Particle Image Velocimetry with Bluff Body and Jet in Cross-Flow Flame Holder Applications

Particle Image Velocimetry with Bluff Body and Jet in Cross-Flow Flame Holder Applications Christopher P. Perron Master of Science, 2013 Abstract In this study Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to acquire flow field and velocity information for a bluff body flame holder and a jet in cross-flow flame holder. The bluff body trials tested consisted of combustion of a premixed air and fuel flow with the purpose of improving boundary conditions. The jet in cross-flow flame holder was tested with a variety of jet to cross-flow momentum ratios. A tutorial is given on using MATLAB programming to use the PIV data to calculate fluid properties such as velocity, vorticity, and strain rates. Velocity vector fields are used to determine the velocity at different areas of the test section and to verify boundary conditions. The uncertainty of the PIV measurement is found using a correlation map, and the resulting error to the fluid calculations is found using a central differencing scheme. Conditioned Particle Image Velocimetry (CPIV) is introduced and used to find the flame edge. This thesis is meant to not only display some of the new results acquired, but also to serve as a reference for anyone doing research related to combustion or PIV