Abstract
Stratified propane air flames stabilized in the near wake region of a premixer/disk arrangement were investigated for a variety of inlet mixture compositions and preheating temperatures. The employed burner is capable of anchoring flames at very lean mixtures, expanding the lean flammability limits and promoting flame stabilization, at global equivalence ratio values of \(\Phi =0.13\) at 743 K. Particle Image Velocimetry and \({\text{OH}}^{*}\) Chemiluminescence Image analysis were performed to investigate flame stabilization characteristics at four inlet preheat levels ranging from 300 to 743 K, for fuel-lean reactant concentrations. Inlet mixture reactivity, 2D aerodynamic stretch rates, Damköhler (\(Da\)) and Karlovitz (\(Ka\)) numbers and flame brush thicknesses were estimated and analyzed to elucidate the effects of turbulence, inlet preheat and mixture composition on the flame topology and anchoring characteristics. Results show that the simultaneous stratification and preheat of the inlet mixture has a notable effect on the turbulent flame stabilization, with \(Ka\) numbers up to 60, for the highly preheated, ultra-lean flames, suggesting that the flames are chemically controlled with turbulence playing a less significant role. Moreover, the 2D aerodynamic stretch rates, evaluated along the mean flame front path, revealed that flame quenching requires both a certain level of mean stretch and a sufficiently large probability of these values to be exerted on the flame. Considering the stretch rate distributions and the respective \(Da\) numbers along the flame sheet it could be conjectured that laminar extinction stretch rates can be used as reference, for turbulent flames, only when the local \(Da\) number exceeds unity.
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Souflas, K., Koutmos, P. Effects of Stratification and Preheat on Turbulent Flame Characteristics and Stabilization. Flow Turbulence Combust 108, 237–262 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10494-021-00267-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10494-021-00267-w