Flame quenching mechanism

The mechanical flame barriers, which are used for explosion isolation of flammable gas and solvent vapor explosions, are veiy susceptible to the action of dirt and, with one exception, are thus not suitable for dust-canying pipelines. The exception involves the rotaiy valve (see Fig. 26-45), which is based on the flame-quenching effect through narrow gaps and is mainly used at product charging and discharging points. 

Flame Propagahon in a Rotahng Cylindrical Vessel Mechanism of Flame Quenching.128... 

To understand the mechanism of flame quenching in narrow channels in detail, one should first examine the data of flames in mixtures of constant composition, but in charmels of different sizes (Figure 6.1.2). The measured propagation velocities in stoichiometric propane/ air mixture are shown in Figure 6.1.2a. For channel widths slightly larger than the quenching distance, the... 

Chomiak, J. and Jarosinski, J., Flame quenching by turbulence. Combust. Flame, 48, 241, 1982 Jarosinski, J., Strehlow, R.A., and Azarbarzin, A., The mechanisms of lean limit extinguishment of an upward and downward propagating flame in a standard flammability tube, Proc. Combust. Inst., 19,1549,1982. 

Jarosinski, J. and Gorczakowski, A., The mechanism of laminar flame quenching under the action of centrifugal forces. Combustion Science and Technology, 178,1441-1456, 2006. 

In the past, combustion modeling was directed towards ffuid mechanics that included global heat release by chemical reaction. The latter was often described simply with the help of thermodynamics, assuming that the chemical reactions are much faster than the other processes like diffusion, heat conduction, and flow. However, in most cases chemistry occurs on time scales which are comparable with those of flow and molecular transport. As a consequence, detailed information about the individual elementary reactions is required if transient processes like ignition and flame quenching or pollutant formation shall be successfully modeled. The fundamental concept of using elementary reactions to describe a macroscopic... 

Optical flame sensors can be used for detecting the initial explosion, provided interference of environmental conditions can be reliably prevented. Pressure transducers are often used because the pressure wave travels at the speed of sound and can be detected at various angles. Vibrations and other mechanical movements can interfere pressure sensors. Therefore, efforts have to be made to minimize the influence of these interferences. The suppressant must be effective in flame quenching and compatible with product and the material of the plant. The suppressors must be designed and arranged adequately, so that the suppressant is rapidly and uniformly injected to the gas mixture in the protected enclosure. 

The combustion of gasoline air mixtures in the combustion chamber of spark ignited engines leads essentially to the fonnation of total oxidation products, but also to CO, H2, NO, a hydrocarbon (HC) mixture and SO2. Several HC emissions formation mechanisms are possible to explain the origin of tlie hydrocarbon mixture [1,2], such as flame quenching at tlie cylinder walls or at crevice entrance, adsorption-desorption in the oil film and incomplete combustion (partial or complete misfire) particularly during transient operations. The HC that are not combusted (about 1 % of the gasoline) are either exliausted unmodified or... 

Fig. 7.6 Mechanism of flame quenching extinguishing by heat dissipation in the temperature boundary layer from left to right (courtesy of [17])...

In order for a soHd to bum it must be volatilized, because combustion is almost exclusively a gas-phase phenomenon. In the case of a polymer, this means that decomposition must occur. The decomposition begins in the soHd phase and may continue in the Hquid (melt) and gas phases. Decomposition produces low molecular weight chemical compounds that eventually enter the gas phase. Heat from combustion causes further decomposition and volatilization and, therefore, further combustion. Thus the burning of a soHd is like a chain reaction. For a compound to function as a flame retardant it must intermpt this cycle in some way. There are several mechanistic descriptions by which flame retardants modify flammabiUty. Each flame retardant actually functions by a combination of mechanisms. For example, metal hydroxides such as Al(OH)2 decompose endothermically (thermal quenching) to give water (inert gas dilution). In addition, in cases where up to 60 wt % of Al(OH)2 may be used, such as in polyolefins, the physical dilution effect cannot be ignored. 

Methane oxidations occur only by intermediate and high temperature mechanisms and have been reported not to support cool flames (104,105). However, others have reported that cool flames do occur in methane oxidation, even at temperatures >400 ° C (93,94,106,107). Since methyl radicals caimot participate in reactions 23 or 24, some other mechanism must be operative to achieve the quenching observed in methane cool flames. It has been proposed that the interaction of formaldehyde and its products with radicals decreases their concentrations and inhibits the whole oxidation process (93). 

The flame-space walls are stainless steel and are water cooled. No mechanical coke scraper is required. A water quench cools the cracked gas stream rapidly at the poiat of maximum acetyleae and this is followed by a secondary water quench. The primary quench poiat can be adjusted for variation ia throughput, to accommodate the depeadeace of acetyleae yield oa resideace time ia the flame space. 

Flame Propagation in Narrow Channels and Mechanism of Its Quenching.102... 

Mechanisms leading to flame speed changes and quenching in rotating vessels (cavities) were discussed. 

In Chapter 6.1, A. Gutkowski and J. Jarosinski present results of an experimental and numerical study of flame propagation in narrow channels and the mechanism of quenching due to heat losses. This work takes up again classical studies of the quenching distance. The most characteristic features of limit flames are determined experimentally. 

In Chapter 6.4, J. Chomiak and J. Jarosinski discuss the mechanism of flame propagation and quenching in a rofating cylindrical vessel. They explain the observed phenomenon of quenching in ferms of the formation of fhe so-called Ekman layers, which are responsible for the detachment of flames from the walls and the reduction of fheir width. Reduction of the flame speed with increasing angular velocity of rofation is explained in terms of free convection effects driven by centrifugal acceleration. 

A flame is quenched in a tube when the two mechanisms that permit flame propagation—diffusion of species and of heat—are affected. Tube walls extract heat the smaller the tube, the greater is the surface area to volume ratio within the tube and hence the greater is the volumetric heat loss. Similarly, the smaller the tube, the greater the number of collisions of the active radical species that are destroyed. Since the condition and the material composition of the tube wall affect the rate of destruction of the active species [5], a specific analytical determination of the quenching distance is not feasible. 

Flames interact with the walls of a combustor through various mechanisms, which affects flame stability and pollutant emissions. For example, thermal quenching by cold walls in internal combustion engines can cause an increase of unburned hydrocarbon emissions [1-3], as has been shown by impinging a... 

Mechanisms of Flame Stabilization. CRITICAL BOUNDARY VELOCITY GRADIENT. A flame stabilized at the port of a Bunsen burner does not actually touch the rim. There is a dark region, called the dead space, between the rim and the flame. Heat is removed and free radicals are destroyed by the solid surface the burning velocity is reduced to zero and the flame is quenched. Even beyond the dead space, where the flame is able to exist as a luminous reaction zone, the burning velocity only gradually rises to the value achieved at a distance from solid surfaces. 

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