Characteristics of strongly-forced turbulent jets and non-premixed jet flames

• Published in: Experiments in fluids 2006-10, Vol.41 (4), p.523-542
• Main Authors: LAKSHMINARASIMHAN, K, CLEMENS, N. T, EZEKOYE, O. A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Combustion of gaseous fuels; Combustion. Flame; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Fuels; Synthetic jets; Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering; Tubes; Turbulence; Turbulent flow; Vortices
• ISSN: 0723-4864; 1432-1114
• DOI: 10.1007/s00348-006-0164-3

Previous researchers have demonstrated that strong pulsations of the fuel flow rate can significantly reduce the flame length and luminosity of laminar/transitional non-premixed jet flames. The physical mechanisms responsible for these changes are investigated experimentally in acoustically-forced jet flows where the peak velocity fluctuations are up to eight times the mean flow velocity. Both reacting and non-reacting flows were studied and Reynolds numbers, based on the mean flow properties, ranged from 800 to 10,000 (corresponding to peak Reynolds numbers of 1,450-23,000), and forcing frequencies ranged from 290 to 1,140 Hz. Both the first and second organ-pipe resonance modes of the fuel delivery tube were excited to obtain these frequencies. An analysis of the acoustic forcing characteristics within the resonance tube is provided in order to understand the source of the high amplitude forcing. Flow visualization of jets with first resonant forcing confirms the presence of large-scale coherent vortices and strong reverse flow near the exit of the fuel tube. With second-resonant forcing, however, vortices are not emitted from the tube as they are drawn back into the fuel tube before they can fully form. Increased fine-scale turbulence is associated with both resonant cases, but particularly at second resonance. The power spectra of the velocity fluctuations for a resonantly pulsed jet show the presence of an inertial subrange indicating that the flow becomes fully turbulent even for mean-Reynolds-number jets that are nominally laminar. It is shown that these pulsed jet flows exhibit strong similarities to synthetic jets and that the Strouhal number, based on the maximum velocity at the fuel tube exit, is the dominant parameter for scaling these flows. The Strouhal number determines the downstream location where the coherent vortices breakdown, and is found to provide better collapse of flame length data (both current and previous) than other parameters that have been used in the literature.