Disturbed flame propagation in the centrifugal acceleration environment

Behaviors of flame in a swirling flow complicates due to turbulence accompanied by the swirl. In the present study, the real effects of the centrifugal acceleration on the flame behaviors are studied by making use of a disk type combustion vessel which rotates with mixture in it to form the solid vortex. Three cases of different flame initiation at (1) the center, (2) the off-center near outer wall, and (3) the two points ignition, are investigated by the photographic observation and the combustion pressure analysis. The experimental results revealed that when ignited at the vessel center, the enhanced combustion by the swirl cannot always be realized but occur a decay of propagation rate and/or a flame extinction in a certain case. A flame kernel initiated at the off-center point, rapidly moves toward the vessel center and follows the same process as the center ignited flame after laminarization of turbulent flame front. A tendency to the inhibition of flame propagation appears most remarkably in the central ignition case and follows in order of the off-center ignition and the two points ignition.