Enhancing the Flame Stabilization Characteristics Using V gutter Bluff Body With Central Slit

Abstract

Modern day technological developments in the domain of air breathing engines necessitate the deployment of high-speed propulsion systems such as ramjets and gas turbine afterburners, with high propulsive efficiency and reduced emissions. Even though there are multiple ways to accomplish these goals, a simple and effective method is to improve the combustor performance by reducing the flame blow off behaviour using flame stabilization techniques. Several numerical as well as experimental studies have been reported on the development of effective flame stabilization techniques, especially for application in the high-speed propulsion systems. These studies categorically emphasize the effectiveness of bluff bodies, particularly the V-gutter bluff body, in enhancing the flame stabilization in the combustors. In such configurations the flame stabilization is achieved by anchoring the flame in the wake zone by exchanging the unburnt fuel-air mass from upstream region of the V-gutter to the wake zone prevailing behind it and also by way of the transport of combusted energy particles from the wake zone to further downstream of the V-gutter body. In addition to flame stabilization, the resulting total pressure loss is comparatively lower for V-gutter bluff body when compared to other bluff body configurations Several methods can be explored for bringing combustible mixture into the wake zone of the V-gutter body in a high velocity flow field. However, a passive approach of bringing combustible mixture mass into the wake zone by introducing a slit in the V-gutter offers a simple, easy, and elegant method to anchor the flame. A limited number of studies have explored introducing unburnt fuel-air into the wake zone by way of providing slits on the V-gutter body; however, the detailed dynamics involved in both reactive and non-reactive flow over the V-gutter bluff body with slits are not investigated adequately. Recently the usage of open cell metal foam structure in the aerospace propulsive devices has attracted research..