Turbulent burning velocity and its related statistics of ammonia-hydrogen-air jet flames at high Karlovitz number: Effect of differential diffusion

To clarify the role of differential diffusion in highly turbulent premixed flames, a series of turbulent premixed ammonia/hydrogen/air flames were investigated using the NH-PLIF diagnostics. The investigated flames have almost the same laminar burning velocity, S L , but are characterized by different Lewis number, Le , from 0.56 to 1.77. The Karlovitz number, Ka , of these flames ranges from 11 to 1052, and the turbulence intensity, u' / S L , covers from 10 to 156. It is observed that the global consumption speed, S T,GC / S L , of subunity Le flames is much larger than that of super-unity Le flames at high Ka , indicating that the differential diffusion plays a significant role in highly turbulent flames. The flame surface density and the area ratio of turbulent flames with different Le are, however, similar under wide turbulent conditions. The stretch factor of sub-unity Le flames is estimated to be significantly larger than that of super-unity Le cases. The enhanced S T,GC of sub-unity Le flames is suggested to be attributed to the promotion of local burning rates by the couple effect of differential diffusion and turbulent flame stretch within the flame brush, rather than the enlargement of flame surface area at high Ka . Furthermore, three correlations for the S T,GC were developed based on Damkohler's second hypothesis with consideration of the Le effect. The correlation of S T,GC / S L & SIM; ( Re T & BULL;Le -2 ) 0.5 is further validated by using small-scale methane/air and large-scale ammonia/air flames at high Ka , where Re T is turbulent Reynolds number. It suggests that the S T,GC is roughly inversely proportional to the Le , and the differential diffusion effect should be included in the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of highly turbulent flames.& COPY; 2022 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The role of differential diffusion in highly turbulent premixed flames was investigated using NH-PLIF diagnostics. The study found that subunity Lewis number flames have a higher global consumption speed than super-unity Lewis number flames at high Karlovitz number, indicating the significant role of differential diffusion in highly turbulent flames. Although the flame surface density and area ratio are similar for flames with different Lewis numbers, the stretch factor of sub-unity Lewis number flames is significantly larger than that of super-unity cases. The enhanced global consumption speed of sub-unity Lewis number flames is suggested to be attributed to the promotion of local burning rates by the combined effect of differential diffusion and turbulent flame stretch.