The effects of turbulent cross-winds on combusting jets at low velocity ratios
Abstract
Gas flares have been distinguished as a potential major source of hydrocarbon emissions from refineries and chemical plants. Flaring is the burning of waste gasses through a flare stack or other combustion device. By generating atmospheric turbulence in wind tunnel, an in-depth study has been conducted to capture the mechanics involving the reactive jet and stack-wake regions, which resembles the real world scenario of gas flaring, but at a reduced scale. In this study, a methodology has been described to generate atmospheric turbulence by passive grid to obtain the ideal turbulence intensities (Iu) and length scales (Lx) for model flare stacks.
The entire flame is depicted by capturing flame images using multiple cameras. It is examined how the upstream turbulent flow interacts with non-premixed reactive jets at low velocity ratios. The size of the recirculation zone decreases with an enhanced turbulent cross-wind. In addition to that, a comprehensive study of discrete flame packets are carried out using instantaneous images. The colour of the flame is closely analyzed in order to distinguish the mixing phenomena of crossflow fluid and jet fluid in the near field. Moreover, empirical equation is proposed for predicting flame length in the presence of cross-wind. The changes in flame length, discrete flame packets, and colour are monitored for the different upstream turbulent cross-wind. It is observed in the current study that cross-wind turbulence affects the flame lengths, wake recirculation zone, vertical and lateral spread of the flame.