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NASA NTRS2002

Dynamics of Diffusion Flames in von Karman Swirling Flows Studied

Von Karman swirling flow is generated by the viscous pumping action of a solid disk spinning in a quiescent fluid media. When this spinning disk is ignited in an oxidizing environment, a flat diffusion flame is established adjacent to the disk, embedded in the boundary layer (see the preceding illustration). For this geometry, the conservation equations reduce to a system of ordinary differential equations, enabling researchers to carry out detailed theoretical models to study the effects of varying strain on the dynamics of diffusion flames. Experimentally, the spinning disk burner provides an ideal configuration to precisely control the strain rates over a wide range. Our original motivation at the NASA Glenn Research Center to study these flames arose from a need to understand the flammability characteristics of solid fuels in microgravity where slow, subbuoyant flows can exist, producing very small strain rates. In a recent work (ref. 1), we showed that the flammability boundaries are wider and the minimum oxygen index (below which flames cannot be sustained) is lower for the von Karman flow configuration in comparison to a stagnation-point flow. Adding a small forced convection to the swirling flow pushes the flame into regions of higher strain and, thereby, decreases the range of flammable strain rates. Experiments using downward facing, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) disks spinning in air revealed that, close to the extinction boundaries, the flat diffusion flame breaks up into rotating spiral flames (refs. 2 and 3). Remarkably, the dynamics of these spiral flame edges exhibit a number of similarities to spirals observed in biological systems, such as the electric pulses in cardiac muscles and the aggregation of slime-mold amoeba. The tail of the spiral rotates rigidly while the tip executes a compound, meandering motion sometimes observed in Belousov-Zhabotinskii reactions.

Nayagam, Vedha↗

NASA NTRS2000

Flame Spread Along Free Edges of Thermally Thin Samples in Microgravity

The effects of imposed flow velocity on flame spread along open edges of a thermally thin cellulosic sample in microgravity are studied experimentally and theoretically. In this study, the sample is ignited locally at the middle of the 4 cm wide sample and subsequent flame spread reaches both open edges of the sample. The following flame behaviors are observed in the experiments and predicted by the numerical calculation; in order of increased imposed flow velocity: (1) ignition but subsequent flame spread is not attained, (2) flame spreads upstream (opposed mode) without any downstream flame, and (3) the upstream flame and two separate downstream flames traveling along the two open edges (concurrent mode). Generally, the upstream and downstream edge flame spread rates are faster than the central flame spread rate for an imposed flow velocity of up to 5 cm/s. This is due to greater oxygen supply from the outer free stream to the edge flames than the central flames, For the upstream edge flame, the greater oxygen supply results in a flame spread rate that is nearly independent of, or decreases gradually, with the imposed flow velocity. The spread rate of the downstream edge, however, increases significantly with the imposed flow velocity.

Mell, W. E.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Investigation of Diffusion Flame Tip Thermodiffusive and Hydrodynamic Instability under Microgravity Conditions

We employ the opposed flow flame-spread configuration in order to examine flame-front instability of diffusion flames near cold, solid boundaries. The thermo-diffusive and hydrodynamic instabilities can transform an initially planar flame front into an irregularly curved, corrugated, possibly fragmented front. Under ordinary 1-g conditions, the buoyancy-induced flow masks the thermo-diffusive and hydrodynamic instabilities and produces planar flames. Such stable spreading flames have been observed for decades in laboratory experiments. Experiments in zero gravity are necessary to produce unstable flame fronts. The thermo-diffusive/hydrodynamic microgravity instability appears in diffusion flames such as, for example: the candle flame oscillations observed by Dietrich et al.; smolder instabilities on a recent Space Shuttle flight. Drs. T. Kashiwagi and S. Olson have attributed the latter to a lowered oxygen transport rate to the hot, reactive surface. Consider a burning surface near the flame extinction limit. The flow, or stretch, induced by the diffusion flame is weak, hence buoyancy plays a small role, thereby enabling previously secondary mechanisms, such as differential thermo-diffusion, to become the most important mechanisms. The flame leading edge becomes unstable; and diffusion flame breakup, oscillation, and rejoining all occur at a measurable frequency of approximately O(1 Hz). This project has only begun in January of this year, 1999. To date, there have been no flight experiments on flame spread instabilities. However, we have made numerous experiments in the NASA 2.2 and 5 second drop towers on flame spread over very thin cellulosic fuels. We have been very fortunate through a combination of factors, to be explained, to obtain some interesting, perhaps even compelling, results on diffusion flame instability in the presence of heat losses to cold surfaces.

Wichman, I. S.↗

NASA NTRS1994

The solid surface combustion experiment aboard the USML-1 mission

AA Experimental results from the five experiments indicate that flame spread rate increases with increasing ambient oxygen content and pressure. An experiment was conducted aboard STS-50/USML-1 in the solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE) hardware for flame spread over a thin cellulosic fuel in a quiescent oxidizer of 35% oxygen/65% nitrogen at 1.0 atm. pressure in microgravity. The USML-1 test was the fourth of five planned experiments for thin fuels, one performed during each of five Space Shuttle Orbiter flights. Data that were gathered include gas- and solid-phase temperatures and motion picture flame images. Observations of the flame are described and compared to theoretical predictions from steady and unsteady models that include flame radiation from CO2 and H2O. Experimental results from the five esperiments indicate that flame spread rate increases with increasing ambient oxygen content and pressure. The brightness of the flame and the visible soot radiation also increase with increasing spread rate. Steady-state numerical predictions of temperature and spread rate and flame structure trends compare well with experimental results near the flame's leading edge while gradual flame evolution is captured through the unsteady model.

Altenkirch, Robert A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Effect of Reduced Pressure on the Characteristics of Spreading Flames

Flame spread over solid fuels is a canonical problem in fire science, due to its direct implications on material flammability and importance in fire development. In a microgravity environment, such as onboard a spacecraft, flames can behave very differently than on Earth. This is concerning for spaceflight life safety, especially in higher-oxygen environments. Due to the difficulties associated with microgravity testing, low-pressure environments have been proposed as an alternative to approximately replicate the burning behavior of solid fuels observed in reduced gravity conditions because of similar diffusion and heat transfer mechanisms. However, the roles played by gravity and pressure on flame length, standoff distance, and flame spread rate vary with the burning configuration. In concurrent flame spread, the buoyant flow enhances the spread rate by bringing the flame closer to the fuel surface and increasing the heating of the solid fuel. In opposed flame spread, the sample is preheated by the flame ahead of the flame leading edge, which is strongly affected by the surrounding flow field. In this work, we consider flames spreading over thin cotton samples in both downward (opposed) and upward (concurrent) configurations to investigate the effect of pressure (30-100 kPa) on flame characteristics, such as spread rate and standoff distance. A small forced flow is induced upward so that the flames are exposed to a mixed (forced and free) flow. By reducing pressure, flames become less bright, their standoff distance increases, and their spread rates decrease similar to what is observed in low-gravity environments. These results could in help understanding the differences between flames spreading at low pressure and low gravity environments for these similar, yet very different, spreading configurations. They could also provide more information about potential Earth-based flammability testing of materials for spacecraft applications.

fire safety↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The effect of reduced pressure on the characteristics of spreading flames

fire safety↗

NASA NTRS2003

Computational And Experimental Studies Of Three-Dimensional Flame Spread Over Liquid Fuel Pools

Schiller, Ross, and Sirignano (1996) studied ignition and flame spread above liquid fuels initially below the flashpoint temperature by using a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics code that solves the coupled equations of both the gas and the liquid phases. Pulsating flame spread was attributed to the establishment of a gas-phase recirculation cell that forms just ahead of the flame leading edge because of the opposing effect of buoyancy-driven flow in the gas phase and the thermocapillary-driven flow in the liquid phase. Schiller and Sirignano (1996) extended the same study to include flame spread with forced opposed flow in the gas phase. A transitional flow velocity was found above which an originally uniform spreading flame pulsates. The same type of gas-phase recirculation cell caused by the combination of forced opposed flow, buoyancy-driven flow, and thermocapillary-driven concurrent flow was responsible for the pulsating flame spread. Ross and Miller (1998) and Miller and Ross (1998) performed experimental work that corroborates the computational findings of Schiller, Ross, and Sirignano (1996) and Schiller and Sirignano (1996). Cai, Liu, and Sirignano (2002) developed a more comprehensive three-dimensional model and computer code for the flame spread problem. Many improvements in modeling and numerical algorithms were incorporated in the three-dimensional model. Pools of finite width and length were studied in air channels of prescribed height and width. Significant three-dimensional effects around and along the pool edge were observed. The same three-dimensional code is used to study the detailed effects of pool depth, pool width, opposed air flow velocity, and different levels of air oxygen concentration (Cai, Liu, and Sirignano, 2003). Significant three-dimensional effects showing an unsteady wavy flame front for cases of wide pool width are found for the first time in computation, after being noted previously by experimental observers (Ross and Miller, 1999). Regions of uniform and pulsating flame spread are mapped for the flow conditions of pool depth, opposed flow velocity, initial pool temperature, and air oxygen concentration under both normal and microgravity conditions. Details can be found in Cai et al. (2002, 2003). Experimental results recently performed at NASA Glenn of flame spread across a wide, shallow pool as a function of liquid temperature are also presented here.

Ross, Howard D.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Combustor flame flashback

A stainless steel, two-dimensional (rectangular), center-dump, premixed-prevaporized combustor with quartz window sidewalls for visual access was designed, built, and used to study flashback. A parametric study revealed that the flashback equivalence ratio decreased slightly as the inlet air temperature increased. It also indicated that the average premixer velocity and premixer wall temperature were not governing parameters of flashback. The steady-state velocity balance concept as the flashback mechanism was not supported. From visual observation several stages of burning were identified. High speed photography verified upstream flame propagation with the leading edge of the flame front near the premixer wall. Combustion instabilities (spontaneous pressure oscillations) were discovered during combustion at the dump plane and during flashback. The pressure oscillation frequency ranged from 40 to 80 Hz. The peak-to-peak amplitude (up to 1.4 psi) increased as the fuel/air equivalence ratio was increased attaining a maximum value just before flashback. The amplitude suddenly decreased when the flame stabilized in the premixer. The pressure oscillations were large enough to cause a local flow reversal. A simple test using ceramic fiber tufts indicated flow reversals existed at the premixer exit during flickering. It is suspected that flashback occurs through the premixer wall boundary layer flow reversal caused by combustion instability. A theoretical analysis of periodic flow in the premixing channel has been made. The theory supports the flow reversal mechanism.

Proctor, M. P.↗

NASA NTRS1999

The Three-D Flow Structures of Gas and Liquid Generated by a Spreading Flame Over Liquid Fuel

We developed a new experimental technique called: Combined laser sheet particle tracking (LSPT) and laser holographic interferometry (HI), which is capable of measuring the transient behavior of three dimensional structures of temperature and flow both in liquid and gas phases. We applied this technique to a pulsating flame spread over n-butanol. We found a twin vortex flow both on the liquid surface and deep in the liquid a few mm below the surface and a twin vortex flow in the gas phase. The first twin vortex flow at the liquid surface was observed previously by NASA Lewis researchers, while the last two observations are new. These observations revealed that the convective flow structure ahead of the flame leading edge is three dimensional in nature and the pulsating spread is controlled by the convective flow of both liquid and gas.

Tashtoush, G.↗

NASA NTRS2001

The Onset of Oscillations in Non-Premixed Combustion

In a microgravity environment, molecular diffusion is the primary mechanism by which fuel and oxidizer that are initially separated are brought together to the reaction zone. Combustion systems in microgravity are therefore primed to diffusive-thermal instabilities. One such instability appears in the form of spontaneous oscillations. Oscillations were observed in condensed-phase fuels and gas-jet diffusion flames, and in microgravity jet-flames, candle flames and spherical flames surrounding large fiber-supported fuel droplets. The nature of oscillations is quite different in each of these cases: the droplet flame exhibits radial oscillations, the edge of the candle flame is seen to move back and forth along the hemispherical flame surface and the jet-flame oscillations are primarily up and down along the axis. Despite these differences, associated mainly with the mode of oscillation, one may identify some common factors: in all cases the flame exhibits low-frequency oscillations, oscillations are only observed in special mixtures and their onset occur only at near-extinction conditions.

Matalon, Moshe↗

NASA NTRS1972

Diffusion flame in homologous turbulent shear flows.

The simplifed statistical theory developed previously is employed to analyze the equilibrium and near-equilibrium combustion of initially unmixed reactants. It is found that the flame zone in the limit of large Damkohler numbers is very thick and is of the order of the local integral scale of turbulence. This is in contrast to the existing phenomenological theories which predict the infinitesimally thin flame sheet, in the same limit, as it is with the laminar diffusion flame. Qualitative agreements with the available experimental results are shown. It is found that singularities exist at the edges of the flame which are removed as Damkohler number is reduced. Also, it is found that the heat transfer may take place against the local mean temperature gradient in certain regions within the flame.

Chung, P. M.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Computational predictions of flame spread over alcohol pools

The effects of buoyancy and thermocapillarity on pulsating and uniform flame spread above n-propanol fuel pools have been studied using a numerical model. Data obtained indicate that the existence of pulsating flame spread is dependent upon the formation of a gas-phase recirculation cell which entrains evaporating fuel vapor in front of the leading edge of the flame. The size of the recirculation cell which is affected by the extent of liquid motion ahead of the flame, is shown to dictate whether flame spread is uniform or pulsating. The amplitude and period of the flame pulsations are found to be proportional to the maximum extent of the flow head. Under conditions considered, liquid motion was not affected appreciably by buoyancy. Horizontal convection in the liquid is the dominant mechanism for transporting heat ahead of the flame for both the pulsating and uniform regimes.

Schiller, D. N.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Temperature Field During Flame Spread over Alcohol Pools: Measurements and Modelling

A principal difference between flame spread over solid fuels and over liquid fuels is, in the latter case, the presence of liquid-phase convection ahead of the leading edge of the flame. The details of the fluid dynamics and heat transfer mechanisms in both the pulsating and uniform flame spread regimes were heavily debated, without resolution, in the 1960s and 1970s; recently, research on flame spread over pools was reinvigorated by the advent of enhanced diagnostic techniques and computational power. Temperature fields in the liquid, which enable determination of the extent of preheating ahead of the flame, were determined previously by the use of thermocouples and repetitive tests, and suggested that the surface temperature does not decrease monotonically ahead of the pulsating flame front, but that there exists a surface temperature valley. Recent predictions support this suggestion. However, others' thermocouple measurements and the recent field measurements using Holographic Interferometry (HI) did not find a similar valley. In this work we examine the temperature field using Rainbow Schlieren Deflectometry (RSD), with a measurement threshold exceeding that of conventional interferometry by a factor of 20:1, for uniform and pulsating flame spread using propanol and butanol as fuels. This technique was not applied before to flame spread over liquid pools, except in some preliminary measurements reported earlier. Noting that HI is sensitive to the refractive index while RSD responds to refractive index gradients, and that these two techniques might therefore be difficult to compare, we utilized a numerical simulation, described below, to predict and compare both types of field for the uniform and pulsating spread regimes. The experimental data also allows a validation of the model at a level of detail greater than has been attempted before.

Miller, Fletcher J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The Effect of Gravity on Premixed Flame Propagation and Extinction in a Vertical Standard Flammability Tube

The effect of gravity on the upward and downward flame propagation in lean methane/air and lean propane/air mixtures was studied using plexiglass flammability tubes with ignition at the open-end gravity levels which ranged from microgravity (0 + or - 0.1 g) to 1.77 g. The lean limits were found to be about 5.25, 5.25, and 5.85 percent methane in air; and about 2.15, 2.06, and 2.20 percent propane in air for 1 g upward propagation, 0 g, and 1 g downward propagation, respectively. The propane/air flames observed were stable, irrespective of the g level. On the other hand, lean methane/air flames were found to be sporadically unstable for upward propagation at g levels less than 0.5 g, and for donward propagation at g = 1.0. The extinction process observed was the same for both systems studied: at g = 0, the flame extinguished from the edge toward the center, while at g of 1 and above, the flame extinguished from the center toward the edge.

Strehlow, Roger A.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Large Scale Flame Spread Environmental Characterization Testing

Under the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration Project (SFSDP), as a risk mitigation activity in support of the development of a large-scale fire demonstration experiment in microgravity, flame-spread tests were conducted in normal gravity on thin, cellulose-based fuels in a sealed chamber. The primary objective of the tests was to measure pressure rise in a chamber as sample material, burning direction (upward/downward), total heat release, heat release rate, and heat loss mechanisms were varied between tests. A Design of Experiments (DOE) method was imposed to produce an array of tests from a fixed set of constraints and a coupled response model was developed. Supplementary tests were run without experimental design to additionally vary select parameters such as initial chamber pressure. The starting chamber pressure for each test was set below atmospheric to prevent chamber overpressure. Bottom ignition, or upward propagating burns, produced rapid acceleratory turbulent flame spread. Pressure rise in the chamber increases as the amount of fuel burned increases mainly because of the larger amount of heat generation and, to a much smaller extent, due to the increase in gaseous number of moles. Top ignition, or downward propagating burns, produced a steady flame spread with a very small flat flame across the burning edge. Steady-state pressure is achieved during downward flame spread as the pressure rises and plateaus. This indicates that the heat generation by the flame matches the heat loss to surroundings during the longer, slower downward burns. One heat loss mechanism included mounting a heat exchanger directly above the burning sample in the path of the plume to act as a heat sink and more efficiently dissipate the heat due to the combustion event. This proved an effective means for chamber overpressure mitigation for those tests producing the most total heat release and thusly was determined to be a feasible mitigation strategy to incorporate into the microgravity experiment.

Clayman, Lauren K.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Structure of Propagating and Attached Hydrocarbon Flames

Direct numerical simulations with C3-chemistry and radiative heat-loss models have been performed to reveal the internal structure of propagating and attached flames in an axisymmetric fuel jet of methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, or propane in air under normal and zero gravity. Observations of the flames were also made at the NASA Glenn 2.2-Second Drop Tower. In computations, the fuel issued into quasi-quiescent air for a fixed mixing time before it was ignited along the centerline at stoichiometry. The edge of the flame propagated through a flammable layer at the laminar flame speed of the stoichiometric fuel-air mixture independent of gravity. For all cases, a peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, was formed in the flame base, thereby holding a trailing diffusion flame. The location of the reaction kernel in the attached flames depended inversely on the reactivity. The reaction-kernel correlations between the reactivity and the velocity were developed further using variables related to local Damkahler and Peclet numbers.

Takahashi, Fumiaki↗

NASA NTRS2002

Effect of Wind Velocity on Flame Spread in Microgravity

A three-dimensional, time-dependent model is developed describing ignition and subsequent transition to flame spread over a thermally thin cellulosic sheet heated by external radiation in a microgravity environment. A low Mach number approximation to the Navier Stokes equations with global reaction rate equations describing combustion in the gas phase and the condensed phase is numerically solved. The effects of a slow external wind (1-20 cm/s) on flame transition are studied in an atmosphere of 35% oxygen concentration. The ignition is initiated at the center part of the sample by generating a line-shape flame along the width of the sample. The calculated results are compared with data obtained in the 10s drop tower. Numerical results exhibit flame quenching at a wind speed of 1.0 cm/s, two localized flames propagating upstream along the sample edges at 1.5 cm/s, a single line-shape flame front at 5.0 cm/s, three flames structure observed at 10.0 cm/s (consisting of a single line-shape flame propagating upstream and two localized flames propagating downstream along sample edges) and followed by two line-shape flames (one propagating upstream and another propagating downstream) at 20.0 cm/s. These observations qualitatively compare with experimental data. Three-dimensional visualization of the observed flame complex, fuel concentration contours, oxygen and reaction rate isosurfaces, convective and diffusive mass flux are used to obtain a detailed understanding of the controlling mechanism, Physical arguments based on lateral diffusive flux of oxygen, fuel depletion, oxygen shadow of the flame and heat release rate are constructed to explain the various observed flame shapes.

Prasad, Kuldeep↗

NASA NTRS1983

Lean Limit Phenomena

The influence of stretch and preferential diffusion on premixed flame extinction and stability was investigated via two model flame configurations, namely the stagnation flame and the bunsen flame. Using a counterflow burner and a stagnation flow burner with a water-cooled wall, the effect of downstream heat loss on the extinction of a stretched premixed flame investigated for lean and rich propane/air and methane/air mixtures. It was demonstrated that extinction by stretch alone is possible only when the deficient reactant is the less mobile one. When it is the more mobile one, downstream heat loss or incomplete reaction is also needed to achieve extinction. The local extinction of bunsen flame tips and edges of hydrocarbon/air premixtures was investigated using a variety of burners. Results show that, while for both rich propane/air and butane/air mixtures tip opening occurs at a constant fuel equivalence ratio of 1.44 and is therefore independent of the intensity, uniformity, and configuration of the approach flow, for rich methane/air flames burning is intensified at the tip and therefore opening is not possible.

Law, C. K.↗