Burning characteristics of candle flames in sub-atmospheric pressures: An experimental study and scaling analysis

Qiang Wang, Longhua Hu*, Adriana Palacios, Suk Ho Chung

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Burning characteristics (mass burning rate, natural convection boundary layer thickness, flame height and dark zone height) of laminar diffusion flames produced by a candle at sub-atmospheric pressures in the range of P=50-100kPa were experimentally studied in a reduced-pressure chamber; such data are not reported to date. Scaling analysis was performed to interpret the pressure dependence. The new experimental findings for candle flames in the sub-atmospheric pressures were well interpreted by the proposed scaling laws: (1) the mass burning rate was higher for a candle with larger wick length, and it increased with increasing ambient pressure, a stagnant layer B-number model based on natural convection boundary (flame boundary layer thickness) was developed to scale the mass burning rate of candle flames at various pressures; (2) the flame boundary layer thickness was wider in lower pressure and can be well represented by a natural convection boundary layer solution; (3) flame height was higher for a candle with larger wick length, meanwhile the ratio of flame height to burning rate was independent of pressure; (4) the flame dark zone height representing a soot formation length scale changes little with pressure, meanwhile its ratio to the total flame height is scaled with pressure by P∞-1/2/Lw,e3/4 (Lw,e is effective wick length inside flame). This work provided new experimental data and scaling laws of candle flame behaviors in sub-atmospheric pressures, which provided information for future characterization and soot modeling for diffusion flames associated with melting and evaporation processes of solid fuels.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2065-2072
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of the Combustion Institute
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Candle flame
  • Flame height and dark zone height
  • Mass burning rate
  • Stagnant layer B-number model
  • Sub-atmospheric pressure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Burning characteristics of candle flames in sub-atmospheric pressures: An experimental study and scaling analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this