Identification of Triple Flame Based on Numerical Data for Laminar Lifted Flames

Abstract

The flame base structures of laminar lifted flames are numerically investigated in order to develop a model of triple flame applicable to the flamelet model. The lifted flames formed in the downstream expanded duct developed by Kioni et al.(1) are calculated systematically in terms of the fuel concentration gradient at the inlet using a variant of the HSMAC method, modified so as to deal with variations of density. The triple flame is formed at the flame base of lifted nonpremixed flame for every case, even the case which does not initially have partial mixing. The diffusion flame appears to be supported by the enhancement of the surrounding premixed flames, resulting in a temperature rise. All scalar quantities along the premixed flames of the triple flame decline along a similar profile in mixture fraction space, and scalar quantities in the region surrounded by the premixed flames are almost completely conserved. On the basis of the results, we developed a model of triple flame that is applicable to the flamelet model. In the model, the region without reaction upstream of the flame base is referred to as the unburned region (frozen flow structure region), followed by the transition region outside the premixed flames, in which the flame changes from the frozen structure to the fully burning diffusion structure. The region surrounded by the premixed flames is referred to as the triple flame structure region. The region following the triple flame structure region is the fully burning diffusion flame structure region.