Influence of a Bluff-Body’s Shape on the Stabilization

Regime of Non-Premixed Flames

I. ESQUIVA–DANO, H. T. NGUYEN, and D. ESCUDIE*
Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d’Acoustique/UMR CNRS 5509, Ecole Centrale de Lyon,
36, Avenue Guy de Collongue/BP 163, 69131 Ecully Cedex, France

The objective of this experimental work is to perform an analysis of non-premixed flames’ stabilization process
by focusing on the geometry of the flame holder. Indeed, the effect of the bluff-body shape on the flame
stabilization is of considerable interest to practical burner design. With this aim, a non-premixed flame is
stabilized in a free flow. Two bluff-bodies are used whose geometry and aerodynamic characteristics are
different: a disk shape, inducing a divergent flow and a tulip shape, allowing boundary layers development.
Direct visualizations and an aerothermodynamic description of the isothermal and reacting flow are achieved.
Results show the existence of various types of flames, according to the classical gas jet to annular air flow
velocity ratio, but the influence of the bluff-body shape on these stabilization regimes is also demonstrated. The
tulip case promotes an enlargement of the stabilization domain and emphasizes a specific region “the laminar
ring flame.” On the contrary, due to strong reverse velocities, the stabilization process is modified in the wake
of the disk. In conclusion, the present study points out that two parameters control the stabilization process of
non-premixed flames: the gas jet to air velocity ratio and the bluff-body shape. They both have to be taken into
account to improve the analysis. © 2001 by The Combustion Institute

NOMENCLATURE INTRODUCTION
B Width of the recirculation zone (mm)
Non-premixed flames are frequently used in
DB Circular bluff-body diameter (mm) industrial devices such as furnaces, diesel en-
De Annular air-flow diameter (mm) gines, and gas turbines. To improve the effi-
Dj Central fuel-injection diameter (mm) ciency of practical burners the design has been
K Turbulent kinetic energy (m2/s2) widely studied, most often leading to a double
L Length of the recirculation zone (mm) concentric jet flow. In such an arrangement a
LT Vortex length (mm) flame holder such as a bluff-body is necessary in
lT Vortex width (mm) order to generate a recirculation zone in which
Re Reynolds number based on Dj the two streams thoroughly mix and react. Then,
T Mean temperature (Kelvin) the aerodynamic wake provides a sufficient res-
U Mean velocity (m/s) idence time of burnt gases to ensure flame
Ue Mean axial annular air-flow velocity (m/s) stabilization. However, despite an extensive use
Uj Mean axial central fuel-jet velocity (m/s) of non-premixed burners the analysis of the
u⬘ rms velocity in the streamwise direction basic concepts governing the stabilization pro-
(m/s) cess is still needed and fundamental work has to
v⬘ rms velocity in the transverse direction be developed.
(m/s) Most of previous studies have been princi-
X Axial length (mm) pally devoted to an analysis of stabilization
Y Radial length (mm) conditions. They were based on the description
␣ Vortex angle (degree) of the stability domain and of the characteristic
␤ Streamline deflection angle (degree) flame modes. One of the controlling parameters
was the fuel to air velocity ratio, or mass flux
␳e Air density (kg/m3)
ratio [1, 2]. Depending on whether the fuel jet
␳j Natural gas density (kg/m3)
penetrates or stagnates in the recirculating
zone, flames are then classified. According to
the resulting aerodynamic configuration they
* Corresponding author. E-mail: escudié@mecaflu.ec- are called fuel-jet or air-flow dominant flames;
lyon.fr fuel-jet dominant flames are conical in shape
COMBUSTION AND FLAME 127:2167–2180 (2001)
© 2001 by The Combustion Institute 0010-2180/01/$–see front matter
Published by Elsevier Science Inc. PII 0010-2180(01)00318-2
2168 I. ESQUIVA–DANO ET AL.

whereas coflow air dominant flames appear as

luminous recirculating flames on the down-
stream surface of the bluff-body [3–11]. More
precisely, the flame structure, which depends on
the mixing process in the recirculation zone, is
strongly related to the fuel characteristics [12–
15]. The confinement also appears to be a
deciding parameter due to the resulting block-
age ratio of the bluff-body; walls constrain the
flow field and influence the recirculation zone
classically characterized by vortex structures
[16, 17]. Increasing the blockage ratio leads to a
lengthening of the recirculation zone. Ma and
Harn [18] have numerically tested the effect of
the bluff-body blockage ratio on the jet mixing
effect but they also introduced the bluff-body Fig. 1. Experimental setup.
cone angle, a parameter dependent on the
burner shape. The same bluff-body geometry, a
cone, is investigated in a high confinement is also performed by using laser Doppler an-
burner with three cone-angle values. They emometry and fine-wire thermocouples.
found that an increase in the bluff-body cone
angle leads to an increase in the intensity of the
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND
circulation in the bluff-body wake. A first at-
CONDITIONS
tempt to improve the role of the bluff-body
geometry on the recirculation zone was per-
A schematic diagram of the non-confined exper-
formed on premixed flames by Kundu et al. [19]
imental device is presented in Fig. 1. Natural
in 1980. Three flame-holders have been consid-
gas is supplied through a 5-mm-diameter hole
ered: a plate, a wedge, and a cylinder. Results
(Dj) in the center of the axisymmetric bluff-
have shown that the recirculation zone strength,
body, surrounded by an annular co-flowing air.
defined as the maximum value of reverse mass- The exit velocity of the gas jet (Uj) can reach 14
flow rate, is the greatest in the case of the plate m/s. The mean axial velocity of the free co-flow
and the smallest in the case of the cylinder. (Ue) is provided by a wind tunnel (De ⫽ 200
Despite these various research approaches, the mm) and can vary from 1 m/s up to 20 m/s. The
specific effect dealing with the influence of the residual turbulence level of the annular air
bluff-body shape on the characteristic mode and stream is ⬃0.7%.
on the structure of non-premixed flames ex- To study the influence of the bluff-body shape
panding in non-confined flow has never been on the stabilization process, two particular ge-
attempted. The purpose of this experimental ometries have been chosen. In both cases the
study is to fill this gap by analyzing the stabili- gas-jet exit is centered on a disk with a diameter
zation process for two typical flame-holder ge- DB ⫽ 60 mm. The main difference is the
ometries at a low-blockage ratio value. First, the upstream shape of the disk. The first arrange-
case of a non-premixed flame stabilized on a ment corresponds to a flat disk (5-mm thick-
thick disk inducing a strong divergent flow is ness) inducing a divergent flow (disk), whereas
described. Second, the same disk is considered, the second one is a perfectly streamlined tulip
but the upstream geometry is profiled as a shape generating a classical boundary layer de-
“tulip” leading to the expansion of boundary velopment (tulip).
layers. In order to specify the limit of the A CCD camera records direct visualizations
various stabilization regimes, direct visualiza- of the stabilized flames. The aerodynamic de-
tions are developed. To support these results, scription of the isothermal and reacting flows is
an aerothermodynamic description of the flow performed by means of a two-component for-
STABILIZATION OF NONPREMIXED FLAMES
ward-scattering laser Doppler velocimetry sys-
tem. Particles used to seed the flow are incense
for non-reactive measurements and zirconium
oxide ZrO2 for the reacting case. The tempera-
ture field is obtained by using a 6% Pt-Rh/30%
Pt-Rh thermocouple with a diameter of 50 ␮m.
To give an accurate evolution and character-
ization of the stabilization regimes, a large
domain of gas over air velocity ratio has been
investigated and will be presented. However, to
illustrate these results for the two bluff-bodies,
only one experimental case will be presented. It
corresponds to conditions where Uj and Ue are
equal to 5.90 m/s and 3.65 m/s, respectively. The
central gas jet is then laminar (Re ⫽ 1800) and
the value of the fuel to air velocity ratio is
Uj/Ue ⫽ 1.62.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
For a better understanding of the influence of
the bluff-body shape on the aerodynamic wake,
results are separated into two sections describ-
ing first the isothermal flow and then presenting
the stabilized non-premixed flames.
Isothermal Analysis of the Bluff-Body Wake
In order to evaluate the flow divergence effect
on the recirculation zone feature, an annular air
flow without central fuel injection is considered
first. The classical configuration where the cen-
tral fuel affects the recirculation zone structure
follows.
Influence of the Bluff-Body Shape on the
Wake Characteristic
When only the annular air flow is considered,
the influence of the bluff-body shape is empha-
sized because the initial velocity conditions
around the bluff-body are undisturbed by the
central jet. According to the bluff-body shape,
the isothermal flow can be characterized by a
streamlines deflection. For a chosen annular air
velocity Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s and for two stations
downstream the exit plane X/DB ⫽ 0.1 and X/DB
⫽ 0.3, the angle value (␤) is given in Fig. 2. As
expected, the disk induces stronger deflection of
the mean streamlines (␤ ⫽ 86°) compare to the
tulip (␤ ⫽ 5°).
2169
Fig. 2. Transverse evolution of the streamlines deflection ␤:
Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s.
A previous detailed experimental description
of the whole velocity field showed that this
different flow divergence induces a different
behavior of the recirculation zone [20, 21]. In
particular, the characteristic lengths are
changed. As a matter of fact, the wake gener-
ated by the two bluff-bodies is enclosed by a
virtual surface, first defined by Kundu et al. [19],
where the time-average of mass flow crossing
the boundary is zero, and where the mean
velocity along the centerline is negative. In this
way, the bluff-body’s wake can be determine by
two characteristic dimensions, the length and
width, respectively noted L and B.
1. The centerline evolution of the mean axial
velocity for the disk and tulip bluff-body
shapes is presented in Fig. 3 for several
annular air-flow velocities. In the disk case,
for the smallest annular air-flow velocity
value, the recirculation zone length L is
about 1.9 DB instead of 1.6DB in the tulip
case. Increasing Ue leads first to a decrease
and then to a finite characteristic length close
to 1.5 DB and 1.2 DB, values respectively
reached for an annular air-flow velocity
equal to 3 m/s in the disk case and 8 m/s in
the tulip one.
2. By looking at the width of the recirculation
zone for different annular air-flow velocities,
it is also possible to differentiate the tulip
and disk bluff-body shape effect. The results
are presented in Fig. 4 for only two annular
air-flow conditions: Ue ⫽ 3.65 and 5.95 m/s.
As found before for the recirculating lengths,
2170
Fig. 3. Centerline evolution of the isothermal non-dimen-
sional mean axial velocity (U/Ue) for several annular air-flow
velocities and for two bluff-body shapes: (a) the disk, and
(b) the tulip.
the disk case quickly promotes a well-defined
width value. This value, greater than DB
because of a strong divergent flow (1.2 DB),
Fig. 4. Evolution of the characteristic length scales of the
isothermal recirculation zones for two annular air velocities:
Ue ⫽ 3.65 and 5.95 m/s.
I. ESQUIVA–DANO ET AL.
Fig. 5. Effect of the bluff-body shape on the wake charac-
teristic [Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s].
is obtained for an axial distance from the
burner surface equal to 0.5 DB. For such a
shape, B/DB is not very sensitive to the
annular air-flow velocity parameter. On the
other hand, the tulip-wake width is continu-
ously decreasing from the bluff-body diame-
ter DB, which is consistent with a weak
deflection of the mean streamlines. For a
chosen annular air velocity equal to 3.65 m/s,
the characteristic dimensions of the recircu-
lating zone are schematically summarized in
Fig. 5 for the two different geometries. It can
be noticed that the same tendency, linked to
the flow divergence, is found in the results of
Kundu et al. [19], even although they are
obtained in a premixed reacting case where
the wake is modified compare to the isother-
mal case.
Results have shown that a different flow diver-
gence due to the bluff-body shape is associated
to a change in the characteristic lengths. This
phenomenon is also related to different recircu-
lating velocities. As shown in Fig. 3, the disk
induces larger reverse values of the axial mean
velocity, which is also consistent with previous
results [19].
In conclusion, large ␤ values induce large
axial and transversal dimensions. At the same
time, the recirculating velocities and the associ-
ated turbulent kinetic energies are increased.
STABILIZATION OF NONPREMIXED FLAMES 2171

Wake Structure as a Function of the Fuel

to Air Velocity Ratio
For the non-premixed isothermal case, where
fuel jet and annular air are both operating, the
central to annular jet ratio Uj/Ue, sometimes
expressed in terms of mass flux ratio (␳j/␳e)
1/2
(Uj/Ue) [1, 11], is generally defined as the
parameter controlling the recirculation zone
structure. In this work, as in most of the previ-
ous studies [2, 7, 15, 17], we have chosen to
describe the wake structure as a function of the
fuel to air velocity ratio Uj/Ue. Three flow
conditions are generally identified [2, 6]. First,
the annular jet dominates the flow in the wake.
The central jet is then constrained to recirculate
toward the bluff-body surface. Consequently,
the centerline evolution of the mean axial ve-
locity puts in advance two stagnation points
related to the gas-jet penetration and the recir-
culation zone length. The second condition is
characterized by a great velocity ratio and a
central fuel jet dominating the wake: there is no
more stagnation point located along the center- Fig. 6. The flow fields for different fuel to air-flow rates,
line. The last case corresponds to a situation Roquemore et al. [2].
where neither the central fuel jet nor the annu-
lar air jet dominates: that leads to an interme-
diate state where only one stagnation point an accurate analysis of the stabilization process
exists. An illustration of these three general flow such a behavior indicates that aerodynamic ef-
conditions issuing from the work of Roquemore fects need to be taken into account.
et al. [2] is shown in Fig. 6. A comparison of the two aerodynamic fields
The existence of these three behaviors are obtained for the selected case Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s and
well known and independent of the bluff-body Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s, corroborates this analysis. For a
shape, but their boundaries and transition re-
gions may be influenced by the flame-holder
geometry. Aerodynamic measurements of the
isothermal flow show that the two parameters,
velocity ratio and flame-holder shape, both in-
fluence the recirculation zone structure. The
centerline evolution of the mean axial velocities
is presented in Fig. 7 for two central fuel-jet
velocities, Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s and 13.90 m/s, and one
annular air-flow velocity Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s. Classi-
cally, these cases should correspond to the
jet-dominant state, but here, according to the
bluff-body shape, results may be different. For
the stronger central fuel injection, the tulip
promotes the jet-dominating case without stag-
nation points, whereas the disk favors the co- Fig. 7. Centerline evolution of the mean axial velocities in
flow-dominant domain with one stagnation the isothermal case for Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s, Uj ⫽ 13.90 m/s, and
point at the end of the recirculation zone. For Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s.
2172
Fig. 8. Velocity and turbulent kinetic energy fields in the isothermal case: Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s and Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s.
same jet velocity ratio in the wake of the two
bluff-bodies, Fig. 8 presents the mean axial
velocity fields superimposed on the velocity
vectors. The schematic streamlines of the two
counter-rotating eddies associated with the fuel
and air jet are also plotted. Owing to the strong
deflection of the mean streamlines induced by
the disk and previously described, the air-driven
vortex is wider in the disk case compared to the
tulip one. Although both fuel jet and annular air
are operating, the external air flow principally
manages the recirculation zone structure. Con-
I. ESQUIVA–DANO ET AL.
cerning the central fuel-jet penetration, because
of greater recirculating velocities, this penetra-
tion is reduced for the disk compared to the
tulip bluff-body case. For the same experimen-
tal conditions, the turbulent kinetic energy
fields K ⫽ (u⬘2 ⫹ 2v⬘2)/2, where u⬘ and v⬘ are,
respectively, the rms velocity in the stream-wise
and transverse direction, are also presented in
Fig. 8. In agreement with the wake properties
observed, results put in advance high K regions
where the central fuel jet is constrained by the
recirculating flow, in particular for the disk case.
STABILIZATION OF NONPREMIXED FLAMES
Fig. 9. Characteristic regimes of non-premixed bluff-body stabilized flames.
Nevertheless, significant values related to the
vortex structures are also underlined.
Effect of the Bluff-body Shape on the
Characteristic of Non-Premixed Stabilized
Flames
A detailed description of the reacting flow in the
bluff-body wake is performed over a wide range
of annular to central jet velocity conditions. The
objective is to extract from this analysis, the
differences in the flame structure due to the
flame-holder geometry and their consequences
on the stabilization diagram.
Characteristic Mode and Structure
Whatever the shape of the bluff-body, by fixing
the velocity of the central fuel jet and by in-
creasing the annular air-flow velocity, five stabi-
lization processes occur (cf. Fig. 9). Direct
visualizations allow a better knowledge of these
different regimes: laminar flame, transition I,
laminar ring flame, transition II, and recirculat-
ing flame. At low annular air-flow velocity, a
laminar axisymmetric diffusion flame is stabi-
lized just behind the bluff-body. Increasing Ue
leads to a first transition mode where the stabi-
lizing phenomenon is changing from a classical
diffusion flame to a complex non-premixed
2173
flame stabilization process. More precisely, this
transition zone includes three specific flame
features spreading out successively. First, a
wrinkle of the flame front appears. It grows and
the flame reaches a particular behavior called a
“bulge flame,” rich in soot. Second, the flame is
lifted, “detached,” and stabilized downstream in
the wake. At the end of the transition zone, the
flame moves upstream in the flow to stabilize
again on the bluff-body surface, “reattached.”
This transition regime is followed by a “laminar
ring flame,” where a laminar blue ring is sur-
rounding a laminar soot diffusion core. A fur-
ther increase in the annular air velocity induces
a new transition domain where the laminar blue
ring flame becomes unstable and the central jet
penetrates the recirculation zone of the bluff-
body intermittently. This case corresponds to
the transition between fuel-jet and air-flow
dominant flames. Finally, the “recirculating
mode” occurs and the flame is trapped inside the
recirculation region. The existence of these five
stabilization regimes is only due to the gas over air
velocity ratio. Nevertheless, their evolution and
boundaries may depend on the bluff-body shape.
These results seem quite different from those
described by Huang and Lin [11] for a non-
premixed flame stabilized on a circular disk. For
a same decrease of the velocity ratio Uj/Ue, here
2174
related to a decreasing gas-jet velocity, they
classify the flame into seven characteristic
modes: lifted, split flashing, developing, laminar
ring, unsteady detached, transition, and recircu-
lated. Two differences can be emphasized: the
first one lies on the lifted flame that is never
reached in our case, mainly due to the low
gas-jet velocity, the second one deals with the
flame detachment and reattachment domain
that occurs after the ring-flame mode instead of
before in the present study. To explain this
inverted evolution of the detachment-reattach-
ment domains, results need to be correlated to
some specific experimental parameters. Thus
the blockage ratio is a deciding parameter that
strongly affects the recirculation zone charac-
teristics and flame stability [17]. The experi-
ments of Huang and Lin [11] were conducted
with a circular disk bluff-body inducing a higher
blockage ratio (44%) than in our study (9%).
Moreover few others parameters differentiate
the two experiments: the circular disk thickness
[0.5 mm for Huang and Lin study compare to 5
mm here], which modifies the recirculation zone
characteristics, the gas-jet diameter (Dj/DB ⫽
0.17 for Huang and Lin experiments compare to
0.08 in the present study). These experimental
distinctions between the two studies undoubt-
edly bring to some differences in the recircula-
tion zone characteristics and flame stabilization
features.
In order to improve our knowledge on these
stabilization processes, a description of the tem-
perature field associated with the flame charac-
teristic modes has been achieved. These mea-
sured temperature fields and a schematic view
of the results are presented in Fig. 10 according
to the flame regime. It is obvious that each case
is associated to a specific location of the highest
temperature zone, where mean temperatures
reach values over 1500 K and up to ⬃1800 K.
For a fixed gas-jet velocity and an increasing
annular air velocity, the evolution through the
various characteristic modes is linked to a dis-
placement of hot regions from the central to the
outside part of the wake. For the laminar diffu-
sion flame and the transition I regimes, the
maximum temperature values are set around
the central fuel jet along the diffusion reaction
zone. When the annular air velocity increases
the velocity ratio Uj/Ue decreases and the evo-
I. ESQUIVA–DANO ET AL.
lution to the laminar ring-flame stabilization
corresponds to an enlargement of the highest
temperature zone. In particular the maxima are
shifted toward the outside part of the wake in
the ring region and along the blue cone. Asso-
ciated with the second transition regime, tem-
perature results show low levels near the burner
surface, which are characteristic of rich mixture
conditions. On the other hand, the maximum
mean temperature regions are located straight
up the central fuel injection. Stronger values of
the annular air velocity correspond to the ex-
tremity of the recirculating flame domain, and
are only obtained for the disk case before
extinction. For such a case, high mean temper-
ature regions move toward the bluff-body sur-
face and cover a large external part of the
recirculation zone.
These results show that the stabilization pro-
cess of a non-premixed flame in the wake of a
bluff-body evolves as a function of the velocity
ratio Uj/Ue. But they also put in advance that
this development is linked to a regular evolution
from a pure diffusion flame classically stabilized
on the burner surface to a partially premixed
flame stabilized by recirculating gases in the bluff-
body wake. Between these two extreme states, the
intermediate case where the flame is stabilized by
a “blue ring” has now to be detailed.
The “Laminar Ring Flame”
The stabilization process, called “laminar ring
flame,” and visualized in Fig. 11, reveals a
laminar blue ring [1] set far from the burner
exit, and a blue cone [2] whose base corresponds
to the ring. Both are broad and surround a
laminar soot diffusion core [3]. Owing to a zoom
set on the CCD camera, it is possible to enlarge
a part of the ring visualization (cf. Fig. 12). The
visible leading edge flame shares some common
features found in tribrachial flame also called a
“triple flame” and first observed by Phillips in
1965 [22]. The triple flame consists of three
distinct branches corresponding to three differ-
ent types of flames:
1. a fuel-rich premixed flame, set along the
inner part of the recirculation zone, toward
the fuel jet,
2. a fuel-lean flame, following the outer part of
STABILIZATION OF NONPREMIXED FLAMES
Fig. 10. Measured temperature fields and location of the maximum mean temperature regions according to the characteristic
regimes.
the recirculation zone, toward the annular air
flow,
3. a diffusion flame arising from excess fuel and
oxidizer that survive through each branch of
the premixed flames.
The intersection of these three branches at the
leading edge of the blue ring is called the “triple
point.” At this point the propagation speed is
found to be close to the laminar burning velocity
of the stoichiometric mixture.
The existence domain of the laminar blue
2175
ring flame has been experimentally investigated
by varying the central fuel-jet velocity from
small to larger values. Increasing the fuel-flow
velocity influences the mixing between oxidizer
and fuel in the recirculation zone. That leads to
a larger mixture fraction gradient at the leading
edge of the ring flame and, hence, to different
location of the laminar blue ring. Such a partic-
ular approach dealing with the stabilization
mechanism linked to the expansion of triple
flames will be developed in a forthcoming paper.
2176
Fig. 11. Direct visualization and schematic view of the
“laminar ring flame”: Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s and Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s. (1)
blue ring (2) blue cone, (3) soot core.
Influence of the Bluff-Body Shape on the
Stabilization Diagram
The stabilization modes previously emphasized
occur for the two bluff-body geometries. Never-
theless, the diagram boundaries are very sensi-
tive to the flame-holder shape. In order to
support this analysis, the stabilization diagrams
obtained for the two different arrangements are
presented in Fig. 13. It is clear that the size of
the stabilization domain is larger for the tulip
than for the disk. Extinction only arises for high
annular air-flow values associated with small
fuel-jet ones. As a consequence, by significantly
promoting the flame stabilization, the tulip
Fig. 12. Direct visualization of the tribrachial structure:
Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s and Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s.
I. ESQUIVA–DANO ET AL.
Fig. 13. Stabilization diagrams for the disk (a) and the tulip
(b) cases.
leads to a spreading of the laminar ring-flame
region.
Explanation of this discrepancy mainly lies on
a different evolution of the isothermal aerody-
namic wake detailed before (cf. Fig. 3). Thus,
the largest transition zones emphasized by the
tulip bluff-body need to be considered in con-
nection with the progressive evolution of the
tulip isothermal wake and the associated lowest
recirculating velocities. By the same way, the
stronger reverse flow induced by the disk in-
volves extinction over a wider velocity range. So,
by changing the flame-holder geometry, aerody-
namic and mixing are both modified. As a
consequence, results show that the bluff-body
shape has to be considered, next to the air to
fuel-jet velocity ratio, in order to predict the
stabilization phenomenon. These two processes
are involved in the characterization approach of
the stabilizing flame mode and structure.
To support this point, a detailed analysis of
STABILIZATION OF NONPREMIXED FLAMES
Fig. 14. Mean temperature fields in the reacting case: Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s and Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s.
the aerothermodynamic field in the bluff-body
wakes is now developed.
Aerothermodynamic Analysis
With the aim of emphasizing the differences on
the stabilizing process due to the burner geom-
etry, one specific experimental case is here
detailed. It deals with air and gas velocity con-
ditions equal to 3.65 m/s and 5.90 m/s, respec-
tively, checked by red crosses in the stabilization
diagrams (Fig. 13). According to the bluff-body
shape two characteristic flame modes are ob-
tained: the recirculating regime for the disk and
the laminar ring for the tulip. So, this approach
will strengthen the effect of the bluff-body
shape on the stabilization process, and in the
same time, a comparison between two different
characteristic modes could be provided.
For both arrangements, the flame structure is
first investigated and spatial distribution of
mean temperatures is plotted in Fig. 14 as a
function of the axial X and radial Y distances
downstream of the burner. For the tulip the
high mean temperature zone distribution
2177
spreads out further downstream the burner rim.
It lies inside the blue ring surrounding the
flame, and all along the blue cone. From previ-
ous visualizations, the supposed “triple point”
marked by a cross on the temperature field is set
21 mm above the tulip-burner rim, what corre-
sponds to the lower part of the high mean
temperature zone. On the other hand, the disk
generates extended high-temperature zones, on
each side and above the central gas jet, where
mixing is occurring. By assuming that the fresh
central fuel jet could be approximately defined
by a selected isotherm, its penetration length
can be estimated. A mean temperature value
equal to 900 K and corresponding to the mean
temperature gradient has been chosen. In the
tulip case a length close to 150 mm is reached
what seems to promote the jet-dominant case. If
we now focus on the disk, the temperature field
shows an enlargement of hot regions related to
a shorter jet-penetration length (90 mm). When
the mean flame length is decreased due to
aerodynamic phenomena, stabilization process
2178
Fig. 15. Velocity fields in the reacting case: Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s and Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s.
is then much more depending on mixing pro-
cess.
To complete this analysis the mean velocity
fields are presented in Fig. 15. First, it is noted
that the streamlines deflection mentioned in the
isothermal flow is still occurring in the reacting
case: weak deflection for the tulip and great for
the disk. Moreover, both cases reveal character-
istic patterns with two counter-rotating eddies,
one associated with the central gas jet, and the
second with the recirculating air in the bluff-
body wake. These structures, already expanding
in the isothermal flow, are shifted toward the
outside part of the wake. Consequently, and
contrary to the isothermal case, the penetration
length of the gas jet is increased and there is no
longer a stagnation point along the centerline.
These aerodynamic results show that reverse
velocities, as well as wake characteristic lengths
I. ESQUIVA–DANO ET AL.
depend on the flame-holder geometry. There-
fore, the ability for the central gas jet to go
through the wake is intimately connected to this
parameter. In the wake of the bluff-body, two
counter-rotating eddies are associated with the
fuel and air jet. The vortex associated with the
annular air flow is named air-driven vortex, and
its position and structure change according to
the changes in the flame-holder geometry and
the different isotherm and reactive flows (Fig.
16). For the tulip case, the penetration of the
central fuel jet is enhanced far downstream due
to a weakly recirculation zone, and the vortices
are easily shifted outside. For the case where
the disk induces a dominant annular flow, the
gas jet is constrained and its expansion is re-
duced, even although the vortices are slightly
shifted outside the recirculation zone. These
results also emphasize the leading differences
STABILIZATION OF NONPREMIXED FLAMES
Fig. 16. Evolution of the vortex scales in the wake of the
two bluff-bodies for the isothermal and reacting flows.
between the two flame regimes, “recirculating
flame” for the disk and “laminar ring flame” for
the tulip, principally controlled by the aerody-
namic parameters.
The turbulent kinetic energy fields K, ob-
tained for the same experimental conditions are
presented in Fig. 17. They confirm that the
effect of the bluff-body geometry is still prepon-
derant. As classically observed the main effect
of combustion is to reduce the kinetic energy
Fig. 17. Turbulent kinetic energy fields in the reacting case: Uj ⫽ 5.90 m/s and Ue ⫽ 3.65 m/s.
2179
levels. This relaminarization is particularly sen-
sitive for the tulip case in the vicinity of the ring
(black cross) and the blue cone. For the disk,
high shearing stresses induce strong values of
the turbulent kinetic energy. Generally speaking
in comparison with the temperature field previ-
ously detailed, one can notice that hot regions
are principally associated with the laminar part
of the wake. The stabilization process seems
mainly determined by vortices generated in the
recirculating zones, which promote mixing with
different characteristic time scales.
CONCLUSIONS
The influence of the flame-holder geometry on
the stabilization process of non-premixed
flames has been experimentally studied. Two
typical shapes have been investigated: a disk
inducing a strong divergent flow and a tulip
generating a boundary layer development. Di-
rect visualizations and aerothermodynamic
fields are obtained for the isothermal and react-
ing cases. Results first point out the general
evolution of the stabilization process. According
to the gas jet to annular air velocity ratio, five
different characteristic flame modes are ob-
served and reported in a stability diagram.
2180
Whatever the burner geometry, various do- 5.
mains are then obtained and detailed in tem-
6.
perature and velocity. They correspond to the
laminar flame, the transition I, the laminar ring 7.
flame, the transition II, and the recirculating
flame. The particular case where a blue ring and 8.
cone appear has been emphasized.
9.
Results also bring out that two controlling
parameters have to be considered in order to 10.
characterize the stabilization regimes: the clas-
sical central gas to annular air velocity ratio 11.
joined to the bluff-body shape. The influence of
12.
the bluff-body shape is clearly demonstrated,
particularly on the boundary of the stabilization
zones. The tulip significantly promotes flame 13.
stabilization and the particular “laminar ring
flame” regime persists over a larger range of 14.
velocities compared to the disk. The detailed
analysis of the aerothermodynamic field ob- 15.
tained for a particular velocity ratio emphasizes
the dependence between the bluff-body shape 16.
and the flame regime obtained. Moreover, as
17.
aerodynamic influences the mixing it constitutes
an important parameter that has to be taken 18.
into account for the stabilization process.
19.
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