The anchoring mechanism of a bluff-body stabilized laminar premixed flame

Kushal S. Kedia, Ahmed F. Ghoniem

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

112 Scopus citations

Abstract

The objective of this work is to investigate the mechanism of the laminar premixed flame anchoring near a heat-conducting bluff-body. We use unsteady, fully resolved, two-dimensional simulations with detailed chemical kinetics and species transport for methane-air combustion. No artificial flame anchoring boundary conditions were imposed. Simulations show a shear-layer stabilized flame just downstream of the bluff-body, with a recirculation zone formed by the products of combustion. A steel bluff-body resulted in a slightly larger recirculation zone than a ceramic bluff-body; the size of which grew as the equivalence ratio was decreased. A significant departure from the conventional two-zone flame-structure is shown in the anchoring region. In this region, the reaction zone is associated with a large negative energy convection (directed from products to reactants) resulting in a negative flame-displacement speed. It is shown that the premixed flame anchors at an immediate downstream location near the bluff-body where favorable ignition conditions are established; a region associated with (1) a sufficiently high temperature impacted by the conjugate heat exchange between the heat-conducting bluff-body and the hot reacting flow and (2) a locally maximum stoichiometry characterized by the preferential diffusion effects. © 2014 The Combustion Institute.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2327-2339
Number of pages13
JournalCombustion and Flame
Volume161
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2014
Externally publishedYes

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