Akihiro Hayakawa

Biogas Laminar Burning Velocity and Flammability Characteristics in Spark Ignited Premix Combustion

Spherically expanding flames propagating at constant pressure were employed to determine the laminar burning velocity and flammability characteristics of biogas-air mixtures in premixed combustion to uncover the fundamental flame propagation characteristics of a new alternative and renewable fuel. The results are compared with those from a methane-air flame. Biogas is a sustainable and renewable fuel that is produced in digestion facilities. The composition of biogas discussed in this paper consists of 66.4% methane, 30.6% carbon dioxide and 3% nitrogen. Burning velocity was measured at various equivalence ratios (ϕ) using a photographic technique in a high pressure fan-stirred bomb, the initial condition being at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The flame for methane-air mixtures propagates from ϕ=0.6 till ϕ=1.3. The flame at ϕ≥1.4 does not propagate because the combustion reaction is quenched by the larger mass of fuel. At ϕ≤0.5, it does not propagate as well since the heat of reaction is insufficient to burn the mixtures. The flame for biogas-air mixtures propagates in a narrower range, that is from ϕ=0.6 to ϕ=1.2. Different from the methane flame, the biogas flame does not propagate at ϕ≥1.3 because the heat absorbed by inhibitors strengthens the quenching effect by the larger mass of fuel. As in the methane flame, the biogas flame at ϕ≤0.5 does not propagate. This shows that the effect of inhibitors in extremely lean mixtures is small. Compared to a methane-air mixture, the flammability characteristic (flammable region) of biogas becomes narrower in the presence of inhibitors (carbon dioxide and nitrogen) and the presence of inhibitors causes a reduction in the laminar burning velocity. The inhibitor gases work more effectively at rich mixtures because the rich biogas-air mixtures have a higher fraction of carbon dioxide and nitrogen components compared to the lean biogas-air mixtures.

Study of Thermo-Diffusive Effects on Iso-Octane/Air Flames at Fixed Turbulence Karlovitz Number

Spherically propagating laminar and turbulent flames were studied using iso-octane / air mixtures with and without dilution. The main purpose of this study is to clarify the influence of thermo-diffusive effects on the turbulent flames. In order to examine the thermo-diffusive effects solely by separating them from the effects of flame stretch, turbulent burning velocities were compared at constant flame stretch factors. The mean flame stretch factor acting on turbulent flame front may be represented by the turbulence Karlovitz number. Thus, turbulent explosions were carried out at fixed turbulence Karlovitz numbers. The ratio of turbulent burning velocity to unstretched laminar burning velocity increased with the equivalence ratio for non-diluted mixtures at fixed turbulence Karlovitz numbers. And this ratio for CO2 diluted mixtures was larger than N2 diluted mixtures. The Markstein number that denotes the sensitivity of the flame to thermo-diffusive effects depends on the equivalence ratio and diluents of the mixture. The ratio of turbulent burning velocity to unstretched laminar one increased with decreasing Markstein number. Especially, it changed stepwise around Markstein number of zero. However, the burning velocity ratios did not increase with increasing mixture pressure although the Markstein number decreased with pressure.© 2011 ASME