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# Fuel Variation Effects in Propagation and Stabilization of Turbulent Counter-flow Premixed Flames

[+] Author and Article Information
Ehsan Abbasi-Atibeh

Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0C3, Canada
ehsan.abbasi@mail.mcgill.ca

Sandeep Jella

Siemens Canada Limited, Montreal, QC H9P 1A5, Canada; Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0C3, Canada
sandeep.jella@siemens.com

Jeffrey M. Bergthorson

Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0C3, Canada
jeff.bergthorson@mcgill.ca

1Corresponding author.

ASME doi:10.1115/1.4041136 History: Received July 11, 2018; Revised July 16, 2018

## Abstract

Sensitivity to stretch and differential diffusion of chemical species are known to influence premixed flame propagation, even in the turbulent environment where mass diffusion can be greatly enhanced. In this context, it is convenient to characterize flames by their Lewis number (Le), a ratio of thermal-to-mass diffusion. This paper describes a study of flame stabilization characteristics when the Le is varied. The test data is comprised of Le<<1 (hydrogen), Le≈1 (methane), and Le>1 (propane) flames stabilized at various turbulence levels. The experiments were carried out in a Hot exhaust Opposed-flow Turbulent Flame Rig (HOTFR), which consists of two axially-opposed, symmetric jets. The stagnation plane between the two jets allows the aerodynamic stabilization of a flame, and clearly identifies fuel influences on turbulent flames. Furthermore, high-speed Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), using oil droplet seeding, allowed simultaneous recordings of velocity and flame surface position. These experiments, along with data processing tools developed through this study, illustrated that in the mixtures with Le<<1, turbulent flame speed increases considerably compared to the laminar flame speed due to differential diffusion effects, where higher burning rates compensate for the steepening average velocity gradient, and keeps these flames almost stationary as bulk flow velocity increases. These experiments are suitable for validating the ability of turbulent combustion models to predict lifted, aerodynamically-stabilized flames. In the final part of this paper, we model the three fuels at two turbulence intensities using the FGM model in a RANS context.

Siemens AG

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