Numerical study of the influence of wall roughness on laminar boundary layer flashback

Abstract

Boundary layer flame flashback is a phenomenon that may constitute a key challenge for efficient combustion of novel fuels at gas turbine conditions. In the present work, the effect of wall roughness on the laminar boundary layer flashback is studied systematically using numerical simulation. The results indicate that the wall roughness can attenuate flashback speed due to enhanced heat loss in case of low thermal resistance of the wall. The critical velocity gradient of the oncoming flow is shown to decrease with wall roughness level and increase with gas thermal expansion ratio.