The interaction of a vortex pair with a premixed flame serves as an important prototype for premixed turbulent combustion. In this study, the authors investigate the interaction of a counter-rotating vortex pair with an initially flat premixed methane flame. The authors focus on characterizing the mechanical nature of the flame-vortex interaction and on the features of the interaction strongly affected by fuel equivalence ratio. The authors compare computational solutions obtained using a time-dependent, two-dimensional adaptive low Mach number combustion algorithm that incorporates GRI-Mech 1.2 for the chemistry, thermodynamics and transport of the chemical species. The authors find that the circulation around the vortex scours gas from the preheat zone in front of the flame, making the interaction extremely sensitive to equivalence ratio. For nearly stoichiometric cases, the peak mole fraction of CH across the flame is relatively insensitive to the vortex whereas for richer flames they observe a substantial and rapid decline in the peak CH mole fraction, commencing early in the flame-vortex interaction. The peak concentration of HCO is found to correlate, in both space and time, with the peak heat release across a broad range of equivalence ratios. The model also predicts a measurable increase in C2H2 as a result of interaction with the vortex, and a marked increase in the low temperature chemistry activity.

The interaction of a premixed methane/air flame with a counter-rotating vortex pair is analyzed using a parallel low-Mach-number computational model that is based on a detailed C1C2 chemical mechanism. Attention is focused on the transient response of the heat release rate and the flame structure at the centerline of the vortex pair. Results are obtained for vortex pairs of different strengths under lean, stoichiometric, and rich conditions. For the range of vortex strengths considered, the computations indicate that the heat release rate in the rich flame decays significantly faster than in the stoichiometric flame; this behavior is consistent with recent experimental measurements. Meanwhile, the heat release rate in the lean flame decays at a slightly slower rate than in the stoichiometric flame. The transient response of flame radicals such as H, CH, OH, and HCO is also analyzed. The analysis reveals a complex nonlinear dependence of the transient structure on both the vortex strength and the stoichiometry.

The flame-vortex interaction problem is a natural configuration in which several issues relevant to turbulent combustion can be addressed: effect of strain-rate and curvature, effect of the Lewis number, effect of heat losses, effect of complex chemistry, and flame-generated turbulence. In such an approach, the interaction of an isolated vortex with a laminar premixed flame is viewed as a unit process of a turbulent premixed flame in which the reaction zone keeps a laminar like structure locally; this is precisely the case of the wrinkled flame or flamelet regime in turbulent combustion. The present work complements previous studies and involves the study of the interaction of a vortex pair and a laminar premixed flame in a planar two-dimensional geometry, together with numerical simulations. This geometry is quite unique since most studies have considered axisymmetric vortex rings. Such a geometry offers several advantages over previous studies. Samaniego, J.-M. ...

The interaction of a vortex pair with a premixed flame serves as an important prototype for premixed turbulent combustion. In this study, we investigate the interaction of a counter-rotating vortex pair with an initially flat premixed methane flame. We compare computational solutions obtained using a time-dependent, two-dimensional adaptive low Mach number combustion algorithm that incorporates GRI-Mech 1.2 for the chemistry, thermodynamics, and transport of the chemical species. We discuss the mechanical nature of the flame-vortex interaction and the features of the interaction that are strongly affected by fuel equivalence ratio, . We find that the circulation around the vortex scours gas from the preheat zone in front of the flame, making the interaction sensitive to equivalence ratio. For cases with 1, the peak mole fraction of CH across the flame is relatively insensitive to the vortex, whereas for richer flames we observe a substantial and rapid decline in the peak CH mole fraction, commencing early in the flame-vortex interaction. The peak concentration of HCO is found to correlate, in both space and time, with the peak heat release across a broad range of equivalence ratios. The model also predicts a measurable increase in C2H2 as a result of interaction with the vortex and a marked increase in the low-temperature chemistry activity.

Detailed studies of flame-vortex interactions are extremely valuable to improve our understanding of turbulent combustion regimes. Combined experimental and numerical studies have already been performed in the premixed case during previous investigations. Therefore, we decided to carry out a detailed experimental investigation on the regimes observed during interaction of a vortex ring and a non-premixed, diluted, hydrogen/air, laminar counterflow flame. To obtain the needed information, several optical diagnostic techniques have been used, in particular, planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of acetone to quantify vortex structure and speed, simultaneous OH PLIF and Rayleigh measurements, and simultaneous OH PLIF and particle-imaging velocimetry (PIV) measurements. A post-processing of the results combined with direct simulations using detailed chemistry and transport models to check the quality of the postprocessing procedures has led to the construction of a spectral interaction diagram. Eight interaction types were found, emphasizing the relative importance of competing physical phenomena such as straining, curvature, wrinkling, roll-up, and extinction. In particular, we observe two different types of extinction, one due to the combined action of curvature and straining, and the other purely due to straining effects. It was also observed that many vortices are too small or dissipate too rapidly to influence the flame. In other cases, the vortex ring can lead to the formation of pockets of oxidizer burning in the fuel part of the domain. These regimes and the limits between them have important implications for the modeling of turbulent non-premixed combustion.

The understanding of complex premixed combustion reactions is paramount to the development of new concepts and devices used to increase the overall usefulness and capabilities of current technology. The evolution from laminar spherically propagating flames to turbulent chemistry is a logical and necessary process to study the complex interactions which occur within any modern practical combustion device. Methane-air flames were chosen to observe the mild affects of thermo-diffusive stability. Five primary propane equivalence ratios were utilized for investigation: 0.69, 0.87, 1.08, 1.32, and 1.49. The choice of equivalence ratio was strategically made so that the 0.69/1.49 and 0.87/1.32 mixtures have the same undiluted flame propagation rate, dr/dt. Therefore, in the undiluted case, there are two flame speeds represented by these mixtures. Three vortices were selected to be used in this investigation. The vortex rotational velocities were measured to be 77 cm/s, 266 cm/s and 398 cm/s for the “weakâ€, “medium†and “strong†vortices, respectively. Ignition of the flame occurred in two ways: (1) spark-ignition or (2) laser ignition using an Nd:YAG laser at its second harmonic in order to quantify the effect of electrode interference. Accompanying high-speed chemiluminescence imaging measurements, instantaneous pressure measurements were obtained to give a more detailed understanding of the effect of vortex strength on reactant consumption rate over an extended time scale and to explore the use of a simple measurement to describe turbulent mixing. Further local flame-vortex interface analysis was conducted using non-invasive laser diagnostics, such as particle image velocimetry and planer laser induced fluorescence of the OH radical. The dependence of heat release rate on temperature provides an estimation of the strain rate dependence of the reaction rate.