Simultaneous measurement of burning velocity and turbulence intensity ahead the flame front during aluminum flame propagation

Abstract

Numerical simulations of the flame propagation process are mandatory to predict the consequences of dust explosions. One key parameter of these models is the burning velocity, i.e. the consumption rate of the reactants by the flame front. This burning velocity depends on the characteristics of the mixture and on the characteristics of the flow. Experiments are needed to estimate this burning velocity and to evaluate the influence of the turbulence on this velocity. In this paper, an optical setup is implemented to perform TR-PIV (Time-Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry) measurement during aluminium flame propagation in a vertical tube. Because of the nature of the studied phenomena (luminous flame, propagating flame, dense particle cloud…), performing PIV is challenging. With the analysis method detailed in this paper, the burning velocity and the corresponding turbulence level just ahead of the flame front are simultaneously determined. A preliminary result is presented to illustrate this method. Following this method, the influence of turbulence on burning velocity will be studied.