Combustion and Flame 151 (2007) 391–395

www.elsevier.com/locate/combustflame
Brief Communication

Effect of swirl on lean flame limits of pilot-stabilized open

premixed turbulent flames
K. Kumaran, U.S.P. Shet ∗
Thermodynamics and Combustion Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
Received 27 July 2006; received in revised form 4 June 2007; accepted 25 June 2007
Available online 8 August 2007

1. Introduction affect flame stability. A lean flame stability study [5]

Increased combustion activity and the undesirable
effects on our ecosystem resulting from the primary
and secondary combustion emissions are major con-
cerns with regard to maintaining a clean and green
environment. This has driven combustion engineers
to employ combustion methods or postcombustion
techniques for achieving acceptable emission levels in
burner systems. Among the methods developed, lean
premixed combustion has gained importance as an ef-
fective measure for reducing combustion emissions.
However, lean premixed burner flames are severely
affected by reduced flame stability. It is known that
burner stability can be improved by using swirling
flow [1,2]. In recent years, a novel concept of low-
swirl burners [3] has gained momentum as an ef-
fective combustion emission control strategy and for
operating stable lean premixed flames and increased
combustion efficiency.
Chan [3] et al. developed a low-swirl burner oper-
ating with lean premixed flames stabilized at a certain
distance above the burner exit, defying the long-held
notion that lifted flames are inherently unstable. Sev-
eral studies [3–6] have reported stability limits of lean
premixed flames in different burner configurations.
A study on unsteady flame dynamics [4] relating to
a lean-premixed swirl-stabilized combustor revealed
that the operating parameters, viz. inlet temperature
and equivalence ratio, are the two major factors that
* Corresponding author. Fax: +91 44 2257 0545.
E-mail address: uspshet@iitm.ac.in (U.S.P. Shet).
0010-2180/$ – see front matter © 2007 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2007.06.016
in a laboratory-scale premixed gas turbine combus-
tor using natural gas with varied amount of hydrogen
content in auxiliary flame has shown that NOx and
CO emissions decrease with decreased equivalence
ratio φ up to φ = 0.44, but with further decrease in
equivalence ratio NOx emissions decreased monoton-
ically while CO emission increased rapidly. Johnson
et al. [6] studied lean stability of premixed flames sta-
bilized by a ring held at the burner exit and showed
that NOx levels decreased drastically with decreased
equivalence ratio.
Tubular burner flames are susceptible to flame in-
stabilities, viz. blowoff and lift. The flame blowoff
mechanism is explained by the concept of the crit-
ical boundary velocity gradient pioneered by Lewis
and von Elbe [7] and the flame-stretch theory pro-
posed by Karlovitz et al. [8]. Flame blowoff occurs
due to the flame base losing heat to the burner rim,
and also due to aerodynamic quenching [8], where
heat loss occurs from the combustion wave to the un-
burned mixture due to stretching of the combustion
wave in the region of steep boundary velocity gradi-
ent near the burner rim. Schefer and Goix [9] reported
that under lifted flame conditions, burning velocity is
affected by flame curvature. Chao [10] observed that
volumetric heat loss, which decreases burning rate,
renders a flame less stable as in a freely propagating
flame. A pilot flame provided at the burner rim im-
proves flame stability by offsetting heat loss from the
flame base in the stabilizing zone, thus rendering the
flame to withstand high port velocities before the on-
set of instabilities, viz. flame-lift and blowoff.
volume-averaged OH* chemiluminescence intensity recorded combustor equivalence ratio range investigated in our research.
by the high-speed camera system. Both spectra show the Note that soot is only present in fuel-rich regions and its
typical appearance of hydrocarbon flames, with strong luminosity depends on soot concentration and temperature.
chemiluminescence bands of the electronically excited radicals According to the Stefan-Boltzmann law, the soot luminosity is
OH*, CH* and C2* (The asterisk indicates an excited proportional to the fourth power of the soot temperature.
molecule.), originating from the combustion processes [14-17]. Therefore, the luminosity contributions from soot particles at
The spectra are superposed by a broad CO2* high temperatures are over-represented in the recorded volume-
chemiluminescence band ranging from 250 nm to 600 nm. averaged flame emission spectra.

50
CH* 2500

40
Relative intensity [-]

2000
soot

Temperature [K]
30
C2*
radiation 1500

C2*
20 OH* C2* 1000
Flame: B2
C2*
Fuel: Jet A-1
CO2* Estimated mean flame temperatures at 6 psia
10 CH* Measured spectrum 500 Estimated mean flame temperatures at 8 psia
OH* Planck's law other symbols: soot temperatures at 6 psia (red) and 8 psia (black)
0 0
300 400 500 600 700 800 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 1,6
Wavelength [nm] Global combustor equivalence ratio
35
CH* Figure 5. Soot temperatures derived from the soot thermal
30
Flame: B2 continuum emission, and estimated mean flame
Relative intensity [-]

25 Fuel: SPK-1
Measured spectrum temperatures. Symbols denote type of fuel: ■ Jet A-1,
20 Planck's law ● SPK-1, ▲ SPK-2, □ Blend-1, ○ Blend-2, Δ Blend-3.
15 OH* C2* Black and red symbols identify measurement results at
8 psia and 6 psia inlet air pressure respectively.
10 C2* C *
CO2*
CH* 2 soot radiation
5 OH* C2* Estimated mean flame temperatures are also plotted in
0 Figure 5 for both inlet air pressures. The temperatures are
300 400 500 600 700 800 calculated with a RR in-house chemistry tool for Jet A-1
Wavelength [nm]
kerosene assuming 100% combustion efficiency. Therefore, the
Figure 4. Measured spectra of a Jet A-1 fueled flame (upper actual mean flame temperatures may be lower than the
graph) and a SPK-1 fueled flame (lower graph). calculated temperatures but sporadic hot spots may be found in
the flames if richer pockets of mixture are combusted.
The most remarkable difference between both flame
1,0
emission spectra is a distinguishable soot luminosity appearing
C2*/CH* chemiluminescence ratio

as thermal continuum emission superposed on the 0,8

chemiluminescence. This reflects one important conclusion
from the optical emission spectroscopy measurements. The 0,6
spectra give indication of the soot creation dependence on the
operating conditions and fuel. For instance, Jet A-1 shows 0,4

significantly stronger soot luminosity than all investigated SPK

0,2
fuels. Quantification was performed by introducing a soot
coefficient (not presented here). The known tendency that the 0
soot luminosity increases with increasing air pressure and/or 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 1,6

fuel-to-air ratio was also found. Global combustor equivalence ratio

Moreover, black-body thermal radiation curves according
to Planck’s law were iteratively fitted to the infrared region
between 625 nm and 850 nm for all measured spectra with
conspicuous soot radiation emissions, and the related black-
body thermodynamic temperatures (the soot particle
temperatures) were determined. The derived soot temperatures
are plotted in Figure 5. It was found, that the soot temperatures
are almost constant for all fuels and flames within the global
Figure 6. Dependence of the C2*/CH* chemiluminescence
ratio on the global combustor equivalence ratio. Symbols
denote type of fuel as indicated in the caption for Figure 5.
In addition, it was found that the CH*/OH*, C2*/OH* and
the C2*/CH* chemiluminescence ratios are not sensitive to the
global combustor equivalence ratio for all investigated fuels
and flames. The global combustor equivalence ratio is the ratio

5 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

 Detailed experimental investigation of the ignition and Table 1. Characteristics of the tested fuels.
combustion processes at altitude relight conditions with Fuel SPK-1 SPK-2 Blend-1 Blend-2 Blend-3 Jet A-1
advanced measurement techniques [2-5] is still challenging for Density at 15°C
737.6 749.2 746.9 758.2 751.0 801.4
[kg/m³]
several reasons. Simulating the pressure and temperature
H/C ratio 2.269 2.2 2.197 2.152 2.183 1.9167
conditions of altitude relight in a test rig with real injectors and
Stoechiometric
geometry requires an expensive setup. For optical and laser AFR
15.156 15.062 15.058 14.997 15.039 14.669

measurement techniques, good optical access must be provided. Iso-paraffins

(I-p) [% weight]
56 65 73 58 48 -
While several optical and laser-based techniques have Normal-paraffins
43 30 26 27 37 -
(N-p) [% weight]
successfully been applied in technical combustors [6-9], Naphthenes
1 5 1 14 15 -
altitude relight conditions introduce different unique challenges (cyclics) [% weight]
Iso-to-normal
1.3 2.2 2.8 2.1 1.3 -
such as icing of the optical windows, dense sprays, and liquid paraffins (I/n) ratio

films on walls and windows. Also, a large dynamic range of Carbon range C7-13 C7-C16 C7-13 C7-16 C7-13 C5-C17

light emissions is encountered, ranging from the very bright

spark-induced plasma to almost no light emissions, during the The volumes of fuel required for the large scale tests in the
flame-kernel propagation shortly after ignition. combustion programs were such that it was not feasible to
The applied diagnostics consisted of simultaneous high- blend a range of pure, single component chemicals to
speed imaging of OH* and CH* chemiluminescence, as well as accurately replicate every feature of future GTL-type fuels.
broadband luminosity. Optical access was provided by large Instead, quantities of commercially available paraffinic
quartz windows in the pressure vessel and in the combustion solvents from Shell were added to simulate fuels covering the
chamber. By observing the processes in the visible and the UV three chosen compositional variables listed above.
simultaneously, it was possible to distinguish between radiation
(originating from e.g. soot) and the chemiluminescence from
the hydroxyl (OH*) and from the methylidyne (CH*) radicals.
These are markers for chemical activity in the different regions
of the combustor. Therefore, they provide information
concerning the temporal and spatial development of the flame
kernel. In addition, a spectrometer was used to obtain spectrally
resolved information concerning the broadband luminosity of
the stable burning flames.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TESTED GTL FUELS

Synthetic paraffinic kerosenes (SPKs) are characterized by
absence of sulfur and aromatics, and a narrower range of
hydrocarbons. These characteristics can influence combustion
properties, introducing potential risks (altitude relight
performance and increased NOx) and benefits (reduction of
particulates and SOx). In this study five GTL-based kerosenes
(Commercial SPK-1, Commercial SPK-2, Blend-1, Blend-2,
and Blend-3) and Jet A-1 kerosene delivered by Shell were
investigated. The Jet A-1 fuel provides a reference to standard
jet fuels in the market. In Table 1 a brief summary of some fuel
properties and component chemistry ratios is given.
The fuels and blends were selected to all fall within the
range of plausible fuels that can be derived from a low
temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process such as the
patented Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis. Each fuel is
differentiated from the others by a single or several variables to
test the impact of different compositional characteristic on
performance. The cube shown in Figure 1 summarizes the
compositional characteristics of the fuels under investigation.
The axes of the cube are related to three compositional
variables of the five GTL-based fuels: carbon number range
(narrow/wide cut), iso-to-normal paraffins (I/n) ratio and the
total cyclic paraffin content.
Figure 1. Visualization of the compositional differences of
the GTL-based fuels. The axes of the cube are related to the
carbon number range, the iso-to-normal paraffins (I/n) ratio
and the total cyclic paraffin content.
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The altitude relight test rig at the Rolls-Royce Strategic
Research Centre (SRC) in Derby was used to test the ignition
and combustion performance of different SPK fuels under
altitude relight temperature and pressure conditions. The test
facility can operate twin-sector combustors down to inlet air
pressures of 0.2 bar absolute, air temperatures of 240 K, and air
mass flows of up to 0.8 kg/s. The flame behavior can be
observed through quartz windows in the combustor sidewall
and in the pressure vessel of the test rig. The measurements
presented here were performed on a twin-sector combustor
equipped with one lean-fuel injector. The injector was installed
in the combustor sector positioned farthest from the cameras. In

2 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

imaging technique is a line-of-sight technique; therefore the
maximum error occurs for luminescence particles or regions
moving exactly perpendicular to the line-of-sight. The size of
the imaged field-of-view was 135 x 103 mm. Therefore, the
uncertainty in spatial resolution is less than one percent.
Another uncertainty in the chemiluminescence images may
result from signal trapping effects, which was not investigated
in the current experiment.
A fiber optic spectrometer (Avantes AvaSpec-2048-USB2),
which contains a Czerny-Turner monochromator and a CCD
linear array with a resolution of 2048 pixels, was used to
analyze the emission spectra of the flames during initiation and
stabilization. The flame luminosity was collimated with a lens
(Avantes COL-UV/VIS) and directed to the spectrometer with
a fiber optic cable (Avantes UG400-2-ME). The spectral
sensitivity of the set-up ranges from the ultraviolet at 250 nm to
the infrared at 1100 nm. The spectrometer was operated in a
high-speed recording mode at ~900 Hz, in which it records a
maximum of 1013 spectra covering the complete wavelength
range at an exposure time of 1.1 ms per spectrum.
For all measurements the standard electrical ignition
system installed on the RR test rig was used. With this ignition
system almost no control over the timing between the spark and
the camera systems was possible because the time delay
between the ignition start trigger pulse, exciter unit, igniter, and
spark varied on the order of several hundreds milliseconds.
Therefore a silicium-photodiode (Thorlabs PDA36A-EC) was
used to detect the plasma radiation following the spark. This
resulted in a timing uncertainty of several microseconds, which
is negligible compared to the time scales of the observed
processes in the order of milliseconds. For the safety of the
camera systems, the TTL trigger pulse from the photodiode was
delayed by 500 µs with a SRS-DG535 pulse generator. A BNC-
DDPG565 pulse generator was used to dispense TTL pulses to
the camera systems and to the spectrometer.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Temporal Development of the Ignition
A simple description of the sequence of events during an
altitude relight process is as follows. At sub-atmospheric air
pressure and at low air and fuel temperatures (see Table 2), fuel
is injected and a kerosene film quickly covers the combustor
walls. The spark igniters fire at a rate of two Hertz, generating
plasma balls which are transported by the local fuel-air
mixtures and by the local air flow-field in various directions.
The initial high-temperature of the plasma decreases within one
millisecond. Flame reactions are then initiated and a flame
kernel evolves. A successful ignition, that is the establishment
of a steady flame, depends strongly on the further development
of the flame kernel. Here, the flow field, strain rates, droplet
load, local fuel-to-air ratio, ignition energy, and various other
parameters play a role. The processes involved and their
interaction during a relight attempt are too complex to reliably
predict [11-13]. Today’s production lines engines restart at
relight conditions by creating a rich, low velocity region
between the fuel injector and the igniter.
Important information about the ignition process and flame
kernel development can be gained from the emitted radiation,
in particular its spatial distribution, spectral composition, and
intensity. In Figure 3, the typical temporal development of the
volume-integrated radiation in the ultraviolet spectral range
around 310 nm is displayed exemplary for the SPK-1 fuel
during successful and failed ignitions. The measured intensity
at the beginning originates from the intense broadband
emission from the spark-induced plasma. The electrode was
located slightly outside the viewing field of the camera to avoid
saturation or damage of the camera by the extremely bright
emissions from the spark and from the generated plasma during
the very early stage of ignition. The decay of the intensity
reflects the cooling of the plasma. In the successful ignition, a
minimum is reached after about 5 ms. The integrated intensity
increases and finally reaches a relatively constant level after
approximately 50 ms, representing a burning flame stabilized in
the flow. The gradual increase of the integrated intensity within
the first 50 ms reflects the growth of the flame.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
350
300
250
Intensity [counts]
200
150
100
50
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time [ms]
Figure 3. Typical temporal development of the volume-
integrated radiation after spark ignition for successful
(black line) and failed (red line) ignitions. Fuel is SPK-1.
Optical emission spectroscopy
A fiber optic spectrometer was used to measure luminosity
spectra during the flame initiation process and from the
stabilized flame. The recorded spectra required post-processing
before a detailed analysis could be performed. The raw spectra
showed a superposition of a slightly wavelength dependent
offset, which was automatically removed. The wavelength
dependent sensitivity of the CCD linear array was corrected by
multiplying the spectra with a calibration data set, which had
been generated on a tungsten-deuterium lamp with known
spectral emission. The subsequent analysis focused on the
wavelength range from 250 nm to 850 nm, because the optics
were non-transparent for the spectral region below 250 nm, and
the CCD linear array is insensitive above 850 nm.
Figure 4 shows two representative time-averaged spectra,
comparing Jet A-1 kerosene and SPK-1 at operating conditions
of Flame B2. The spectra are normalized according to the
4 Copyright © 20xx by ASME
volume-averaged OH* chemiluminescence intensity recorded combustor equivalence ratio range investigated in our research.
by the high-speed camera system. Both spectra show the Note that soot is only present in fuel-rich regions and its
typical appearance of hydrocarbon flames, with strong luminosity depends on soot concentration and temperature.
chemiluminescence bands of the electronically excited radicals According to the Stefan-Boltzmann law, the soot luminosity is
OH*, CH* and C2* (The asterisk indicates an excited proportional to the fourth power of the soot temperature.
molecule.), originating from the combustion processes [14-17]. Therefore, the luminosity contributions from soot particles at
The spectra are superposed by a broad CO2* high temperatures are over-represented in the recorded volume-
chemiluminescence band ranging from 250 nm to 600 nm. averaged flame emission spectra.

50
CH* 2500

40
Relative intensity [-]

2000
soot

Temperature [K]
30
C2*
radiation 1500

C2*
20 OH* C2* 1000
Flame: B2
C2*
Fuel: Jet A-1
CO2* Estimated mean flame temperatures at 6 psia
10 CH* Measured spectrum 500 Estimated mean flame temperatures at 8 psia
OH* Planck's law other symbols: soot temperatures at 6 psia (red) and 8 psia (black)
0 0
300 400 500 600 700 800 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 1,6
Wavelength [nm] Global combustor equivalence ratio
35
CH* Figure 5. Soot temperatures derived from the soot thermal
30
Flame: B2 continuum emission, and estimated mean flame
Relative intensity [-]

25 Fuel: SPK-1
Measured spectrum temperatures. Symbols denote type of fuel: ■ Jet A-1,
20 Planck's law ● SPK-1, ▲ SPK-2, □ Blend-1, ○ Blend-2, Δ Blend-3.
15 OH* C2* Black and red symbols identify measurement results at
8 psia and 6 psia inlet air pressure respectively.
10 C2* C *
CO2*
CH* 2 soot radiation
5 OH* C2* Estimated mean flame temperatures are also plotted in
0 Figure 5 for both inlet air pressures. The temperatures are
300 400 500 600 700 800 calculated with a RR in-house chemistry tool for Jet A-1
Wavelength [nm]
kerosene assuming 100% combustion efficiency. Therefore, the
Figure 4. Measured spectra of a Jet A-1 fueled flame (upper actual mean flame temperatures may be lower than the
graph) and a SPK-1 fueled flame (lower graph). calculated temperatures but sporadic hot spots may be found in
the flames if richer pockets of mixture are combusted.
The most remarkable difference between both flame
1,0
emission spectra is a distinguishable soot luminosity appearing
C2*/CH* chemiluminescence ratio

as thermal continuum emission superposed on the 0,8

chemiluminescence. This reflects one important conclusion
from the optical emission spectroscopy measurements. The 0,6
spectra give indication of the soot creation dependence on the
operating conditions and fuel. For instance, Jet A-1 shows 0,4

significantly stronger soot luminosity than all investigated SPK

0,2
fuels. Quantification was performed by introducing a soot
coefficient (not presented here). The known tendency that the 0
soot luminosity increases with increasing air pressure and/or 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 1,6

fuel-to-air ratio was also found. Global combustor equivalence ratio

Moreover, black-body thermal radiation curves according
to Planck’s law were iteratively fitted to the infrared region
between 625 nm and 850 nm for all measured spectra with
conspicuous soot radiation emissions, and the related black-
body thermodynamic temperatures (the soot particle
temperatures) were determined. The derived soot temperatures
are plotted in Figure 5. It was found, that the soot temperatures
are almost constant for all fuels and flames within the global
Figure 6. Dependence of the C2*/CH* chemiluminescence
ratio on the global combustor equivalence ratio. Symbols
denote type of fuel as indicated in the caption for Figure 5.
In addition, it was found that the CH*/OH*, C2*/OH* and
the C2*/CH* chemiluminescence ratios are not sensitive to the
global combustor equivalence ratio for all investigated fuels
and flames. The global combustor equivalence ratio is the ratio

5 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

of the global combustor fuel-to-air ratio to the stoichiometric
fuel-to-air ratio for the different fuels. Figure 6 shows
exemplary the C2*/CH* chemiluminescence ratio from all
measured spectra in relation to the global combustor
equivalence ratio.
High-speed imaging
Simultaneous high-speed imaging of the OH* and CH*
chemiluminescence, and of the broadband luminosity were
performed to investigate both the transient flame initiation
phenomena and the combustion behavior of the steady burning
flames. It was found that the temporal developments of the
emitted radiation after the spark event were very similar both
for all the successful and for all the failed ignitions regardless
of the fuel. Therefore, we focus on the characterization of
steady burning flames after successful ignition. The
characterization of the steady burning flames is helpful for a
better understanding of the processes within the combustor and
to distinguish between the meanings of the visible and UV
emissions.
The section of the combustion chamber that is imaged by
the high-speed camera is shown by the photograph in Figure 7.
The injector is located on the left side and the spark igniter can
be seen in the top plate. The combustion chamber converges
towards the exit at the right side.
Figure 7. Photograph of the combustion chamber.
As seen from the spectra of Figure 4, the flame emission
spectrum is comprised primarily of chemiluminescence bands
from electronically excited molecules and the thermal radiation
spectrum from soot and other particulates. Chemiluminescence
arises when electronically excited molecules decay into the
electronic ground state by emitting light at characteristic
wavelengths. The light emitting molecules are formed directly
in an excited state in a fast chemical reaction; the energy
released by an exothermic chemical reaction excites a product
formed by the reaction itself. The life-time of the excited
molecular state is determined by the collisional quenching
reactions and by the spontaneous fluorescence life-time of the
excited state. That results in a life-time in the order of a few
nanoseconds. Therefore, the chemiluminescence appears in
proximate spatial vicinity of the reaction zones. Further, from
investigations in flames with gaseous fuels there are indications
that the intensity of the OH* chemiluminescence is related to
the reaction rate or heat release rate. At the conditions in the
test rig and with the presence of a liquid spray, it is not proven
that the OH* chemiluminescence intensity is correlated to the
heat release rate. However, at least the location of the emissions
can directly be associated with the regions of primary
combustion activity.
For the high-speed imaging of the OH*
chemiluminescence distributions, the flame luminosity was
filtered by a narrow band-pass filter centered at 310 nm.
According to the spectra of Figure 4, the recorded light is
comprised of chemiluminescence from OH* and from CO2* in
the transmission range of the filter.
The results from the high-speed imaging of the CH*
chemiluminescence are identical to the OH* results for non- or
low-sooting flames. In case of sooting flames the CH*
chemiluminescence images are influenced by the thermal
radiation from the soot particles.
For the high-speed imaging of the broadband flame
luminosity distributions, no optical filters were mounted in
front of the camera. Therefore, the recorded images show the
spectrally integrated flame luminosity with an integration range
between 350 nm and 1000 nm. The cut-off wavelength of
350 nm was set by the cover window (Schott BK7) of the
CMOS image sensor. According to the spectra of Figure 4, the
recorded flame luminosity is comprised of the soot luminosity
and of the chemiluminescence from the radicals CH*, C2*, and
CO2*. Generally, in pre-mixed, near stoichiometric flames, the
flame luminosity is dominated by the chemiluminescence
contributions from the excited radicals. In hydrocarbon-fueled
diffusion flames however, their contribution to the total
luminosity is in general small compared to the soot luminosity
owing to the non-premixed characteristics of the combustion.
Figure 10 shows time-averaged broadband luminosity
images of the stably burning flame for the four combustor
operating conditions and using each of the investigated fuels.
Figure 11 shows the corresponding time-averaged OH*
chemiluminescence images. All recorded images of the
stabilized flames are included in the time-average. Note that the
image intensity scales (the color resolution) are chosen
individually for each image in order to get the best resolution
of the flame structures. Furthermore, one has to keep in mind
that the intensities in the images are integrated along the line-
of-sight, which may obscure details of structures.
The visible structures in the broadband luminosity images
are strongly determined by the soot luminous intensity to
chemiluminescence intensity ratio. Typical intensity ratios in
the spectral range investigated here ranges between 2 and 24
for Jet A-1 kerosene and between 0.1 and 4 for the SPK fuels.
Note that the intensity ratios were determined from the
measured spectra.
6 Copyright © 20xx by ASME
 The time-averaged luminosity images with negligible soot
luminosity show a different intensity distribution than those
with soot. For example, Flame A2 with fuels SPK-1, SPK-2,
and Blend-1, which can be considered as non-sooting or very
low-sooting flames, have different luminosity distributions than
the Jet A-1 flame. The comparison of the broadband luminosity
images with negligible soot luminosity with the corresponding
OH* or CH* chemiluminescence images show no significant
differences. Only the image quality of the broadband
luminosity images is not as good as the quality of the
chemiluminescence images, which were recorded with the
high-speed cameras connected to image intensifiers and
equipped with optical filters.
At an air pressure of 8 psia (see images of the Flames B1
and B2) it is obvious that the region of soot luminosity was
always in the upper half of the combustion chamber and close
to the combustor exit. At an air pressure of 6 psia, the
aforementioned observations are only apparent for Jet A-1
The Flame B1 is the most sooting flame and the
comparison of the broadband luminosity images with the
chemiluminescence images shows that the region of high
chemiluminescence intensity and the region of high soot
luminosity are clearly spatially separated in the average. But
this is not the case for Flame B2, which is also a sooting flame.
A simple explanation could be that due to the high degree of
turbulence in the flame the line-of-sight integrated and time-
averaged luminosity contains both the chemiluminescence and
the soot luminosity produced at different locations along the
line-of-sight and/or at different times but on the same location.
In addition, regions of lower chemiluminescence intensity
cover almost the complete field of view. It is not quite certain
whether these emissions exclusively stem from OH* or whether
reflections from droplets or surfaces or other processes also
contribute to them.
600

kerosene. No clear tendency regarding the regions of soot

Volume-averaged OH* CL
500
luminosity can be given for the SPK fuels. The asymmetry in
the distribution of the soot luminosity is probably caused by the 400

interplay between the swirled air and the asymmetry in the 300
flame boundaries. The boundary conditions of the flame in the
200
cross-stream direction are not identical in a twin-sector
combustor equipped with one active injector. The non-swirled 100
cold air stream inside the second sector interacts with the air
0
stream in the flame sector and can influence the local air flow- 0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1,0
field, the local fuel-to-air ratio, and the temperatures in the Normalized air mass flow
local fresh and burnt gas distribution. Moreover, the chamber 50k
Volume-averaged OH* CL / QFuel

geometry is also non-symmetric both in the down-stream and in

40k
the cross-stream direction. Another aspect to take into account
is that the formation of soot is delayed with respect to the 30k
primary flame reactions. Soot is rather formed in the post-flame
region and its luminosity depends on soot concentration and 20k

temperature. From the analysis of all broadband luminosity

measurements (not shown here) the following statements can 10k

be given: The soot luminous intensity is increasing with air

0
pressure and global combustor equivalence ratio. The SPK 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 1,6

fuels also have an effect on the soot luminosity. In the Jet A-1
kerosene flames, the flame emissions stem predominantly from
soot particles for all combustor operational parameters. But in
all the tested SPK flames, the chemiluminescence is dominating
clearly over the soot luminosity for higher air mass flows.
The chemiluminescence captured around 310 nm is
predominantly attributed to the electronically excited hydroxyl
radicals (OH*) that are formed in the reaction zones and whose
spontaneous emissions reflect the chemical combustion
activity. The time-averaged chemiluminescence images of
Figure 11 show also asymmetries in the spatial intensity
distributions. These asymmetries in combination with the line-
of-sight integration of the chemiluminescence hinder clear
statements about the flame zones. Overall, the effect of the
fuels on the chemiluminescence distribution is relatively small
at given combustor operational parameters (see images from
Flame B1).
Global combustor equivalence ratio
Figure 8. Dependence of the volume-averaged OH*
chemiluminescence on the air mass flow (upper graph) and
on the combustor equivalence ratio (lower graph). Symbols
denote type of fuel as indicated in the caption for Figure 5.
The volume-averaged OH* chemiluminescence intensity
as a function of the air mass flow for different global
combustor equivalence ratios and fuels is displayed in Figure 8.
A linear or at least a strict monotonic increasing dependency on
the air mass flow is obvious. The effect of the global combustor
equivalence ratio on the OH* chemiluminescence is also shown
in Figure 8. The volume-averaged chemiluminescence intensity
divided by the fuel flow rate shows a monotonic decreasing
functional dependency on the global combustor equivalence
ratio. Note that the OH* chemiluminescence is strongest at

7 Copyright © 20xx by ASME

high air mass flows and/or low global combustor equivalence
ratios.
The Abel inversion post-processing technique was used to
obtain planar spatially resolved information from the line-of-
sight integrated and time-averaged chemiluminescence images.
Inversion of Abel’s integral equation was done using the
Hankel-Fourier transform method as described in [18-19]. In
order to obtain some information from the line-of-sight images,
which show asymmetric structures, the Abel inversion
technique was applied separately on the upper and lower half of
the chemiluminescence images.
Flame A1 Flame B2
Figure 9. Abel-inverted OH* chemiluminescence images.
Fuel is Jet A-1. Field-of-view is 139 x 105 mm.
Two examples of Abel-inverted OH* chemiluminescence
images are presented in Figure 9. In this representation, which
is equivalent to a cut through the central plane of the flame,
details of the regions with chemical activity are visible. From
both images it is clearly seen, that no chemical activity was
present close to the pilot burner and in the air streams of the
main burner swirler. This is due to the unfavorable local fuel-
to-air ratios in these regions. The flames have two main
reaction zones both attached to the injector, a central zone and a
quite small outer zone. The appearance of the central and/or
outer zone and the magnitude of the chemical activity in both
zones are dependent on the combustor operational parameter.
The chemiluminescence distributions are, of course, closely
related to the injector which cannot be shown in detail due to
confidentiality.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The transient flame initiation phenomena and the
combustion behavior of the steady burning flames were
investigated at the altitude relight test rig at the Rolls-Royce
Strategic Research Centre in Derby. Five different GTL-based
kerosenes and, for comparison, petroleum-based kerosene
(Jet A-1) were tested at sub-atmospheric pressure and low fuel
and air temperatures. Good optical access to the combustion
chamber enabled the application of optical measuring
techniques.
Simultaneous high-speed imaging with a frame rate of
3.5 kHz was used to visualize the broadband luminescence in
the visible spectral range and the OH* and CH*
chemiluminescence in the ultraviolet and blue spectral range. In
addition, a spectrometer was used to measure the luminosity
spectra of the flames. All recorded spectra show the typical
appearance of hydrocarbon flames. The most remarkable
difference between the spectra is a distinguishable soot
luminosity appearing as thermal continuum radiation. It was
found, that Jet A-1 shows for all combustor operating
conditions significantly stronger soot luminosities than all here
investigated SPK fuels. Moreover, soot temperatures were
derived from the spectra with conspicuous soot radiation
emissions. It was found, that the soot temperatures are almost
constant for all fuels and flames within the global combustor
equivalence ratio range investigated here. In addition, the same
result was found for the CH*/OH*, C2*/OH* and the C2*/CH*
chemiluminescence ratios.
The high-speed imaging of the flame luminosity in the UV
spectral range revealed that the temporal developments of the
emitted radiation after the spark event are similar both for all
the successful and for all the failed ignitions regardless of the
fuel. The very bright broadband luminescence from the spark-
generated plasma decays within the first millisecond. For
successful ignitions and flame stabilization, the luminescence
intensity passes a minimum after about 5 ms, increases
thereafter and reaches a constant level after typically 50 ms. In
the case of a failed ignition, the chemiluminescence is
monotonic decreasing after the spark event.
The results from the high-speed imaging of the CH*
chemiluminescence are identical to the OH* results for low-
sooting flames. In case of sooting flames the CH*
chemiluminescence images are influenced by the thermal
radiation from the soot particles.
The visible structures in the recorded broadband
luminescence images are strongly determined by the
chemiluminescence intensity to soot luminous intensity ratio.
The comparison of the broadband luminosity images with
negligible soot luminosity with the corresponding OH*
chemiluminescence images show no significant differences. At
an air pressure of 8 psia, it was found that in the time-averaged
broadband luminosity images the region of soot luminosity was
always in the upper half of the combustion chamber and close
to the combustor exit. At an air pressure of 6 psia, the
aforementioned observations are the same for Jet A-1 kerosene
only. No clear tendency regarding the regions of soot
luminosity can be given for the SPK fuels.
The SPK fuels have an effect on the soot luminosity. In the
Jet A-1 kerosene flames, the flame emissions stem
predominantly from soot particles for all combustor operational
parameters. But in all the tested SPK flames, the total
chemiluminescence from the excited radicals is dominating
clearly the soot luminosity for higher air mass flows.
The effect of the fuels on the chemiluminescence
distribution is relatively small at given combustor operational
parameters. A comparison of the broadband luminosity images
with the chemiluminescence images for the most sooting
Flame B1 show that the region of high chemiluminescence
8 Copyright © 20xx by ASME
intensity and the region of high soot luminous intensity are
clearly spatially separated in the average.
The volume-averaged OH* chemiluminescence intensity
shows a linear or at least a strict monotonic increasing
dependency on the air mass flow. The chemiluminescence
intensity divided by the fuel flow rate shows a monotonic
decreasing functional dependency on the global combustor
equivalence ratio. Both dependencies are not strongly
influenced by the fuel or air pressure. The OH*
chemiluminescence is strongest at high air mass flows and/or
low global combustor equivalence ratios.
The Abel inversion post-processing technique was applied
to identify the main reaction zones of the stabilized flame in an
axial plane. The flames have two main reaction zones both
attached to the injector, a central zone and a quite small outer
zone. The appearance of the central and/or outer zone and the
magnitude of the chemical activity in both zones are dependent
on the combustor operational parameter, but only slightly on
the fuels investigated here.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank Darren Fyffe and Andrew
Payne from Rolls-Royce for the operation of the SARS test rig
as well as Allan Collard from Rolls-Royce for technical
assistance during the measurements. The financial support from
the Qatar Science & Technology Park Research Network
Program within the research project “In-depth Characterisation
of Synthetic GTL Jet Fuel Combustion Performance in Current
& Future Gas Turbine Engines” is gratefully acknowledged.
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9 Copyright © 20xx by ASME
 Flame
A1 A2 B1 B2
Fuel
Jet A-1

SPK-1

SPK-2

Blend-1

Blend-2

Blend-3

Figure 10. Dependence of the time-averaged broadband flame luminosity distribution on the investigated fuels
for the four combustor operating conditions. Field-of-view is 135 x 103 mm. Note that all images displayed
have individual intensity scales (color tables) in order to get the best resolution of the flame structures.
Therefore, the images cannot be compared regarding their intensities.

10
 Flame
A1 A2 B1 B2
Fuel
Jet A-1

SPK-1

SPK-2

Blend-1

Blend-2

Blend-3

Figure 11. Dependence of the time-averaged OH* chemiluminescence distribution on the investigated fuels
for the four combustor operating conditions. Field-of-view is 135 x 103 mm.

11