Flame Propagations of Gasoline-Air Mixtures by Electrostatic Discharge Energies

Abstract

-Experimental studies were carried out to investigate the effects on flame propagation of gasoline-air mixtures by different electrostatic discharge energies in a cylindrical chamber. Three different ignition energies were used: 1 mJ, 50 mJ and 98 mJ. In this work, a high-speed particle image velocimetry technique was applied to visualize the flow-field around ignition electrodes. It was found that as the ignition energy increased, the ignition kernel was different. The different ignition kernel caused different flame initiation. During the flame initiation, the higher ignition energy was applied, the higher flame speed was observed. However, with increasing time, the flame speeds were independent of the ignition energies used. Theses observed flame behaviors were similar to computational simulations shown in the literature. It was also found that as the ignition energies increased, the velocities of unburnt mixtures ahead of propagating flame fronts increased.