- Author
- Amos, B. | Kodama, H. | Fernandez-Pello, A. C.
- Title
- Analysis of the Ignition and Flame Propagation Caused by Vapor Radiation Absorption of a Vaporizing Fuel at Zero Gravity.
- Coporate
- California Univ., Berkeley
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology,
- Contract
- NBS-GRANT-NB83NADA4020
- Book or Conf
- Dynamics of Reactive Systems Part 2: Heterogheneous Combustion and Applications. Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Vol. 113, AIAA, Washington, DC, Kuhl, A. L.; Bowen, J. R.; Leyer, J. L.; Borisov, A., Editors, 115-127 p., 1988
- Keywords
- weightlessness | ignition | flame propagation | vapors | radiant ignition | absorption | fuels | vapor phases
- Abstract
- A numerical analysis is developed of the gas phase radiant ignition and subsequent flame propagation in a gaseous mixture established over a vaporizing combustible surface in still, non-convective, air environment. The source of ignition considered in the model is the absorption of radiation by the fuel vapor. The transient, one-dimensional, gas phase conservation equations, including finite rate kinetics and gas radiation absorption, are solved numerically to analyze the evolution of the temperature and species profiles of the fuel/oxidizer mixture as a function of the external radiant intensity and gas absorption coefficient. Ignition is characterized by the local rapid increase of the gas temperature. It is followed by the propagation of two premixed reaction fronts, one toward the surface and another away from it. The former one is quenched by the wall, while the propagation of the latter leads to the separation of the fuel and oxidizer and eventually to the generation of a diffusion flame. A parametric analysis predicts ignition delay times that decrease with the absorption coeficient and radiation intensity. The ignition distance decreases as the absorption coefficient increases but is insensitive to radiation intensity.