Effect of simultaneous velocity and equivalence ratio oscillations on a laminar premixed stagnating flame

Abstract: The dynamics of a laminar premixed stagnating flame subjected to simultaneous velocity and equivalence ratio oscillations are investigated experimentally. A flame of premixed methane and air is formed in a wall-stagnating flow. The oscillations of velocity and equivalence ratio are imposed independently by two sets of dual cylinder–piston oscillators. To impose the equivalence ratio oscillation, methane/air mixtures with equivalence ratios of ϕ= 1.0 and 0.4 are supplied to different cylinder–piston units. The pistons move in anti-phase and create a sinusoidal equivalence ratio oscillation while keeping the volume flow rate constant. To impose the velocity oscillation, a mixture with ϕ= 0.7 is supplied to the single unit of another oscillator. The phase difference between the two oscillations is set by changing the relative position of the pulley teeth of the two oscillators. The oscillator frequency is varied between 2 and 20 Hz, meaning that the oscillation wavelengths are much longer than the flame thickness. When frequencies of the velocity and equivalence ratio fluctuations are in a quasi-steady state condition, the flame motion is affected independently by velocity oscillation and equivalence ratio oscillation and the linear-superposition assumption can be applied. When the velocity and equivalence ratio oscillation frequencies are increased and exceed the transition frequency from the quasi-steady state to unsteady state, the flame motion gradually deviates from linear-superposition assumption. This is due to the variations in the unsteady molecular diffusion and the back-support effect.