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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1999

Soot Formation in Laminar Premixed Flames

Soot processes within hydrocarbon-fueled flames affect emissions of pollutant soot, thermal loads on combustors, hazards of unwanted fires and capabilities for computational combustion. In view of these observations, the present study is considering processes of soot formation in both burner-stabilized and freely-propagating laminar premixed flames. These flames are being studied in order to simplify the interpretation of measurements and to enhance computational tractability compared to the diffusion flame environments of greatest interest for soot processes. In addition, earlier studies of soot formation in laminar premixed flames used approximations of soot optical and structure properties that have not been effective during recent evaluations, as well as questionable estimates of flow residence times). The objective of present work was to exploit methods of avoiding these difficulties developed for laminar diffusion flames to study soot growth in laminar premixed flames. The following description of these studies is brief.

Xu, F.↗
NASA NTRS1999

F-16XL-2 Supersonic Laminar Flow Control Flight Test Experiment

The F-16XL-2 Supersonic Laminar Flow Control Flight Test Experiment was part of the NASA High-Speed Research Program. The goal of the experiment was to demonstrate extensive laminar flow, to validate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes and design methodology, and to establish laminar flow control design criteria. Topics include the flight test hardware and design, airplane modification, the pressure and suction distributions achieved, the laminar flow achieved, and the data analysis and code correlation.

Anders, Scott G.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Shapes of Nonbuoyant Round Luminous Hydrocarbon/Air Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames

The shapes (luminous flame boundaries) of round luminous nonbuoyant soot-containing hydrocarbon/air laminar jet diffusion flames at microgravity were found from color video images obtained on orbit in the Space Shuttle Columbia. Test conditions included ethylene- and propane-fueled flames burning in still air at an ambient temperature of 300 K, ambient pressures of 35-130 kPa, initial jet diameters of 1.6 and 2.7 mm, and jet exit Reynolds numbers of 45-170. Present test times were 100-200 s and yielded steady axisymmetric flames that were close to the laminar smoke point (including flames both emitting and not emitting soot) with luminous flame lengths of 15-63 mm. The present soot-containing flames had larger luminous flame lengths than earlier ground-based observations having similar burner configurations: 40% larger than the luminous flame lengths of soot-containing low gravity flames observed using an aircraft (KC-135) facility due to reduced effects of accelerative disturbances and unsteadiness; roughly twice as large as the luminous flame lengths of soot-containing normal gravity flames due to the absence of effects of buoyant mixing and roughly twice as large as the luminous flame lengths of soot-free low gravity flames observed using drop tower facilities due to the presence of soot luminosity and possible reduced effects of unsteadiness. Simplified expressions to estimate the luminous flame boundaries of round nonbuoyant laminar jet diffusion flames were obtained from the classical analysis of Spalding (1979); this approach provided Successful Correlations of flame shapes for both soot-free and soot-containing flames, except when the soot-containing flames were in the opened-tip configuration that is reached at fuel flow rates near and greater than the laminar smoke point fuel flow rate.

Lin, K.-C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Structure and Soot Formation Properties of Laminar Flames

Soot formation within hydrocarbon-fueled flames is an important unresolved problem of combustion science for several reasons: soot emissions are responsible for more deaths than any other combustion-generated pollutant, thermal loads due to continuum radiation from soot limit the durability of combustors, thermal radiation from soot is mainly responsible for the growth and spread of unwanted fires, carbon monoxide emissions associated with soot emissions are responsible for most fire deaths, and limited understanding of soot processes in flames is a major impediment to the development of computational combustion. Motivated by these observations, soot processes within laminar premixed and nonpremixed (diffusion) flames are being studied during this investigation. The study is limited to laminar flames due to their experimental and computational tractability, noting the relevance of these results to practical flames through laminar flamelet concepts. Nonbuoyant flames are emphasized because buoyancy affects soot processes in laminar diffusion flames whereas effects of buoyancy are small for most practical flames. This study involves both ground- and space-based experiments, however, the following discussion will be limited to ground-based experiments because no space-based experiments were carried out during the report period. The objective of this work was to complete measurements in both premixed and nonpremixed flames in order to gain a better understanding of the structure of the soot-containing region and processes of soot nucleation and surface growth in these environments, with the latter information to be used to develop reliable ways of predicting soot properties in practical flames. The present discussion is brief, more details about the portions of the investigation considered here can be found in refs. 8-13.

El-Leathy, A. M.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Flame Shapes of Nonbuoyant Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames

The shapes (flame-sheet and luminous-flame boundaries) of steady nonbuoyant round hydrocarbon-fueled laminar-jet diffusion flames in still and coflowing air were studied both experimentally and theoretically. Flame-sheet shapes were measured from photographs using a CH optical filter to distinguish flame-sheet boundaries in the presence of blue C02 and OH emissions and yellow continuum radiation from soot. Present experimental conditions included acetylene-, methane-, propane-, and ethylene-fueled flames having initial reactant temperatures of 300 K, ambient pressures of 4-50 kPa, jet exit Reynolds number of 3-54, initial air/fuel velocity ratios of 0-9 and luminous flame lengths of 5-55 mm; earlier measurements for propylene- and 1,3-butadiene-fueled flames for similar conditions were considered as well. Nonbuoyant flames in still air were observed at micro-gravity conditions; essentially nonbuoyant flames in coflowing air were observed at small pressures to control effects of buoyancy. Predictions of luminous flame boundaries from soot luminosity were limited to laminar smoke-point conditions, whereas predictions of flame-sheet boundaries ranged from soot-free to smoke-point conditions. Flame-shape predictions were based on simplified analyses using the boundary layer approximations along with empirical parameters to distinguish flame-sheet and luminous-flame (at the laminar smoke point) boundaries. The comparison between measurements and predictions was remarkably good and showed that both flame-sheet and luminous-flame lengths are primarily controlled by fuel flow rates with lengths in coflowing air approaching 2/3 lengths in still air as coflowing air velocities are increased. Finally, luminous flame lengths at laminar smoke-point conditions were roughly twice as long as flame-sheet lengths at comparable conditions due to the presence of luminous soot particles in the fuel-lean region of the flames.

Xu, F.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Shapes of Nonbuoyant Round Luminous Hydrocarbon/Air Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames

The shapes (luminous flame boundaries) of round luminous nonbuoyant soot-containing hydrocarbon/air laminar jet diffusion flames at microgravity were found from color video images obtained on orbit in the Space Shuttle Columbia. Test conditions included ethylene- and propane-fueled flames burning in still air at an ambient temperature of 300 K ambient pressures of 35-130 kPa, initial jet diameters of 1.6 and 2.7 mm, and jet exit Reynolds numbers of 45-170. Present test times were 100-200 s and yielded steady axisymmetric flames that were close to the laminar smoke point (including flames both emitting and not emitting soot) with luminous flame lengths of 15-63 mm. The present soot-containing flames had larger luminous flame lengths than earlier ground-based observations having similar burner configurations: 40% larger than the luminous flame lengths of soot-containing low gravity flames observed using an aircraft (KC-135) facility due to reduced effects of accelerative disturbances and unsteadiness; roughly twice as large as the luminous flame lengths of soot-containing normal gravity flames due to the absence of effects of buoyant mixing and roughly twice as large as the luminous flame lengths of soot-free low gravity flames observed using drop tower facilities due to the presence of soot luminosity and possible reduced effects of unsteadiness, Simplified expressions to estimate the luminous flame boundaries of round nonbuoyant laminar jet diffusion flames were obtained from the classical analysis of Spalding; this approach provided successful correlations of flame shapes for both soot-free and soot-containing flames, except when the soot-containing flames were in the opened-tip configuration that is reached at fuel flow rates near and greater than the laminar smoke point fuel flow rate.

Lin, K.-C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Soot Surface Growth in Laminar Hydrocarbon/Air Diffusion Flames

The structure and soot surface growth properties of round laminar jet diffusion flames were studied experimentally. Measurements were made along the axes of ethylene-, propylene-propane- and acetylene-benzene-fueled flames burning in coflowing air at atmospheric pressure with the reactants at normal temperature. The measurements included soot structure, soot concentrations, soot temperatures, major gas species concentrations, some radial species (H, OH and O) concentrations, and gas velocities. These measurements yielded the local flame properties that are thought to affect soot surface growth as well as local soot surface growth rates. When present results were combined with similar earlier observations of acetylene-fueled laminar jet diffusion flames, the results suggested that soot surface growth involved decomposition of the original fuel to form acetylene and H, which were the main reactants for soot surface growth, and that the main effect of the parent fuel on soot surface growth involved its yield of acetylene and H for present test conditions. Thus, as the distance increased along the axes of the flames, soot formation (which was dominated by soot surface growth) began near the cool core of the flow once acetylene and H appeared together and ended near the flame sheet when acetylene disappeared. Species mainly responsible for soot oxidation - OH and O2 were present throughout the soot formation region so that soot surface growth and oxidation proceeded at the same time. Present measurements of soot surface growth rates (corrected for soot surface oxidation) in laminar jet diffusion flames were consistent with earlier measurements of soot surface growth rates in laminar premixed flames and exhibited good agreement with existing Hydrogen-Abstraction/Carbon-Addition (HACA) soot surface growth mechanisms in the literature with steric factors in these mechanisms having values on the order of unity, as anticipated.

El-Leathy, A. M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Flame Shapes of Nonbuoyant Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames

The shapes (flame-sheet and luminous-flame boundaries) of steady nonbuoyant round hydrocarbon-fueled laminar-jet diffusion flames in still and coflowing air were studied both experimentally and theoretically. Flame-sheet shapes were measured from photographs using a CH optical filter to distinguish flame-sheet boundaries in the presence of blue CO2 and OH emissions and yellow continuum radiation from soot. Present experimental conditions included acetylene-, methane-, propane-, and ethylene-fueled flames having initial reactant temperatures of 300 K, ambient pressures of 4-50 kPa, jet exit Reynolds number of 3-54, initial air/fuel velocity ratios of 0-9 and luminous flame lengths of 5-55 mm; earlier measurements for propylene- and 1,3-butadiene-fueled flames for similar conditions were considered as well. Nonbuoyant flames in still air were observed at micro-gravity conditions; essentially nonbuoyant flames in coflowing air were observed at small pressures to control effects of buoyancy. Predictions of luminous flame boundaries from soot luminosity were limited to laminar smokepoint conditions, whereas predictions of flame-sheet boundaries ranged from soot-free to smokepoint conditions. Flame-shape predictions were based on simplified analyses using the boundary layer approximations along with empirical parameters to distinguish flame-sheet and luminous flame (at the laminar smoke point) boundaries. The comparison between measurements and predictions was remarkably good and showed that both flame-sheet and luminous-flame lengths are primarily controlled by fuel flow rates with lengths in coflowing air approaching 2/3 lengths in still air as coflowing air velocities are increased. Finally, luminous flame lengths at laminar smoke-point conditions were roughly twice as long as flame-sheet lengths at comparable conditions due to the presence of luminous soot particles in the fuel-lean region of the flames.

Xu, F.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Flame and Soot Boundaries of Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames

The shapes (flame-sheet and luminous-flame boundaries) or steady weakly buoyant round hydrocarbon-fueled laminar-jet diffusion flames in still and coflowing air were studied both experimentally and theoretically. Flame-sheet shapes were measured from photographs using a CH optical filter to distinguish flame-sheet boundaries in the presence of blue CO2 and OH emissions and yellow continuum radiation from soot. Present experimental conditions included acetylene-, methane-, propane-, and ethylene-fueled flames having initial reactant temperatures of 300 K. ambient pressures of 4-50 kPa, jet-exit Reynolds numbers of 3-54, initial air/fuel velocity ratios of 0-9, and luminous flame lengths of 5-55 mm; earlier measurements for propylene- and 1,3-butadiene-fueled flames for similar conditions were considered as well. Nonbuoyant flames in still air were observed at microgravity conditions; essentially nonbuoyant flames in coflowing air were observed at small pressures to control effects of buoyancy. Predictions of luminous flame boundaries from soot luminosity were limited to laminar smoke-point conditions, whereas predictions of flame-sheet boundaries ranged from soot-free to smoke-point conditions. Flame-shape predictions were based on simplified analyses using the boundary-layer approximations along with empirical parameters to distinguish flame-sheet and luminous-flame (at the laminar smoke point) boundaries. The comparison between measurements and predictions was remarkably good and showed that both flame-sheet and luminous-flame lengths are primarily controlled by fuel flow rates with lengths in coflowing air approaching 2/3 of the lengths in still air as coflowing air velocities are increased. Finally, luminous flame lengths at laminar smoke-point conditions were roughly twice as long as flame-sheet lengths at comparable conditions because of the presence of luminous soot particles in the fuel-lean region of the flames.

Xu, F.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Soot Surface Growth in Laminar Hydrocarbon/Air Diffusion Flames

The structure and soot surface growth properties of round laminar jet diffusion flames were studied experimentally. Measurements were made along the axes of ethylene-, propylene-propane- and acetylene-benzene-fueled flames burning in coflowing air at atmospheric pressure with the reactants at normal temperature. The measurements included soot structure, soot concentrations, soot temperatures, major gas species concentrations, some radial species (H, OH and 0) concentrations, and gas velocities. These measurements yielded the local flame properties that are thought to affect soot surface growth as well as local soot surface growth rates. When present results were combined with similar earlier observations of acetylene-fueled laminar jet diffusion flames, the results suggested that soot surface growth involved decomposition of the original fuel to form acetylene and H, which were the main reactants for soot surface growth, and that the main effect of the parent fuel on soot surface growth involved its yield of acetylene and H for present test conditions. Thus, as the distance increased along the axes of the flames, soot formation (which was dominated by soot surface growth) began near the cool core of the flow once acetylene and H appeared together and ended near the flame sheet when acetylene disappeared. Species mainly responsible for soot oxidation - OH and 02 were present throughout the soot formation region so that soot surface growth and oxidation proceeded at the same time. Present measurements of soot surface growth rates (corrected for soot surface oxidation) in laminar jet diffusion flames were consistent with earlier measurements of soot surface growth rates in laminar premixed flames and exhibited good agreement with existing Hydrogen-Abstraction/Carbon-Addition (HACA) soot surface growth mechanisms in the literature with steric factors in these mechanisms having values on the order of unity, as anticipated.

El-Leathy, A. M.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Flame Structure and Scalar Properties in Microgravity Laminar Fires

Recent results from microgravity combustion experiments conducted in the Zero Gravity Facility (ZGF) 5.18 second drop tower are reported. Emission mid-infrared spectroscopy measurements have been completed to quantitatively determine the flame temperature, water and carbon dioxide vapor concentrations, radiative emissive power, and soot concentrations in a microgravity laminar ethylene/air flame. The ethylene/air laminar flame conditions are similar to previously reported experiments including the Flight Project, Laminar Soot Processes (LSP). Soot concentrations and gas temperatures are in reasonable agreement with similar results available in the literature. However, soot concentrations and flame structure dramatically change in long duration microgravity laminar diffusion flames as demonstrated in this paper.

Feikema, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Flame Radiation, Structure, and Scalar Properties in Microgravity Laminar Fires

Results from microgravity combustion experiments conducted in the Zero Gravity Research Facility (ZGF) 5.18 second drop facility are reported. The results quantify flame radiation, structure, and scalar properties during the early phase of a microgravity fire. Emission mid-infrared spectroscopy measurements have been completed to quantitatively determine the flame temperature, water and carbon dioxide vapor concentrations, radiative emissive power, and soot concentrations in microgravity laminar methane/air, ethylene/nitrogen/air and ethylene/air jet flames. The measured peak mole fractions for water vapor and carbon dioxide are found to be in agreement with state relationship predictions for hydrocarbon/air combustion. The ethylene/air laminar flame conditions are similar to previously reported results including those from the flight project, Laminar Soot Processes (LSP). Soot concentrations and gas temperatures are in reasonable agreement with similar results available in the literature. However, soot concentrations and flame structure dramatically change in long-duration microgravity laminar diffusion flames as demonstrated in this report.

Feikema, Douglas↗
NASA NTRS2005

Laminar-flow airfoil

An airfoil having a fore airfoil element, an aft airfoil element, and a slot region in between them. These elements induce laminar flow over substantially all of the fore airfoil element and also provide for laminar flow in at least a portion of the slot region. The method of the invention is one for inducing natural laminar flow over an airfoil. In the method, a fore airfoil element, having a leading and trailing edge, and an aft airfoil element define a slot region. Natural laminar flow is induced over substantially all of the fore airfoil element, by inducing the pressures on both surfaces of the fore airfoil element to decrease to a location proximate the trailing edge of the fore airfoil element using pressures created by the aft airfoil element.

Somers, Dan M.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Assessment of the National Transonic Facility for Laminar Flow Testing

A transonic wing, designed to accentuate key transition physics, is tested at cryogenic conditions at the National Transonic Facility at NASA Langley. The collaborative test between Boeing and NASA is aimed at assessing the facility for high-Reynolds number testing of configurations with significant regions of laminar flow. The test shows a unit Reynolds number upper limit of 26 M/ft for achieving natural transition. At higher Reynolds numbers turbulent wedges emanating from the leading edge bypass the natural transition process and destroy the laminar flow. At lower Reynolds numbers, the transition location is well correlated with the Tollmien-Schlichting-wave N-factor. The low-Reynolds number results suggest that the flow quality is acceptable for laminar flow testing if the loss of laminar flow due to bypass transition can be avoided.

Crouch, Jeffrey D.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Computational Optimization of a Natural Laminar Flow Experimental Wing Glove

Computational optimization of a natural laminar flow experimental wing glove that is mounted on a business jet is presented and discussed. The process of designing a laminar flow wing glove starts with creating a two-dimensional optimized airfoil and then lofting it into a three-dimensional wing glove section. The airfoil design process does not consider the three dimensional flow effects such as cross flow due wing sweep as well as engine and body interference. Therefore, once an initial glove geometry is created from the airfoil, the three dimensional wing glove has to be optimized to ensure that the desired extent of laminar flow is maintained over the entire glove. TRANAIR, a non-linear full potential solver with a coupled boundary layer code was used as the main tool in the design and optimization process of the three-dimensional glove shape. The optimization process uses the Class-Shape-Transformation method to perturb the geometry with geometric constraints that allow for a 2-in clearance from the main wing. The three-dimensional glove shape was optimized with the objective of having a spanwise uniform pressure distribution that matches the optimized two-dimensional pressure distribution as closely as possible. Results show that with the appropriate inputs, the optimizer is able to match the two dimensional pressure distributions practically across the entire span of the wing glove. This allows for the experiment to have a much higher probability of having a large extent of natural laminar flow in flight.

Hartshom, Fletcher↗
NASA NTRS2014

Flight Tests of a Supersonic Natural Laminar Flow Airfoil

A flight test campaign of a supersonic natural laminar flow airfoil has been recently completed. The test surface was an 80-inch (203 cm) chord and 40-inch (102 cm) span article mounted on the centerline store location of an F-15B airplane. The wing was designed with a leading edge sweep of effectively 0 deg to minimize boundary layer crossflow. The test article surface was coated with an insulating material to avoid significant heat transfer to and from the test article structure to maintain a quasi-adiabatic wall. An aircraft-mounted infrared camera system was used to determine boundary layer transition and the extent of laminar flow. The tests were flown up to Mach 2.0 and chord Reynolds numbers in excess of 30 million. The objectives of the tests were to determine the extent of laminar flow at high Reynolds numbers and to determine the sensitivity of the flow to disturbances. Both discrete (trip dots) and 2-D disturbances (forward-facing steps) were tested. A series of oblique shocks, of yet unknown origin, appeared on the surface, which generated sufficient crossflow to affect transition. Despite the unwanted crossflow, the airfoil performed well. The results indicate the sensitivity of the flow to the disturbances, which can translate into manufacturing tolerances, were similar to that of subsonic natural laminar flow wings.

Frederick, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Computational Design and Analysis of a Transonic Natural Laminar Flow Wing for a Wind Tunnel Model

A natural laminar flow (NLF) wind tunnel model has been designed and analyzed for a wind tunnel test in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at the NASA Langley Research Center. The NLF design method is built into the CDISC design module and uses a Navier-Stokes flow solver, a boundary layer profile solver, and stability analysis and transition prediction software. The NLF design method alters the pressure distribution to support laminar flow on the upper surface of wings with high sweep and flight Reynolds numbers. The method addresses transition due to attachment line contamination/transition, Gortler vortices, and crossflow and Tollmien-Schlichting modal instabilities. The design method is applied to the wing of the Common Research Model (CRM) at transonic flight conditions. Computational analysis predicts significant extents of laminar flow on the wing upper surface, which results in drag savings. A 5.2 percent scale semispan model of the CRM NLF wing will be built and tested in the NTF. This test will aim to validate the NLF design method, as well as characterize the laminar flow testing capabilities in the wind tunnel facility.

Lynde, Michelle N.↗
NASA NTRS1957

Further experiments on the stability of laminar and turbulent hydrogen-air flames at reduced pressures

Stability limits for laminar and turbulent hydrogen-air burner flames were measured as a function of pressure, burner diameter, and composition. On the basis of a simple flame model, turbulent flashback involved a smaller effective penetration distance than laminar flashback. No current theoretical treatment predicts the observed pressure and diameter dependence of laminar and turbulent blowoff.

FLOW, LAMINAR↗