghi) fluoranthene (BGHIF). Since the rate of C4H2 formation via C2H4 → C2H3 → C2H2 → C4H2 was inhibited by the CO2-O, lowering the consumption rate of acenaphthalene (A2R5) via C4H2 + A2R5=>A4, more A2R5 converted to BGHIF via A2R5 → A2- → A2 → BGHIF. The suppression effects of different ways of CO2 addition on HACA surface growth and soot condensation were identical: CO2-F < CO2-O < CO2-F/O. The decrease of benzo(a)pyrene (BAPYR) mole fraction accounted for the decline of soot condensation rate, and the decreases of H and OH mole fractions were responsible for the drop of HACA surface growth rate. Compared with the CO2-F, the CO2-O and the CO2-F/O had stronger suppression effects on the soot oxidation by O2 process due to the lower concentration of O2 in the oxidizer stream. Whichever CO2 addition ways were adopted, the soot oxidation by O2 process was more sensitive than the soot oxidation by OH process with the CO2 addition.

Axis-symmetric diesel spray flame model coupled with momentum flux distribution measurement and improved soot phi-T map

An axis-symmetrical diesel spray flame model coupled with momentum flux distribution measurement was developed as a tool for nozzle orifice development. Momentum flux distributions at several distances from the nozzle orifice exit are measured by a force sensor with a small-diameter aperture which traverses a cross-section. A theoretical momentum flux profile is determined by fitting with the measured momentum flux profile at the cross-section. The spray velocity profile and equivalence ratio profiles are quantified from the theoretical momentum flux profile. By interpolating the profiles of the measured cross-sections, the axis-symmetrical diesel spray flame model can calculate the equivalence ratio and other physical values as a function of the distance from the nozzle exit ( x) and the radius from the spray axis ( r). The equivalence ratio distribution in a cross-section involving the spray axis is converted into soot formation and oxidation distribution by coupling with the improved soot ϕ -T map. The conventional soot-NOx ϕ -T map did not show the borderline between the soot formation and oxidation. To quantify the residence time of the fuel element during soot formation, the narrow soot peninsula was expanded up to its maximum by replacing the soot yield with the soot particle diameter. Instead of contour lines for the of NO mole fraction, contour lines for the OH mole fraction were implemented to reveal the border between soot formation and soot oxidation on the ϕ -T map. The borderline appears clearly, consisting of a horizontal line in the lower-temperature region and a rising line in the higher-temperature region. The converted soot formation and oxidation regions in the axis-symmetric spray flame model exhibit a strong correlation with the measured soot distributions in a quasi-steady diesel spray flame. The shear-stress, which induces turbulence affecting soot formation/oxidation, is also quantified from the velocity distribution.

Experimental and theoretical research on the inhibition performance of ethanol gasoline/air explosion by C6F12O

The safety issue of ethanol gasoline and the methods to control or weaken its explosion have attracted attention. To clarify the effect of C6F12O (perfluoro(2-methyl-3-pentanone)) on the explosion of ethanol gasoline-air mixtures and intrinsic mechanism, the explosion overpressure and flame propagation behavior under different equivalence ratios (φ = 0.6–0.8) and C6F12O concentrations (χinh = 0–4.0%) were experimentally obtained. The detailed inhibitor reaction process was also obtained by CHEMKIN based on a new assembly kinetic mechanism. The results show that the effects of C6F12O on the explosion characteristics of ethanol gasoline varied with χinh and φ. For rich flames, C6F12O is more effective than and heptafluoropropane (C₃HF₇) and nitrogen (N2) in suppressing explosions; for lean and equivalence ratio flames, the addition of C6F12O may result in more severe explosions. The decrease in chemical reactivity is mainly because the mole fractions of OH and H radicals and the proportion of paths H radicals involved decrease after adding C6F12O, and R1500: CF3COF + H = CF3CO + HF, R965: CF2:O + H = CF:O + HF, R863: CF3 + H = CF2 + HF are main suppressing reactions.

NO emission and enhanced thermal performances studies on Counter-flow Double-channel Hydrogen/Ammonia-fuelled microcombustors with Oval-shaped internal threads

Micro-combustion systems play a critical role in powering microreactors, micropropulsion and other micro-energy conversion systems. In this work, we have numerically investigated a double-channel counter-flow micro-combustor fuelled by premixed ammonia/hydrogen/oxygen parametric to investigate both NO emissions and thermal performance. The model is used to examine the effects of 1) the inlet velocity, vin, and 2) the inlet equivalence ratio, ϕ. The enhanced thermal performance is quantified by the increased mean wall temperature and the increased wall temperature uniformity. We find that thermal performance increases with increasing vin. The maximum level of NO is present atvin = 2 m/s. Meanwhile, the mean wall temperature benefits from ϕ = 1, and further increases in equivalence ratio can lessen the uniformity of the wall temperature. Furthermore, more fuel-rich ammonia combustion can lead to a lower NO emission and improve the thermal performance. To enhance ammonia combustion, further investigations are conducted by blending with different molar fractions of H2(XH2). It is found that mixing ammonia with more H2 can stabilize micro-combustion, and increase the temperature in the combustion field. Additionally, it makes the emission worse. The maximum mean wall temperature occurs atXH2 = 0.25, While the NO emission peaks atXH2 = 0.3. Moreover, the OH mole fraction can affect the formation of NO, positively.

2D-imaging of absolute OH and H2O2 profiles in a He–H2O nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge by photo-fragmentation laser-induced fluorescence

Pulsed dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) in He–H2O and He–H2O–O2 mixtures are studied in near atmospheric conditions using temporally and spatially resolved quantitative 2D imaging of the hydroxyl radical (OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The primary goal was to detect and quantify the production of these strongly oxidative species in water-laden helium discharges in a DBD jet configuration, which is of interest for biomedical applications such as disinfection of surfaces and treatment of biological samples. Hydroxyl profiles are obtained by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements using 282 nm laser excitation. Hydrogen peroxide profiles are measured by photo-fragmentation LIF (PF-LIF), which involves photo-dissociating H2O2 into OH with a 212.8 nm laser sheet and detecting the OH fragments by LIF. The H2O2 profiles are calibrated by measuring PF-LIF profiles in a reference mixture of He seeded with a known amount of H2O2. OH profiles are calibrated by measuring OH-radical decay times and comparing these with predictions from a chemical kinetics model. Two different burst discharge modes with five and ten pulses per burst are studied, both with a burst repetition rate of 50 Hz. In both cases, dynamics of OH and H2O2 distributions in the afterglow of the discharge are investigated. Gas temperatures determined from the OH-LIF spectra indicate that gas heating due to the plasma is insignificant. The addition of 5% O2 in the He admixture decreases the OH densities and increases the H2O2 densities. The increased coupled energy in the ten-pulse discharge increases OH and H2O2 mole fractions, except for the H2O2 in the He–H2O–O2 mixture which is relatively insensitive to the additional pulses.

A Comprehensive Experimental and Kinetic Study of Laminar Flame Characteristics of H2 and CO Addition to Oxygenated Gasoline

Following stringent regulations enforced by environmental regulatory authorities, various steps have been recently implemented to ensure the clean combustion of gasoline with minimum emissions by including additives to gasoline. This kinetic and experimental study has been conducted to explore the effect of H2 and CO addition to Halterman gasoline at stoichiometric conditions of 358 K and 1 bar. Two different mechanisms, a gasoline surrogate (iso-octane, n-heptane, toluene, and ethanol), LLNL, and a KAUST TPRFE (primary reference fuel, toluene, and ethanol), were used to provide a detailed comparative kinetic understanding of gasoline. Via a spherical flame propagating in a constant-volume combustion chamber, the unstretched, adiabatic laminar burning velocity, SLo, was measured. H2 and CO were added (as unitary and binary additives) to the Haltermann gasoline, in proportions of 1, 2.5, 5, and 10% by mass. Adding hydrogen enhanced the SLo significantly, while CO addition had only a slight effect on SLo. The maximal mole fractions of OH and H were increased with the H2 addition, while adding CO raised the O radical peak mole fraction. A strong correlation between SLo and the sum of the O, H, and OH peak mole fractions was evident. The OH radical was identified to be a kinetics indicator for SLo of gasoline/air mixtures at these conditions; a higher fraction of ethanol in Haltermann gasoline was the precursor for high OH concentration. The addition of a binary additive (10% H2–10% CO) significantly enhanced the consumption of iso-octane compared to other fuel species, strengthening the H-abstraction of iso-octane, 99% compared to 71% with neat Haltermann gasoline. The simulated flame speed showed that the primary chain branching reaction (H + O2 = O + OH) rate was much higher for the LLNL mechanism than for the KAUST-TPRFE mechanism, and thus, the LLNL overpredicted SLo for the Haltermann gasoline surrogate.

Effect of the Preheated Oxidizer Temperature on Soot Formation and Flame Structure in Turbulent Methane-Air Diffusion Flames at 1 and 3 atm: A CFD Investigation

This article presents the results of computations on pilot-based turbulent methane/air co-flow diffusion flames under the influence of the preheated oxidizer temperature ranging from 293 to 723 K at two operating pressures of 1 and 3 atm. The focus is on investigating the soot formation and flame structure under the influence of both the preheated air and combustor pressure. The computations were conducted in a 2D axisymmetric computational domain by solving the Favre averaged governing equation using the finite volume-based CFD code Ansys Fluent 19.2. A steady laminar flamelet model in combination with GRI Mech 3.0 was considered for combustion modeling. A semi-empirical acetylene-based soot model proposed by Brookes and Moss was adopted to predict soot. A careful validation was initially carried out with the measurements by Brookes and Moss at 1 and 3 atm with the temperature of both fuel and air at 290 K before carrying out further simulation using preheated air. The results by the present computation demonstrated that the flame peak temperature increased with air temperature for both 1 and 3 atm, while it reduced with pressure elevation. The OH mole fraction, signifying reaction rate, increased with a rise in the oxidizer temperature at the two operating pressures of 1 and 3 atm. However, a reduced value of OH mole fraction was observed at 3 atm when compared with 1 atm. The soot volume fraction increased with air temperature as well as pressure. The reaction rate by soot surface growth, soot mass-nucleation, and soot-oxidation rate increased with an increase in both air temperature and pressure. Finally, the fuel consumption rate showed a decreasing trend with air temperature and an increasing trend with pressure elevation.

Auto-Ignition and Numerical Analysis on High-Pressure Combustion of Premixed Methane-Air mixtures in Highly Preheated and Diluted Environment

ABSTRACT This work investigates both autoignition and combustion characteristics in highly preheated and diluted combustion of a laminar premixed stoichiometric CH4/O2/N2 mixture in a cylindrical combustor operating at elevated pressures. The analysis was carried out for a range of operating parameters, including reactant preheat temperatures of 1100–1500 K, combustor pressures of 1-10 atm, and in a highly diluted mixture, achieved by decreasing the oxygen content in the oxidizer from 21% to 3% on volume basis. Simulations were conducted using the laminar premixed adiabatic PFR (plug flow reactor) model of Ansys Chemkin Pro. Two-dimensional pictorial representation was performed using the finite volume-based CFD code Ansys Fluent 19.2. Finite-rate chemistry with the detailed chemical mechanism GRI Mech 3.0 was used for combustion analysis. Results showed that OH and HCO mole fractions decreased with increasing combustor pressure and N2 dilution (or decreased O2 content), while the mole fractions increased with reactant temperature. It was also found that, by reducing the oxygen content in the mixture, the flame stabilized far away from the combustor inlet. In contrast, an increase in combustor pressure and reactant temperature stabilized the flame toward the combustor inlet. These flame stabilization characteristics at different locations of the combustor are explained in terms of ignition delay time, which were calculated using the closed homogenous reactor (CHR) model available in the Ansys Chemkin Pro package. The flame peak temperature decreased with increased N2 dilution and increased by increasing the reactant temperature. Moreover, the peak temperature varied marginally when the combustor pressure was increased. Finally, a regime diagram was prepared to show the various combustion modes, such as HiTAC, MILD combustion, and the no ignition region as a function of O2 content and reactant temperature for different operating pressures. The CO and NO emission were reduced with an increase in pressure in the MILD combustion region.

(Non)Equilibrium of OH and Differential Transport in MILD Combustion: Measured and Computed OH Fractions in a Laminar Methane/Nitrogen Jet in Hot Coflow

Spatial distributions of temperature, major species, and OH mole fractions under moderate or intense low-oxygen-dilution (MILD) conditions in a laminar-jet-in-hot-coflow configuration were measured using spontaneous Raman and laser-induced-fluorescence methods. A preheated mixture of 18% CH4/82% N2 at 1100 K was used as fuel, while the products of a laminar, flat, premixed burner-stabilized flame with an equivalence ratio of 0.8 at 1550 K were used as the oxidizer. For comparison, experiments replacing the fuel by pure N2 were also performed. The measurements are compared with the results of numerical simulations performed using the GRI-Mech 3.0 chemical mechanism and a multicomponent mixture-averaged transport model. Analysis of the data shows that the maximum axial and radial temperature and OH mole fraction occur on the lean side of the stoichiometric mixture fraction. MILD combustion generates maximum OH mole fractions of ∼700 ppm in the radial profiles close to the burner exit and ∼300 ppm along the centerline, more than five times lower than those measured in equivalent methane/air diffusion flames. Overall, good qualitative and quantitative agreement is found between the results of detailed computations and experiments, with the maximum differences observed in the axial OH profiles, which are just outside the estimated experimental uncertainty. Analysis of the computational results shows that differential diffusion hinders the use of the mixture fraction to estimate the equilibrium temperature and species fractions, causing an overestimation of the stoichiometric temperature by ∼200 K. Calculating the equilibrium quantities based on the local (computed) species fractions shows an axial temperature profile that differs from that experimentally/computationally determined by less than 25 K. The analysis further shows that the measured OH mole fractions are roughly three times higher than the (locally determined) equilibrium value.

Numerical modelling to study the effect of DC electric field on a laminar ethylene diffusion flame

An applied DC electric field was experimentally demonstrated to modify the flame structure and gas dynamic in an ethylene diffusion flame. The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of the electric field on the flow field and its impacts on the flame behavior. A numerical study has been performed to elucidate the experimental observations and to monitor the effect of electric body force on the flame. The numerical model was validated by comparing the computed results to experimental measurements from the literature. The resulting computed flame shape was compared to a visible image taken during the experiment. The simulated OH mole fraction, the burning rate and the computed velocity and temperature are presented. The developed model proved the ability to reproduce qualitatively the experimental flame behavior when submitted to the electric field. The electric field is shown to modify the flame shape (flame tip, flame shortness and flame deformation), to promote the burning process and to improve the ion production. Results show that the modifications are due to an air entrainment acting specifically near the burner zone enhancing the mixture and changing the fluid dynamic in this region. The ionic wind is demonstrated to increase the maximum burning rate and promoting ions' formation mostly near the burner. A more detailed model (detailed ions' chemistry and soot model with charged particles, detailed electric diffusion) is necessary to gain a better understanding of the influence of electric field on diffusion combustion and soot formation.

Temperature and OH concentration measurements by ultraviolet broadband absorption of OH(X) in laminar methane/air premixed flames

We report temperature and hydroxyl (OH) concentration measurements in methane/air premixed flat flames based on ultraviolet (UV) broadband absorption spectroscopy (BAS) of the OH electronic transitions (X2Π-A2Σ+). The temperature and OH mole fraction distributions were obtained at different heights above the burner for various equivalence ratios (ϕ = 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.93, and 1.06). The results agreed well with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using the AramcoMech 1.3 skeletal mechanism, which verifies the BAS measurement accuracy. For stable flames (ϕ = 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8), the root-mean-square differences above the flat flames were all less than 16 K for the temperature and 150 ppm for the OH mole fraction. The BAS results also agreed with tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) measurements with a root-mean-square temperature difference of 31.5 K. Experimental and theoretical analysis demonstrates that the UV BAS OH detection limit is more than two orders of magnitude lower than that for infrared (IR) TDLAS, and the OH BAS temperature sensitivity is much higher than that for most line pairs in TDLAS measurements. These advantages make the UV BAS method an accurate method for combustion diagnostics, with more accurate temperature and OH concentration than IR TDLAS.

Experimental and Numerical Study of the Effect of CO2 Replacing Part of N2 present in Air on CH4 Premixed Flame Characteristics Using a Reduced Mechanism.

The effect of CO2, which replaces part of N2 present in air, on flame stability, laminar burning velocities (LBVs), and intermediate radicals (O OH) of CH4/O2/N2/CO2 premixed flames has been analyzed using detailed experiments and numerical studies. The numerical simulations were conducted using the PREMIX code with a detailed chemical reaction mechanism (GRI-Mech 3.0) and a reduced mechanism (39 species and 205 reactions) based on GRI-Mech 3.0 over a wide range of equivalence ratios (Φ = 0.7–1.3) and CO2 substitution ratios (0–30%). The reduced mechanism showed a good agreement with the other detailed mechanisms and experimental data. The experimental and numerical results showed that the substitution of CO2 diminishes the stability of the flame, and the flame blow-out speed is significantly reduced (the substitution ratio is 0–30%, and the corresponding flame blow-out velocity is 5.2–2.5 m/s). In addition, CO2 inhibits the LBV of the flame owing to the decrease of O and OH mole fractions. It not only accelerates the consumption of these two free radicals but also inhibits the generation of these two free radicals. Further analysis concluded that the substituted CO2 has the greatest influence on the LBV sensitivity coefficient of the HO2 + CH3 = OH + CH3O reaction.

Effect of hydrocarbon addition on tip opening of hydrogen-air bunsen flames

The effect of hydrocarbon addition on tip opening of lean and stoichiometric hydrogen-air flames is studied computationally by performing two-dimensional numerical simulations. The numerical study reveals that the flame tip of the H2-air burner stabilized flame is open at lean and stoichiometric mixture conditions. The flame tip closes upon hydrocarbon addition. The tip closing is mainly affected by preferential diffusion of the multi-component mixture and the stretch effects. In the addition of light hydrocarbon (CH4), the tip closing starts at a higher percentage of hydrocarbon addition in H2-air flames. Whereas, upon the addition of heavy hydrocarbons such as propane and butane in H2-air flames, tip closing starts with a lesser amount of hydrocarbon addition. Temperature, OH mole fraction and heat release rate have been investigated, focusing on the flame structure at the tip. The tip opening regime diagram for H2–CH4-air, H2–C3H8-air and H2–C4H10-air mixtures are presented.

A method to convert stand-alone OH fluorescence images into OH mole fraction

Due to the accessibility of the planar laser-induced fluorescence technique, images of OH fluorescence intensity are often used to study the structure of turbulent flames. However, there are differences between the measured OH fluorescence intensity and the actual OH mole fraction. These are often neglected because accurate conversion from fluorescence to mole fraction requires the combined knowledge of all major species mole fractions and temperature, which was rarely achieved in 2-D. Here, a new method to convert images of OH fluorescence intensity into OH mole fraction is proposed. This model relies only on inexpensive 1-D laminar flame calculations and does not require information on major species or temperature. The primary assumption behind the applicability of this model is the local approximation of multi-dimensional flames with 1-D counterflow flames. The method utilizes the fact that both OH mole fraction and OH fluorescence intensity profiles are self-similar with pressure and scalar dissipation rate. Only two empirical constants need to be calibrated using 1-D laminar flame calculations. The model was validated using computed 2-D axisymmetric laminar flames and 3-D turbulent flames computed with LES. The accuracy of the conversion model was estimated to about 8% (for Reynolds number up to Re =66,800), which includes errors due to the 3-D effects that are not included in this method relying on 2-D images. As a proof of concept, the conversion model was finally applied to one single-shot image of OH fluorescence intensity measured with OH-PLIF for syngas at P=4bar and Re =16,700, demonstrating potential applications of this new method. The method was tested for hydrogen, syngas and methane fuels but, for brevity, only syngas results are reported in detail.

Single-shot imaging of major species and OH mole fractions and temperature in non-premixed H2/N2 flames at elevated pressure

Simultaneous, single-shot imaging of all major species (N2, O2, H2, and H2O), OH, temperature, and mixture fraction is demonstrated for the first time in H2N2 non-premixed jet flames at 12 bar. The spatial distribution of mole fraction is obtained for the four major species by recording images of Raman scattering on four separate back-illuminated CCD cameras. The available field-of-view is 25(H) × 8(V) mm2. Temperature and mixture fraction are derived from Raman scattering images. Images of OH fluorescence intensity are recorded using OH-PLIF and are converted into OH mole fraction by calculating the Boltzmann population distribution and the quenching rate accurately for each pixel. Precision and accuracy are assessed by comparing 2-D Raman/OH-PLIF measurements in laminar flames to 1-D flame computations accounting for differential diffusion. Single-shot precision on N2, O2, H2, and temperature is better than 5%. It is better than 6% and 10% for H2O and OH, respectively. Accuracy lies within these values, except for H2O with 10%. Such good performance of Raman imaging is attributed to (a) the use of non-intensified CCD cameras, (b) wavelet adaptive thresholding (WATR) image denoising, (c) rejection of flame luminosity by a Pockels cell electro-optical shutter with 500 ns gating, and (d) elevated pressure that boosts the Raman signal intensity. Measurements in a turbulent flame (3.6N2:H2 by vol. and Re = 29,000) show that most of the flame's thermochemical structure is accurately captured by unity Lewis number computations, suggesting that effects of differential diffusion are less important above some Reynolds number. This is consistent with expectations and it engenders confidence in the Raman imaging technique. Because images of both mixture fraction and OH mole fraction are available, it is also possible to reconstruct a more accurate scalar dissipation rate by projection onto the 2-D flame front normal.

Effects of oxygen concentration on the thermal and chemical structures of laminar coflow CO/H2 diffusion flames burning in O2/H2O atmosphere

The thermal and chemical structures of laminar coflow syngas diffusion flames burning in O2/H2O atmosphere were experimentally and numerically studied at 1 atm and initial temperature of 400 K. The O2/H2O molar ratio was varied from 20/80 to 100/0 to investigate the effects of oxygen concentration. An intensified CCD was used to capture the OH*-chemiluminescence based on which the measured flame heights were obtained. Numerical modelling was conducted using a detailed validated chemical mechanism including OH* formation, the discrete-ordinates method coupled with the statistical narrow-band correlated-K(SNBCK) model for the radiative properties of combustion products, and the conjugate heat transfer model to account for the heat transfer between the burner wall and the fuel and oxidizer streams. Results show that the measured flame heights agree well with the simulated values. The flame height and the maximum flame temperature decrease and increase respectively with increasing the O2 concentration. With increasing the O2 concentration, the maximum OH mole fraction first increases but finally decreases and peaks at the oxidizer composition of 90%O2-10%H2O. Increasing the O2 concentration has little influence on the flame attachment but significantly enhances the heat release rate of H + O2(+M) = HO2(+M) and this reaction is found to be the primary cause of the strong influence of the oxygen concentration on the burner tip temperature. As the oxygen concentration increases, syngas pyrolysis inside the fuel tube is promoted, mainly through the H consumption reactions due to the enhanced back diffusion of H from the flame front into the burner.

The fate of the OH radical in molecular beam sampling experiments

The collisional history of ionized molecules in a molecular beam mass spectrometric flame experiment is target of our present investigation. Measurements in a double imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy (i2PEPICO) were performed at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) of the Paul Scherrer Institute to use the ion imaging device for separating the molecular beam ions from rethermalized ions. This enables the precise composition study of the individual types of ions. Results show clearly for the OH radical that the complete signal is obtained from the molecular beam, while the signal from other combustion compounds features additional rethermalized molecules. As for OH radicals, the mole fraction is reduced by sampling effects and contact with the ionization vessel walls significantly. Consequently, this leads to signal loss and lower mole fractions, when using ionization cross sections for the quantification. To improve on this, a beam fraction (BF) factor is presented. The factor describes the ratio of the separated beam signal without rethermalized ions with the total ion signal, consisting of the mass to charge ratio from the molecular beam and additional rethermalized ions. Since the detected OH radicals are solely from the molecular beam, a new method of comparing two molecular beam alignments using the OH to H2O signal ratio is presented. This method has a decent potential for the optimization of the quality of molecular beams. Finally, the separated beam signal (without the rethermalized ions) was used to determine mole fraction profiles for the OH radical using ionization cross sections. These profiles are in good agreement with model predictions of the USC-II and the Aramco Mech 2.0 mechanisms, while the total signal leads to factor of 12 smaller OH mole fractions.