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The quenching of undesired flames by cold surfaces has been investigated for more than a century. The current quenching theory can predict simple configurations, this is not the case for real environments such as fuel management systems. Flames are sensitive to numerous parameters, such as fuel, mixture fraction, pressure, temperature, flow properties, acoustics, radiation, and surface interactions. The effects of some of these parameters are very well documented but there is a lack of information regarding the effects of acoustics and flow. This dissertation work will focus on improving the understanding of flow effect on the quenching of premixed gaseous flames. First, the effect of apparent velocity on flame quenching was investigated for different fuels and equivalence ratios. An experimental facility is designed such that the apparent flame velocity at which the flame enters and propagates through the channel can be varied without changing the initial mixture condition. High-speed (15,000 frames per second (FPS)) Schlieren and dynamic pressure measurement were used to measure the apparent flame velocity and to assess the flame quenching, respectively. This study showed that the high-speed laminar flames are harder to quench compared to self-propagating and turbulent flames. A similar trend was obtained for all the conditions investigated, lean and stoichiometric methane-air, lean propane-air, and lean ethylene-air mixtures. Further investigation was carried out to understand the quenching of high-speed laminar flames. The flame propagation through the channel was investigated using Hydroxyl (OH) planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF). This study showed that the OH intensity fell below the detection threshold in the later part of the channel when quenching is observed. Then, the influence of heat transfer was investigated using spatial and temporal evolution of the temperature in the quenching channel. A high-speed (10 kHz) filtered Rayleigh scattering (FRS) technique was used to measure the one-dimensional time-resolved temperature profile. Three different channel heights (H = 1.3, 1.5, 2.0 mm) were investigated. Based on the evolution of the temperature profile in the quenching channel, a new parameter was identified and the importance of its evolution on the flame quenching was discussed.

Prediction of flow and combustion in IC engines remains a challenging task. Traditional Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) methods and emerging Large Eddy Simulation (LES) techniques are being used as reliable mathematical tools for such predictions. However, RANS models have to be further refined to make them more predictive by eliminating or reducing the requirement for application based fine tuning. LES holds a great potential for more accurate predictions in engine related unsteady combustion and associated cycle-tocycle variations. Accordingly, in the present work, new advanced CFD based flow models were developed and validated for RANS and LES modelling of turbulent premixed combustion in SI engines. In the research undertaken for RANS modelling, theoretical and experimental based modifications have been investigated, such that the Bray-Moss-Libby (BML) model can be applied to wall-bounded combustion modelling, eliminating its inherent wall flame acceleration problem. Estimation of integral length scale of turbulence has been made dynamic providing allowances for spatial inhomogeneity of turbulence. A new dynamic formulation has been proposed to evaluate the mean flame wrinkling scale based on the Kolmogorov Pertovsky Piskunow (KPP) analysis and fractal geometry. In addition, a novel empirical correlation to quantify the quenching rates in the influenced zone of the quenching region near solid boundaries has been derived based on experimentally estimated flame image data. Moreover, to model the spark ignition and early stage of flame kernel formation, an improved version of the Discrete Particle Ignition Kernel (DPIK) model was developed, accounting for local bulk flow convection effects. These models were first verified against published benchmark test cases. Subsequently, full cycle combustion in a Ricardo E6 engine for different operating conditions was simulated. An experimental programme was conducted to obtain engine data and operating conditions of the Ricardo E6 engine and the formulated model was validated using the obtained experimental data. Results show that, the present improvements have been successful in eliminating the wall flame acceleration problem, while accurately predicting the in-cylinder pressure rise and flame propagation characteristics throughout the combustion period. In the LES work carried out in this research, the KIVA-4 RANS code was modified to incorporate the LES capability. Various turbulence models were implemented and validated in engine applications. The flame surface density approach was implemented to model the combustion process. A new ignition and flame kernel formation model was also developed to simulate the early stage of flame propagation in the context of LES. A dynamic procedure was formulated, where all model coefficients were locally evaluated using the resolved and test filtered flow properties during the fully turbulent phase of combustion. A test filtering technique was adopted to use in wall bounded systems. The developed methodology was then applied to simulate the combustion and associated unsteady effects in Ricardo E6 spark ignition engine at different operating conditions. Results show that, present LES model has been able to resolve the evolution of a large number of in-cylinder flow structures, which are more influential for engine performance. Predicted heat release rates, flame propagation characteristics, in-cylinder pressure rise and their cyclic variations are also in good agreement with measurements.

Increased knowledge into the physics and chemistrycontrolling emissions from flame-surface interactions shouldhelp in the design of combustion engines featuring improvedfuel economy and reduced emissions. The overall aim of this work has been to obtain afundamental understanding of wall-related, premixed combustionusing numerical modeling with detailed chemical kinetics. Thiswork has utilized CHEMKIN®, one of the leading softwarepackages for modeling combustion kinetics. The simple fuels hydrogen and methane as well as the morecomplex fuels propane and gasified biomass have been used inthe model. The main emphasis has been on lean combustion, andthe principal flow field studied is a laminar boundary layerflow in two-dimensional channels. The assumption has been madethat the wall effects may at least in principle be the same forlaminar and turbulent flames. Different flame geometries have been investigated, includingfor example autoignition flames (Papers I and II) and premixedflame fronts propagating toward a wall (Papers III and IV).Analysis of the results has shown that the wall effects arisingdue to the surface chemistry are strongly affected by changesin flame geometry. When a wall material promoting catalyticcombustion (Pt) is used, the homogeneous reactions in theboundary layer are inhibited (Papers I, II and IV). This isexplained by a process whereby water produced by catalyticcombustion increases the rate of the third-body recombinationreaction: H+O2+M ⇔ HO2+M. In addition, the water produced at higherpressures increases the rate of the 2CH3(+M) ⇔ C2H6(+M) reaction, giving rise to increased unburnedhydrocarbon emissions (Paper IV). The thermal coupling between the flame and the wall (theheat transfer and development of the boundary layers) issignificant in lean combustion. This leads to a sloweroxidation rate of the fuel than of the intermediatehydrocarbons (Paper III). Finally in Paper V, a well-known problem in the combustionof gasified biomass has been addressed, being the formation offuel-NOx due to the presence of NH3 in the biogas. A hybridcatalytic gas-turbine combustor has been designed, which cansignificantly reduce fuel-NOx formation. Keywords:wall effects, premixed flames, flamequenching, numerical modeling, CHEMKIN, boundarylayerapproximation, gasified biomass, fuel-NOx, hybrid catalytic combustor. / QC 20100504