A study on the fluid dynamics of domestic Gas burners

• Main Author: Gattei, Lorenzo <1978>
• Other Authors: Talamelli, Alessandro
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: en
• Published: Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna 2009
• Subjects: ING-IND/06 Fluidodinamica
• Online Access: http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/1926/

Domestic gas burners are investigated experimentally and numerically in order to further understand the fluid dynamics processes that drive the cooking appliance performances. In particular, a numerical simulation tool has been developed in order to predict the onset of two flame instabilities which may deteriorate the performances of the burner: the flame back and flame lift. The numerical model has been firstly validated by comparing the simulated flow field with a data set of experimental measurements. A prediction criterion for the flame back instability has been formulated based on isothermal simulations without involving the combustion modelization. This analysis has been verified by a Design Of Experiments investigation performed on different burner prototype geometries. On the contrary, the formulation of a prediction criterion regarding the flame lift instability has required the use of a combustion model in the numerical code. In this analysis, the structure and aerodynamics of the flame generated by a cooking appliance has thus been characterized by experimental and numerical investigations, in which, by varying the flow inlet conditions, the flame behaviour was studied from a stable reference case toward a complete blow-out.