Are Sooting Premixed Porous-Plug Burner Flames One-Dimensional? A Laser-Based Experimental Investigation

The one-dimensional character of sooting premixed porous-plug (McKenna) burner flames has been examined, motivated by recent investigations where the one-dimensionality has been questioned. The examination employs laser diagnostic techniques to measure different characteristics: temperature using rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) and soot properties using laser-induced incandescence and elastic light scattering. Special attention has been paid to the influence of an outer shroud gas flow of either nitrogen or air. The nitrogen shroud gas leads to flame cooling at the outer edge, whereas the air shroud results in heating through the oxidation of CO/H-2/soot. This generally results in a more inhomogeneous spatial particle size profile for the nitrogen shroud flame, with smaller particle sizes at the flame edge. The present results emphasize the need to characterize burner and operating conditions accurately, and also, regarding parameters that at first glance seem less relevant, such as the shroud gas, to provide useful data for comparison between laboratories.