Blowoff characteristics and flame structure of edge flame in the stagnation flow

The relation between blowoff characteristics of the edge flame in a methane-air diffusion flame and its flame structure has been investigated by using our original burner. The burner can form an edge flame without premixed flame, as a hole, in the stagnation region of an axisymmetric impinging jet. Varying the hole diameter, blowoff limits and maximum flame temperature were measured for an edge flame's blowoff character, and also, for an edge flame's structure, temperature profile and flame location were measured and a thermal boundary layer around the edge flame was visualized with laser tomographic technique. It is found that all the edge flames in the stagnation flow have a critical stagnation velocity gradient, beyond which the flame can never be existed. The critical stagnation velocity gradient that represents the overall reaction rate in the edge flame zone decreases as the hole diameter is increased. The increase in a hole diameter leads to change of the edge flame's structure and to addition of two heat loss factors to the edge flame. One heat loss factor is the edge flame-wall interaction, which occurs due to decrease in the edge flame's location. Another is penetration of cold flow into a hole in the flame, which occurs due to decrease in the overlapping range of thermal boundary layer of the edge flame in the hole. These additional heat losses occur at lower stagnation velocity gradient and have stronger influence on the edge flame as a hole diameter becomes larger. Consequently the overall reaction rate in the edge flame zone is reduced by the increase in a hole diameter. Finally it is clarified that the edge flame shows qualitatively same extinction as a pure diffusion flame, when the flame zone of the edge flame lies spatially as the boundary that divides between oxidizer side and fuel side in spite of existence of a partially pre-mixture of fuel and oxidizer ahead of the reaction zone in the edge flame region.