Stabilization and structure of n-heptane tribrachial flames in axisymmetric laminar jets
Type
ArticleKAUST Department
Chemical Engineering ProgramClean Combustion Research Center
Combustion and Laser Diagnostics Laboratory
Combustion and Pyrolysis Chemistry (CPC) Group
Mechanical Engineering Program
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Reactive Flow Modeling Laboratory (RFML)
Date
2015Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/566169
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A set of tribrachial flames of n-heptane/air is simulated with finite rate chemistry and detailed transport in a realistic laminar jet configuration for which experimental data are available. The flames differ by the temperature of the unburnt mixture and stabilization height, which controls the mixture fraction gradient ahead of the flame front. The simulations reproduce the lift-off heights in the experiments, showing that the flame stabilizes further downstream as the unburnt temperature decreases. For the lowest unburnt temperature, resulting in a weak mixture fraction gradient at the tribrachial point, positive stretch along the rich premixed wing leads to an increase in the rate of chemical reaction in the whole flame. The tribrachial flame burning velocity exceeds that in the unstretched, one-dimensional flame. For the highest temperature, the flame stabilizes closest to the nozzle. Large flame tilt, large mixture fraction gradient, and small radius of curvature lead to a reduction in the heat release rate and the flame propagates slower than its one-dimensional counterpart. The observed behavior is explained with a detailed analysis of the flame geometry, differential diffusion effects, flame stretch, and transport of heat and mass from the burnt gases to the flame front. © 2014 The Combustion Institute.Sponsors
The research reported in this publication was supported by Saudi Aramco and by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).Publisher
Elsevier BVae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.proci.2014.06.077