THE EFFECTS OF PILOTING ON TURBULENT FLAME STRUCTURE
Open Access
- Author:
- Shupp, Ryan Michael
- Area of Honors:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Jacqueline Antonia O'Connor, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Hosam Kadry Fathy, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Turbulent Flames
Pilot Flames
Pilotting - Abstract:
- Pilot flames are used quite frequently in the field of turbulent combustion as they serve several purposes in conditioning the main flame. First and foremost, they present a means of preventing flame blow off as higher velocities are achieved allowing for the study of flame cases that would otherwise be impossible since the flame speed becomes greater than the speed at which the flame can propagate. They also serve as a means of creating an adiabatic or superadiabatic boundary layer which better conditions the environment for the study, and create a means of standardizing boundary conditions for future simulations of the flame. There are, however, open questions remaining as to how the pilots actually affect the main flame. It is currently unclear if and how the presence and size of pilots actually change the properties of their respective main flame. The purpose of this study is to explore how pilot flames affect the global behavior of the flame through global consumption speed and flame brush thickness. The study will also explore how back-supporting, or lack thereof, affects the formation and lifetime of flame holes. In the end, it was determined that the global behavior of the flame is unaffected by the pilot flame configuration as flame brush thickness and global consumption speed are relatively consistent throughout the test cases. Additionally, it was determined that flame hole formation rates and size decrease significantly with increasing downstream distance. This was determined to be a result of an increase in OH layer thickness as the flame moves downstream which acts as a means of self-back-supporting for the flame, even in the absence of designated back-support pilot flames.