Non-premixed Mode Research Articles

Evaluation of a flamelet/progress variable approach for pulverized coal combustion in a turbulent mixing layer

A steady flamelet/progress variable (FPV) approach for pulverized coal flames is employed to simulate coal particle burning in a turbulent shear and mixing layer. The configuration consists of a carrier-gas stream of air laden with coal particles that mixes with an oxidizer stream of hot products from lean combustion. Carrier-phase DNS (CP-DNS) are performed, where the turbulent flow field is fully resolved, whereas the coal is represented by Lagrangian point particles. CP-DNS with direct chemistry integration is performed first and provides state-of-the-art validation data for FPV modeling. In a second step the control variables for FPV are extracted from the CP-DNS and used to test if the tabulated manifold can correctly describe the reacting flow (a priorianalysis). Finally a fully coupled a posteriori FPV simulation is performed, where only the FPV control variables are transported, and the chemical state is retrieved from the table and fed back to the flow solver. The a priori results show that the FPV approach is suitable for modeling the complex reacting multiphase flow considered here. The a posteriori data is similarly in good agreement with the reference CP-DNS, although stronger deviations than a priori can be observed. These discrepancies mainly appear in the upper flame (of the present DNS), where premixing and highly unsteady extinction and re-ignition effects play a role, which are difficult to capture by steady non-premixed FPV modeling. However, the present FPV model accurately captures the lower, more stable flame that burns in non-premixed mode.

A direct numerical simulation analysis of spherically expanding turbulent flames in fuel droplet-mists for an overall equivalence ratio of unity

Three-dimensional direct numerical simulations with a modified single-step Arrhenius chemistry have been used to analyze spherically expanding n-heptane flames propagating into mono-sized fuel droplet mists for different droplet diameters and an overall equivalence ratio of unity. The evolutions of flame surface area and burned gas volume for both laminar and turbulent spherically expanding droplet flames have been compared to the corresponding gaseous stoichiometric premixed spherically expanding flames with the same initial burned gas radius. It has been found that the initial droplet diameter significantly affects the burned gas volume and flame area generation, which increase with decreasing droplet diameter for both laminar and turbulent cases. The droplet-flame interaction plays a key role in determining flame wrinkling under laminar conditions, which is reflected in a range of local curvatures for a given reaction progress variable isosurface, whereas each progress variable isosurface in spherically expanding laminar premixed flames exhibits a single value of curvature. The effect of droplet-induced curvature becomes less distinguishable from the flow-induced wrinkling for the turbulent cases considered here, but the reaction progress variable isosurfaces in droplet cases exhibit wider curvature probability density functions than in the corresponding turbulent premixed flame cases. It has been found that the heat release rate arises principally from premixed mode in small droplet cases, whereas the contribution of the non-premixed mode to the overall heat release rate increases with increasing droplet diameter and turbulence intensity.

Large-Eddy Simulation of Reacting Flows in Industrial Gas Turbine Combustor

The turbulent reacting flow in an industrial gas turbine combustor operating at 3 bar is computed using the large-eddy simulation paradigm. The subgrid-scale combustion is modeled using a collection of unstrained premixed flamelets including mixture stratification. The nonpremixed combustion mode is also included using a simple closure involving the scalar dissipation rate of the mixture fraction. Close attention is paid to maintain physical consistencies among subclosure models for combustion, and these consistencies are discussed on a physical basis. The importance of the nonpremixed mode and subgrid-scale mixture fraction fluctuations are investigated systematically. The results show that the subgrid-scale mixture fraction variance plays an important role and comparisons to measurements improve when contributions from the premixed and nonpremixed modes are included. These numerical results and observations are discussed on a physical basis along with potential avenues for further improvements.

The impacts of three flamelet burning regimes in nonlinear combustion dynamics

Axisymmetric simulations of a liquid rocket engine are performed using a delayed detached-eddy-simulation (DDES) turbulence model with the Compressible Flamelet Progress Variable (CFPV) combustion model. Three different pressure instability domains are simulated: completely unstable, semi-stable, and fully stable. The different instability domains are found by varying the combustion chamber and oxidizer post length. Laminar flamelet solutions with a detailed chemical mechanism are examined. The β probability density function (PDF) for the mixture fraction and Dirac δ PDF for both the pressure and the progress variable are used. A coupling mechanism between the volumetric Heat Release Rate (HRR) and the pressure in an unstable cycle is demonstrated. Local extinction and reignition are investigated for all the instability domains using the full S-curve approach. A monotonic decrease in the amount of local extinctions and reignitions occurs when pressure oscillation amplitude becomes smaller. The flame index is used to distinguish between the premixed and non-premixed burning mode in different stability domains. An additional simulation of the unstable pressure oscillation case using only the stable flamelet burning branch of the S-curve is performed. Better agreement with experiments in terms of pressure oscillation amplitude is found when the full S-curve is used.

DNS of MILD combustion with mixture fraction variations

Direct numerical simulations of Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution combustion inside a cubical domain are performed. The computational domain is specified with inflow and outflow boundary conditions in one direction and periodic conditions in the other two directions. The inflowing mixture is constructed carefully in a preprocessing step and has spatially varying mixture fraction and reaction progress variable fields. Thus, this mixture includes a range of thermo-chemical states for a given mixture fraction value. The combustion kinetics is modelled using a 58-step skeletal mechanism including a chemiluminescent species, OH*, for methane–air combustion. The study of reaction zone structures in the physical and mixture fraction spaces shows the presence of ignition fronts, lean and rich premixed flames and non-premixed combustion. These three modes of combustion are observed without the typical triple-flame structure and this results from the spatio-temporally varying mixture fraction field undergoing turbulent mixing and reaction. The flame index and its pdf are analysed to estimate the fractional contributions from these combustion modes to the total heat release rate. The lean premixed mode is observed to be quite dominant and contribution of non-premixed mode increased from about 11% to 20% when the mean oxygen mole fraction in the inflowing mixture is reduced from about 2.7% to 1.6%. Also, the non-premixed contribution increases if one decreases the integral length scale of the mixture fraction field. All of these results and observations are explained on physical basis.

Carrier-phase DNS of pulverized coal particle ignition and volatile burning in a turbulent mixing layer

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of a three-dimensional turbulent mixing layer are performed, where coal particles seeded in an air stream mix with hot lean combustion products in a second stream. This case mimicks conditions of a pulverized coal flame stabilized by hot products such as found in industrial furnaces. Particles are heated up by the hot gases and devolatilize, followed by volatile combustion in the gas phase. The carrier-phase DNS resolves all relevant scales of the fluid phase except the boundary layers around individual particles. The simulation results are assessed in terms of instantaneous contour plots of relevant quantities, spatially averaged statistics, scatter plots and (pseudo-)flamelets. The analysis provides insight into the mechanisms of solid particle ignition and burning stabilized by hot combustion products, as well as the flame structure and combustion mode. It is shown that ignition initially occurs at very lean conditions when particles are entrained in the hot gases. Subsequently volatile combustion proceeds in non-premixed as well as premixed combustion modes, characterized by means of the flame index, with an overall higher heat release in non-premixed zones. At late times two flames can be clearly distinguished, an upper flame burning into the air carrying the particles and a lower flame burning into the lean products. The latter flame shows a pure non-premixed behavior, while the former illustrates a complex flame structure with both premixed and non-premixed modes, as well as flame quenching. The DNS database and initial analysis lay the foundation for future systematic studies in similar configurations and support the development of models suitable for the combustion of solid fuel particles.

Highly resolved numerical simulation of combustion downstream of a rocket engine igniter

We study ignition processes in the turbulent reactive flow established downstream of highly under-expanded coflowing jets. The corresponding configuration is typical of a rocket engine igniter, and to the best knowledge of the authors, this study is the first that documents highly resolved numerical simulations of such a reactive flowfield. Considering the discharge of axisymmetric coaxial under-expanded jets, various morphologies are expected, depending on the value of the nozzle pressure ratio, a key parameter used to classify them. The present computations are conducted with a value of this ratio set to fifteen. The simulations are performed with the massively parallel CREAMS solver on a grid featuring approximately 440,000,000 computational nodes. In the main zone of interest, the level of spatial resolution is D/74, with D the central inlet stream diameter. The computational results reveal the complex topology of the compressible flowfield. The obtained results also bring new and useful insights into the development of ignition processes. In particular, ignition is found to take place rather far downstream of the shock barrel, a conclusion that contrasts with early computational studies conducted within the unsteady RANS computational framework. Consideration of detailed chemistry confirms the essential role of hydroperoxyl radicals, while the analysis of the Takeno index reveals the predominance of a non-premixed combustion mode.

Isolated n-decane droplet combustion – Dual stage and single stage transition to “Cool Flame” droplet burning

Observations of “Cool Flame” burning for large diameter isolated droplets on board the International Space Station have stimulated interest in combustion initiation/generation of non-premixed combustion modes. For a number of n-alkane fuels at large initial droplet diameters, the initiation process was observed to first establish a hot flame condition that radiatively extinguished, followed by a quasi-steady, “Cool Flame” droplet burning mode. However, recent large diameter n-decane experiments show that depending on the ignition energy supplied, the first stage hot flame condition was absent, with an apparent, direct establishment of a “Cool Flame” burning mode that continued to diffusive extinction. Here we report these experimental observations and elucidate the underlying parameters resulting in dual and single stage “Cool Flame” burning. Detailed, transient sphero-symmetric droplet combustion modeling is applied to interpret the experiments. The simulations indicate that the balance and duration of the ignition energy applied, the energy release associated with reaction of partially premixed fuel vapor surrounding the droplet, heat flux to the drop surface, and far field diffusive heat loss all play key roles as to whether a dual stage, radiatively extinguished hot-flame-to-Cool-Flame-transition for only large droplets or direct establishment of “Cool Flame” burning for all droplet sizes occurs. The rate at which the reactive partially premixed vapor layer surrounding the droplet is formed, its volume, and its subsequent reaction significantly influence the observed transition to “Cool Flame” burning. The initial droplet temperature relative to saturation and flash point temperatures of the fuel and the liquid phase heat capacity contribute to the thermal transport requirement at the droplet surface for establishing the partially premixed reactive layer surrounding the droplet, which through its reaction history defines whether a transition to “Cool Flame” burning can be initiated without a requirement for radiative extinction of a hot flame burning mode.

Large Eddy Simulation of flame edge evolution in a spark-ignited methane–air jet

The unsteady evolution of lifted methane–air jet flames following spark ignition is computed using Large Eddy Simulation (LES). A presumed joint Probability Density Function (PDF) approach is used for the sub-grid combustion modelling accounting for both premixed and non-premixed mode contributions. Two flames, one with high and another with low jet velocities are investigated and the computed temporal variation of flame leading point agrees quite well with the measured data for both the transient evolution and final lift-off height. The joint PDF of the axial and radial stabilisation locations shows that these locations are correlated with the jet exit velocity. The flame leading point evolution in the three-dimensional physical space is visualised using its trajectory, starting from the ignition location to the final lift-off height. A spiral-shaped path is observed for both velocity cases showing different flame propagation behaviours at different heights from the jet exit. These observations are explained on a physical basis.

Large eddy simulation of combustion characteristics in a kerosene fueled rocket-based combined-cycle engine combustor

This study reports combustion characteristics of a rocket-based combined-cycle engine combustor operating at ramjet mode numerically. Compressible large eddy simulation with liquid kerosene sprayed and vaporized is used to study the intrinsic unsteadiness of combustion in such a propulsion system. Results for the pressure oscillation amplitude and frequency in the combustor as well as the wall pressure distribution along the flow-path, are validated using experimental data, and they show acceptable agreement. Coupled with reduced chemical kinetics of kerosene, results are compared with the simultaneously obtained Reynolds–Averaged Navier–Stokes results, and show significant differences. A flow field analysis is also carried out for further study of the turbulent flame structures. Mixture fraction is used to determine the most probable flame location in the combustor at stoichiometric condition. Spatial distributions of the Takeno flame index, scalar dissipation rate, and heat release rate reveal that different combustion modes, such as premixed and non-premixed modes, coexisted at different sections of the combustor. The RBCC combustor is divided into different regions characterized by their non-uniform features. Flame stabilization mechanism, i.e., flame propagation or fuel auto-ignition, and their relative importance, is also determined at different regions in the combustor.

Numerical study of transient evolution of lifted jet flames: partially premixed flame propagation and influence of physical dimensions

Three-dimensional (3D) unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations of a spark-ignited turbulent methane/air jet flame evolving from ignition to stabilisation are conducted for different jet velocities. A partially premixed combustion model is used involving a correlated joint probability density function and both premixed and non-premixed combustion mode contributions. The 3D simulation results for the temporal evolution of the flame's leading edge are compared with previous two-dimensional (2D) results and experimental data. The comparison shows that the final stabilised flame lift-off height is well predicted by both 2D and 3D computations. However, the transient evolution of the flame's leading edge computed from 3D simulation agrees reasonably well with experiment, whereas evident discrepancies were found in the previous 2D study. This difference suggests that the third physical dimension plays an important role during the flame transient evolution process. The flame brush's leading edge displacement speed resulting from reaction, normal and tangential diffusion processes are studied at different typical stages after ignition in order to understand the effect of the third physical dimension further. Substantial differences are found for the reaction and normal diffusion components between 2D and 3D simulations especially in the initial propagation stage. The evolution of reaction progress variable scalar gradients and its interaction with the flow and mixing field in the 3D physical space have an important effect on the flame's leading edge propagation.

Numerical Study of the Effect of Nozzle Configurations on Characteristics of MILD Combustion for Gas Turbine Application

The MILD (moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution) combustion is characterized by low emission, stable combustion, and low noise for various kinds of fuel. This paper reports a numerical investigation of the effect of different nozzle configurations, such as nozzle number N, reactants jet velocity V, premixed and nonpremixed modes, on the characteristics of MILD combustion applied to one F class gas turbine combustor. An operating point is selected considering the pressure p = 1.63 MPa, heat intensity Pintensity = 20.5 MW/m3 atm, air preheated temperature Ta = 723 K, equivalence ratio φ = 0.625. Methane (CH4) is adopted as the fuel for combustion. Results show that low-temperature zone shrinks while the peak temperature rises as the nozzle number increases. Higher jet velocity will lead to larger recirculation ratio and the reaction time will be prolonged consequently. It is helpful to keep high combustion efficiency but can increase the NO emission obviously. It is also found that N = 12 and V = 110 m/s may be the best combination of configuration and operating point. The premixed combustion mode will achieve more uniform reaction zone, lower peak temperature, and pollutant emissions compared with the nonpremixed mode.

An analysis of the structure of an n-dodecane spray flame using TPDF modelling

With a view to understanding ignition and combustion behaviours in diesel engines, this study investigates several aspects of ignition and combustion of an n-dodecane spray in a high pressure, high temperature chamber, known as Spray A, using data resulting from modelling using the transported probability density function (TPDF) method. The model has been validated comprehensively with good to excellent agreement in our previous work against all available experimental data including for mixture-fraction and velocity fields in non-reacting cases, and flame lift-off length and ignition delay in reacting cases. This good agreement encourages further investigation of the numerical model results to help understand the structure of this flame, which serves to complement the experimental information that is available, which is very limited due to the difficult experimental conditions in which this flame exists. For example, quantitative experimental measurements of local mixture-fraction, temperature, velocity gradients, etc. are not yet possible in reacting cases. Analysis of the model results shows that two-stage ignition is found to occur across the ambient temperature conditions considered: the first stage is rapidly initiated on the lean side where temperatures are high and sequentially moves to richer, cooler conditions. The first stage is extremely resilient to turbulence, occurring in a region of very low Damköhler number. The second stage of ignition occurs first in rich mixtures in a region behind the head of the fuel jet where mixture gradients are low, and appears to be influenced strongly by turbulence. Relative to a homogeneous reactor, it is delayed on the lean side but advanced on the rich side, suggesting entrainment and mixing from the early igniting lean regions into richer mixtures is an important moderator of the ignition process. The second-stage ignition front propagates at very high velocities initially, suggesting it is a sequential ignition moving according to gradients of ignition delay and/or residence time. The flame stabilises however on the lean side in a region of much lower velocity, where turbulent velocity fluctuations are sufficiently high such that turbulent transport influences the propagation. It stabilises in a region of low Damköhler number which implies that a competition of chemistry versus micro-mixing might also be involved in stabilisation. The stabilisation mechanism is investigated by an analysis of the transport budgets, showing the flame is stabilised by autoignition but moderated by turbulent diffusion. Further analysis of the flame index supports this stabilisation mechanism, and demonstrates the simultaneous existence of non-premixed and premixed combustion modes in the same flame. Analysis of the flow fields also reveals that local entrainment and dilatation are important flow features near the flame base.

Flame Structure and Propagation in Turbulent Flame-Droplet Interaction: A Direct Numerical Simulation Analysis

Three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) in canonical configuration have been employed to study the combustion of mono-disperse droplet-mist under turbulent flow conditions. A parametric study has been performed for a range of values of droplet equivalence ratio ϕd, droplet diameter ad and root-mean-square value of turbulent velocity u′. The fuel is supplied entirely in liquid phase such that the evaporation of the droplets gives rise to gaseous fuel which then facilitates flame propagation into the droplet-mist. The combustion process in gaseous phase takes place predominantly in fuel-lean mode even for ϕd>1. The probability of finding fuel-lean mixture increases with increasing initial droplet diameter because of slower evaporation of larger droplets. The chemical reaction is found to take place under both premixed and non-premixed modes of combustion: the premixed mode ocurring mainly under fuel-lean conditions and the non-premixed mode under stoichiometric or fuel-rich conditions. The prevalence of premixed combustion was seen to decrease with increasing droplet size. Furthermore, droplet-fuelled turbulent flames have been found to be thicker than the corresponding turbulent stoichiometric premixed flames and this thickening increases with increasing droplet diameter. The flame thickening in droplet cases has been explained in terms of normal strain rate induced by fluid motion and due to flame normal propagation arising from different components of displacement speed. The statistical behaviours of the effective normal strain rate and flame stretching have been analysed in detail and detailed physical explanations have been provided for the observed behaviour. It has been found that the droplet cases show higher probability of finding positive effective normal strain rate (i.e. combined contribution of fluid motion and flame propagation), and negative values of stretch rate than in the stoichiometric premixed flame under similar flow conditions, which are responsible for higher flame thickness and smaller flame area generation in droplet cases.

Experimental data regarding the characterization of the flame behavior near lean blowout in a non-premixed liquid fuel burner.

The article presents the data related to the flame acquisitions in a liquid-fuel gas turbine derived burner operating in non-premixed mode under three different equivalence fuel/air ratio, which corresponds to a richer, an intermediate, and an ultra-lean condition, near lean blowout (LBO).The data were collected with two high speed visualization systems which acquired in the visible (VIS) and in the infrared (NIR) spectral region. Furthermore chemiluminescence measurements, which have been performed with a photomultiplier (PMT), equipped with an OH* filter, and gas exhaust measurements were also given. For each acquisition the data were related to operating parameters as pressure, temperature and equivalent fuel/air ratio.The data are related to the research article “Image processing for the characterization of flame stability in a non-premixed liquid fuel burner near lean blowout” in Aerospace Science and Technology [1].

Image processing for the characterization of flame stability in a non-premixed liquid fuel burner near lean blowout

In the present work, an experimental investigation was performed by varying the fuel/air ratio of a liquid-fuel gas turbine derived burner in the non-premixed mode, until an ultra-lean combustion condition was reached. In this condition, flame instabilities occur with negative impacts on combustion efficiency. Two high speed visualization systems in the visible range and in the infrared spectral region were used. Moreover, they were supported by an OH⁎ chemiluminescence measurement and by gas exhaust measurements. Different techniques were used starting from the luminosity signal of each pixel: the Wavelet Decomposition to calculate the wavelet energy, the frequency analysis of pixel intensities of the flame images to estimate the dominant frequency, finally the statistical analysis to calculate the pixel intensity variance. Both the statistical and frequency analyses were applied to the OH⁎ chemiluminescence data. One of the most important results of the present work regarded the capability of imaging techniques to individuate the instability insurgence and to be used as a predictive tool. Furthermore 2D maps of some parameters, extracted by the wavelet-based analysis of flame images, permitted to investigate local unsteadiness in the flame area.

Statistical Analysis of Turbulent Flame-Droplet Interaction: A Direct Numerical Simulation Study

Turbulent combustion of mono-disperse droplet-mist has been analysed based on three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) in canonical configuration under decaying turbulence for a range of different values of droplet equivalence ratio (ϕd), droplet diameter (a d ) and root-mean-square value of turbulent velocity (u ′). The fuel is supplied in liquid phase and the evaporation of droplets gives rise to gaseous fuel for the flame propagation into the droplet-mist. It has been found that initial droplet diameter, turbulence intensity and droplet equivalence ratio can have significant influences on the volume-integrated burning rate, flame surface area and burning rate per unit area. The droplets are found to evaporate predominantly in the preheat zone, but some droplets penetrate the flame front, reaching the burned gas side where they evaporate and some of the resulting fuel vapour diffuses back towards the flame front. The combustion process in gaseous phase takes place predominantly in fuel-lean mode even for ϕd > 1. The probability of finding fuel-lean mixture increases with increasing initial droplet diameter because of slower evaporation of larger droplets and this predominantly fuel-lean mode of combustion exhibits the attributes of low Damkohler number combustion and gives rise to thickening of flame with increasing droplet diameter. The chemical reaction is found to take place under both premixed and non-premixed modes of combustion and the relative contribution of non-premixed combustion to overall heat release increases with increasing droplet size. The statistical behaviours of the flame propagation and mode of combustion have been analysed in detail and detailed physical explanations have been provided for the observed behaviour.

Study of NOx emission characteristics in CH4/air non-premixed flames with exhaust gas recirculation

In this study, the characteristics of NOx emissions for CH4/air non-premixed flames using EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) methods were investigated using the AI-EGR (air-induced-EGR) and FI-EGR (fuel-induced-EGR) methods. For the fundamental experiment, coaxial non-premixed flames were verified using the non-premixed mode in a changeable EGR hybrid combustion system. For the numerical simulation, the 2-D commercial FLUENT program was used to verify the distributions of the flame temperature and mole fraction of the NO emissions. Additionally, the swirling non-premixed flames were tested to investigate a practical combustion system. Based on experimental results, the reduction rates of EINOX for the FI-EGR method and the AI-EGR were approximately 29% and 28% for an EGR ratio of 20% and 25%, respectively, which represented the maximum range needed to generate a stable flame. Based on numerical results, the FI-EGR method was determined to be more effective than the AI-EGR method in reducing NOx emission because the high temperature region and the OH distribution region of the FI-EGR method were narrower. According to the results from the swirling flames, the reduction rates of EINOX for the FI-EGR method and the AI-EGR were approximately 49% and 45% for an EGR ratio of 15% and 25%, respectively.

Large eddy simulation of flame structure and combustion mode in a hydrogen fueled supersonic combustor

In this study, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of supersonic turbulent mixing and combustion adopting a Partially Stirred Reactor (PaSR) sub-grid combustion model is performed for a hydrogen fueled model scramjet combustor. The compressible LES solver, which adopts a skeleton of 27 steps and 9 species hydrogen chemical kinetics model, is used to simulate the flowing and combustion processes based on structured hexahedral grids. The code is implemented in an Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) solver, and validated against experimental data in terms of mean axial velocity and static temperature at different cross-sections, all show good predictions. An analysis of the flow field is carried out to investigate the supersonic turbulent flame structure and combustion mode in the combustor. Mixture fraction is extracted to indicate the reaction progress at different sites, which donates the most likely flame locations when at stoichiometric. Comparison of combustion parameters including OH mass fraction, scalar dissipation rate, flame index and heat release rate spatial distribution reveals that the supersonic combustion has the characteristics of a turbulent diffusion flame, where combustion is held at non-premixed mode controlled by turbulent mixing in the shear layers. A time scale analysis, the Damköhler Number is performed to examine these reactive zones in more detail. The role of auto-ignition in flame stabilization and lift-off is revealed.

Toward ultra-low emission distributed combustion with fuel air dilution

Colorless distributed combustion (CDC) has been shown to offer enhanced combustor performance for stationary gas turbine application with near zero emissions, high combustion intensity and efficiency, thermal field uniformity, and enhanced stability. Mixture preparation to form hot and low oxygen concentration environment paves the path to achieve CDC conditions. In this paper, a new approach of air dilution in partially premixed combustion conditions is employed and the results compared to premixed and non-premixed injection of air and fuel. Portion of the fuel is introduced in the air stream and portion of the air is introduced in the fuel stream such that the local equivalence ratios for each stream is well outside the flammability limit to eliminate flashback and instabilities. The experimental data demonstrated ultra-low emissions with this injection scheme. At equivalence ratio of 0.6, NO emission was 63% lower than non-premixed combustion mode. Also NO emission was similar to the premixed combustion with the advantage of eliminating flashback and flame instabilities that often prevail in premixed combustion conditions. Dilution provided 50% CO reduction as compared to non-premixed combustion. Numerical simulations, validated through Particle Image Velocimetry, were performed to outline the mixing process in each of the three cases. The methane mixture fraction prior to ignition, determined numerically, was found to be one half of that for the non-premixed case and close to that of the premixed case. This enhanced mixture preparation, associated with the new air and fuel dilution technique, resulted in reduced emission. Also the jet momentum ratio (between both streams) is enhanced, mainly due to the air addition to the fuel stream, to result in better mixing and a better reaction distribution for ultra-low emissions. Further reduction of NOx is expected with improved distributed combustion condition.