Experimental and Computational Investigation of Flame Holders in Combustion Chambers at Different Thermal Loads

Abstract

The effect on the dynamic stability of combustors with and without flame holders were investigated experimentally and computationally with thermal loads of 3, 5, and 9 kW. Three different cases were studied, large flame holder (LFH), small flame holder (SFH) and no flame holder (NO_ FH). Flame topology was investigated in these three cases. Moreover, lean propane-air premixed combustion were also considered for two models, turbulent flame speed closure (TFC) and coherent flame (CFM). These models were investigated using different turbulent kinetic energies and turbulence dissipation rates. Experiments were performed with mean inlet velocities of 16.5, 17, 29.2, 30.8, and 52.6 cm/s, excess air ratios (λ) of 1.6, 1.65, 1.7, and 1.8. The results showed that the flame topology and location are more sensitive to the increase in the excess air ratios and thermal loads in the large flame holder than in the small flame holder. Heat transfers and species distributions caused by combustion are also investigated for the large and small flame holders; in both cases, flame stability was sustained, and the flame front position moved upward regarding to the flame holder region.