Effect of fuel dilution on the stability characteristics of syngas diffusion flames

In order to investigate the effects of fuel dilution on flame stability characteristics, open syngas diffusion flames are established and H20, N2 and CO2 are employed respectively as diluents. The burner configuration used in this study consists of a bluff body with a central jet flow of the fuel and a surrounding coflow of the air. The syngas is composed of 50% of H2 and 50% of CO (by volume). The experiments are conducted at 1 atmospheric pressure, and the temperatures of the fuel and the air are kept constant at about 400 K. The results show that the flame tapers inward and becomes more cylindrical in the shape as after the dilution, the flame becomes unstable due to dilution effects. It has been found that there is a maximum flow rate of diluents responsible for the flame extinction. Among these three dilutions, H20 diluted flames exhibit a highest stability, while CO2 diluted flames have the lowest one due to its large specific heat. Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) measurements of the OH radical are applied to study the behavior of the OH radical in the flames. The results show that as the diluents introduced into the flame increases, the overall OH mole fraction significantly decreases, and the flame width also decreases. The structures of flame bases are also studied to obtain a better understanding of fuel dilution effects on the flame stability. The radial stabilization distance is decreased and the local flame extinctions in the reaction zones are found as dilution increases. For operating conditions close to the flame extinction limit, the flame reaction zones in the flame bases take on a more intermittent, shredded appearance.