Flame ignition in the counterflow configuration: Reassessing the experimental assumptions

Ansari, Abtin; Egolfopoulos, Fokion N.

doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2016.09.021

Title: Flame ignition in the counterflow configuration: Reassessing the experimental assumptions

Journal Article · Thu Sep 29 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Combustion and Flame

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2016.09.021· OSTI ID:1397180

^[1]; Egolfopoulos, Fokion N. ^[1]

Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

The counterflow configuration is widely used to study experimentally premixed and non-premixed flame ignition, with the advantage being that the data can be modeled using quasi one-dimensional codes. In this study, experiments and direct numerical simulations were carried out in order to assess the validity of the assumptions of the one-dimensional formulation. Experimentally, particle image velocimetry, shadowgraph, and a high-speed camera were employed to characterize the flow field before ignition, and to capture the ignition position and further evolution of the flame. The modeling involved axisymmetric numerical simulations using detailed molecular transport and chemical kinetic models. We report both experiments and simulations revealed that if solid surfaces are present in the vicinity of the jets exit, the flow separates generating recirculation zones that are unstable and result in the bifurcation of the flow field. As a result, for a given set of boundary conditions at the burners’ exits, there exists two possible stable states of the flow field which have different velocity and scalars distribution, and the fuel concentration at which ignition occurs was determined to differ for these two states. A novel approach is proposed to correct for the unavoidable radial non-uniformity of the temperature profile at the exit of the heated jet and the conditions that do not result in bifurcation are outlined, so that the results from one-dimensional codes can be compared to the data with confidence.

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Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Combustion Energy Frontier Research Center (CEFRC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001198; TG-CTS140012

OSTI ID:: 1397180

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1358978

Journal Information:: Combustion and Flame, Vol. 174, Issue C; Related Information: CEFRC partners with Princeton University (lead); Argonne National Laboratory; University of Connecticut; Cornell University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of Minnesota; Sandia National Laboratories; University of Southern California; Stanford University; University of Wisconsin, Madison; ISSN 0010-2180

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 8 works

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Title: Flame ignition in the counterflow configuration: Reassessing the experimental assumptions

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