Fuel 87 (2008) 3687–3693

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Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

Proposal and validation of a new type of flame stability diagram

for partially premixed flames
Chang-Eon Lee *, Cheol-Hong Hwang 1, Sung-Chang Hong
School of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, 253, Yonghyun-dong, Nam-gu, Incheon 402-751, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A flame stability diagrams in a partially premixed flame are typically expressed using the axis coordinates
Received 3 May 2007 of heat input rate and equivalence ratio. These diagrams are inadequate for identifying changes in com-
Received in revised form 2 July 2008 bustion conditions and flame stability when a reference fuel is substituted with other fuels under iden-
Accepted 3 July 2008
tical operating conditions. To improve the usefulness of the flame stability diagram for estimating this
Available online 26 July 2008
interchangeability, this study proposes a new type of diagram and validates it experimentally. In this
new diagram, the axis coordinates are air flow rate and Wobbe fuel flow rate, defined as the fuel flow rate
Keywords:
multiplied by the square root of the relative density. The diagram was validated in trials using various
Flame stability diagram
Interchangeability
fuels, including CH4, C3H8, and LFG–C3H8 mixed fuels, in a domestic gas-range and an interchangeability
Wobbe fuel flow rate test burner. The results of these trials show that the new diagram can provide useful information for
Partially premixed flame assessing interchangeability of combustion conditions and flame stability when one fuel is substituted
with another under identical operating conditions.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction States, European countries have tended to use a graphical approach

Depletion of domestic stocks and increased prices for natural
gas have led to the diversification of gas-exporting countries as
well as the utilization of alternative fuels such as landfill gas
(LFG), biomass gas, and methane hydrate. Since the compositions
of new fuel sources may have very different combustion character-
istics compared to traditional fuels, research regarding fuel inter-
changeability has become important for studying energy use and
environmental and operational requirements.
Since the early 1900s, many studies examining the effects of dif-
ferent fuel source compositions on the combustion characteristics
of a burner have focused on developing index values. The most sig-
nificant early work in this area was done by the American Gas
Association (AGA) and published in a series of reports and bulletins
[1,2]. The AGA indices consisted of the Wobbe index (WI), lifting
index (LI), flash-back index (FI), and yellow tip index (YI). Weaver
[3] added the incomplete combustion index to the AGA indices in
order to estimate interchangeability more accurately and provide
detailed explanations of the changes in combustion characteristics.
Using these methods, two fuels are considered interchangeable
when their index values lie within the same defined range. While
an index calculation approach has often been used in the United
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 32 860 7323; fax: +82 32 868 1716.
E-mail address: chelee@inha.ac.kr (C.-E. Lee).
1
Present address: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg,
MD 20899-8663, USA.
to predict fuel interchangeability. In the graphical method, the x-
and y-axis are the Wobbe index and a modified Wobbe number
or other value that describes the change in fuel gas composition
or properties. Within the plots are limit lines for the different mea-
sures of interchangeability, including incomplete combustion,
flash-back, yellow tipping, and lifting. The space within these lines
defines an area of interchangeability. If the calculated value for a
substitute fuel falls within the area, the fuel is considered inter-
changeable with the reference fuel used to define the limit lines
[4,5]. These index values and graphical approaches can be used
to estimate fuel interchangeability, but precise interchangeability
analysis involves a flame stability diagram that details flash-back,
lifting, and yellow tipping in practical burners or interchangeabil-
ity test (IT) burners. Generally, these flame stability diagrams plot
heat input rate along the x-axis and the equivalence ratio (or pri-
mary air ratio) along the y-axis [6,7].
In previous works, we have investigated the interchangeability
of landfill gas (LFG)–LPG mixed fuels as part of efforts to establish
LFG as an alternative or interchangeable fuel with LNG [8–10]. We
are now studying the interchangeability of various natural gases
imported from different producing districts of the Korea Gas Cor-
poration (KOGAS) [11,12]. In these studies, the conventional flame
stability diagram (Fig. 2), which used the heat input rate and the
equivalence ratio as the coordinate axes, gave ambiguous esti-
mates of interchangeability between a reference fuel and a substi-
tute fuel. When a fuel is substituted with other fuels without
changing the supply pressure and combustion system, the change

0016-2361/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2008.07.005
3688 C.-E. Lee et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3687–3693
Nomenclature
A area (m2)
A/F air–fuel ratio (kga/kgf)
A/WF Wobbe air–fuel ratio
HV heating value of fuel (kJ/N m3)
LFG landfill gas
MF LFG–C3H8 mixed fuel
P pressure
Q volumetric flow rate (cm3/s)
QH heat input rate (kW)
V velocity (m/s)
WI Wobbe index (kJ/N m3)
in the fuel density may lead to a change in the fuel flow rate, which
in turn leads to a change in the combustion conditions (heat input
rate and equivalence ratio) of the substitute fuel. The diagram, as
conventionally drawn, does not, however, show these changes. It
is therefore inadequate for predicting changes in combustion con-
ditions and flame stability when one fuel is substituted with
another.
The main objective of this study was to propose and validate a
new type of flame stability diagram using coordinate variables
independent of the properties of fuels. Ideally this new diagram
would provide information on changes in combustion conditions
and flame stability when one fuel is substituted with another un-
der identical operating conditions. This paper lays out the develop-
ment of the new diagram, and describes the meaning of the
coordinates and additional marks used. The usefulness of
the new flame stability diagram is discussed in comparison with
the conventional diagram.
2. Description of experiments
In this study, the proposed flame stability diagram was com-
pared to the conventional diagram in experiments using pure
CH4, pure C3H8, and LNG used in Korea. In addition, the new stabil-
ity diagram was tested on a mixed fuel of landfill gas (LFG) and
C3H8, whose combustion characteristics and properties differ from
those of conventional fuels. Table 1 shows the compositions and
properties of the fuels used, including higher heating value (HV),
relative density (c; sometimes called specific density and defined
by the ratio of the density of fuel to the density of air), Wobbe in-
dex (WI), stoichiometric air–fuel ratio ((A/F)stoi), and stoichiometric
Wobbe air–fuel ratio ((A/WF)stoi). The stoichiometric Wobbe air–
fuel ratio (A/WF)stoi will be defined later. The LFG–C3H8 mixed fuel
was used in previous studies [8–10] seeking to use LFG from the
Gimpo landfill in Korea [13] as an alternative fuel to natural gas.
In Table 1, MF00(HV) and MF00(WI) mixed fuels were prepared with
an HV and WI, respectively, nearly equivalent to those of standard
LNG in Korea. The MF00(WI) has a WI of nearly 54,000 kJ/N m3,
while MF00(HV) has a heating value of nearly 45,000 kJ/N m3. These
values of the mixed fuels are in good agreement with those of LNG,
within a relative error of 3%. In the nomenclature of mixed fuel
names, the value of the subscript denotes the volume percentage
of CH4 in the LFG used as the source of the LFG–C3H8 mixed fuel,
and the volume percentage of C3H8 in parentheses refers to the vol-
ume of C3H8 required to prepare the corresponding mixed fuel.
Fig. 1a shows a schematic diagram of the modified gas-range
system used to measure the flame stability zone. Because a con-
ventional gas-range usually adopts the Bunsen combustion mode,
it is difficult to measure the air flow rate entrained by the fuel
jet. Therefore, in this study, the fuel and air ports of the conven-
Greek symbols
U equivalence ratio
c relative density based on air
q density (kg/m3)
Subscripts
a air
f fuel
n nozzle
stoi stoichiometric
v vessel
Wf Wobbe fuel
tional gas-range were modified to allow precise control of the flow
rate. In most conventional gas-ranges, it may be difficult to obtain
the inherent flame stability zone for various fuels: a flash-back
does not happen because the diameter of the gas ports is less than
the flame quenching distance. In addition, the limits of lifting and
yellow tipping may change depending on the design capabilities of
the gas port and flow system. Thus, an interchangeability test (IT)
burner, simulating one gas port on a gas-range, was used to accu-
rately measure the flame stability limits, including flash-back. Fig.
1b shows a schematic diagram of the flow system and the IT burner
used in this study. The IT burner nozzle consisted of a cylindrical
tube with an inner diameter of 12 mm, and the length of the nozzle
was set at 100 cm to ensure fully developed velocity profiles at
the exit. To prevent external disturbances, an acrylic cylinder with
an inner diameter of 25 cm and a length of 150 cm was installed at
the burner exit. The flow rates of fuels were controlled using mass
flow controllers connected to each gas cylinder. The air supplied
from the compressor was introduced into a reservoir and dryer,
where water vapor was extracted; the air was regulated with a
mass flow controller and then channeled into a mixing chamber.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Review of the conventional flame stability diagram
Fig. 2 shows the flame stability diagrams of LNG and CH4 in the
gas-range and IT burner. The flame stability zone is represented
using the heat input rate on the x-axis and the equivalence ratio
on the y-axis, and the heat input rate was expressed per unit area
of burner flame port to allow direct comparisons of the gas-range
and the IT burner. Since the gas-range used was set with the fuel
nozzle for LNG, only two fuels were used in this experiment: CH4
and LNG. The yellow tipping and the lifting limits for the gas-range
and the IT burner vary with heat input rate in similar ways,
although some quantitative differences are observed. One note-
worthy difference is that in the IT burner, the flash-back limits ex-
ist at low heat input rates. On the other hand, there is no flash-back
zone for the gas-range because the diameter of the gas ports is less
than the flame quenching distance. These results indicate that the
gas-range and the IT burner have similar flame stability limits, ex-
cept for the flash-back limit. They further indicate that the use of
the IT burner for estimating fuel interchangeability is very useful
because it allows measurement of the flash-back limit, and it
avoids the complex flame–flame interactions observed with the
multi-ports of the gas-range.
The conventional flame stability diagram has several benefits
and drawbacks. The conventional diagram use coordinate axes of
heat input rate and equivalence ratio to provide the flame stability
limits. Thus, they are useful for estimating the optimal operating
 C.-E. Lee et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3687–3693 3689

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of test systems.

conditions for individual fuels and for explaining the difference in The derivation procedure and meanings of the coordinates are
the stable flame zone of each fuel in terms of heat input rate and introduced briefly in the following section.
equivalence ratio. In terms of interchangeability, however, the dia-
gram does not provide information on changes in combustion con- 3.2. Introduction of the new flame stability diagram
ditions. For example, when a fuel is substituted with another fuel
under identical supply pressure and combustion system, the heat The Bernoulli equation for a steady, frictionless, incompressible
input rate (or fuel flow rate) and equivalence ratio of the substitute flow between a fuel vessel and a nozzle is expressed in Eq. (1). If
fuel may change because of differences in fuel properties, such as the potential energy is neglected and the fuel velocity in the vessel
density and composition. This means changes in the values on is assumed to be zero, the volumetric fuel flow rate can be derived
the coordinate axes of the diagram. Thus, it is not possible to com- from Eq. (1) to yield Eq. (2):
pare directly the flame stability limits between the reference fuel
and the substitute fuel. In addition, as seen in Fig. 2, the stable V 2v pv V2 p
flame zone under conditions of low heat input rate is significantly þ þ gz ¼ n þ n þ gz ð1Þ
2 qf 2 qf
large, even though the variable range of air flow rate is very small. qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
This can be attributed to the equivalence ratio used on the y-axis, Q f ¼ An  V n ¼ An 2Dp=qf ð2Þ
because the equivalence ratio, defined as the ratio of the actual
fuel–air ratio to the stoichiometric fuel–air ratio, increases to infin- where Dp ¼ pv  pe .
ity as the air flow rate approaches an infinitesimal value. Assuming that the supply pressure of the fuel and the area of
To improve upon these limitations of the conventional diagram, the fuel nozzle are constant (Dp ¼ constant; An ¼ constant), Eq.
we propose a new type of flame stability diagram that can explain (3) indicates that the transformed fuel flow rate QWf, defined as
the change in combustion conditions (fuel flow rate, heat input the fuel flow rate (Qf) multiplied by the square root of the relative
pffiffiffiffiffi
rate, and air–fuel ratio) and in flame stability when one fuel is density ( cf ), is always constant, even when one fuel is substituted
substituted with another under identical operating conditions. with another:
3690 C.-E. Lee et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3687–3693

pffiffiffiffiffi
0 Q Wf ¼ Q f  cf ð4Þ
LNG For example, if one fuel is substituted with another fuel under iden-
CH4 tical fuel supply pressure and combustion system, the Wobbe fuel
Lifting flame zone flow rate (QWf) will be constant regardless of the fuel type because
1 the fuel flow rate will be inversely proportional to the square root
of the relative density. Thus, the Wobbe fuel flow rate is adopted
Equivalence ratio

as the coordinate for the x-axis.

The heat input rate (QH) of each fuel can be expressed by mul-
2 tiplying the Wobbe fuel flow rate and the Wobbe index, as shown
Stable flame zone in Eq. (5). The value of (QH) is presented on the upper coordinate of
the x-axis to identify easily the change in heat input rate between
the reference and substitute fuels:
pffiffiffiffiffi HV
3 Q H ¼ Q Wf  WI ¼ Q f  cf  pffiffiffiffiffi ¼ Q f  HV ð5Þ
cf
In addition, the primary air flow rate usually does not change
Yellow tip zone when fuels are interchanged in various combustion appliances,
4 though in some cases it may be changed according to the fuel–
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 air control method. In other words, in combustion appliances using
Heat input rate (kW/m2) the Bunsen combustion mode, the primary air flow rate is en-
(a) Gas-range trained by the fuel jet and is proportional to the fuel supply pres-
sure (i.e., fuel momentum). In addition, in the combustion
0 appliances using forced air supply with a blower, the air supply
Flash back zone condition usually does not change. Therefore, the air flow rate
LNG
(Qa), which usually remains constant when fuels are interchanged,
CH4
Lifting flame zone is chosen as the y-axis coordinate. As a result, even though the ref-
1 erence fuel is substituted with another fuel, the values on the axes
remain constant through the adoption of the Wobbe fuel flow rate
Equivalence ratio

and the primary air flow rate for the x- and y-axis coordinates.
This theory was reproduced by measuring the Wobbe fuel flow
Stable flame zone rate of LNG, CH4, and C3H8 and the air flow rate as a function of the
2
fuel supply pressure in a domestic gas-range (Fig. 3). It can be ob-
served that the values of QWf and Qa are always constant at a spe-
cific supply pressure, regardless of the fuel type.
A drawback of the new diagram is that the utilization of QWf and
3 Qa as axis coordinates cannot provide direct information on the
equivalence ratio or the air–fuel ratio for some combustion condi-
Yellow tip zone tions, compared to the conventional diagram. Nevertheless, in the
new diagram, the air–fuel ratio (A/F) can be calculated by multiply-
pffiffiffiffiffi
4 ing (Qa/QWf) and cf , as shown in Eq. (6). The boundary correspond-
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 ing to the stoichiometric air–fuel ratio can be also expressed as the
Heat input rate (kW/m2) pffiffiffiffiffi
stoichiometric air–fuel ratio (A/F)stoi divided by cf , as shown in Eq.
(b) IT burner (7). This value is termed the stoichiometric Wobbe air–fuel ratio (A/
Fig. 2. Comparison of flame stability diagrams of LNG and CH4 on gas-range and IT
WF)stoi and is presented in the new diagram:
burner using the existing flame stability diagram. pffiffiffiffiffi
ðA=FÞ ¼ ðQ a =Q f Þ ¼ ðQ a =Q Wf Þ  cf ð6Þ
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffi
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Q f qf Q f qf =qa pffiffiffiffiffi ffi
pffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffi
qa Q Wf qa ðQ a =Q Wf Þstoi ¼ ðA=FÞstoi = cf ¼ ðA=WFÞstoi ð7Þ
2 Dp ¼ ¼ ¼ ð3Þ
An An An As shown in Table 1, although the MF(WI) has higher (A/F)stoi
In this study, this transformed fuel flow is termed the Wobbe compared to that of LNG, the supplied fuel flow rate of the MF(WI)
fuel flow rate, as shown in Eq. (4): is less than that of LNG because the relative density of the MF(WI)

Table 1
Components and properties of the fuels used in this study

LNG CH4 C3H8 MF55(HV) (C3H8 30.0%) MF35(HV) (C3H8 36.4%) MF55(WI) (C3H8 50.0%) MF35(WI) (C3H8 57.8%)
CH4 (%) 89.78 100.00 0.0 38.15 22.26 27.25 14.77
C2H6 (%) 7.48 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
C3H8 (%) 2.02 0.00 100.0 30.00 36.40 50.00 57.80
C4H10 (%) 0.70 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
CO2 (%) 0.00 0.00 0.0 26.25 34.07 18.75 22.61
N2 (%) 0.02 0.00 0.0 4.90 6.36 3.50 4.22
O2 (%) 0.00 0.00 0.0 0.70 0.91 0.50 0.60
HV (kJ/N m3) 44067.29 40259.66 99727.74 45175.86 45293.26 60762.12 63588.96
c 0.61 0.56 1.53 1.13 1.27 1.24 1.36
WI (kJ/N m3) 56333.23 53988.35 80665.76 42564.36 40136.69 54536.86 54564.86
(A/F)stoi 10.36 9.56 23.89 10.79 10.79 14.53 15.20
(A/WF)stoi 13.24 12.82 19.33 10.17 9.56 13.04 13.04

Wobbe fuel flow rate, QWf (cm3/s)
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
100 150 200 250
Supply pressure (mmAq)
Fig. 3. Wobbe fuel flow rates and air flow rates of LNG, CH4, and C3H8 according to
the supply pressure on gas-range.
is larger than that of LNG for the same supply pressure. Therefore,
the MF(WI) requires an air flow rate similar to that of LNG for com-
plete combustion. These phenomena are well explained by
(A/WF)stoi with a similar value for the MF(WI) and LNG. In addition,
the (A/WF)stoi value shows a proportional relationship with the
Wobbe index, as the heating value of a hydrocarbon fuel is typi-
cally proportional to the stoichiometric air–fuel ratio.
3.3. Comparative usefulness of the conventional and the new diagrams
for estimating interchangeability
Fig. 4 shows the flame stability regions of LNG, CH4, and C3H8
represented by the conventional diagram using heat input rate
along the x-axis and equivalence ratio (or primary air ratio) along
the y-axis. The experimental data were obtained from the IT burner
mentioned before. Flame characteristics were assessed with the
AGA Flame Code [2], which uses numerical scales to describe flame
stabilities. The flame stability zone is defined as the space within
the following three limit curves: (1) the lifting limit (flames lifting
from ports with no flame on 25% or more of the ports at a low
equivalence ratio), (2) the yellow tip limit (slight yellow streaming
in the outer mantles, or yellow fringes on the tops of inner cones at
a high equivalence ratio), and (3) the flash-back limit (flames tend
to back to ports at a low heat input rate). The figure clearly shows
differences in each limit curve for LNG, CH4, and C3H8. These differ-
ences are discussed only briefly, since a detailed discussion of the
causes of the differences is outside the scope of this paper. The lift-
ing limit curves shift toward lower equivalence ratio going from
CH4 to LNG to C3H8. The lifting limit depends on the burning veloc-
ity of the fuel, and it increases in the same order. For the same rea-
son, the flash-back limit curves also move toward smaller heat
input rate going from CH4 to LNG and to C3H8. The yellow tip oc-
curs in proportion to the number of carbon bonds in the fuel.
Therefore, the yellow tip limit moves toward the lower equiva-
lence ratio going from C3H8 to LNG to CH4 (Fig. 4). Its significant
shift to the lower equivalence ratio gives C3H8 the smallest stable
flame zone of all the fuels tested.
From this figure, it can be confirmed that the conventional
flame stability diagram, which uses heat input rate and equiva-
lence ratio as the axis coordinates, can be used to explain the
intrinsic flame stability characteristics of each fuel and the differ-
ences in stable flame zone for the different fuels. However, this dia-
gram does not indicate the changes in combustion conditions (heat
C.-E. Lee et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3687–3693 3691
0.0
Air flow rate, Qa (cm3/s)
550
LNG
500 Flash back zone CH4
0.5
450 C3H8
LNG 400 Lifting flame zone
1.0
CH4
350
Equivalence ratio
C3H8
300 1.5
2.0 Stable flame zone
LNG 2.5
CH4
C3H8
3.0
Yellow tip zone
3.5
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Heat input rate (kW)
Fig. 4. Flame stability regions of LNG, CH4, and C3H8 on IT burner using existing
flame stability diagram.
input rate and equivalence ratio) that occur when the reference
fuel is substituted with another fuel. This diagram is therefore
inadequate for identifying the combustion conditions and flame
stability when the reference fuel is substituted with other fuels un-
der identical operating conditions.
Fig. 5 shows the conventional flame stability regions of Fig. 4
represented in the new diagram described with Wobbe fuel flow
rate along the x-axis and air flow rate along the y-axis. However,
the flash-back limit in Fig. 4 is omitted because it does not occur
in the practical burner, as mentioned in Fig. 2. In this figure, the
x-axis represents Wobbe fuel flow rate, defined as Eq. (4), and
the real volumetric flow rate of each fuel can be calculated by
dividing the Wobbe fuel flow rate by the square root of the relative
density of the fuel. The heat input rate can be calculated by multi-
plying the Wobbe fuel flow rate by WI, as expressed in Eq. (5). In
this new diagram, the change in heat input rate upon fuel substitu-
tion can be identified directly by presenting it on the upper x-axis.
However, the upper x-axis may be omitted if a property data like
Table 1 is presented. The y-axis represents air flow rate, which does
not usually change even when the reference fuel is substituted
with other fuels. In addition, the dashed line of (A/WF)fuel denotes
the boundary of the stoichiometric Wobbe air–fuel ratio for each
fuel, defined in Eq. (7), and the lower region of the dashed line cor-
responds to the rich combustion region. The air–fuel ratio at each
point can be calculated by multiplying the gradient by the square
root of the relative density, as shown in Eq. (6).
The new flame stability diagram presents various benefits when
estimating interchangeability.
First, the combustion conditions of the substitute fuel can be
seen or calculated easily from the information at a single point of
the diagram because QWf and Qa are constant regardless of the fuel
type. For example, assume that LNG is substituted with another
fuel in combustion conditions adjusted for the center point of the
LNG flame stability zone, i.e., Qa and QWf are fixed at 160 (y-axis)
and 25 cm3/s (x-axis), respectively. The change in heat input rate
can be identified by reading values on the upper x-axis, and the
change in fuel flow rate can be calculated by dividing QWf by
the square root of the relative density of the substitute fuel. The
change in air–fuel ratio can be calculated by multiplying the gradi-
ent (Qa/QWf) by the square root of the relative density.
Second, the new diagram can indicate the extent of
interchangeability and modification direction to obtain optimal
3692 C.-E. Lee et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3687–3693

Heat input rate (kW) 0.6

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
C3H8 0.8
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Flash back zone
CH4 1.0 Lifting flame zone
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
LNG 1.2

Equivalence ratio
G
8
Stable

3H

L N
F)
1.4

C
F)
flame zone

/W
600

4
H
/W

(A

C
F)
(A

/W
1.6

(A
500 Lifting flame zone Yellow tip zone
Air flow rate, Qa (cm3/s)

1.8

400 2.0 CH4

MF55(HV)
2.2 MF35(HV)
300
2.4
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
200 Stable flame zone Heat input rate (kW)
Yellow tip zone (a) Existing flame stability diagram
LNG
100 Heat input rate (kW)
CH4
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
C3H8 MF55
0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 CH4
Wobbe fuel flow rate, QWf (cm3/s)

55
CH

F
M
F)
600

F)
/W

/W
Fig. 5. Flame stability regions of LNG, CH4, and C3H8 on IT burner using new flame

(A

(A
stability diagram. Lifting flame zone
500
Air flow rate (cm3/s)

combustion conditions for the substitute fuel. For example, if LNG

is substituted with CH4, the two stability zones are almost identical 400
under all operating conditions (Fig. 5), indicating that the two fuels Stable
are almost always interchangeable without any modification of Flash back flame zone
300 zone Yellow tip zone
combustion conditions. The situation is different when LNG is
substituted with C3H8. Since the center zone of the LNG stability
200
region corresponds to the yellow tip zone of the C3H8 stability re-
gion, the combustion system must be modified in order for C3H8 to CH4
be used. In order to substitute LNG with C3H8, the gradient of 100 MF55(HV)
ðA=WFÞC3 H8 must be adjusted to have the same value of (A/WF)LNG, MF35(HV)
then the two stability zones will be identical under a broad range
0
of operating conditions. The new diagram indicates that the substi- 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
tution can be obtained by reducing the QWf of C3H8 in proportion to Wobbe fuel flow rate, QWf (cm3/s)
the ratio of (A/WF)stoi for the two fuels, 0.69, as can be seen in Ta- (b) New flame stability diagram
ble 1. This reduction can be achieved by making the nozzle area of
Fig. 6. Comparison of existing and new flame stability diagrams for CH4 and
C3H8 smaller while holding supply pressure constant.
MF(HV)s having equivalent heating value on gas-range.
Third, comparing Figs. 4 and 5 shows that the stable flame zone
appears larger at low heat input rates in the conventional diagram
compared to the new diagram. In addition, the overlap in stable conventional flame stability diagram shows that two mixed fuels
flame zone between LNG and C3H8 appears large in the conven- have nearly the same equivalence ratio and heat input rate as
tional diagram, but this zone appears very small in the new dia- CH4 (Fig. 6a). While this result indicates that the mixed fuels can
gram. This distortion can be explained as follows. In the case of achieve a flame stability similar to that of CH4 if the equivalence
the conventional diagram, the range of the stable flame can appear ratio and heat input rate are adjusted to be similar to those of
to extend significantly along the y-axis as the equivalence ratio in- CH4, it indicates that the mixed fuels cannot substitute for CH4 un-
creases to infinity as the air flow rate approaches an infinitesimal der identical operating conditions. Plotting the flame stability
value. Thus, the new flame stability diagram can avoid such graph- zones on the new diagram provides additional information. When
ical distortion under conditions of low heat input rates or low fuel MF55(HV) is substituted for CH4 under the combustion conditions
flow rates. adjusted for the center point of the CH4 flame stability zone, i.e.,
Figs. 6 and 7 are presented to validate the new flame stability Qa and QWf are 350 and 35 cm3/s, respectively, the center point
diagram for LFG–C3H8 fuel, whose properties are very different of the CH4 stability zone corresponds to the lifting flame boundary
compared to the usual commercial fuels. In previous research, of MF55(HV), and the MF55(HV) flame tends to lift. In addition, the
the experimental data were obtained using a domestic gas-range heat input rate changes approximately from 1.8 to 1.5 kW, and the
with the aim of using LFG as an alternative fuel for natural gas primary air–fuel ratio changes from 7.5 (CH4 stoichiometric A/
[8–10]. In this work, pure CH4 was used as the reference fuel. F = 9.56) to 10.6 (MF55(HV) stoichiometric A/F = 10.79). The new
Fig. 6 compares the conventional and new diagrams of the diagram also indicates that, in order to substitute CH4 with
flame stability regions for LFG–C3H8 fuels formulated to have heat- MF55(HV), the Wobbe fuel flow rate (QWf) of MF55(HV) must be in-
ing values equivalent to LNG (MF55(HV) and MF35(HV)). First, the creased to have the same value of (A/WF)stoi.
 C.-E. Lee et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3687–3693 3693

0.6 two diagrams are equally useful for estimating interchangeability

of fuels with the same Wobbe index; however, if the fuels have dif-
0.8 ferent Wobbe index values, the new diagram is more useful.
Flash back zone Lifting flame zone
1.0
4. Conclusions
1.2
Equivalence ratio

A flame stability diagram in a partially premixed flame similar

Stable
1.4 flame zone to a Bunsen flame is typically expressed by displaying heat input
rate and equivalence ratio along the axes. However, this diagram
1.6 type is inadequate for identifying changes in combustion condi-
Yellow tip zone tions and flame stability when the reference fuel is substituted
1.8
with other fuels under identical operating conditions. To improve
2.0 upon these limitations of the conventional diagrams, a new type
CH4
of flame stability diagram is proposed here.
MF55(WI)
2.2 In the new flame stability diagram, the axis coordinates are the
MF35(WI)
air flow rate and Wobbe fuel flow rate, which is defined as the fuel
2.4 flow rate multiplied by the square root of the relative density. Val-
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
Heat input rate (kW) idation trials using various fuels, including CH4, C3H8, and LFG–
(a) Existing flame stability diagram C3H8 mixed fuels, in an interchangeability test burner and a
domestic gas-range showed that the new flame stability diagram
Heat input rate (kW) presents several advantages for estimating interchangeability.
0.0
MF55
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 First, the combustion conditions of the substitute fuel can be seen
or calculated easily from the information at a single point of the
CH40.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
diagram. Second, the new diagram indicates the extent of inter-
changeability and direction of any necessary modifications in order
4
55

CH
F

F)
M
F)

900 to obtain optimal combustion conditions for the substitute fuel.

/W
/W

(A

Third, the new diagram avoids the graphical distortion in the con-
(A

800 Lifting flame zone

ventional diagram that shows the stable flame zone to extend sig-
700 nificantly under conditions of low heat input rate or low fuel flow
Air flow rate (cm3/s)

600
Flash back zone
500 Stable
flame zone
400
Yellow tip zone
300
200
100
0 gases (Research Bulletin 60). Cleveland, Ohio; 1950.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Wobbe fuel flow rate, QWf (cm3/s)
(b) New flame stability diagram
Fig. 7. Comparison of existing and new flame stability diagrams for CH4 and
MF(WI)s having equivalent Wobbe index on gas-range.
Fig. 7 compares the conventional and new diagrams of flame
stability regions for LFG–C3H8 fuels formulated to have a Wobbe
index equivalent to that of LNG (MF55(WI) and MF35(WI)). In the
conventional flame stability diagram (Fig. 7a), the flame stability
zones of mixed fuels overlap that of CH4 and extend to higher heat
input rates. In the new flame stability diagram (Fig. 7b), the trends
in the flame stability zones are the same as in the conventional dia-
gram. In addition, the new diagram indicates that the primary air–
fuel ratio and heat input rate have the same value when CH4 is
substituted with mixed fuels with equivalent WIs. These results
indicate that mixed fuels can be substituted with CH4 and form sta-
ble flames at higher heat input rates without any modification of
the combustion system. Based on the results of Figs. 6 and 7, the
rate conditions.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Inha University Research Fund.
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