Flow Field and Soot Formation Characteristics in Swirl-stabilized Non-premixed Turbulent Flames

Soot formation and evolution in relation with the flow fields were investigated experimentally in turbulent swirl-stabilized non-premixed flames using three different fuels: methane, ethanol and aviation Jet A-1. The studied flames were confined and stabilized in a model gas turbine combustor with a swirl number of ~0.55. Soot volume fraction, fv, and primary soot particle size, dp, were measured using auto-compensating laser-induced incandescence, and planar three-component velocity fields were measured using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry. Measurements of planar laser-induced fluorescence of OH and OH* chemiluminescence were also made for methane and ethanol flames. The OH* field was further Abel-inverted to qualitatively locate the heat release zone. The flow field for all flames featured pronounced inner and outer recirculation zones (IRZ, ORZ), each bounded by their corresponding inner and outer shear layers (ISL, OSL). Abel-inverted OH* intensity maps showed that primary reaction zones occurred in the vicinity of ISL. The central fuel jet penetrating into the IRZ accompanied by a stagnation zone was observed in all methane flames. Soot measurements showed that the overall dp for methane and Jet A-1 flames ranged between 30 nm and 60 nm without discernible trends. In methane flames, peak time-averaged fv occurred between the central jet penetration and the ISL. The decrease and the final disappearance of time-averaged fv were strongly correlated with elevated OH, demonstrating a dominant oxidative attack of OH on soot. With a ~7% increase in air flow rate, the level of soot volume fraction dropped by nearly threefold due to enhanced turbulence intermittency. The appearance of ethanol spray flames, which lacked a bright yellow color, largely differed from others. The absence of soot was confirmed in the laser-induced incandescence measurements. The isothermal flow field of ethanol flames exhibited a large-scale structure of precessing vortex core which was then suppressed under reacting conditions. In Jet A-1 flames, spray pattern changed from V-shaped hollow cone to semi-solid cone when air flow rate increased by 20%, resulting in a 60% reduction in peak time-averaged fv. In contrast to results obtained from the methane flame, soot was found primarily outside the ISL where fuel existed in abundance.Ph.D