The goal of this work was to identify the mechanisms that effect stabilization of hydrocarbon jet flames. Methane, nitrogen, and co-flowing air were regulated and directed through a burner that created fully-developed fuel flow with concurrent air. The behavior of the reaction zone at the leading-edge was analyzed from digital images obtained from a camera optimally positioned to capture the movements of the entire flame front. Low Reynolds number flows allowed for the investigation of hysteretic behavior. The hysteresis regime refers to the situation where the jet flame has dual positions favorable to flame stabilization: attached and lifted. Results indicate that flame height in hysteresis is significantly impacted by high velocities of co-flow and that past a critical value a local minimum will be created. Fully turbulent lifted flames were also studied to determine the fluctuations in the height of lifted methane flames in the presence of air co-flow. The partially-premixed flame front of the lifted flame fluctuates in the axial direction, with the fluctuations becoming greater in flames stabilized further downstream. These fluctuations are also observed in flames where blowout is imminent. The height and rate of these fluctuations are studied with respect to average height, flow velocities, and Reynolds number. Additionally, the mechanisms that cause jet-flame blowout, particularly in the presence of air co-flow, are not completely understood. Two types of experiments are described, and the data report that a predictor of blowout is the prior disappearance of the axially-oriented flame branch which is consistently witnessed despite a turbulent flameÃØâ'Ơâ"Øs inherent variable behavior. The conclusions are supported by experiments with nitrogen-diluted flames. A blowout parameter is also calculated for methane flames in co-flow and diluted methane flames that can be used to predict at what flow velocities blowout will occur. This work analyzes flames near the bu.

This study documents experiments performed on lifted turbulent diffusion flames in the hysteresis regime with air co-flow. Undiluted methane, ethylene, and propane were used as fuels and two nozzle sizes were used. The results confirm the non-linearity of the lift-off height with nozzle velocity, showing a previously undocumented region where lifted flame height increases as fuel velocity is decreased and that reattachment nozzle velocity varies linearly with co-flow. Using jet relations from Tieszen, the local excess jet velocity was computed and found to vary linearly for flames lifted well above the nozzle. The effect of co-flow was captured using an effective local excess jet velocity, similar to the effective nozzle jet velocity proposed by Montgomery used in conjunction with the results of Khalghatgi. Local excess jet velocities at the reattachment point were also compared for varying co-flow and found to be consistent between co-flow cases. This threshold velocity was found to vary with the inverse of the laminar burning velocity of the fuel squared. Relations for reattachment nozzle velocity and flame lift-off height at reattachment were also determined. The results extend the work of Khalghatgi into the hysteresis regime and complement the work of Gollahalli in determining the mechanisms that support flame stability in the hysteresis regime. Any comprehensive theory for flame stability will have to explain some of the unexpected results seen in the hysteresis regime and incorporate the findings of this study.