- Author
- VanDerWege, B. A. | Bush, M. T. | Hochgreb, S. | Linteris, G. T.
- Title
- Effect of CF₃H and CF₃Br on Laminar Diffusion Flames in Normal and Microgravity.
- Coporate
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC National Science Foundation, Washington, DC
- Contract
- NASA-GRANT-NAG3-160
- Book or Conf
- Microgravity Combustion, 3rd International. Proceedings. April 11-13, 1995, Cleveland, OH, 1-6 p., 1995
- Keywords
- laminar flames | diffusion flames | microgravity | chemical inhibition | experiments | atmospheric pressure | low pressure
- Abstract
- Chemical inhibition of diffusion flames through addition of halogenated inhibitors is a problem of significant practical and scientific interest. Extensive studies on diffusion flames in microgravity have shown that these flames have significantly different characteristics than those under normal gravity. However, the mechanisms through which inhibitors reach the reaction zone to suppress combustion in diffusion flames and the effectiveness of these compounds under reduced gravity have yet to be investigated. This study reports preliminary results of investigations on the behavior of laminar jet diffusion flames upon the addition of bromotrifluoromethane (CF₃Br) and trifluoromethane (CF₃H) to the surroundings under normal and microgravity conditions. The results show that the flame structure in microgravity is significantly different from that under normal gravity conditions, and more importantly, that conditions for flame stability are less strigent under microgravity. Experiments show that flames that cannot be stabilized under normal gravity are quite stable under microgravity conditions. In addition, normal gravity experiments at reduced pressure (low buoyancy) did not reproduce the structure or stability limits of inhibited flames in microgravity.