Search

In this study, a bespoke single-stage swirl burner was used to experimentally investigate the effects of residence time on emissions from premixed ammonia-methane-air flames. The residence time was altered in two ways: by modifying the combustion chamber's length or by modifying the swirl number. Exhaust emissions of O 2 , CO 2 , CO, NO, NO 2 , and N 2 O were measured at an absolute pressure of 2 bar for equivalence ratios between 0.50 and 0.95 and ammonia fractions in the fuel blend between 0 and 100%. Spatial distributions of NO and OH radicals were also imaged using PLIF inside the combustion chamber at different heights above the nozzle. Data shows that increasing residence time can further advance chemical reactions, as evidenced by a reduction in O 2 concentration in the exhaust. Increasing the swirl number reduces emissions of NO, NO 2 , and N 2 O more efficiently than tripling the chamber's length. However, a decrease in the combustion efficiency may be responsible for a fraction of this NOx reduction when the swirl number is increased for some equivalence ratios. NO emissions are not modified when the chamber's length is increased, which is consistent with the fact that the NO-LIF signal does not decay when the distance from the nozzle increases. Therefore, NO formation is somehow restricted to within the main reaction zone of the swirling flame, that is, the zone whose height does not exceed 60 mm for this burner. Conversely, tripling the chamber's length reduces the concentrations of NO 2 and N 2 O. This reduction is not reflected in a measurable increase in NO concentration because NO is present in much larger quantities than NO 2 and N 2 O in flames examined here. Consistent with the fact that OH promotes NO formation via fuel-NOx pathways, a positive correlation is found between NO- and OH-LIF intensities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the UV and visible chemiluminescence signatures of laminar ammonia-hydrogen-air flames. A counterflow burner was used to stabilize flat and steady premixed ammonia-hydrogen-air twin-flames for wide ranges of ammonia fuel fractions (0.55 ≤ X NH 3 ≤ 0.90), equivalence ratios (0.35 ≤ ϕ ≤ 1.70), and strain rates (50 ≤ a ≤ 300 / s). The chemiluminescence spectra in the UV and visible regions were measured. The important contributors to the chemiluminescence of ammonia-hydrogen-air flames were first identified and their sensitivities to equivalence ratio and ammonia fuel fraction were then quantified. Promising ratios of chemiluminescence intensities for the non-intrusive optical sensing of equivalence ratio and ammonia fuel fraction in premixed ammonia-hydrogen-air flames were also identified. Among the 36 ratios that could be formed with the 9 contributors to chemiluminescence that were defined, 3 are particularly promising, namely, OH*/NO*, OH*/ violet (violet refers to the 350 to 400 nm range), and red/blue (blue and red refer to the 450 to 500 nm and 650 to 750 nm ranges, respectively). Ratios OH*/NO* and OH*/ violet were found to provide suitable measures of equivalence ratio for lean and rich ammonia-hydrogen-air flames, respectively, because these ratios are very sensitive to equivalence ratio, are insensitive to ammonia fuel fraction, and are marginally sensitive to strain rate. Once equivalence ratio is known, the ammonia fuel fraction can then be measured with ratio red/blue because it is sensitive to the ammonia fuel fraction and it is globally insensitive to strain rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia is a very promising carbon-free fuel, but its combustion is prone to generate a large amount of harmful nitric oxide (NO). Designing NO reduction strategies for ammonia flames requires computational fluid dynamics and accurate kinetic mechanisms. However, there are currently no available experimental data that can be used to validate models describing chemistry-turbulence interactions in ammonia flames. This study introduces two non-premixed turbulent jet flames that emulate some features of the cracked ammonia combustion at 5 bar, relevant to micro gas turbines. These ammonia-hydrogen-nitrogen jet flames feature well-controlled boundary conditions and are particularly amenable to modeling. A one-dimensional NO laser-induced fluorescence (NO-LIF) method was implemented and combined with 1-D Raman spectroscopy to measure the NO mole fraction quantitatively. To avoid laser absorption by ammonia, excitation in the A 2 Σ + − X 2 Π (0–1) band near 236 nm was chosen instead of the more conventional (0–0) band near 226 nm. Due to the unsteady nature of turbulent jet flames, offline NO-LIF measurements are not useful, and undesirable interferences from Rayleigh scattering and oxygen LIF were instead quantified and removed using the temperature and major species mole fractions measured with Raman spectroscopy. NO quantification algorithms were optimized and validated first with a laminar NH 3 –H 2 –N 2 counterflow flame, and then applied to the turbulent jet flames. Results show that a large amount of NO (∼1500 ppm) is produced in the NH 3 –H 2 –N 2 jet flames. Increasing the ammonia cracking ratio from 14% to 28% reduces the NO concentration in laminar and turbulent NH 3 –H 2 –N 2 flames. Data also shows that turbulence smear effects of differential diffusion. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first available database featuring quantitative measurements of spatially-resolved NO mole fraction in turbulent NH 3 –H 2 –N 2 flames at a practically-relevant pressure. This unique database can be used in the future to validate turbulent combustion models for such flames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reports on the chemiluminescence signature of premixed ammonia-methane-air swirling flames. Wide ranges of equivalence ratios (0.6 ≤ Φ ≤ 1.3), ammonia fractions in the fuel blend (0 ≤ X NH3 ≤ 0.70), and Reynolds numbers (10,000 ≤ Re ≤ 40,000) were investigated to understand effects of these parameters on the light emitted by these flames. Excited radicals contributing to chemiluminescence in the UV and visible ranges were confirmed, namely NO*, OH*, NH*, CN*, CO 2 *, CH*, and NH 2 *. With non-intrusive flame monitoring in mind, various ratios of chemiluminescence intensities were carefully studied because these allow removing effects of time-varying flame surface area that is inherent in turbulent flames. Consistent with previous findings in laminar flames, ratios CN*/OH*, CN*/NO*, and NH*/CH* were found to be promising candidates. Ratios CN*/OH* and CN*/NO* were identified as potential surrogates for equivalence ratio if X NH3 ≥ 0.20 and 0.05 ≤ X NH3 ≤ 0.50, respectively. Ratio NH*/CH* was identified as a potential surrogate for the ammonia fraction in the fuel blend provided that equivalence ratio is roughly known. Ratio Blue /NH 2 *, obtained exclusively from measurements in the visible range, is another interesting surrogate for the ammonia fraction but its sensitivity to Reynolds number may limits its range of applications. Trends of measured exhaust NO concentration with equivalence ratio and ammonia fraction were found to qualitatively match that of NO*, NH*, and CN*, implying that emissions from these excited radicals could be used to monitor the NO performance of practical ammonia-methane-air flames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous, planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of nitric oxide (NO) and hydroxyl radical (OH) is evidenced with a single dye laser and two intensified CCD (ICCD) cameras. The technique is demonstrated on three premixed turbulent hydrogen-air flames, at atmospheric conditions, with several laser excitation wavelengths within the A 2Σ+ − X 2Π (0,0) and A 2Σ+ − X 2Π (1,0) vibrational bands of NO and OH, respectively. Via adjustments of the grating angle of the dye laser, the output wavelengths can be optimized so that both LIF signals are obtained simultaneously, or it can be tuned to reach the most common excitation wavelengths for OH-PLIF (i.e., near 283 or 284 nm) or NO-PLIF (i.e., 225 and 226 nm) alternatively. The flame visualization results, obtained with the different excitation strategies, are consistent for the three flame conditions and enable to characterize both the reaction zones and the nitric oxide formation. With appropriate selection of the wavelength pair, the technique shows its great potential to enhance the ability of existing lasers to simultaneously visualize and quantify distributions of two key species in reacting flows with only a single laser. [Display omitted] • Combined single-shot imaging of NO and OH with one dye laser in H 2 flames. • Most common excitation wavelengths also achievable alternatively. • Recommendation of optimal excitation wavelengths for future studies. • Flame structure confirmed with different excitation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel dual-fuel, dual-swirl burner is presented and its potential to mitigate thermoacoustic coupling for ammonia-hydrogen-air flames is explored. The key feature of this burner is that the extent of mixing between ammonia and hydrogen before injection into the combustion chamber can be tuned by recessing an inner dividing tube. Non-reacting, 1-D Raman measurements confirm that recessing the dividing tube changes the radial profile of fuel composition at the injector's outlet. Time-averaged flame imaging shows that this modifies, in turn, the flame morphology. Specifically, the more stratified is the fuel, the least compact is the flame. In the most stratified case, a "blue" flame, predominantly burning hydrogen, pilots another "orange" flame, predominantly burning ammonia, further downstream. Acoustic measurements show that the least stratified (most compact) flame exhibits intrinsic thermoacoustic modes (ITA), while these modes are not featured for the most stratified (least compact) flame. Consequently, this study demonstrates that the thermoacoustic behavior of this carbon-free burner can be altered by tailoring the injection of ammonia and hydrogen while keeping the thermal power (7.4 kW), global equivalence ratio (0.64), and fuel flow rates strictly constant. This lays the foundation for the development of future practical burners in which the extent of mixing between ammonia and hydrogen upstream of the flame would be actively controlled to mitigate thermoacoustic coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Proges en Urologie is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ammonia has the potential of being a future fuel for carbon-free combustion to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. The heat release rate (HRR) information of ammonia flames is desired if the ammonia fuel is applied in real combustion devices, but direct measurement of HRR is almost impossible. In the present work, the HRR markers of ammonia-methane-air flames were investigated through the simulation of one-dimensional freely propagating flames (FPF) with a validated chemistry mechanism. Various HRR markers were proposed. The performance of the target HRR markers was tested with the defined criteria. It was found that the profiles of NH and HCO agree well with the HRR profiles, but only NH is a suitable HRR marker because the mole fraction of HCO could be too low for laser induced fluorescence (LIF) measurement. The products of two species, such as [OH][CH 2 O] and [NO][NH 2 ], were then proposed to circumvent the low mole fraction issues. Product [OH][CH 2 O], which was usually used as HRR marker in hydrocarbon flames, was found to have the best performance in identifying the HRR location and be the only one that has a positive correlation with the amount of HRR among the proposed products. Moreover, the performance of [OH][CH 2 O] is valid over a wide range of conditions, including the very high ammonia fuel fraction (X NH3 = 95%), without suffering from the low mole fraction issues. The observations were further analyzed by looking into the reaction pathways and examining the reactions that contributes the largest amount to the total HRR. The present findings provide a meaningful reference for future indirect measurement of HRR in ammonia-methane-air flames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports an experimental investigation of quantitative Nitric Oxide (NO) distribution in both premixed and non-premixed NH 3 /H 2 -air flames using a counterflow burner at atmospheric pressure. One-dimensional (1D) NO laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy and Raman/Rayleigh spectroscopy were conducted to accurately resolve the quantitative 1D NO profile in terms of mixture fraction, temperature, and physical space. We calibrated a saturated NO-LIF model in 5 premixed lean H 2 /N 2 /NO-air flames with different seeded NO levels in a McKenna burner and validated its accuracy in three H 2 N 2 NO-air counterflow diffusion flames. The overall uncertainty of NO quantification was less than 90 ppm. Our measurements were compared with simulations using different ammonia chemical kinetic models, revealing that current models have over 30% uncertainty in predicting peak NO concentrations (mole fraction) in 1D non-premixed and premixed flames and over 100% uncertainty in lower temperature regions. In premixed flames, measured NO concentrations fell within the intermediate range of current chemical kinetic models at lean and stoichiometric conditions, but were lower than the models at rich conditions. In non-premixed flames, all models overestimated the peak NO concentrations by more than 1000 ppm. It is noted that the measured peak NO concentrations increased with higher NH 3 /H 2 ratios (from 4/6 to 8/2), strain rates (from 80 to 140 1/s), and N 2 dilution ratios in a 1:1 NH 3 /H 2 mixture (from 0 to 30%). Although most models could qualitatively predict the trends, they were inaccurate in quantifying NO. Additionally, the measured width of the NO profile in mixture fraction space expanded with increasing NH 3 /H 2 ratio, N 2 dilution ratio, and strain rate. While models could qualitatively predict this behavior, they consistently underestimated NO in the fuel-rich, lower-temperature region, resulting in a narrower NO profile width. The Manna model showed a better prediction of NO distribution in the fuel rich portion of non-premixed flames, accounting for NH 3 NO interactions at lower temperatures. These findings highlight the critical need to improve models to accurately predict NO concentrations in ammonia-containing flames and their behavior in fuel rich regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of low-carbon transition, ammonia (NH 3) is considered as a promising zero-carbon fuel owing to its high hydrogen density, well-established storage, and transportation systems. However, its low reactivity and high nitrogen content could induce flame instability and high NO emission problems during combustion, which hinders its large-scale application in industrial furnaces, gas turbines, and engines. The reactivity of NH 3 can be effectively boosted by blending it with a more reactive fuel, such as methane (CH 4). In addition, it has been demonstrated that burning NH 3 at slightly rich equivalence ratios produces low NO emissions, but air-staging is needed to oxidize the unburned fuel in a secondary lean combustion zone. This paper carries out an experimental and numerical study for NH 3 /CH 4 premixed swirling flames in a model combustor with and without air-staging. The main objective is to investigate the potential of using air-staging for controlling NO emissions from NH 3 /CH 4 flames, and to examine the influence of key air-staging parameters, such as staged air ratio (SAR), height of staged-air (H) and number of staged-air nozzle (N), on flame typology as well as NO and CO emissions. Experimental results show that globally lean condition fails to generate satisfactory NO emission for NH 3 /CH 4 mixtures under non-staging mode, and the maximum NO emission is produced by the X NH 3 = 50% mixture which exhibits the largest challenge for NO control. By initiating air-staging for X NH 3 = 50% mixture, the flame topology as well as CO and NO emissions are strongly affected by the key air-staging parameters. In relatively large SAR (> 30%) and small H (< 80 mm) conditions, the staged-air impinging effect should be taken into consideration since it could destroy the locally rich atmosphere in the primary combustion zone, creating lean burning pockets and enhancing NO formation. Increasing N plays an accelerating role on NO generation due to improved mixing homogeneity in the vicinity of staged-air, while this effect can be counteracted by mitigating the staged-air impinging effect via decreasing the staged-air injection momentum. Moreover, an improved NH 3 /CH 4 reaction mechanism based on Okafor's is proposed which shows remarkably high accuracy in predicting NO emission for NH 3 /CH 4 mixtures under both non-staging and air-staging modes. This work provides new insights towards the understanding of NH 3 /CH 4 combustion using air-staging. • NH 3 /CH 4 combustion in air-staging and non-staging modes are studied. • Effects of key staged-air parameters on NO and CO emissions are investigated. • Optimal staged-air parameters for simultaneous low NO and CO emissions are determined. • An improved NH 3 /CH 4 reaction mechanism is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Detailed analysis of flame structures in cracked ammonia jet flames. • Insights into N 2 O formation in ammonia flames through NH and NO multiplication. • Impact of cracking ratio on chemical reactivity, flame stability, and NO emissions. • PLIF-derived statistics contribute to validating turbulence-chemistry interactions. The combustion of cracked ammonia is crucial for enhancing flame stability and reducing pollutant emissions in ammonia-based combustion systems. This study investigated the flame structure and pollutant formation in cracked ammonia jet flames (CAJFs) to improve our understanding of the turbulence-chemistry interactions in ammonia combustion. A simultaneous NH and NO planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique was employed to analyze the flame structure of turbulent non-premixed CAJFs, emulated using ammonia-hydrogen–nitrogen mixtures. Experimental measurements were conducted across a range of pressures (1–5 bar) and cracking ratios (7 %-28 %). The results revealed the significant influence of the cracking ratio on the chemical reactivity and NH-layer characteristics of ammonia-hydrogen flames. NH effectively marked the heat release layer of CAJFs. Reducing the cracking ratio from 28 % to 7 % resulted in increased local extinction-induced NH-layer fragmentation and reduced reaction area. The reaction layer thickness exhibited low sensitivity to the cracking ratio and pressure, while the broadening of the NH layer displayed a slowdown pattern with increasing height, differing from premixed flames. The pollutant NO rapidly formed within the reaction zone, persisting in the outer hot products until reduced by turbulent mixing. The fragmented flame structure promoted decreased NO formation and potentially lower NO concentration. A novel approach of multiplying NH and NO was proposed to reflect the formation characteristics of another important pollutant N 2 O. The effect of turbulent disturbances on N 2 O formation needs to be considered in turbulent CAJFs because N 2 O formation is strongly suppressed when turbulent transport reduces local NO concentration. This research enhances understanding of turbulence-chemistry interactions in cracked ammonia combustion, benefiting ammonia flame stability and pollutant emission control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability, local extinction, and NOx production of ammonia-hydrogen (NH 3 -H 2) flames are significantly impacted by turbulence-chemistry interactions. A powerful technique to study these interactions is planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF). However, multi-scalar PLIF typically requires complex and expensive systems, with multiple laser sources. This study proposes a novel PLIF technique using a single dye laser to perform simultaneous, single-shot imaging of the reactant NH 3 , radical NH, and pollutant NO in NH 3 -H 2 flames. According to the excitation scans and the emission spectra of NH 3 , NH, and NO, three wavelength couples can be used to image the three species simultaneously via two-photon excitation of NH 3 C ' − X (2,0), single-photon excitation of NH A 3 Π − X 3 Σ − (0,0) near 304 nm, and single-photon excitation of NO A 2 Σ + − X 2 Π (0,1) near 237 nm. Wavelengths near 237 nm and 304 nm are obtained simultaneously with only one dye laser by combining outputs of the frequency-doubling and frequency mixing units. NH 3 -, NH-, and NO-PLIF imaging performance is analyzed by quantifying the signal-to-noise ratios and detection limits. This technique is then used to visualize the structure of premixed and non-premixed flames over wide ranges of NH 3 and H 2 concentrations in the fuel blend. Results show that the premixed NH 3 -H 2 flames have a compact structure, while the non-premixed flames exhibit a large gap between NH 3 - and NH-PLIF layers, where ammonia undergoes significant decomposition before reaching the reaction layer. The inner edge of the NO-PLIF layer overlaps well with the reaction layer represented by the NH-PLIF layer in all flames. The fully developed turbulent structure downstream of the NH 3 -H 2 flame causes pinching-off of the premixed flame front and local extinction of the diffusion flame front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formic acid (FA) is a potential hydrogen energy carrier and low-carbon fuel by reversing the decomposition products, CO 2 and H 2, back to restore FA without additional carbon release. However, FA-air mixtures feature high ignition energy and low flame speed; hence stabilizing FA-air flames in combustion devices is challenging. This study experimentally investigates the flame stability and emission of swirl flames fueled with pre-vaporized formic acid-methane blends over a wide range of formic acid fuel fractions. Results show that by using a swirl combustor, the premixed formic acid-methane-air flames could be stabilized over a wide range of FA fuel fractions, Reynolds numbers, and swirl numbers. The addition of formic acid increases the equivalence ratios at which the flashback and lean blowout occur. When Reynolds number increases, the equivalence ratio at the flashback limit increases, but that decreases at the lean blowout limit. Increasing the swirl number has a non-monotonic effect on stability limits variation because increasing the swirl number changes the axial velocity on the centerline of the burner throat non-monotonically. In addition, emission characteristics were investigated using a gas analyzer. The CO and NO concentrations were below 20 ppm for all tested conditions, which is comparable to that seen with traditional hydrocarbon fuels, which is in favor of future practical applications with formic acid. • The premixed formic acid-methane-air flames are stabilized for equivalence ratios of 0.5–0.8. • The addition of the formic acid up to mole fraction of 0.6 increases both the flashback and blowout limit. • Increasing the Reynolds number does not affect blow out limits. • The swirl number has a non-monotonous effect on the flashback and lean blowout limits. • The NO and CO emission of the lean formic acid-methane-air flames are low (<20 ppmvd). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cracking NH 3 into a mixture of NH 3 /H 2 /N 2 effectively addresses its low reactivity when used as a fuel. In this study, large eddy simulation (LES) and experiments are conducted for non-premixed NH 3 /H 2 /N 2 -air jet flames with simulated cracking ratios of 14 % and 28 % at an elevated pressure of 5 bar. Detailed experimental data on the flow field are provided for assessing turbulence models. A recently proposed species-weighted flamelet/progress variable (SWF) model considering differential diffusion is adapted for simulating cracked NH 3 flames. The effects of differential diffusion on scalar structures are further analyzed. The SWF model, incorporating differential diffusion, achieves good agreement with experiments in predicting velocity, mean temperature, major species mass fractions, differential diffusion parameters, and NO formation. The model also qualitatively captures variations in localized extinction along the flame height. In contrast, the unity Lewis number flamelet/progress variable (ULF) model predicts the occurrence of localized extinction too upstream, significantly overestimating its occurrence in the near field where differential diffusion is significant. Moreover, NO formation in the cracked NH 3 flame is well predicted by the SWF model using flamelet tables, and slightly overpredicted by the ULF model without differential diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detonation front's unstable structure leads to an unsteady and three-dimensional (3D) phenomenon that renders the study of the cell cycle challenging. Traditionally, fundamental studies are carried out in narrow channels where the detonation behavior is very peculiar (quasi two-dimensional with velocity deficit). In this study, we propose a fully experimental approach to study the cell cycle in the case of multicellular detonations. The cell cycle is characterized through three techniques: systematic and statistical analysis of soot foil, planar laser-induced fluorescence on nitric oxide, and Rayleigh scattering. These techniques provide measurements for cell size, local induction length, and local shock speed, respectively. The work is carried out in the 2 H 2 -O 2 -3.76Ar and the 2 H 2 -O 2 -3.76N 2 mixtures at 293 K, and 20 kPa and 25 kPa, respectively. These conditions ensure that the cell pattern is considered being between regular and weakly irregular, thus, a shot-to-shot reconstruction of the cell cycle is possible. The cell widths follow a normal distribution, from which a quantitative parameter (2 σ / λ) is proposed to assess the cell regularity, experimentally. The evolution of the speed and the local induction length are reconstructed along the cell cycle. The results agree with the available data for narrow channels and constitute the first of their kind for 3D detonation (i.e., multicellular in the transverse dimension). Two methods are proposed to analyze the local induction length δ i and compare it to the available literature (experimental and numerical studies). The technique can be applied to mixtures where the mean cell width is a meaningful parameter from highly regular to irregular mixtures. Novelty and Significance statement For the first time, combined soot-foils, NO-PLIF, and Rayleigh scattering measurements were used to reconstruct and characterize the cellular cycle of multicellular detonations using a 2 H 2 -O 2 -3.76Ar and 2 H 2 -O 2 -3.76N 2 mixtures at 293 K, and 20 kPa and 25 kPa, respectively. This constitutes the first combined measurements of local induction length and local front speed in a multicellular configuration, where the number of cells in the section is large, i.e., the cell width (λ) is small compared to all dimensions of the rig. This study provides two methodologies to extract an experimental Δ i , which is a quantity that can be compared with the ZND theory. Such measurements were not achievable in multicellular conditions until now. The measurement of the Δ i demonstrates that a fully experimental correlation between this experimental Δ i and λ can be obtained for the first time. These new results are important for the quantitative validation of chemical kinetic schemes for predictive simulations of detonations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work provides a kinetic and experimental investigation of excited radical OH(2Σ+) (also referred to as OH*) in NH 3 H 2 -air flames. A counterflow burner is used to stabilize laminar diffusion flames over wide ranges of ammonia fraction in the fuel blend (0.2 ≤ x NH3 ≤ 0.8) and strain rate (40 ≤ a ≤ 200/s). Using an intensified camera or a spectrometer coupled to a Cassegrain optical system, spatially resolved and spatially integrated OH(A2Σ+-X2Π) chemiluminescence intensities are measured. These data are used to challenge a kinetic mechanism largely developed from existing literature schemes. Measurements and simulations show that two distinct OH* peaks exist in spatially resolved profiles for intermediate ammonia fractions in the fuel blend. Sensitivity analyses identified that reactions N 2 O+ H =N 2 +OH* and H + O + M =OH*+ M , respectively pertinent to NH 3 and H 2 oxidation routes, are responsible for the formation of OH*. The proposed kinetic mechanism gives a remarkable portrait of the empirical data recorded in diffusion flames as well as in premixed NH 3 H 2 -air flames from the literature. Nevertheless, the contribution of reaction N 2 O+ H =N 2 +OH* in the formation of OH* in the peak closest to the fuel side of diffusion flames is consistently overpredicted. Consequently, the frequency factor of the N 2 O+ H N 2 +OH* reaction is adjusted to A = 1.35 × 1014 cm3mol−1s−1, which significantly improves predictions of spatially integrated and spatially resolved OH* intensities for all the diffusion and premixed flames examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Experimental investigation of differential diffusion effects in NH3-H2-N2 jet flames using 1D quantitative Raman scattering measurements. • Introduction of a diff-diff parameter for ammonia combustion, providing a quantitative measure of the differential diffusion effects. • Identification of strong differential diffusion in the near field of turbulent flames, up to an axial distance of 10 diameters. • Influence of NH3 cracking ratio on the diff-diff parameter, with higher ratios leading to increased differential diffusion, particularly in the low-temperature region. • Persistence of differential diffusion effects in the far field, as reflected in NH3/H2 profiles converging to a Le = 1-like profile with an increased NH3/H2 ratio. Differential diffusion (diff-diff) effects are analyzed in both non-premixed laminar and turbulent NH 3 -H 2 -N 2 jet flames at 5 bar using 1D quantitative Raman scattering measurements. The two target flames feature fuel compositions simulating a 14% and a 28% NH 3 cracking ratio. A diff-diff parameter is introduced for ammonia combustion, analogous to the definition used for hydrocarbon flames. Measurements in laminar flames, compared to Chemkin simulation featuring multi-component transport show that the instrument is capable of measuring the mean diff-diff parameter, but that single-shot measurements are compromised by the large sensitivity of the parameter to errors in N 2 and NH 3 mass fractions. The analysis of the diff-diff parameter in turbulent flames shows that both flames have strong differential diffusion in the near field up to an axial distance of 10 diameters (Z/D = 10), then the turbulent mixing becomes dominant further downstream. The flame with a 28% NH 3 cracking ratio exhibits a higher diff-diff parameter especially in the low-temperature region (<1000 K) due to the higher H 2 content. The competition between differential diffusion and turbulent mixing in the near field is also reflected in the NH 3 , H 2 , and NH 3 /H 2 profiles, falling in between prediction for Le = 1 and multi-component transport. Interestingly the NH 3 /H 2 profiles in the far field converge to a profile matching that of Le = 1, but with an increased NH 3 /H 2 ratio, showing the persistence of the differential diffusion effects in the region dominated by turbulent mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MILD combustion of CH 4 is experimentally studied in model combustor. • Inverse-diffusion flame configuration improves flame stability in MILD combustion. • MILD combustion is not sustainable in smaller loads. • Flame response is more sensitive to operating parameters in swirling combustion. MILD (moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution) combustion is a promising technology for mitigating NOx emission from fuel combustion, but the combustion stability becomes an issue when using low-preheat air due to the slower reaction at the burner exit. In this study, an inverse-diffusion flame (IDF) burner configuration is proposed to enhance the combustion stability of MILD regime. The burner features an earlier preheat of fuel stream instead of usually adopted air stream, and can be also operated in traditional diffusion swirling combustion mode. Experiments are conducted in a model combustor to examine the effect of varying burner load (P) and equivalence ratio (φ) on flame topology, pollutant (CO and NO) emission performance, as well as flame emitting spectrum for this burner. It shows that increasing P can enhance the combustion stabilities of both swirling mode and MILD mode, and MILD combustion is found unable to be sustained when P is lower than 2 kW. Increasing φ enlarges the flame liftoff distance under swirling combustion, but has a much smaller effect on MILD combustion. Emission data shows a nearly 50 % reduction of NO by MILD combustion comparing to swirling combustion in all operating cases. Spectra analysis suggests a higher sensitivity of the flame response to the operating parameters under swirling combustion in respect to MILD combustion. A longer combustion chamber is found to produce a lower CO emission but has negligible effect on NO emission. Flow field and temperature distributions by further numerical simulation clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of fuel preheat by adopting IDF burner configuration for enhancing the flame stability when adopting normal temperature air in MILD combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes a technique that utilizes a single, tunable, pulsed dye laser and two intensified CCD cameras to image NH and NO simultaneously in turbulent ammonia-hydrogen-nitrogen jet flames. The NO radical is excited at 236.214 nm in its (0,1) band, while NH is excited in its A3Π-X3Σ–(1,0) band using the residual energy of the beam at 303.545 nm, necessary to yield 236.214 nm via mixing with the fundamental of the pump laser at 1064.ßnm. Data show that it is possible to image the instantaneous structure of these turbulent flames, specifically, NH delineates the reaction zone while NO also marks the location of burnt products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the first quantitative Raman measurements of temperature, mass fractions, and mixture fractions in two turbulent ammonia/hydrogen/nitrogen-air diffusion jet flames simulating 14% (CAJF14) and 28% (CAJF28) partial ammonia cracking ratio with Reynolds numbers of 11,200. The precision and accuracy of the system were validated in laminar counterflow and laminar jet flames to ensure data quality. The scalar structure in turbulent flames is examined using conditional mean and rms radial profiles, scatterplots in mixture fraction space, as well as statistics conditioned on mixture fraction and physical spaces. These results are compared with opposed diffusion flow 1D simulation with multi-component transport model and Le=1 transport model to visualize the effects of differential diffusion on the scalar structure at various axial positions. Finally, localized extinction was found in CAJF14 but not for the more stable CAJF28, and the probability of localized extinction was less than 2.5%. The dataset is provided as supplemental material and can be used for the validation of numerical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The external- and self-excited premixed swirling flames are experimentally studied to understand the thermoacoustic instabilities under different injector sizes. We use high-speed CH* chemiluminescence, formaldehyde laser-induced fluorescence and particle image velocimetry to measure the dynamic characteristics of the flame surface and flow field. Reducing the size of the injector from 20 mm to 16 mm changes the thermoacoustic system's stability. The flame transfer function shows that reducing the size of the injector significantly reduces the phase delay, enhances the response amplitude, and annihilates the local gain extrema. The low-order network model analysis is performed, and it is found that the phase variation caused by changing injector size is the main reason for the induced thermoacoustic instability. The pixel-by-pixel decomposition of CH* images is used to extract the weighted gain and phase maps of local heat release oscillation. The swirling flame with a small injector size of 16 mm has a short time delay and a slow phase velocity, which results in strong in-phase interference of the local heat release oscillators and enhanced gains. Reducing the size of the injector strengthens the inner and outer shear layers, thereby suppressing the heat release fluctuation of the flame base. The enhanced vorticity supply of the shear layer increases the size and strength of the outer vortex ring, resulting in strong heat release fluctuations at the flame tip, which is responsible for its large unadulterated fluctuation intensity. These changes in the flow field change the relative heat release intensity and fluctuation amplitude between the flame base and tip. The out-of-phase interference among multiple vortices causes weak flame response at high frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia has shown great potential as a carbon-free fuel, in particular for marine transportation and energy production. Its low laminar flame speed, and the tradeoff between ammonia slip and NOx emission, pose challenges for industrial applications, and a more in-depth understanding of the combustion of ammonia is therefore needed. Raman spectroscopy is a powerful diagnostic often employed to investigate turbulence chemistry interactions and resolve the thermo-chemical structure of hydrogen and hydrocarbon-air flames. This work extends Raman spectroscopy to the instantaneous and spatially resolved measurement of major species concentrations and temperature in ammonia flames. The lack of detailed ammonia spectra at high temperatures, the strong flame luminosity, and fluorescence interference are the major obstacles to the implementation of Raman spectroscopy to ammonia flames. This paper introduces a novel approach to estimate the temperature dependence of the Raman signal and of fluorescence interference contributions from a series of counterflow diffusion flames. This approach was first validated in high-pressure hydrogen flame, and then extended this approach to high-pressure ammonia flames to obtain the Raman response of ammonia and its crosstalk. A high-contrast optical shutter is sufficient to suppress flame luminosity. Finally, species concentrations and temperature profiles from measurements are shown, and their accuracy and precision are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]