Behaviour of a premixed flame subjected to acoustic oscillations.

Abstract

In this paper, a one dimensional premixed laminar methane flame is subjected to acoustic oscillations and studied. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate the effects of acoustic perturbations on the reaction rates of different species, with a view to their respective contribution to thermoacoustic instabilities. Acoustically transparent non reflecting boundary conditions are employed. The flame response has been studied with acoustic waves of different frequencies and amplitudes. The integral values of the reaction rates, the burning velocities and the heat release of the acoustically perturbed flame are compared with the unperturbed case. We found that the flame's sensitivity to acoustic perturbations is greatest when the wavelength is comparable to the flame thickness. Even in this case, the perturbations are stable with time. We conclude that acoustic fields acting on the chemistry do not contribute significantly to the emergence of large amplitude pressure oscillations.