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 language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2065-2072 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Proceedings of the Combustion Institute |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 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