Effect of Lewis number on premixed laminar lean-limit flames stabilized on a bluff body

Abstract In this paper, we present a study on the effect of Lewis number, Le , on the stabilization and blow-off of laminar lean limit premixed flames stabilized on a cylindrical bluff body. Numerical simulations and experiments are conducted for propane, methane and two blends of hydrogen with methane as fuel gases, containing 20% and 40% of hydrogen by volume, respectively. It is found that the Le  > 1 flame blows-off via convection from the base of the flame (without formation of a neck) when the conditions for flame anchoring are not fulfilled. Le  ≤ 1 flames exhibit a necking phenomenon just before lean blow-off. This necking of the flame front is a result of the local reduction in mass burning rates causing flame merging and quenching of the thin flame tube formed. The structure of these flames at the necking location is found to be similar to tubular flames. It is found that extinction stretch rates for tubular flames closely match values at the neck location of bluff-body flames of corresponding mixtures, suggesting that excessive flame stretch is directly responsible for blow-off of the studied Le  ≤ 1 flames. After quenching of the neck, the upstream part forms a steady and stable residual flame in the wake of the bluff body while the downstream part is convected away.