Flame spreading from bluff-body flameholders

Abstract

Flame stabilization and flame spreading are two processes of paramount importance in the design of combustion chambers. Sufficient experimental work has been carried out to make clear the mechanism of stabilization; however understanding of the process of flame spreading in a duct is still imperfect. This is perhaps not surprising because, in technically interesting cases, the spreading is turbulent and the behavior of even the simplest turbulent flame is still controversial. Furthermore, studies that have been made of flame spreading have been primarily directed at solving the practical problem of the determination of combustion efficiency rather than providing insight into the physical phenomena involved in the spreading process. The present investigation was undertaken to define the influence of certain chemical and fluid dynamic parameters on the spreading of a simple flame in a duct, with the view that the results would yield some understanding of the mechanism of flame spreading.