Investigation of the Effects of Plasma Discharges on Methane Decomposition for Combustion Enhancement of a Lean Flame

Maria Grazia De Giorgi, Antonio Ficarella, Donato Fontanarosa, Elisa Pescini and Antonio Suma
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Maria Grazia De Giorgi: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
Antonio Ficarella: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
Donato Fontanarosa: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
Elisa Pescini: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
Antonio Suma: Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: The present work focuses on the impact of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators (PAs) on non-premixed lifted flame stabilization in a methane CH 4 -air Bunsen burner. Two coaxial DBD-PA configurations are considered. They are composed of a copper corona, installed on the outer surface of a quartz tube and powered with a high voltage sinusoidal signal, and a grounded needle installed along the burner axis. The two configurations differ in the standoff distance value, which indicates the positioning of the high frequency/high voltage (HV) electrode’s upper edge with respect to the needle tip. Experimental results highlight that flame reattachment is obtained at a lower dissipated power when using a negative standoff distance (i.e., placing the needle upstream with respect to the corona). At 11 kV peak-to-peak voltage and 20 kHz frequency, plasma actuation allowed for reattaching the flame with a very low dissipated power (of about 0.05 W). Numerical simulations of the electrostatic field confirmed that this negative standoff configuration has a beneficial effect on the momentum sources, which oppose the flow and show that the highest electric field extends into the inner quartz tube, as confirmed by experimental visualization close to the needle tip. The modeling predicted an increase in the gas temperature of about 21.8 °C and a slight modification of the fuel composition at the burner exit. This impacts the flame speed with a 10% increase close to the stoichiometric conditions with respect to the clean configuration.

Keywords: combustion; plasma actuator; flame stability; lean flame (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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