The effect of gravity on a laminar diffusion flame established over a horizontal flat plate
- Univ. de Poitiers, Futuroscope (France). Lab. de Chimie Physique de la Combustion
An experimental study is conducted on a laminar diffusion flame established over a horizontal flat porous burner. The objective of this study is to provide further understanding on the transport mechanisms controlling a diffusion flame, with particular interest on the role of buoyancy. Fuel is injected through the burner and the oxidizer is provided by a forced flow parallel to the surface. The fuel used is ethane and the oxidizer used is air. Experiments are conducted in normal and microgravity conditions, and information about the flame is obtained from video records, temperature measurements, and gas analyzing of the global combustion products. The parameters varied are the air-forced flow velocity and the fuel injection velocity. In normal gravity, the flame can be divided in two well-determined regions: a boundary layer region (where inertia dominates) and a plume region (where buoyancy dominates). In the boundary layer region, air entrainment, induced by the plume, adds to the forced flow, resulting in flames closer to the burner and premature extinction. When gravity is eliminated, the plume region disappears; therefore, the overall air flow velocity is reduced to that of the forced flow, and thus, the standoff distance increases and higher airforced flow velocities are necessary for extinction to occur. The flame is found to establish, both in normal and microgravity, in a line where fuel and oxidizer rates of delivery are in stoichiometric proportions. Experimental results and a scaling analysis of the region close to the flame show that in microgravity, assumptions typical to boundary layer flow, such as stationary regime or neglectable mass transport in the direction perpendicular to the forced flow plane are no longer valid. The good agreement between theory and experiments confirms the important role of gravity in the determination of the characteristics of a diffusion flame.
- OSTI ID:
- 93325
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940711--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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