Effects of Burner Diameter and Fuel Type on Smoke Point and Radiation Characteristics of Diffusion Flames

Author(s):  
S. F. Goh ◽  
S. Kusadomi ◽  
S. R. Gollahalli

The main purpose of this study was to comprehend the effects of burner diameter and fuel type on smoke point characteristics of a hydrocarbon diffusion flame and its radiation emission. The critical mass flow rate of pure fuel at this smoke point was measured. At nine different fractions of the critical mass flow rate, nitrogen gas was supplied along with the fuel to achieve smoke point. At each condition, flame radiation and flame height were measured. The axial radiation profile at the critical fuel mass flow rate for one burner was also measured. Three fuels of differing sooting propensities were used: ethylene (C2H4), propylene (C3H6), and propane (C3H8). Three different burners with inner diameters of 1.2 mm, 3.2 mm and 6.4 mm were used. Results showed that propylene had the highest critical fuel flow rate and the highest nitrogen dilution required to suppress smoking and total flame radiation, followed by ethylene and propane. For all fuels, the curves of nitrogen flow rate required for smoke suppression versus fuel flow rate exhibited a skewed bell shape. The variation of Reynolds number at the critical fuel mass flow rate with the burner diameter showed a linear relation. On the other hand, the variation of total flame radiation with burner diameter was nonlinear.

Author(s):  
S. F. Goh ◽  
S. Kusadomi ◽  
S. R. Gollahalli

Abstract A study was conducted to understand the effects of dilution and co-flow on the sooting characteristics of hydrocarbon fuels. Measurements of the critical mass flow rate of a fuel at the threshold of smoking and the mass flow rate of the dilution gas (nitrogen) required to suppress smoking at several fuel flow rates were obtained. At the same time, the radiation emission and flame heights were also measured. Also recorded was the axial radiation profile at the critical fuel mass flow rate. Three fuels of differing sooting propensities were used: ethylene (C2H4), propylene (C3H6), and propane (C3H8). A 3.2 mm ID burner was employed. The results showed that propylene had the highest critical fuel flow rate and the highest nitrogen dilution required to suppress smoking, followed by ethylene and propane. Besides, propylene produced the highest flame radiation, followed by ethylene and propane. The variation of nitrogen flow rate required for smoke suppression with fuel flow rate exhibited a skewed bell shape for all fuels. The co-flow had no significant effect on flame soot liberation characteristics.


Author(s):  
Andrew G. Smith ◽  
Suresh Menon ◽  
Jeffery A. Lovett ◽  
Baris A. Sen

Large eddy simulations (LES) are performed of a bluff-body–stabilized flame with discrete liquid fuel injectors located just upstream of the bluff-body trailing edge in a so-called “close-coupled” configuration. Nonreacting and reacting simulations of the Georgia Tech single flameholder test rig [Cross et al., 2010, “Dynamics of Non-premixed Bluff Body-Stabilized Flames in Heated Air Flow,” Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo, Paper No. GT2010-23059] are conducted using an Eulerian–Lagrangian approach with a finite volume solver. Experimental data is first used to characterize the boundary conditions under nonreacting conditions before simulating reacting test cases at two different fuel mass flow rates. The two fuel mass flow rates not only result in different global equivalence ratios but different spatial distributions of fuel, especially in the near-field wake of the bluff body. The differing spatial distribution of fuel results in two distinct flame dynamics; at the high-fuel flow rate, large-scale sinusoidal Bérnard/von-Kármán (BVK) oscillations are observed, whereas a symmetric flame is seen under the low-fuel flow rate condition.


2002 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 284-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Chang ◽  
D. Nelson ◽  
C. Sipperley ◽  
C. Edwards

It is now well established that combustion instability in liquid-fueled gas turbines can be controlled through the use of active fuel modulation. What is less clear is the mechanism by which this is achieved. This results from the fact that in most fuel modulation strategies not only is the instantaneous mass flow rate of fuel affected but so too are the parameters which define the post-atomization spray that takes part in the combustion. Specifically, experience with piezoelectric modulated sprays has shown that drop size, velocity, cone angle, and patternation are all affected by the modulation process. This inability to decouple changes in the fueling rate from changes in the spray distribution makes understanding of the mechanism of instability control problematic. This paper presents the results of an effort to develop an injector which can provide temporal modulation of the fuel flow rate but without concomitant changes in spray dynamics. This is achieved using an atomization strategy which is insensitive to both fuel flow rate and combustor acoustics (an over-pressured spill-return nozzle) coupled with an actuator with flat frequency response (a low-mass voice coil). The design and development of the actuator (and its control system) are described, and a combination of phase-Doppler interferometry and imaging are used to establish its performance. Results show that the system is capable of producing sprays which have little variation in cone angle or spray distribution function despite variations in mass flow rate (number density) of greater than 50% over a range of frequencies of interest for control of combustion instability (10 Hz to 1 kHz).


Author(s):  
Hyeonsoo Chang ◽  
Chad Sipperley ◽  
David Nelson ◽  
Chris Edwards

It is now well established that combustion instability in liquid-fueled gas turbines can be controlled through the use of active fuel modulation. What is less clear is the mechanism by which this is achieved. This results from the fact that in most fuel modulation strategies not only is the instantaneous mass flow rate of fuel affected but so to are the parameters which define the post-atomization spray that takes part in the combustion. Specifically, experience with piezoelectric modulated sprays has shown that drop size, velocity, cone angle, and patternation are all affected by the modulation process. This inability to decouple changes in the fueling rate from changes in the spray distribution makes understanding of the mechanism of instability control problematic. This paper presents the results of an effort to develop an injector which can provide temporal modulation of the fuel flow rate but without concomitant changes in spray dynamics. This is achieved using an atomization strategy which is insensitive to both fuel flow rate and combustor acoustics (an over-pressured spill-return nozzle) coupled with an actuator with flat frequency response (a low-mass voice coil). The design and development of the actuator (and its control system) are described, and a combination of Phase-Doppler Interferometry and imaging are used to establish its performance. Results show that the system is capable of producing sprays which have little variation in cone angle or spray distribution function despite variations in mass flow rate (number density) of greater than 50% over a range of frequencies of interest for control of combustion instability (10 Hz to 1 kHz).


Author(s):  
Yuan Li ◽  
Hao Zhou ◽  
Ning Li ◽  
Kefa Cen

This paper presents a study of ethanol jet spray flame characteristics in a hot-diluted oxidant with different co-flow oxygen concentrations and fuel/air mass flow rate ratios (MF/MA ratios) through advance image processing technique. An air-blast atomizer was located in a McKenna burner which was utilized to provide stable combustion surroundings and variable combustion atmosphere for ethanol jet spray. The co-flow oxygen concentrations were set to 5%, 10%, 15% and 21% (by volume) by adjusting the mass flow rates of CH4, O2 and N2. The MF/MA ratios were set to 0.245, 0.490, 0.735, and 0.980 by adjusting the fuel mass flow rate and the carrier air mass flow rate. A high-speed RGB CCD camera was employed to capture spray flame images continuously. Spray flame edge is detected using an auto-adaptive edge-detection algorithm which could detect the spray flame edge continuously and clearly. A flame zone is defined as the region surrounded by the detected flame edge to obtain flame parameters. Spray flame characteristics are described using the measured flame parameters, involving flame area, length, brightness, nonuniformity and temperature which are derived from the spray flame images. Spray flame area, length, brightness and nonuniformity are extracted through image processing technique directly. Moreover, two-dimensional (2D) temperature profiling of spray flame is obtained by coupling image processing technique with two-color pyrometry based on Planck’s radiation law. The effects of co-flow oxygen concentration and MF/MA ratio on spray flame characteristics are investigated in this work. The spray flame parameters are observed to be sensitive to both co-flow oxygen concentration and MF/MA ratio. The results show that the fuel mass flow rate (MF) has opposite effects on spray flame characteristics compared with the carrier air mass flow rate (MA) in hot-diluted oxidant. Spray flame area and length are shown to decrease for higher co-flow oxygen concentrations, while spray flame brightness, uniformity and temperature are observed to increase for higher co-flow oxygen concentrations, owing to the enhancement of the combustion rate. A higher MF/MA ratio leads to higher spray flame area, length, brightness, uniformity and temperature, due to the increase of the droplet residence time or droplet concentration in hot-diluted oxidant. In the same MF/MA ratio, spray flame area and length are found to be smaller at a higher fuel flow rate (or carrier air flow rate). However, spray flame brightness, uniformity and temperature are demonstrated to be enhanced at a higher fuel flow rate (or carrier air flow rate). (CSPE)


Author(s):  
Saad A. Ahmed

Centrifugal compressors or blowers are widely used in many industrial applications. However, the operation of such systems is limited at low-mass flow rates by self-excited flow instabilities which could result in rotating stall or surge of the compressor. These instabilities will limit the flow range in which the compressor or the blower can operate, and will also lower their performance and efficiency. Experimental techniques were used to investigate a model of radial vaneless diffuser at stall and stall-free operating conditions. The speed of the impeller was kept constant, while the mass flow rate was reduced gradually to study the steady and unsteady operating conditions of the compressor. Additional experiments were made to investigate the effects of reducing the exit flow area on the inception of stall. The results indicate that the instability in the diffuser was successfully delayed to a lower flow coefficient when throttle rings were attached to either one or both of the diffuser walls (i.e., to reduce the diffuser exit flow area). The results also showed that an increase of the blockage ratio improves the stability of the system (i.e., the critical mass flow rate could be reduced to 50% of its value without blockage). The results indicate that the throttle rings could be an effective method to control stall in radial diffusers.


Author(s):  
S. F. Goh ◽  
C. Periasamy ◽  
S. R. Gollahalli

An experimental study of a propylene diffusion flame at its smoke point in a cross-flow with velocities ranging from 2 to 4 m/s and a series of diluted conditions was conducted. A gas jet flame from a circular tube burner (ID = 3.2 mm) with a range of exit velocities (4.2 to 34 m/s) corresponding to a Reynolds number range of 520 to 6065 was studied. Nitrogen was added to the fuel stream to eliminate smoking when the fuel flow rate was lower than the flow rate of pure fuel at smoke point condition (which is defined as the Critical Fuel Mass Flow Rate, CFMFR). The curve of N2 flow rate with fuel flow rate at the smoke point showed a skewed bell shape with two distinct regions. In the first region, the diluent flow rate increased with the fuel flow rate, and in the subsequent region the trend was reversed. These two regions were separated by a transition region. Our previous studies on flames in quiescent conditions concluded that these two regions were controlled by jet momentum and chemical kinetics, respectively. This study presents flame structure details such as transverse temperature and concentration profiles in typical flames representing these two regimes. Most of the temperature profiles show a dual peak structure, where the peak nearer to the burner was higher than the other. Furthermore, the peaks in the transition region flame were more distinct than those in the momentum dominated flame. Most of the flames in the 2 m/s cross-flow had lower O2 concentrations than the flames in the 3 and 4 m/s cross-flow. The temperature profiles, and the concentration profiles of O2 and soot change significantly when cross-flow velocity was changed from 2 to 4 m/s. Findings from this study enable us to understand industrial flares that are commonly used in petroleum refineries and chemical plants.


1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. Otugen ◽  
R. M. C. So ◽  
B. C. Hwang

Experiments were carried out in a model vaneless diffuser rig to investigate the rotating stall phenomenon and its relation to diffuser geometry. The experimental rig consisted of an actual impeller which was used to deliver the flow to the vaneless diffuser. Mass flow rate through the system could be adjusted by varying the rotational speed of the impeller at a fixed inlet opening or by changing the inlet opening at a fixed impeller speed. The flow exited to room condition. As such, the rig was designed to investigate the fluid mechanics of vaneless diffuser rotating stall only. Attention was focused on the effects of diffuser width and radius on rotating stall. Three diffuser widths and three outlet radii were examined. The width-to-inlet radius ratio varied between 0.09 and 0.142 while the outlet-to-inlet radius ratio varied between 1.5 and 2. Results showed that the critical mass flow rate for the onset of rotating stall decreases with decreasing diffuser width. The critical mass flow rate is affected also by the diffuser radius ratio; larger radius ratios resulted in smaller critical mass flow rates. The ratio of the speed of rotation of the stall cell to impeller speed is found to decrease with increasing number of stall cells. This relative speed also decreases with increasing diffuser radius ratio, but it is largely independent of the diffuser width.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document