Flame Propagation Through Swirling Eddies, A Recursive Pattern

Abstract

Computed flame motion through and between swirling eddies exhibits a maximum advancement rate which is related to the time duration of flame motion between eddies. This eddy spatial structure effect upon the apparent turbulent flame speed appears to be similar to the square-root dependence observed in wrinkled flamelet data. The rate-limiting behavior at one eddy length-scale can be removed by inclusion of smaller eddies which reside between the larger eddies. This large-eddy, small-eddy concept yields a recursion relation and repeated functional iteration can be done to approximate a desired flame speed relation. As an example, an iteration to produce S_T In S_T = u' is given for the range of u' observed in liquid flames. Currently, the iteration process is a post-diction of flame speed, but if a universality can be developed, then a predictive theory of turbulent flame propagation might be achieved.