Combustion under microgravity

(KM's main topic in 1990's)

Low speed counterflow flames were employed for examining combustion limits under microgravity. Radiative extinctions of counterflow premixed and non-premixed flames were experimentally identified for the first time. Combined effects of flame stretch, Lewis number effect and radiative heat loss on counterflow premixed flame extinction were clarified.

Experimental apparatus

C-curve

Drop tower

Flame bifurcations of low strained counterflow premixed flames as well as mechanisms of radiative extinction were computationally clarified by introducing radiative heat loss term into energy equation. In turn, computational investigations triggered other set of microgravity experiments to support new suggestions made by computational approaches.

G-curve

Related references

• Yiguang Ju, Kaoru Maruta and Takashi Niioka, Combustion Limits, Applied Mechanics Review, Vol. 54: 257-277 (2001)
  doi:10.1115/1.3097297, Link.
• Yiguang Ju, Chung K. Law, Kaoru Maruta and Takashi Niioka, Radiation-Induced Instability of Stretched Premixed Flame, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 28: 1891-1900 (2000)
  doi:10.1016/S0082-0784(00)80593-7, Link.
• C. H. Sohn, J. S. Kim, S. H. Chung and K. Maruta, Nonlinear Evolution of Diffusion Flame Oscillations Triggered by Radiative Heat Loss, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 123: 95-106 (2000)
  doi:10.1016/S0010-2180(00)00148-6, Link.
• Yiguang Ju, Hongsheng Guo, Fengshan Liu and Kaoru Maruta, Effects of the Lewis Number and Radiative Heat Loss on the Bifurcation and Extinction of CH4/O2-N2-He Flames, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 379: 165-190 (1999)
  doi:10.1017/S0022112098003231, Link.
• Yiguang Ju, Hongsheng Guo, Kaoru Maruta, and Takashi Niioka, Flame Bifurcation and Flammable Regions of Radiative Counterflow Premixed Flames with General Lewis Numbers, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 113: 603-614 (1998)
  doi:10.1016/S0010-2180(97)00270-8, Link.
• Hongsheng Guo, Yiguang Ju, Kaoru Maruta, Takashi Niioka and Fengshan Liu, Numerical Investigation of CH4/CO2/Air and CH4/CO2/O2 Counterflow Premixed Flames with Radiation Reabsorption, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 135: 49-64 (1998)
  doi: 10.1080/00102209808924149, Link.
• Yiguang Ju, Goro Masuya, Fengshan Liu, Hongsheng Guo, Kaoru Maruta and Takashi Niioka, Further Examinations on Extinction and Bifurcations of Radiative CH4/Air and C3H8/Air Premixed Flames, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 27: 2551-2557 (1998)
  doi:10.1016/S0082-0784(98)80107-0, Link.
• Kaoru Maruta, Masaharu Yoshida, Hongsheng Guo, Yiguang Ju, and Takashi Niioka, Extinction of Low-stretched Diffusion Flame in Microgravity, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 112: 181-187 (1998)
  doi:10.1016/S0010-2180(97)81766-X, Link.
• Kaoru Maruta, Yiguang Ju, Atsutaka Honda and Takashi Niioka, Lewis Number Effect on Extinction Characteristics of Radiative Counterflow CH4-O2-N2-He Flames, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 27: 2611-2617 (1998)
  doi:10.1016/S0082-0784(98)80115-X, Link.
• Hongsheng Guo, Yiguang Ju, Kaoru Maruta, Takashi Niioka and Fengshan Liu, Radiation Extinction Limit of Counterflow Premixed Lean Methane-Air Flames, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 109: 639-646 (1997)
  doi:10.1016/S0010-2180(97)00050-3, Link.
• Yiguang Ju, Hongsheng Guo, Kaoru Maruta, and Fengshan Liu, On the Extinction Limit and Flammability Limit of Non-adiabatic Stretched Methane-Air Premixed Flame, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 342: 315-334 (1997)
  doi:10.1017/S0022112097005636, Link.
• Kaoru Maruta, Masaharu Yoshida, Yiguang Ju and Takashi Niioka, Experimental Study on Methane-Air Premixed Flame Extinction at Small Stretch Rates in Microgravity, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 26: 1283-1289 (1996)
  doi:10.1016/S0082-0784(96)80346-8, Link.