Stability of methane/oxygen coaxial diffusion flame

Jeffrey D. Moore, Grant A. Risha, Kenneth K. Kuo, Baoqi Zhang, Robert B. Wehrman, Mark D. D'Agostini

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

An investigation was performed to examine the effect of the gaseous flow rate conditions on the stability of a CH4/O2 diffusion flame burner. Turbulent diffusion flames are generally characterized by rapid fluctuations of highly irregular and very complex flame contours. Factors in the stability of practical industrial burners include the F/O mass ratio, Reynolds Numbers of the injected reactants, their initial temperatures, chamber pressure, and ramping rates at the start-up process. The influence of several of these parameters on stability was studied in a combustor with a single injector. The burner system consisted of a horizontally mounted, 2-D axisymmetric combustion chamber with a coaxial injector, capable of introducing reactants at a specified impingement angle, and an adjustable graphite nozzle at the burner exit for maintaining the chamber pressure at a desirable level. The burner was equipped with numerous types of diagnostic instruments including pressure transducers, an acoustic transducer, and two large viewing windows for real-time imaging. Flow visualization techniques included a pulsed coppervapor laser sheet, a Z-type Schlieren system, and a TiCl4 vapor supply system for laser light scattering at the flame front. Ignition of the CH4/O2 diffusion flame was achieved by a pilot flame using C2H6/O2 and an electric spark plug. Over 100 combustion tests having various O/F mass ratios and CH4 flow rates were conducted at an initial gaseous reactant temperature of 298 K. The diffusion flame contours and their oscillations were clearly observed and recorded. For each flow rate condition tested, the diffusion flame stability behavior, the detached flame standoff distance, and the instantaneous flame boundary was measured and compared. One stability map was constructed using the oxidizer-to-fuel momentum ratio versus oxidizer Reynolds number and the other using fuel Reynolds number versus O/F mass ratio. Stability boundaries between different regimes were identified.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit
StatePublished - 2003
Event39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit 2003 - Huntsville, AL, United States
Duration: Jul 20 2003Jul 23 2003

Publication series

Name39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

Other

Other39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit 2003
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityHuntsville, AL
Period7/20/037/23/03

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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