The Effects of steam addition on the unstable behavior of hydrogen-air lean premixed flames under the adiabatic and non-adiabatic conditions

Furuyama, Taisei*; Thwe Thwe, A.  ; Katsumi, Toshiyuki; Kobayashi, Hideaki*; Kadowaki, Satoshi

The effects of steam addition on the unstable behavior of hydrogen-air lean premixed flames under adiabatic and non-adiabatic conditions were investigated by numerical calculations. Adopting a detailed chemical reaction mechanism of hydrogen-oxyfuel combustion modeled by 17 reversible reactions of 8 active species and diluents, a two-dimensional unsteady reaction flow was treated based on the compressible Navier-Stokes equation. As the steam addition and heat loss increased, the burning velocity of a planar flame decreased and the normalized burning velocity increased. The addition of water vapor promotes the unstable behavior of the hydrogen-air lean premixed flame. This is because the thermal diffusivity of the gas decreases and the diffusion-thermal instability increases. The effect of adding water vapor on the instability of hydrogen premixed flames is a new finding, and it is expected to connect with hydrogen explosion-prevention measures as in NPP.