Characteristics of methane diffusion flame in a reacting vortex ring

Direct numerical simulations of non-premixed methane flame-vortex ring interactions are performed. The methane combustion was modelled using a detailed kinetic mechanism which consists of 36 species and 217 elementary reactions and involves C₁, C₂, and a small set of C₃ kinetics. The vortex ring is generated by a brief discharge of cold fuel into a quiescent oxidizer ambient. The much higher oxidizer temperature leads to the auto-ignition of the vortex ring. The effects of fuel and oxidizer dilution and vortex ring strength on the dynamics of the interaction are studied. Three flame regions, front, top, and wake, are identified. Several combustion regimes are defined in the reacting vortex ring configuration. For the range of parameters accessible, unsteady, curvature and thickening effects on the flame structure are observed. Flame structure comparisons with steady counterflow diffusion flame (CFDF) results show that for a Damköhler number greater than 25, the unsteady effects on the flame become small. The contributions of time varying straining, fuel temperature and concentration to the unsteady effects on the front flame structure are separated through comparisons with unsteady CFDF simulations. For high initial Damköhler number simulations, none of these contributions are important since the flame becomes quasi-steady shortly after ignition. For intermediate initial Damköhler number simulations the unsteady effects are important at early times. At later times, a decrease in the straining and an increase in the fuel temperature reduce these effects. However, a decrease in the fuel concentration extends the duration for which the unsteady effects are important. If the initial Damköhler number is sufficiently low, the decrease in the fuel concentration overcomes the effects of straining and fuel temperature, and the flame remains unsteady for the entire simulation. Thickening and curvature effects on the flame structure are observed for the intermediate and low Damköhler number simulations. For runs with the flame close to the vortex ring, the curvature effects on the flame are important in the wake of the ring while the thickening effects are small. The curvature effects are small and the wake flame is thicker for the runs with the flame far from the ring.