Effect of ambient pressure and radiation reabsorption of atmosphere on the flame spreading over thermally thin combustibles in microgravity

For the flame spread over thermally thin combustibles in an atmosphere, if the atmosphere cannot emit and absorb the thermal radiation (e.g. for atmosphere Of O-2-N-2), the conductive heat transfer from the flame to the fuel surface dominates the flame spread at lower ambient atmosphere. As the ambient pressure increases, the flame spread rate increases, and the radiant heat transfer from the flame to the fuel surface gradually becomes the dominant driving force for the flame spread. In contrast, if the atmosphere is able to emit and absorb the thermal radiation (e.g. for atmosphere Of O-2-CO2), at lower pressure, the heat transfer from flame to the fuel surface is enhanced by the radiation reabsorption of the atmosphere at the leading edge of the flame, and both conduction and thermal radiation play important roles in the mechanism of flame spread. With the increase in ambient pressure, the oxygen diffuses more quickly from ambient atmosphere into the flame, the chemical reaction in the flame is enhanced, and the flame spread rate increases. When the ambient pressure is greater than a critical value, the thermal radiation from the flame to the solid surface is hampered by the radiation reabsorption of ambient atmosphere with the further increase in ambient pressure. As a result, with the increase in ambient pressure, the flame spread rate decreases and the heat conduction gradually dominates the flame spread over the fuel surface.

Modeling Study on the Characteristics of Laminar and Turbulent Argon Plasma Jets Impinging Normally upon a Flat Plate in Ambient Air

Modeling study is performed to compare the flow and heat transfer characteristics of laminar and turbulent argon thermal-plasma jets impinging normally upon a flat plate in ambient air. The combined-diffusion-coefficient method and the turbulence-enhanced combined-diffusion-coefficient method are employed to treat the diffusion of argon in the argon-air mixture for the laminar and the turbulent cases, respectively. Modeling results presented include the flow, temperature and argon concentration fields, the air mass flow-rates entrained into the impinging plasma jets, and the distributions of the heat flux density on the plate surface. It is found that the formation of a radial wall jet on the plate surface appreciably enhances the mass flow rate of the ambient air entrained into the laminar or turbulent plasma impinging-jet. When the plate standoff distance is comparatively small, there exists a significant difference between the laminar and turbulent plasma impinging-jets in their flow fields due to the occurrence of a large closed recirculation vortex in the turbulent plasma impinging-jet, and no appreciable difference is found between the two types of jets in their maximum values and distributions of the heat flux density at the plate surface. At larger plate standoff distances, the effect of the plate on the jet flow fields only appears in the region near the plate, and the axial decaying-rates of the plasma temperature, axial velocity and argon mass fraction along the axis of the laminar plasma impinging-jet become appreciably less than their turbulent counterparts.

Effects of Natural Convection on the Characteristics of a Long Laminar Argon Plasma Jet Issuing Horizontally into Ambient Air

Three-dimensional modeling results show that the appearance of the long laminar plasma jet is less influenced by natural convection even as it is issuing into ambient air horizontally. However, plasma parameter distributions may deviate from axi-symmetry

Modeling Study on the Entrainment of Ambient Air into Subsonic Laminar and Turbulent Argon Plasma Jets

Modeling study is performed to reveal the special features of the entrainment of ambient air into subsonic laminar and turbulent argon plasma jets. Two different types of jet flows are considered, i.e., the argon plasma jet is impinging normally upon a flat substrate located in atmospheric air surroundings or is freely issuing into the ambient air. It is found that the existence of the substrate not only changes the plasma temperature, velocity and species concentration distributions in the near-substrate region, but also significantly enhances the mass flow rate of the ambient air entrained into the jet due to the additional contribution to the gas entrainment of the wall jet formed along the substrate surface. The fraction of the additional entrainment of the wall jet in the total entrained-air flow rate is especially high for the laminar impinging plasma jet and for the case with shorter substrate standoff distances. Similarly to the case of cold-gas free jets, the maximum mass flow-rate of ambient gas entrained into the turbulent impinging or free plasma jet is approximately directly proportional to the mass flow rate at the jet inlet. The maximum mass flow-rate of ambient gas entrained into the laminar impinging plasma jet slightly increases with increasing jet-inlet velocity but decreases with increasing jet-inlet temperature.

Effects Of The Length Of A Cylindrical Solid Shield On The Entrainment Of Ambient Air Into Turbulent And Laminar Impinging Argon Plasma Jets

When materials processing is conducted in air surroundings by use of an impinging plasma jet, the ambient air will be entrained into the materials processing region, resulting in unfavorable oxidation of the feedstock metal particles injected into the plasma jet and of metallic substrate material. Using a cylindrical solid shield may avoid the air entrainment if the shield length is suitably selected and this approach has the merit that expensive vacuum chamber and its pumping system are not needed. Modeling study is thus conducted to reveal how the length of the cylindrical solid shield affects the ambient air entrainment when materials processing (spraying, remelting, hardening, etc.) is conducted by use of a turbulent or laminar argon plasma jet impinging normally upon a flat substrate in atmospheric air. It is shown that the mass flow rate of the ambient air entrained into the impinging plasma jet cannot be appreciably reduced unless the cylindrical shield is long enough. In order to completely avoid the air entrainment, the gap between the downstream-end section of the cylindrical solid shield and the substrate surface must be carefully selected, and the suitable size of the gap for the turbulent plasma jet is appreciably larger than that for the laminar one. The overheating of the solid shield or the substrate could become a problem for the turbulent case, and thus additional cooling measure may be needed when the entrainment of ambient air into the turbulent impinging plasma jet is to be completely avoided.

Characteristics of Laminar and Turbulent Argon Plasma Jets Impinging Normally Upon a Workpiece in Ambient Air

Modeling results are presented concerning the characteristicsoflaminar and turbulentargonplasmajetsimpingingnormally upon a flat plate (workpiece) in ambient air. It is found that the presence of the flat plate significantly enhances the entrainment rate of ambient air into the jets and affects on the flow and temperature fields in the near-plate region of the jets. At comparatively large distances between the plate and the jet inlet, the axial gradients of the plasma parameters in the laminarplasmaimpinging-jets assume values much less than those in the turbulentplasmaimpinging-jets.