The focus of this work was to develop a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of flame stabilization and extinction for shear layer stabilized, premixed flames. Planar experimental studies were performed in the attachment point region of an inner shear layer stabilized flame in an annular, swirl combustor. Through high resolution, simultaneous PIV & CH-PLIF measurements, the instantaneous flow field and flame position was captured enabling the characterization of 2D flame stretch and velocity conditions in the attachment point region. In addition, measurements performed at various equivalence ratios and premixer velocities provided insight into the physics governing blowoff. Most notably, these studies showed that as lean blowoff conditions are approached by decreasing equivalence ratio, the mean stretch rates near the attachment point decrease but remain positive throughout the measurement domain. In fact, compared to numerically calculated extinction stretch rates, the flame becomes less critically stretched as equivalence ratio is decreased. Also, investigation of the flame structure at the leading edge of the flame showed strong evidence that the flame is edge flame stabilized. This was supported by inspection of the CH-PLIF images, which showed the CH-layer oriented tangent to the flow field and terminating abruptly at the leading edge. Lastly, the flame anchoring location was observed to be highly robust as the mean flame edge flow conditions and mean location of leading edge of the flame were insensitive to changes in equivalence ratio, remaining nearly constant for values ranging from 0.9 to 1.1. However, at the leanest equivalence ratio of 0.8, the flame leading edge was located farther downstream and subject to much higher flow velocities. These results thus suggest that blowoff is the result of a kinematic balance and not directly from stretch induced flame extinction.

Practical gas turbine engine combustors create extremely non-uniform flowfields, which are highly stratified making it imperative that similar environments are well understood. Laser diagnostics were utilized in a variety of stratified environments, which led to temperature or chemical composition gradients, to better understand autoignition, extinction, and flame stability behavior. This work ranged from laminar and steady flames to turbulent flame studies in which time resolved measurements were used. Edge flames, formed in the presence of species stratification, were studied by first developing a simple measurement technique which is capable of estimating an important quantity for edge flames, the advective heat flux, using only velocity measurements. Both hydroxyl planar laser induced fluorescence (OH PLIF) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) were used along with numerical simulations in the development of this technique. Interacting triple flames were also created in a laboratory scale burner producing a laminar and steady flowfield with symmetric equivalence ratio gradients. Studies were conducted in order to characterize and model the propagation speed as a function of the flame base curvature and separation distance between the neighboring flames. OH PLIF, PIV and Rayleigh scattering measurements were used in order to characterize the propagation speed. A model was developed which is capable of accurately representing the propagation speed for three different fuels. Negative edge flames were first studied by developing a one-dimensional model capable of reproducing the energy equation along the stoichiometric line, which was dependent on different boundary conditions. Unsteady and laminar negative edge flames were also simulated with periodic boundary conditions in order to assess the difference between the steady and unsteady cases. The diffusive heat loss was unbalanced with the chemical heat release and advective heat flux energy gain terms which led to the flame proceeding and receding. The temporal derivative balanced the energy equation, but also aided in the understanding of negative edge flame speeds. Turbulent negative edge flame velocities were measured for extinguishing flames in a separate experiment as a function of the bulk advective heat flux through the edge and turbulence level. A burner was designed and built for this study which created statistically stationary negative edge flames. The edge velocity was dependent on both the bulk advective heat flux and turbulence levels. The negative edge flame velocities were obtained with high speed stereo-view chemiluminescence and two dimensional PIV measurements. Autoignition stabilization was studied in the presence of both temperature and species stratification, using a simple laminar flowfield. OH and CH2O PLIF measurements showed autoignition characteristics ahead of the flame base. Numerical chemical and flow simulations also revealed lower temperature chemistry characteristics ahead of the flame base leading to the conclusion of lower temperature chemistry dominating the stabilization behavior. An energy budget analysis was conducted which described the stabilization behavior.

Στην παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία παρουσιάζονται και συζητούνται τα χαρακτηριστικά τυρβωδών φλογών μερικής προανάμιξης. Οι φλόγες που εξετάζονται προέρχονται από ένα επίπεδο καυστήρα-σταθεροποιητή ορθογωνικής διατομής, δύο επάλληλων κοιλοτήτων, που σχηματίζονται κατά μήκος τριών παραλλήλων επιπέδων. Οι φλόγες σταθεροποιούνται στην ανακυκλοφορία των καπναερίων που δημιουργείτε κατάντη του φλογοσταθεροποιητή. Στόχος της έρευνας ήταν να διερευνηθεί η συγκεκριμένη διάταξη ως προς το θερμοκρασιακό της πεδίο και την σταθεροποίηση της συγκεκριμένης φλόγας που προκαλεί η καύση της βαθμιαίας διαστρωμάτωσης προπανίου- αέρα. Για να επιτευχθεί ο στόχος αυτός πραγματοποιήθηκαν διαφορετικά είδη μετρήσεων σε διαφορετικές παροχές καυσίμου και καταγράφηκαν τα αποτελέσματα, τα οποία στη συνέχεια συγκρίθηκαν και με διερευνήσεις που πήραμε από ειδικευμένο υπολογιστικό πρόγραμμα υπό τις ίδιες οριακές συνθήκες. Τέλος, μετά τη σύγκριση των αποτελεσμάτων μεταξύ πειράματος και προσομοίωσης έγινε προσπάθεια να εξηγηθούν οι διαφορές που παρατηρήθηκαν και τα χαρακτηριστικά δομικά στοιχεία που συντέλεσαν στην περιγραφή της λειτουργικής συμπεριφοράς των χρησιμοποιηθέντων στρωματοποιημένων φλογών ώστε να δοθούν ιδέες για την περαιτέρω εξέλιξη της έρευνας. / In this study the characteristics of partially premixed turbulent flames are presented and discussed. The investigated flames come from a planar stabilization burner of two superimposed cavities formed along three parallel planes. The flames are stabilized within the downstream vortex region of the afterbody. The aim of this study was to investigate the specific experimental arrangement as for the temperature field and the stabilization of these stratified propane- air flames. To achieve this goal different types of measurements have been made at different fuel supplies and the results have been recorded and compared with computational investigations which have been carried out using a specialized commercial simulation package under the same boundary conditions. Finally, after comparing the experimental and computational results effort has been made to explain the differences observed and the characteristic structural elements that contributed to the description of the functional behavior of stratified flames in order to provide ideas for further investigation.

Low swirl burners (LSBs) have gained popularity in heating and gas power generation industries, in part due to their proven capacity for reducing the production of NOx, which in addition to reacting to form smog and acid rain, plays a central role in the formation of the tropospheric ozone layer. With lean operating conditions, LSBs are susceptible to combustion instability, which can result in flame extinction or equipment failure. Extensive work has been performed to understand the nature of LSB combustion, but scaling trends between laboratory- and industrial-sized burners have not been established. Using hydrogen addition as the primary method of flame stabilization, the current work presents results for a 2.54 cm LSB to investigate potential effects of burner outlet diameter on the nature of flame stability, with focus on flashback and lean blowout conditions. In the lean regime, the onset of instability and flame extinction have been shown to occur at similar equivalence ratios for both the 2.54 cm and a 3.81 cm LSB and depend on the resolution of equivalence ratios incremented. Investigations into flame structures are also performed. Discussion begins with a derivation for properties in a multicomponent gas mixture used to determine the Reynolds number (Re) to develop a condition for turbulent intensity similarity in differently-sized LSBs. Based on this requirement, operating conditions are chosen such that the global Reynolds number for the 2.54 cm LSB is within 2% of the Re for the 3.81 cm burner. With similarity obtained, flame structure investigations focus on flame front curvature and flame surface density (FSD). As flame structure results of the current 2.54 cm LSB work are compared to results for the 3.81 cm LSB, no apparent relationship is shown to exist between burner diameter and the distribution of flame surface density. However, burner diameter is shown to have a definite effect on the flame front curvature. In corresponding flow conditions, a decrease in burner diameter results a broader distribution of curvature and an increased average curvature, signifying that compared to the larger 3.81 cm LSB, the flame front of the smaller burner contains tighter, smaller scale wrinkling.

A bluff-body has been employed as the flame stabilization scheme for many combustion devices such as gas turbines and aviation engines. Although the bluff-body flame holder has a key advantage of generating a hot gas recirculation zone behind it and assist in stable combustion, it also induces flow field and combustion instabilities such as unstable vortex shedding, which can adversely affect the flame stability and lead to blow-off. The understanding of the physical mechanism of flame stabilization and blow-off processes has been one of the critical subjects in premixed combustion systems under highly turbulent conditions. As considering this, the present dissertation presents insight of flame stabilization and blow-off mechanisms using several series of computational studies and detailed analysis using diagnostic approaches. Two-dimensional direct numerical simulations are conducted to examine flame/flow and blow-off dynamics in lean premixed hydrogen-air and syngas-air flames stabilized on a meso-scale bluff-body in a square channel. Several distinct effects on flame stabilization and blow-off dynamics are investigated, such as reduced confinement, hydrodynamic instability, flame time scale, and differential diffusion effects. For the analysis, a proper time scale analysis is attempted to characterize the flame blow-off mechanism, which turns out to be consistent with the classic blow-off theory of Zukoski and Marble. The combined approach of computational singular perturbation and tangential stretch rate is applied to examine chemical characteristics in blow-off dynamics. As an extension from Eulerian to Lagrangian viewpoint, Lagrangian particle tracking analysis of post-processing the pre-computed results is performed to examine the local characteristics during the critical transient event of local extinction and recovery.

No description available.

Nonthermal plasma-assisted combustion (PAC) has been demonstrated to be a promising potential method to enhance combustion performance and reduce the pollutant emissions. To better understand the mechanism in PAC, we have conducted a series of studies on the combustion enhancement by plasma using a home-developed PAC platform which employs a nonthermal microwave argon plasma and a suit of optical diagnostic tools including optical imaging, optical emission spectroscopy, and cavity ringdown spectroscopy. A new PAC system in which a continuous atmospheric argon microwave plasma jet is employed to enhance combustion of methane/air mixtures was reported. Reactive species in PAC were characterized in a state-resolved manner including the simultaneously measurements of OH(A) and OH(X) radicals in the PAC flames. Roles of the state-resolved OH(A) and OH(X) radicals in microwave PAC of premixed methane/air mixture were explored. It was concluded that if both OH(A) and OH(X) radicals assisted the ignition and flame stabilization processes, then we may hypothesize that the role of OH(A) was more dominant in the ignition enhancement but the role of OH(X) was more dominant in the flame stabilization. The effect of fuel injection configurations was investigated in the comparative study between PAC of the premixed and nonpremixed methane/air mixtures. It was found that emissions from the CH (A-X) and C2 Swan systems only exist in the nonpremixed PAC which suggest that the reaction pathways are different between premixed and nonpremixed PAC. The PAC of premixed methane/oxygen/argon mixtures was investigated. A U-shaped dual-layer curve of fuel ignition/flame stabilization limit showing the effects of the plasma power on the fuel ignition and flame stabilization was observed and reported. A parametric study of the microwave PAC of the premixed ethylene/air mixtures was conducted. Behavior of the OH, CH, and C2 radicals and their dependence on plasma power, argon flow rate, and total ethylene/air mixture flow rate were also studied.

Experimental measurements of the lift-off velocity and lift-off height, and numerical simulations were conducted on the liftoff and stabilization phenomena of laminar jet diffusion flames of inert-diluted C3H8 and CH4 fuels. Both non-reacting and reacting jets were investigated, including effects of multi-component diffusivities and heat release (buoyancy and gas expansion). The role of Schmidt number for non-reacting jets was investigated, with no conclusive Schmidt number criterion for liftoff previously known in similarity solutions. The cold-flow simulation for He-diluted CH4 fuel does not predict flame liftoff; however, adding heat release reaction leads to the prediction of liftoff, which is consistent with experimental observations. Including reaction was also found to improve liftoff height prediction for C3H8 flames, with the flame base location differing from that in the similarity solution - the intersection of the stoichiometric and iso-velocity contours is not necessary for flame stabilization (and thus lift-off). Possible mechanisms other than that proposed for similarity solution may better help to explain the stabilization and liftoff phenomena. The stretch rate at a wide range of isotherms near the base of the lifted tribrachial flame were also quantitatively plotted and analyzed.

Since being discovered, combustion of fuels, especially fossil fuels in the last centuries, has been the dominant source of energy for human life. However, over the years, the adverse effects and shortcomings caused by the vast utilization of these energy sources have been observed; the three most important of which are unreliable resources, unfavorable natural outcomes, and limited performance. Using biofuels is one of the well-established proposed solutions to the scarcity and environmental issues of fossils as they are sustainable sources of energy with acceptable and even superior combustion characteristics. As a second-generation biofuel, anisole has shown promising results with high flame speed and high knock resistance. Therefore, the first chapter of this thesis is focused on experimental investigation of anisole laminar burning speed and stability properties so that it can be used as a benchmark for future kinetic mechanism validations. Stability is another important parameter in combustion systems, especially in diffusion jet flame combustion as used in many applications like thrusters or burners. Different methods are applied to improve the stability of such diffusion flames in propulsion systems, e.g., changing geometrical or flow characteristics of the burner. Most of these efforts have not been practically successful, due to the cost and compatibility issues. Another technique which minimizes such problems is to use electron impact excitation, dissociation and ionization and generate highly concentrated charged/excited species and active radicals. These methods include microwave, dielectric barrier, and repetitive nanosecond pulsed (RNP) discharge and the latter has shown promising results as one of the most effective low-temperature plasma (LTP) methods. In chapters 3 to 5, the benefits and issues associated with using RNP discharge in a single-element concentric methane-air inverse diffusion jet flame are discussed. It has been shown that RNP discharge with adequate discharge properties (voltage and repetition) can increase the stability of the flame and expand the flammability of the jet toward leaner compositions. However, the effectiveness is significant in a certain voltage-frequency ranges which results a non-thermal spark discharge mode. Hence, different modes of discharge were investigated and a parametric study on the transition between these modes were done.

The injection of varying fuel-air mixtures into a vitiated, high-speed crossflow is investigated at five atmosphere chamber pressure in this work. The experimental facility has two combustion stages: a headend stage to create the vitiated crossflow and an axial stage injected into an optically accessible test section. The crossflow entered the test section at a velocity of 76 m/s and a temperature of 1750 K. The axial jet mixtures were first investigated at lean equivalence ratio conditions with hydrogen fuel mole fractions up to 100% to study hydrogen enrichment at lower reactivity. Separately, axial hydrogen fuel content was increased at a constant flame temperature of about 1770K to better understand the jet behavior at temperature conditions relevant to power generation industry combustors. The jet velocity for these cases is maintained at 120 m/s to investigate an increased momentum flux ratio. High-speed chemiluminescence was utilized to examine the flame behavior of the reacting jets. Additionally, emissions measurements were taken to quantify the increase in NOx emissions that is expected to occur with larger hydrogen fuel contents. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) imaging was taken for select points to obtain information on the flow field dynamics. For the methane air jets, increasing premixing led to reduced flame stability within the test section viewing window at the equivalence ratios tested Increasing jet hydrogen fraction leads to greater stabilization of the leeward jet flame near the axial injector location the tested equivalence ratios, and the stabilization of a windward flame not present in the methane jets at these velocities. Higher levels of NOx emissions were found to occur with increased equivalence ratio and reduced premixing, which are tied to reduced flame liftoff height, and when a scaling factor is applied higher jet hydrogen levels also led to increased emissions.