Effect of Water Vapor on Counterflow Diffusion Flames.
Effect of Water Vapor on Counterflow Diffusion Flames.
(462 K)
Suh, J.; Atreya, A.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
and Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE).
International Conference on Fire Research and
Engineering (ICFRE). Proceedings. September 10-15,
1995, Orlando, FL, SFPE, Boston, MA, Lund, D. P.;
Angell, E. A., Editor(s)(s), 103-108 pp, 1995.
Sponsor:
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD
Keywords:
fire research; diffusion flames; water vapor; flame
temperature; temperature measurements; equations; flame
structure; temperature profiles; hydroxyl radicals
Abstract:
The chemical and physical effect of water vapor on the
structure of counterflow diffusion flames is
investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The
experimental flame structure measurements consist of
profiles of temperature, stable gases and hydrocarbons,
soot and OH radical concentrations and spatially
resolved radiative emission measurements. These
experimental measurements are compared with numerical
calculations with detailed C2 chemistry. For these
computations, experimentally measured temperature
profiles were used instead of the energy equation to
more accurately describe the flame radiative heat
losses. The flame structure results show that as the
water vapor concentration is increased, the OH radical
concentration increases. This increases the flame
temperature and the CO2 production rate and decreases
the CO production rate. However, after approximately
30% water vapor substitution, the chemical enhancement
by water vapor is not observed and the flame temperature
begins to decrease.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899