Control of flames by tangential jet actuators in oxy-fuel burners

The active control of oxy-fuel flames from burners with separated jets is investigated. The control system consists of four small jet actuators, placed tangential to the exit of the main jets to generate a swirling flow. These actuators are able to modify the flow structure and to act on mixing between the reactants and consequently on the flame behavior. The burner (25 kW) is composed of separated jets, one jet of natural gas and one or two jets of pure oxygen. Experiments are conducted with three burner configurations, according to the number of jets, the jet exit velocities, and the separation distance between the jets. OH chemiluminescence measurements, particle image velocimetry, and measurements of NO_x emissions are used to characterize the flow and the flame structure. Results show that the small jet actuators have a significant influence on the behavior of jets and the flame characteristics, particularly in the stabilization zone. It is shown that the control leads to a decrease in lift-off heights and to better stability of the flame. The use of jet actuators induces high jet spreading and an increase in turbulence intensity, which improves the mixing between the reactants and the surrounding fluid. Pollutant measurements show important results in terms of NO_x reductions (up to 60%), in particular for low swirl intensity. The burner parameters, such as the number of jets and the spacing between the jets, also impact the flame behavior and NO_x formation.     

Stability of lifted flames in centerbody burner

The centerbody burner was designed with the objective of understanding the coupled processes of formation, growth, and burn-off of soot through decoupling them using recirculation zones (RZs). Experimentally it was found that the sooting characteristics of the centerbody burner could be altered dramatically via simple changes in the operating conditions. One of the interesting operating regimes in which a flame lifts off and forms a column of soot was identified when oxygen in the annulus air jet was reduced sufficiently. This paper describes the numerical studies performed to aid the understanding of lifted flames in the centerbody burner. A time-dependent, axisymmetric, detailed-chemistry CFD model is used. Combustion and PAH formation are modeled using the Wang–Frenklach (99 species and 1066 reactions) mechanism, and soot is simulated using a two-equation model of Lindstedt. Calculations have predicted the structure of the lifted flame very well. Two RZs [outer (ORZ) and inner (IRZ)] are formed between the fuel and air jets. A diffusion flame that is lifted-off the centerbody plate anchors steadily to the outer periphery of the ORZ. A near-perfect match between the computed and measured flame lift-off heights is achieved. RZs transport soot that is formed in the flame toward the face of the centerbody and create the soot column. Ethylene and its lighter fuel fragments that are formed in the RZs diffuse toward the annulus air jet and establish a mixing layer with the inwardly diffusing oxygen. Heat diffusing away from the RZs initiates autoignition reactions in the mixing layer. A flame with a triple-flame-base structure becomes established at a location where the ignition-delay time matches the residence time. Soot that is transported into the RZs is found to have a significant effect on the flame lift-off height. Numerical experiments are performed to aid the understanding of the relationship between soot and flame lift-off. Radiation from the soot decreases the temperature, slows the autoignition process, and increases the lift-off height. Soot oxidation consumes O and OH radicals, slows the autoignition reactions, and increases the lift-off height.     

Ignition kernel formation and lift-off behaviour of jet-in-hot-coflow flames

The stabilisation region of turbulent non-premixed flames of natural gas mixtures burning in a hot and diluted coflow is studied by recording the flame luminescence with an intensified high-speed camera. The flame base is found to behave fundamentally differently from that of a conventional lifted jet flame in a cold air coflow. Whereas the latter flame has a sharp interface that moves up and down, ignition kernels are continuously being formed in the jet-in-hot-coflow flames, growing in size while being convected downstream. To study the lift-off height effectively given these highly variable flame structures, a new definition of lift-off height is introduced. An important parameter determining lift-off height is the mean ignition frequency density in the flame stabilisation region. An increase in coflow temperature and the addition of small quantities of higher alkanes both increase ignition frequencies, and decrease the distance between the jet exit and the location where the first ignition kernels appear. Both mechanisms lower the lift-off height. An increase in jet Reynolds number initially leads to a significant decrease of the location where ignition first occurs. Higher jet Reynolds numbers (above 5000) do not strongly alter the location of first ignition but hamper the growth of flame pockets and reduce ignition frequencies in flames with lower coflow temperatures, leading to larger lift-off heights.     

Experimental study of the fuel jet combustion in high temperature and low oxygen content exhaust gases

The performance of high temperature air combustion (HiTAC) depends on the heat regenerator efficiency and on the way fuel is mixed with furnace gases. In this work, combustion of a single fuel jet of gasol (>95% of propane) was investigated experimentally. Experiments were carried out in steady-state conditions using a single jet flame furnace. The jet of fuel was co-axially injected into high temperature exhaust gases generated by means of a gas burner also fired with gasol. Thus, instead of highly preheated and oxygen depleted air, which was normally used by other researches for such studies, this work has used high temperature and low oxygen content exhaust gases as the oxidiser. A water-cooled fuel nozzle was used to control fuel inlet temperature. Influence of the oxygen content in the oxidiser, at temperatures of 860–890 °C, on the flame visibility and the reactants composition was investigated. The combustion of gasol in hot flue gases appeared to be very stable and complete even at very low oxygen concentration. The oxygen concentration in the oxidiser was found to have a substantial effect on flame size, luminosity, colour, visibility and lift-off distance. Reduced oxygen concentration increases the flame size and lift-off distance, and decreases luminosity and visibility. The HiTAC flame first became bluish and then non-visible at sufficiently low concentration of oxygen in the oxidiser. In this work, results are presented for the constant ratio between fuel jet velocity and velocity of co-flowing flue gases. This ratio was equal to 26.     

小喷嘴间距撞击流的径向射流速度分布

采用热线风速仪对小喷嘴间距撞击流产生的径向射流的速度分布进行了实验研究.研究结果表明,径向射流在各个r.2D的径向断面上的速度分布具有相似性,呈高斯分布.在撞击面上无因次径向射流速度随着无因次径向距离的增大先增大后减小,而与喷嘴直径(D)、喷嘴间距(L)和出口气速无关.无因次径向速度在达到最大值前,与无因次径向距离成正比,在达到最大值后,无因次径向速度与无因次径向距离的1.33次方成反比.在撞击面上径向射流速度的最大值与出口气速成正比,与无因次喷嘴间距的0.551次方成反比.当L/D1时,无因次最大径向速度的位置随无因次喷嘴间距的增加而增加,当L/D1时,无因次最大径向速度的位置保持不变.     

Flame brush characteristics and burning velocities of premixed turbulent methane/air Bunsen flames

The flame brush characteristics and turbulent burning velocities of premixed turbulent methane/air flames stabilized on a Bunsen-type burner were studied. Particle image velocimetry and Rayleigh scattering techniques were used to measure the instantaneous velocity and temperature fields, respectively. Experiments were performed at various equivalence ratios and bulk flow velocities from 0.7 to 1.0, and 7.7 to 17.0 m/s, respectively. The total turbulence intensity and turbulent integral length scale were controlled by the perforated plate mounted at different positions upstream of the burner exit. The normalized characteristic flame height and centerline flame brush thickness decreased with increasing equivalence ratio, total turbulence intensity, and longitudinal integral length scale, whereas they increased with increasing bulk flow velocity. The normalized horizontal flame brush thickness increased with increasing axial distance from the burner exit and increasing equivalence ratio. The non-dimensional leading edge and half-burning surface turbulent burning velocities increased with increasing non-dimensional turbulence intensity, and they decreased with increasing non-dimensional bulk flow velocity when other turbulence statistics were kept constant. Results show that the non-dimensional leading edge and half-burning surface turbulent burning velocities increased with increasing non-dimensional longitudinal integral length scale. Two correlations to represent the leading edge and half-burning surface turbulent burning velocities were presented as a function of the equivalence ratio, non-dimensional turbulence intensity, non-dimensional bulk flow velocity, and non-dimensional longitudinal integral length scale. Results show that the half-burning surface turbulent burning velocity normalized by the bulk flow velocity decreased as the normalized characteristic flame height increased.     

旋流对天然气高温空气燃烧特性影响的数值模拟

以工业炉的高温空气燃烧技术应用为背景,对一个新型轴向旋流式单烧嘴燃烧室内天然气的高温空气燃烧特性进行了数值研究。采用数值模拟的方法研究了同心式轴向旋流燃烧器（HCASbumer）中螺旋肋片的旋转角度对燃烧特性的影响,其中湍流采用Reynolds应力模型,气相燃烧模拟采用β函数形式的PDF燃烧模型,采用离散坐标法模拟辐射换热过程,NOx模型为热力型与快速型。计算结果表明,对预热空气采用旋转射流时,能明显降低NOx生成量。对于HCAS型燃烧器,随着空气射流旋转角度的增大,燃烧室内的回流区域增大增强,降低了局部的氧体积分数分布,燃烧室中平均温度和最高温度都有所增加,且燃烬程度大幅度提高,而局部高温区缩小,只在靠近入口处出现。总的NOx排放量随着空气射流旋转角度的增大先减小,后增大。因此,适当调整肋片的旋转角度可以降低NOx生成量。     

An investigation on parallel, divergent and convergent acetylene dual jet diffusion flames

Results are presented and discussed of an experimental investigation on acetylene turbulent dual jet diffusion flames. The study includes parameters of flames in parallel, divergent and convergent configurations. Tests with two parallel jets with addition of helium in the fuel stream were also performed and analysed. The variation of overall flame length and of other flame physical characteristics, such as width, volume and conditions for lifting, are presented as functions of burner tip Reynolds number, jet distance from each other and inclination angle. The effects of diluent concentration in the fuel gas stream are presented for single and two parallel jets.     

多股射流瓦斯燃烧器湍流扩散火焰尺度的实验研究

用火焰图像分析方法，对一种多股射流燃烧器燃烧富含氢气的瓦斯产生的湍流扩散火焰的尺度进行了实验研究，研究了燃烧器结构参数和操作参数对火焰长度和长宽比等尺度特性的影响规律。结果表明，火焰长度随燃烧器喷孔总面积的增大和燃气流量的增大而增大，随助燃空气过剩系数的增大而减小；火焰长度和长宽比随上层喷孔位置角的增大而减小。同时发现，瓦斯中氢气含量对火焰尺度影响较大，随着氢气含量增大，火焰长度和长宽比都明显减小。     

Acoustic enhancement of combustion in lifted nonpremixed jet flames

Lifted nonpremixed jet flames are often used in industrial processes and present inherent difficulties such as their reattachment to the burner, blowout, and poor combustion. One solution is to control the jet by acoustic forcing. For flames lifted in the hysteresis zone where anchoring may occur, forcing at high amplitudes and middle frequencies (around 200 Hz) changes the combustion regime and prevents reattachement. The common long yellow plume, due to soot radiation, vanishes. The flame becomes shorter, totally blue and stabilizes at a higher position above the burner. The phenomenon is explained using the results obtained by analyzing the flow dynamics with high-speed laser tomography, laser Doppler anemometry, particle image velocimetry, and Mie scattering techniques. Measurements show that the excitation periodically generates axial velocities higher than the maximum velocity of the hysteresis zone, leading to flame liftoff. Some primary and streamwise eddy vortices similar to natural instabilities develop during the jet deceleration. Contrary to the unexcited case, these structures, disorganized by the superimposition of the forcing wave, lead to quasi-homogeneous turbulence which provides efficient mixing and improves the combustion regime. Finally, the frequency is sufficiently high to avoid excessive fluctuations of the lift-off height and the reattachment to the burner.     

Role of entrainment in the stabilisation of jet-in-hot-coflow flames

The aim of the research on the Delft jet-in-hot coflow (DJHC) burner is to gain understanding in the interplay of turbulence and chemistry in conditions as encountered in devices operating in flameless combustion mode, and to test the validity of numerical models when applied to these flameless combustion conditions. Datasets on velocities, temperatures and qualitative OH data of several Dutch natural gas flames in the DJHC burner have been obtained and are discussed in this paper. It was found that the mean velocity and turbulent stresses are not significantly affected by the chemical reactions, which is in line with the very moderate increase of mean temperatures in the flames. Even at heights where flame structures are present, peak temperatures do not always approach the adiabatic flame temperature. With both flame luminescence and OH-PLIF measurements, it is seen that chemical reactions begin to occur at a lower location when the jet velocity (and thereby the jet Reynolds number) is increased. By analysing the velocity and temperature data in the near-nozzle region, the entrainment of coflow fluid into the turbulent jet has been quantified. The increased entrainment of the higher Reynolds number jet, in combination with the positive temperature gradient in radial direction in the near field of the jet, is shown to be responsible for the decrease of the height where reactions start to occur.     

可控活化热氛围下柴油喷雾自燃特性的研究

利用可控活化热氛围燃烧试验系统，结合连续喷射系统对柴油燃料在高温热氛围下的自燃特性进行了研究，并利用高速摄影技术，得出柴油燃料喷雾在不同协流温度下的滞燃期、自燃点位置以及稳定火焰起升高度。结果表明，随协流温度的升高，柴油喷雾滞燃期减小，自燃点位置至喷嘴口距离减小。协流温度低于1022K时，不能形成稳定的起升火焰；协流温度处于1022～1074K范围内，火焰起升高度随温度升高急剧降低，而起升高度的均方差也较大。温度继续增加时，起升高度变化趋缓，火焰稳定。     

Blow-off process of highly under-expanded hydrogen non-premixed jet flame

Relationships between flame lift-off heights and reservoir pressure were experimentally investigated in order to clarify blow-off process of hydrogen non-premixed jet flames with a highly under-expanded jet structure. In this study, straight nozzles with diameters of 0.34, 0.53, 0.75 and 1.12 mm were used with maximum reservoir pressure for spouting hydrogen of 13.2 MPa. Experimental results are shown that lift-off heights in stable under-expanded jet flames do not vary significantly and are independent of the reservoir pressure in the range of studied pressure. However, the lifted heights are affected by the nozzle diameters and become smaller as the nozzle diameters increase. From experimental results, the condition for the blow-off process of under-expanded subsonic jet flames was proposed. It was concluded that the under-expanded jet flame could be blown off when the maximum waistline position, where radial distance from the jet axis to an elliptic stoichiometric contour reaches its maximum comes closer to the nozzle exit than the edge of the jet flame base.     

锯齿形浓股出口结构下浓淡燃烧器出口区域的气固流场

应用颗粒动态分析仪测定了富集型煤粉燃烧器浓股出口加置锯齿型稳燃器前后的三维湍流速度场．试验结果表明,加置锯齿型稳燃器后,浓股气流在喷口附近的出口速度在三维方向上皆呈明显的波浪形分布,平均速度和脉动速度都有所增大,轴向平均速度衰减迅速,轴向脉动速度衰减延迟,水平径向和垂直径向的脉动明显增强．试验说明,锯齿型出口结构改善了喷口附近的气固流场,增大煤粉颗粒的局部空间浓度,增强气固混合,可以提高燃烧器着火稳燃和低NOx排放控制性能．     

Effectiveness measurements for a cooling film disrupted by a row of jets

The influence of cold air jet injection upon filmcooling of combustion chamber walls has been investigated by simulation. The experiments, in which a row of cold air jets is injected perpendicularly to the film cooled test chamber wall, show considerable decreases of the film cooling effectiveness downstream of the jet exit. The same behavior occurs in real combustion chambers of aircraft gas turbine engines. The tests are selected to represent combinations of geometries and flow variables (except the temperature ratios) which are pertinent to gas turbine combustor design. The present investigations cover effectiveness measurements for various combinations of the parameters: a) velocity ratio coolant film to mainstream b) velocity ratio jet to mainstream c) dimensionless distance between coolant film and jet exit d) spacing ratio e) ratio jet diameter to slot height f) ratio lip thickness to slot height.     

Understanding the influence of burner structure on the stability and chemiluminescence of inverse diffusion flame

Inverse diffusion lift-off flame was widely used in industrial fields such as non-catalytic partial oxidation of methane. In order to investigate the stability and chemiluminescence characteristics of the inverse diffusion lift-off flame, the OH1 and CH1 radiation characteristics, lift-off height, and transition (attachment, lift-off and blow-out) of flames under different burner structure were discussed. The results showed that burner rim thickness and incidence angles would affect the stability of the inverse diffusion flame. When the thickness of the burner rim exceeded 0.5 mm, the flame would directly change from the attachment state to blow-out state as oxygen velocity increased. Additionally, the values of the blowout limit of the nozzle were inversely proportional to the rim thickness of the burner. Different incident angles would result in various shear angles, which would affect the flame structure. As the incidence angle decreased, the tangential velocity of flame increased and the flame tended to be more stable. When the lift-off flame generated, OH1 intensity and distribution showed a sudden change, and the OH1/CH1 peak intensity ratio of the flame appeared abrupt changes.     

The hysteresis phenomenon in flame lift-off on a bluff-body burner under airflow dominant conditions

We investigated the behavior of the lifted flame on a bluff-body burner under the airflow dominant condition by the higher annular airflow velocity and the lower central fuel jet one and found the appearance of the hysteresis phenomenon in lift-off height of the flame that depends on the history of the fuel jet velocity. The hysteresis behavior is entirely different from the case of the fuel flow dominant condition by the higher central fuel jet velocity and lower annular airflow one. The observation by shadowgraph revealed that the occurrence of the phenomenon has a relation to the interaction between the fuel jet and the recirculation airflow region on the burner.     

天然气-氢气-空气混合气的层流燃烧速度测定

在定容燃烧弹内研究了常温常压下天然气-氢气-空气混合气的火焰传播规律，得到了不同掺氢比例（氢气在天然气中的体积掺混比例为0％～100％）和燃空当量比（0．6～1．4）下混合气的层流燃烧速率和马克斯坦长度，通过对马克斯坦长度的测量，分析了拉伸对火焰传播的影响。结果表明，随着天然气中掺氢比例的增加，混合气的燃烧速率呈指数规律增加，马克斯坦长度值减小，火焰的稳定性下降。各掺氢比例下，随当量比的增加，马克斯坦长度值增加，火焰的稳定性增强。通过对试验结果的数据拟合，得到了计算天然气-氢气-空气混合气层流燃烧速率的关系式。     

Experimental study on spark ignition of non-premixed hydrogen jets

The leaks of pressurized hydrogen can be ignited if an ignition source is within a certain distance from the source of the leaks, and jet fires or explosions may take place. In this paper, a high speed camera was used to investigate the ignition kernel development, ignition probability and flame propagation along the axis of hydrogen jets, which leaked from a 3-mm-internal-diameter nozzle and were ignited by an electric spark. Experimental results indicate that for successful ignition events, the ignition delay time increases with an increase of the distance between the nozzle and the electrode. Ignitable zone of the hydrogen jets is underestimated if using the predicted hydrogen concentration along the jets centerline. The average rate of downstream flame decreases but that of the upstream flame increases with the electrode going far from the nozzle.