Direct numerical simulations of three-dimensional spatially-developing turbulent Bunsen flames were performed at three different turbulence intensities. We performed these simulations using a reduced methane-air chemical mechanism which was specifically tailored for the lean premixed conditions simulated here. A planar-jet turbulent Bunsen flame configuration was used in which turbulent preheated methane-air mixture at 0.7 equivalence ratio issued through a central jet and was surrounded by a hot laminar coflow of burned products. The turbulence characteristics at the jet inflow were selected such that combustion occured in the thin reaction zones (TRZ) regime. At the lowest turbulence intensity, the conditions fall on the boundary between the TRZ regime and the corrugated flamelet regime, and progressively moved further into the TRZ regime by increasing the turbulent intensity. The data from the three simulations was analyzed to understand the effect of turbulent stirring on the flame structure and thickness. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the data showed that the thermal preheat layer of the flame was thickened due to the action of turbulence, but the reaction zone was not significantly affected. A global and local analysis of the burning velocity of the flame was performed to compare the different flames. Detailed statistical averages of the flame speed were also obtained to study the spatial dependence of displacement speed and its correlation to strain rate and curvature.

Direct numerical simulations of three-dimensional spatially-developing turbulent Bunsen flames were performed at three different turbulence intensities. We performed these simulations using a reduced methane–air chemical mechanism which was specifically tailored for the lean premixed conditions simulated here. A planar-jet turbulent Bunsen flame configuration was used in which turbulent preheated methane–air mixture at 0.7 equivalence ratio issued through a central jet and was surrounded by a hot laminar coflow of burned products. The turbulence characteristics at the jet inflow were selected such that combustion occured in the thin reaction zones (TRZ) regime. At the lowest turbulence intensity, the conditions fall on the boundary between the TRZ regime and the corrugated flamelet regime, and progressively moved further into the TRZ regime by increasing the turbulent intensity. The data from the three simulations was analyzed to understand the effect of turbulent stirring on the flame structure and thickness. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the data showed that the thermal preheat layer of the flame was thickened due to the action of turbulence, but the reaction zone was not significantly affected. A global and local analysis of the burning velocity of the flame was performed to compare the different flames. Detailed statistical averages of the flame speed were also obtained to study the spatial dependence of displacement speed and its correlation to strain rate and curvature.

An experimental investigation on the effect of different levels of turbulence intensity and properties of the fuel/air mixture on the structure and characteristics of lean flames stabilized on an axisymmetric bluff body is described in this thesis. Simultaneous imaging of hydroxyl (OH) and formaldehyde (CH2O) by planar laser induced fluorescence and particle image velocimetry (PIV) were used to study the interaction between the flame and the flow field. CH2O fluorescence and the pixel-by-pixel multiplication of OH and CH2O fluorescence signals were utilized to mark preheat and heat release regions respectively. In addition, high-speed chemiluminescence imaging was performed to understand the time resolved characteristics of the flame. The first part of the thesis focuses on the characteristics of stably burning lean methane/-, propane/- and ethylene/air flames when subjected to low (4 %), moderate (14 %) and intense (24 and 30%) levels of free stream turbulence. The flame front structure was observed to be strongly dependent on the free stream turbulence level of the incoming fuel/air mixture as well on the properties of the fuel/air mixture. Formation of cusps and unburnt mixture fingers were observed as the turbulence intensity was increased from 4 to 14 % but, the heat release region remained continuous. Under intense turbulence conditions, methane/- and ethylene/air (f = 0.85) flames exhibited localized extinctions along the flame sheet and flamelet merging events which created isolated pockets of reactants in the flame envelope. In addition to these features, propane/- and ethylene/air (f=0.655) flames exhibited the occurrence of flame fragmentation events and the general shape of these flames were observed to intermittently switch from a symmetric (varicose) to asymmetric (sinuous) mode. Several properties were measured to characterize the effects of turbulence – flame interaction which includes the average preheat and reaction zone thicknesses, strain rates and curvature along the flame front, burning fraction, flame brush thickness, flame surface density, area ratio and turbulent flame speed. The next part of the thesis focuses on blowoff dynamics of lean methane/-, propane/- and ethylene/air flames for mean velocities of 5, 10 and 15 m/s and subjected to free stream turbulence levels from 4 to 30%. Apart from the propane/air flames at an apporach velcoity of 5 m/s and turbulence intensity of 30 %, increasing turbulence intensity was found to reduce the flame stability. The blowoff equivalence ratios of propane/air flames was observed to be higher than methane/- and ethylene/air flames. As blowoff was approached, the flame front and shear layer vortices entangled inducing high local strain rates on the flame front that exceed the extinction strain rate resulting in significant breaks along the reaction zone. At conditions near blowoff, significant increase in the frequency of breaks along the reaction zone was observed for low and moderate turbulence conditions. For the higher turbulence conditions, fragmentation of the flame along with the presence of sinuous wakes was observed which aided in the penetration of reactants into the recirculation zone. Velocity vectors near the flame holes indicate the penetration of the reactants into the recirculation zone. Mostly similar sequence of events was observed for methane/-, propane/- and ethylene/air flames near blowoff. Several properties weremeasured to characterize the near blowoff flames which include the strain rate and curvature statistics along the flame front, burning fraction, asymmetric index and the average duration of the blowoff event. Based on the observation from the experiments, turbulent flame speed was attributed to be the primary factor in governing the blowoff equivalence ratio. This point of view was examined by comparing the mean strain rate of methane/- and ethylene/air flames at the equivalence ratio corresponding to near blowoff for propane/air flames.

In the flamelet approach of turbulent premixed combustion, the flames are modeled as a wrinkled surface whose propagation speed, termed the {open_quotes}displacement speed, {close_quotes} is prescribed in terms of the local flow field and flame geometry. Theoretical studies suggest a linear relation between the flame speed and stretch for small values of stretch, S{sub L}/S{sub L}° = 1 - MaKa, where S{sub L}° is the laminar flame speed, Ka = [kappa][delta]{sub F}/S{sub L}° is the nondimensional stretch or the Karlovitz number, and Ma = L/[delta]{sub F} is the Markstein number. The nominal flame thickness, [delta]{sub F}, is determined as the ratio of the mass diffusivity of the unburnt mixture to the laminar flame speed. Thus, the turbulent flame model relies on an accurate estimate of the Markstein number in specific flame configurations. Experimental measurement of flame speed and stretch in turbulent flames, however, is extremely difficult. As a result, measurement of flame speeds under strained flow fields has been made in simpler geometries, in which the effect of flame curvature is often omitted. In this study we present results of direct numerical simulations of unsteady turbulent flames with detailed methane/air chemistry, thereby providing an alternative method of obtaining flame structure and propagation statistics. The objective is to determine the correlation between the displacement speed and stretch over a broad range of Karlovitz numbers. The observed response of the displacement speed is then interpreted in terms of local tangential strain rate and curvature effects. 13 refs., 3 figs.

A work on turbulent premixed combustion is important because of increased concern about the environmental impact of combustion and the search for new combustion concepts and technologies. An improved understanding of lean fuel turbulent premixed flames must play a central role in the fundamental science of these new concepts. Lean premixed flames have the potential to offer ultra-low emission levels, but they are notoriously susceptible to combustion oscillations. Thus, sophisticated control measures are inevitably required. The editors' intent is to set out the modeling aspects in the field of turbulent premixed combustion. Good progress has been made on this topic, and this cohesive volume contains contributions from international experts on various subtopics of the lean premixed flame problem.