Modeling concurrent flame spread over a thin solid in a low-speed flow tunnel

Hsin Yi Shih, James S. T'ien

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

A three-dimensional model of concurrent flame spread over a thin solid in a low-speed flow tunnel in microgravity was formulated and numerically solved. In a parametric study varying the flow velocity, oxygen level, and tunnel and solid fuel widths, two distinctive types of flame behavior were noted. In high-oxygen-percentage and/or higher-speed flows, the flames were long and far away from the quenching limit. In such cases, three-dimensional effects were dominated by heat loss to the wall in the downstream portion of the flame. In low-oxygen and low-speed flows, the flames were short and in the region near the quenching limit. These near-limit flames were controlled by the oxygen supply rate. Oxygen-side diffusion in the crosswind direction became a dominant mechanism exhibiting large effects on the narrow three-dimensional flames. A number of trend reversals on spread rates and extinction limits were discovered for these near-limit flames. Aided by the detailed flame profiles obtained in the computations, an explanation for the reversal phenomena is offered in the paper.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2777-2784
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of the Combustion Institute
Volume28
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2000
Externally publishedYes
Event30th International Symposium on Combustion - Chicago, IL, United States
Duration: 25 07 200430 07 2004

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