Flow-Flame Interactions In Swirl-Stabilized Combustion

Turbulent swirling flows provide an effective and convenient means of stabilizing flames in lean, premixed combustors. Perturbations to these systems, however, often lead to cyclically oscillating flow and flame structures, resulting in hazardous operating conditions. Flow structures, and flame response to those flow structures is affected by both the inlet flow conditions and chemistry of the system, undergoing sharp transitions as critical values for parameters such as flame speed, flame temperature,… Show more and swirl number are passed. This talk aims to introduce those flame structures, stationary and periodic, which are observed in turbulent swirling flows and identify those physical parameters that lead to transition between these modes of interaction.
Zach LaBry is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He has worked in the Reacting Gas Dynamics Lab since 2008 where he obtained his S.M. in 2010. For his S.M. research, Zach explored the stabilization of swirl-stabilized combustion through flow modification by secondary air injection. He received a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering and a B.S. in Physics from MIT in 2008.
Location: 3-442

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