Auto-ignition and flame stabilization of pulsed methane jets in a hot vitiated coflow studied with high-speed laser and imaging techniques

The auto-ignition of a pulsed methane jet issuing into a laminar coflow of hot exhaust products of a lean premixed hydrogen/air flat flame was examined using high-speed laser and optical measurement techniques with frame rates of 5 kHz or more. OH* chemiluminescence was used to determine the downstream location of the first auto-ignition kernel as well as the stabilization height of the steady-state lifted jet flame. OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) was used to determine further details of the auto-ignition with a higher spatial resolution. Simultaneous imaging of broadband luminosity from a viewing angle perpendicular to the OH* chemiluminescence was applied, to three-dimensionally reconstruct the ignition kernel location in space and to determine whether the first occurrence of the kernel was within or beyond the PLIF laser sheet. The development and expansion of the jet was characterized by high-speed Schlieren imaging. Statistics have been compiled for both the ignition time as well as the downstream location of the first auto-ignition kernel and the stabilization height of the steady-state lifted jet flame. From the PLIF images it was found that auto-ignition tended to occur at the interface between bulges of the inflowing jet and the coflow. For steady-state conditions, auto-ignition kernels were observed frequently below the flame base, emphasizing that the lifted jet flame is stabilized by auto-ignition.