Electric fields effect on liftoff and blowoff of nonpremixed laminar jet flames in a coflow

The stabilization characteristics of liftoff and blowoff in nonpremixed laminar jet flames in a coflow have been investigated experimentally for propane fuel by applying AC and DC electric fields to the fuel nozzle with a single-electrode configuration. The liftoff and blowoff velocities have been measured by varying the applied voltage and frequency of AC and the voltage and the polarity of DC. The result showed that the AC electric fields extended the stabilization regime of nozzle-attached flame in terms of jet velocity. As the applied AC voltage increased, the nozzle-attached flame was maintained even over the blowout velocity without having electric fields. In such a case, a blowoff occurred directly without experiencing a lifted flame. While for the DC cases, the influence on liftoff was minimal. There existed three different regimes depending on the applied AC voltage. In the low voltage regime, the nozzle-detachment velocity of either liftoff or blowoff increased linearly with the applied voltage, while nonlinearly with the AC frequency. In the intermediate voltage regime, the detachment velocity decreased with the applied voltage and reasonably independent of the AC frequency. At the high voltage regime, the detachment was significantly influenced by the generation of discharges. © 2009 The Combustion Institute.