AERODYNAMIC STUDY OF TURBULENT BURNING FREE JETS WITH SWIRL

N. A. CHIGIER* AND A. CHERVINSKY

Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Technion--Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Velocity and temperature measurements have been made in a series of turbulent swirling free flames. Premixed butane-air jets issued from a round orifice with exit velocities of 60 m/see and the degree of swirl was varied by varying the ratio of the flow rates of air supplied tangentially and axially to the burner. The flames were stabilized some 4 diameters from the burner exit in the shape of an annular ring and were unconfined for a distance of 24 diameters. The measurements made in this region for 3 different degrees of swirl show that the decay of axial and swirl velocities is slower in a flame than in cold swirling jets. The turbulent burning velocity was found to be 80 times greater than the laminar burning velocity and the velocity gradient in the outer region of the jet where the fl~me was stabilized was 250 cm-L In the theoretical analysis the turbulent equations of motion, energy and state have been integrated to obtain expressions for the decay along the axis of the maximum values of axial velocity, swirl velocity and temperature. Variations in flame shape are described in terms of velocity decay constants and Gaussian error curve constants for radial spread of temperature and velocity.

Introduction
The introduction of a swirling motion to air and fuel streams is applied extensively in combustion chambers and industrial furnaces in order to obtain flame stabilization in high velocity streams and in order to control the size and shape of the flame. The swirling motion is usually set up by the introduction of vanes or by tangential air entries in the burner. A number of experimental investigations on flames with swirl carried out at the International Flarae Research Foundation in Holland *-4 together with experimental and theoretical studies of swirling air jets 5-7 have shown that swirl lcads to an increase in flame angle and results in wider and shorter flames according to the degree of swirl. These previous studies have also shown that closed vortices are generated in the internal region close to the burner exit and that the size and strength of these vortices are dependent upon the axial and radial pressure gradients set up in the jets. For the case of pressure-jet oil flames, the need to adjust the degrce of swirl to the fuel spray angle has been found and Kerr s has suggested an optimum swirl number of 0.2. Lee ~ has recently studied the swirling plume and shown the combined effects of swirl and buoyancy on the behavior of vertical heated jets. * Present address: University of Sheffield, Department of Fuel Technology and Chemical Engineering, Sheffield, England

The study reported in this paper deals with the aerodynamic behavior of a series of free b u t a n e propane-air flames with swirl. The flames were of the general type encountered in industrial practice and were stabilized some 20 cm from the burner exit. Air was entrained from the stagnant surroundings having an ambient temperature of 30~ The average velocity at the orifice was of the order of 60 m/see, and under these conditions the buoyancy effect was small in the region up to 24 orifice diameters in which temperaturc and velocity measurements were nmde. The theoretical analysis is based upon the integrated forms of the Reynolds' equations of motion for the case of a nonisothcrmal axisymmetric swirling jet. Applying the assumption of similarity, theoretical expressions are obtained for the decay of the maxima of axial velocity, tangential velocity and temperature along the axis of the jet. The expressions obtained include the isothermal swirling jet as a special case. ~

Theoretical Analysis
Consider a cylindrical coordinate system with x, r, and r as the axial radial and azimuthal coordinates. Let u, v, and w be the time mean velocities in the x, r, and r directions, respectively, and let u', v', and w' be the corresponding turbulent fluctuating velocities. For the region of the jet, where the boundary-layer approximations are valid, and the molecular viscous terms are negligible in comparison with the turbulent

489

490

FIRE RESEARCH

viscous terms, the governing equations for turbulent asixymmetrical stationary flow become: Continuity: (O/Ox) (rpu) + (O/Or) (rpv) = O. Momentum: (O/Ox) (pu 2) -[- r -1 (O/Or) (rpuv) = -- (Op/Oz) -- (O/Oz) (p<u '2) -[- 2 u(p'u'l) --r-l(O/clr) (rv(p'u'> -~- ru(p'v' I -~- rp(u'v')l, -- pw~/r = -- (Op/Orl -- r-l(O/Orl (rp(v'2> + 2rv(p'v')) + P(W'21 + 2w(p'w'___~>, r r (O/Ox) (puw) -~- r-'(O/Or) (rpvw I + (pvw/r) = -- r-' (O/Or) r(p(w'v'> + v<p'w') + w<p'v')l (21 (3) (11

_ e(v'w'>
r

v<p'w'>
r

~<p'r
r

(4)

Energy: pu (0 T/Ox) ~- pv (0 T/Or) = c~-1 r -1 (O/Or) Irk (0 T/Or) -] -- r -I (O/Or)[r(p(u'T') + T(p'v'> + <p'v'T'> -[- v(p'T'>)']. State: p = pRT. (6) (5)

In Eqs. (1)-(6) p, p, and T denote the pressure, density, and temperature, respectively, and the specific heat c~ was assumed to be constant. The following boundary conditions prevail: Atr= Atr= 0: v = w = Ou/Or= O oo:

u = w = Ou/Or = Ow/Or = OT/Or = (p'u') = (p'v') = (p'v'T') = (u'v') = (u'2> = <u'T'> = 0. (7)

Multiply Eq. (2) by r and Eqs. (3) and (4) by re.Integrating with respect to r from r = 0 to r = oo, using boundary conditions (7), yields (d/dx) rio u2 ~- (p -- p~) Jr- O<U'2> -{- 2 u(p'u'>'] dr = 0 (8)

f~ r[pw 2 +
"0

p(<w'2> + <v'2>) -]- 2(w~'w'> --~ (vp'v'>)]dr = --

/~

2(p -- p~) rdr

(9)

(a/ax) By introducing Eq. (9) into (8) we obtain (d/dx) r{p(u~ -

r~p~war= O.

(10)

89 ~) aL p[(<u">- 89

+ (v">)]
(11)

+ 2u(p'u'> -- <vp'v') -{- (wp'w'>} dr = 0.

Measurements of turbulent velocities in jets and wakesI~show that (u'2>, (v'2>, and (w'2> are of the same magnitude. Measurements of temperature velocity correlations by Corrsin and Uberoi u in

TURBULENT BURNING FREE JETS WITH SWIRL

491

heated jets indicate that (vp'v'> is of the same magnitude as u(p'u'>. Assuming on the basis of the available experimental evidence that u(p~u ') "~ v(p~v') ~ w(p'w'), Equations (11) and (10) reduce to

(d/dx)
and

/:

rEp(u 2 -- 89

dr = 0

(12)

(d/dx)

r2 puwdr --- O.

(13)

Equation (12) is an expression of the conservation of the axial flux of linear momentum and Eq. (13) expresses the conservation of the axial flux of angular momentum. At some distance from the burner exit a fully developed region is established in which the velocity, temperature, and density profiles have similar or affine forms. Our experimental results show under what conditions and to what extent this similarity is obtained. We may then choose the following separation of variables:
u = u~ (x) u (~),
w = p p~ = ~(x)w(~), (p~ poo)p(~).

T-

To~ = ( T m -

T=)O(~),

(14)

where ~ -- r/(x ~ a) and u~, win, T,~, pm are the maximum values of velocity, temperature, and density at each axial station. The center of the orifice at the burner exit is taken as the origin of the coordinate system. The effective point origin of similarity is at distance 'a' from the orifice and the value of 'a' is dependent upon the diameter and form of the orifice. Introducing the relations (14) into Eqs. (12) and (13) and rearranging terms we obtain

(d/dx)[(x-l-a)2{u~2(K1-~-p-~
and

)]}]

(15)

(d/dx){(x + a)3[(pP--~-- l + K4)u~wm]}= O,

(16)

where/~1, g~,/~8, and/~4 are form factors dependent upon the form of the velocity temperature and density profiles and are defined as:

g~= ~fo~~
=
Integration of Eq. (16) with respect to z yields,
~w~

/ fo~p(~)u~(~)d~;
/ /:
C1
(~/p~) 1]"

= (x + a)~ E g , +

(17)

492

FIRE RESEARCH

Integration of Eq. (15) and elimination of w~2 with the aid of Eq. (17) yields a quadratic equation for u~~:

(z +

a)* ['R~ +

(p~/p~) -

1] u 2 -

C~(z + a)~'u~, ~ -

- -

C,2 1~2 + I~3 [(p~/p~) -- 1] (x --[- a) 2 FI~', + (pm/p~) -- l'l 2 ---- O,

(is)

where C1 and C2 are constants of inte~ation whose values are dependent upon the degree of swirl. A solution of Eq. (18) gives

~21'2fl12
Um = (X + a) [ 1 ~ + (p~/p=) -- 1111~ '

(19)

where

f = I + ~[1 Jr- \~](2Ci/C'-'~2[]~1-~- (pm/p~)~,--~_1-]l~'2-1-(p~_p~ p~/p~)_ I{3F( 1

Substituting Eq. (19) into (17) gives

-I]] 1'2"

wm= (x -~- a) 2 EK4 -I- (p~/p~) - 1-]

c~[~

+ (p~/p~)

1]',~-f -'~

(20)

In order to compare the theory with experiment it is convenient to relate the values of u~ and w,~ to Urn0and w~0 as measured at the orifice. Equations (19) and (20) may be rewritten in the nondimensional form

~.,/~o
and

= A

d X -~- a

f~12

FKI -{- (Pm/p~) -- 1] 1/2

(21)

Wm/Wmo ~- B

\x+~]

d _ ~ 2 [ g l - ' F (Pm/Poo) -- i]'/2- 12 -k ~ -+ ( p-T~p~ ) - T "~- ~ '

(22)

The temperature decay can be determined in a like manner by multiplying the energy equation (5) by r and integrating with respect to r from r = 0 to r = oo using boundary conditions (7) to give
(d/dx) rpu ( T -- T~) dr = 0.

(23)

Introducing the similarity relations (14) into (23) yields

(d/dx) {(x -4- a) 2 [/~5 --~ (P,,/po~) -- 17 u~(Tm -- T=)} = 0,

(24)

where

/~5 -- f0~u (~)0 (~)d~/L ~ }p (~) u (~)0 (~) d~.

Introducing u~ from Eq. (19) into Eq. (24) and integrating with respect to x yields;
I]2

T~

x -}- a

K5 -~- (pm/p~) -- 1

"

(25)

The empirical constants A, B, and C are functions of the degree of swirl.

TURBULENT BURNING FREE JETS WITH SWIRL

493

Experimental Apparatus and Procedure

In the swirl burner shown in Fig. 1, air was supplied axially and tangentially through four slots. The degree of swirl was varied by independently varying the axial and tangential flow rates of air. Liquified petroleum gas (51% propane, 34% butane, 15% ethane) was evaporated in a heat exchanger and then injected radially into the axial air stream. The gas/air mixture issued from the burner through a 5-cm-diam orifice with a velocity of the order of 60 m/see. Mass-flow rates of the axial air, tangential air, and gas were measured with the aid of sharp-cdged orifice plates. The mixture was ignited by an oxygen-gas pilot flame, and by adjustment of the gas/air mixture ratio the flame was stabilized some 20 cm from the

TABLE I Inputvariables. Flame No. F6 Qt=n Qa= m3/sec m3/see m/see m/see kg kg m 0.0278 0.0834 -62.0 5.1 0.08 1.7 0 0 F8 0.0556 0.0556 0.50 65.6 21.3 0.325 1.55 0.0045 0.116 F10 0.0834 0.0278 0.75 68.6 22.8 0.332 1.77 0.0095 0.214

Qt=./Qo
u,,0 w,,0 G~ G~ S

W,,o/U,,o

TANGENTIAL AIR

AXIAL

A .~" ~ ~ I R t..EGS A

were computed at each measuring point. Temperature measurements were made with a bare platinum/platinum rhodium thermocouple and with the aid of the velocity measurements, corrections were made for radiation losses as recommended by Fristrom. 12 Mean velocity and temperature traverses were made at 7 axial stations x/d = 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24. The list of input variables for the three flames is given in Table I.

Experimental Results and Discussion

The type of flame investigated can best be described with the aid of the constant temperature lines shown in Fig. 2. The velocity gradients at the burner exit are too large to permit flame stabilization and it is only at some 20 cm (4 diameters) from the orifice that the velocity magnitudes and velocity gradients have been sufficiently reduced by entrainment to allow an annular flame front to be stabilized in the

TANGENTIAL SLOTS

FIG. 1. Swirl burner.

burner exit. For a distance of 150 cm the flame was unconfined and air was entrained from the stagnant surroundings having an ambient temperature of 30~ Downstream of the free-flame region the combustion gases entered a cylindrical exhaust chamber and after passing through an ejector were exhausted to the atmosphere. Measurements of the time-mean values of velocity and static pressure were made with a 5-hole hemispherical water-cooled impact probe. The probe was calibrated in a wind tunnel over a range of yaw and pitch angles. From the 5 pressure measurements, recorded on an inclined alcohol manomcter, the axial, swirl, and radial velocity components as well as the static pressure

Vl

IJ
0

W ~
-

-~12oo ~~i~o
I00~

~iooo~

"1000 50

FIG. 2. Temperature field in flame with swirl (F8). I, burner; II, cold high-velocity core; III, flame front; IV, luminous zone; V, main reaction zone; VI, cold ambient air.

494

F I R E RESEARCH

1.o~[

u o41 !
I - -

I
x/d
i o-12
o-16 - ~ '

I
i
.

L~
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08

"-20 0.04 0.06 0.08 0 0.02

0.04

0.02

i__

0.05

0.08

E.&
Fro. 3. Radial distributions of axial velocity.

boundaries of the jet. The relatively cold, highvelocity core persists over ahnost the whole length of the flame investigated (24 diameters) and the temperature distributions indicate that reaction rates are low in this central core. The main reaction zone surrounded by the luminous zone is confined to the annular space between the cold central core and the cold surrounding air. There is no significant variation in the maximum temperature along the length of the flame EFig. 6(e)-] since at each axial station the maximum temperature is determined by the maximum flame temperature. In the cold core, temperatures rise in the downstream direction largely due to turbulent mixing with hot combustion gases from the reaction zone. Figure 3 shows the radial distributions of u/u,, plotted against r/(x + a). The position of the apparent origin %' was determined by extrapolating the lines of 1/u~ against x to the value of l/u,, = 0. I t can be seen that, despite the

large temperature changes which influence the velocity profiles, the distributions at x/d = 12, 16, 20, and 24 have a similar form which may be described by the equation
~/~., =

exp ( - k . ~ ) ,

(26)

where the velocity error curve r ku gives a measure of the degree of radial spread. The normalized radial distributions of swirl velocity are shown in Fig. 4 and have the form of a combined vortex with an almost linear inner region corresponding to solid body rotation and an outer region corresponding to free vortex flow. The similar form of the normalized swirl velocity can be described as a function of ~ by a third-order polynomial (7). For the radial temperature distributions (Fig. 5), the temperature maxima were found to be in the main reaction zone and not on the iet axis. The temperature in the central core in-

1.0'

m
)

G8 0.6

F-IO_

w
W.

0.4 O.2

/0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0 0.02 0.04 0.05 0.08

FIG. 4. Radial distributions of swirl velocity.

TURBULENT
1.0 a
9 ' o

BURNING

FREE

JETS

WITH

SWIRL

495

02T~
0 0.02 0.04

ol

- ~,~-0,06 0.08

| /
o

o-12

e-15

I~ ~ I

0.02

0.04

0.05

0.08

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

E- x r'a
FIG. 5. Radial distributions of temperature.

creases, due to mixing with hot combustion gases, and full similarity cannot be obtained under these conditions until farther downstream where the position of the temperature maximum will converge onto the jet axis. In the outer region of the flow, as shown in Fig. 5, the temperature profiles have similar forms and may be described by the equation

( T - T~)/(T.,- T~) -- e x p E--kT(~- ~T,~)~-],

(27)

where kT gives a measure of the degree of radial spread of temperature and ~T, is the radial distance to the position of temperature maximum. The form factors defined in the theoretical analysis can now be computed by integrating the nondimensional radial distribution and the values are shown in Table II. The decay along the axis of the maximum values u~, win, and T,~ -- T~ is shown in Fig. 6.

TABLE II Form factors Flame No. F6 /~ /~2 /s

/(4

F8 1.087 0.272 0.260 1.031 0.99

F10 1.053 0.800 0.788 1.021 0.97

1.087 0 0
--

f*

1.0 * For x / d = 10.

The decay of axial velocity increases with the degree of swirl and the lines in Fig. 6(a) follow the hyperbolic decay predicted by Eq. (21). It is, however, to be noted that the decay constants are larger than in cold swirling jets, thus indicating a slower decay in the axial velocity. This is largely due to the temperature changes in the jet. The decay of swirl velocity does not show any significant variation with the degree of swirl and this is in agreement with the results obtained previously in cold jets7 The swirl velocity decays in the flame as 1 / x 2 and the decay constant is considerably larger than in the cold swirling jet, indicating again a slower decay of swirl velocity in the flame. The temperature maxima shown in Fig. 6(c) remain essentially constant and the temperature decay Eq. (25) does not apply in this region of the flame. The decay and distribution constants computed from the results are given in Table III. Concerning the stabilization of the flame, it was not possible for the flame to stabilize at the burner exit, where velocities were of the order of 60 m/see and velocity gradients of the order of 6000 sec-1. At distances varying from 20 to 30 cm (4 to 6 diameters) in the low velocity region near the jet boundary the turbulent burning velocity exceeds the forward velocity and holding points (flame front) are set up. Because of the turbulent nature of the flow, the flame front is not stationary but fluctuates about a certain time mean average position. It was noted that the maximum temperature was found at each axial station where the velocity was 24 m/see and the velocity gradient was 250 sec-1. Since the laminar burning velocity of a stoichiometrie butanepropane-air mixture is 0.3 m/sec, the turbulent burning velocity for this type of flame is nearly 80 times that of the laminar burning velocity. Since the air and fuel were fully mixed before

496

FIRE RESEARCH

(a)
1.0p,~: , 1,0 It

(b) 1o

(c)

.8~-

"~-~ - - i o

u:i i
0 5 10 15 X/d 20 25

%t-\
0

/<

10 X/d

15

20

25

'?;--T ' ~ Z '

10 15 20 25 X/d

FIG. 6. Decay along the axis of maximum values of (a) axial velocity; (b) swirl velocity; and (c) temperature difference.

leaving the burner, mixing rate plays no role in determining the nature of the flame and the position of the flame front, position of temperature maxima, and the general form of the flame are governed by the velocity magnitudes and velocity gradient. The expressions given in the theoretical analysis for the decay of the various components of velocity include the case of the turbulent swirling isothermal jet as a special case. It should be noted that far downstream from the orifice Eq. (21) for the decay of the axial velocity will be similar to that obtained by Thring and Newby '3 and reduces to t~/t~o = AEd/(x + a)-](p~/p,,) 112.

and

(T-

T~)/(Tm-

Too)

= C[d/(z +

a)3 (p~/p=)'/'

(30)

Conclusions

(28)

It is to be expected that in the far-downstream region the expressions for swirl velocity and temperature will become

Wm//Wmo

BEd/(x 4- a)] '2 (poo/pm)u2 (29)

TABLE III

Decay and distribution constants FlameNo. F6 F8 45 19.6 211 435 1210 0.033 F10 60 20.4 345 770 1580 0.030

a/d
A B k, kr ~T~

35 18.3 -360 1440 0.035

Flame stabilization of a premixed propanebutane-air mixture in a free turbulent jet with low degrees of swirl takes place at a distance of between 4 and 6 diameters from the burner exit. The flame front is confined to the annular space between a cold high-velocity core and the cold ambient air. Turbulent burning velocities are 80 times larger than laminar burning velocities near the jet boundaries where velocity gradients are 250 see-1. Measurements of velocity and temperature in flames with swirl show that reasonably good similarity is found for the profiles of axial and swirl velocity and only in the outer region of the jet for the temperature profiles. The large effect of temperature changes in the jet cause a slower decay of velocities than found previously in the ease of a cold swirling jet. Theoretical expressions describing the decay along the axis of maximum values of axial velocity, swirl velocity and temperature have been obtained by integration of the turbulent equations of motion, energy and state. These expressions together with the semi-empirical expressions obtained for the radial spread of velocity and temperature provide a means of determing these quantities at each point in the flame as a function of the degree of swirl.
Nomenclature

a A

distance of point origin of jet from orifice empirical constant defined by Eq. (21)

T U R B U L E N T B U R N I N G F R E E J E T S W I T H SWIRL B c, d f G~ G, k k~ kT /~ p Q r R empirical constant defined by Eq. (22) specific heat at constant pressure diameter of orifice function defined by Eq. (19) axial flux of linear m o m e n t u m axial flux of angular m o m e n t u m thermal conductivity velocity Gaussian error curve constant Eq. (26) temperature Gaussian error curve constant Eq. (27) form factors defined in Eqs. (15), (16), and (24) static pressure volumetric flow rate radial coordinate radius of orifice REFERENCES

497

S
T u v w x p

---- G,/G~R
temperature axial component of velocity vector radial component of velocity vector tangential component of velocity vector axial coordinate

= r / ( x --~ a)
density

Superscripts
' turbulent fluctuating component

Subscripts
m 0 maximum value value at orifice x = 0 value in ambient air beyond flame boundary

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors thank J. Avny for assistance with the experiments and computations.

1. BE]~R, J. M. AND CHIGIER, N. A.: Swirling Jet Flames Issuing from an Annular Burner, 5me Journee d'Etudes sur les Flames, Paris, 1963; also available as Doc. No. K20/a/9, International Flame Research Foundation, IJmuiden, Holland. 2. BE~R, J. M.: On the Stability and Intensity of Pressure Jet Oil Flames, American Petroleum Institute Research Conference, June 1964, paper CP 64-9. 3. CHIGmR, N. A.: Israel J. Technol. 3, 32 (1965). 4. MONNOT,G., CHEDAILLE,J., AND LUECKEL, W.: Flames de Combustible Liquide obtenues avec des Bruleurs a Pulverisation Mecanique e t a Rotation d'Air, 6me Journee d'Etudes sur les Flammes, Paris Nov. 1965; also available as Doc. No. K20/a/27, International Flame Research Foundation, IJmuiden, Holland. 5. CHIGIER, N. A. AND BE~R, J. M.: J. Basic Eng. 4, 788 (1964). 6. LEE, SHAo-LIN: J. Appl. Mech. 32, 258 (1965). 7. CHIGIER, N. A. AND CHERVINSKY, A.: Israel J. Technol. 4, 44 (1966). 8. KERR, N. M. AND FRASER, D.: J. Inst. Fuel 39, 519-538 (1965). 9. LEE, SHAo-LIN: Axisymmetrical Turbulent Swirling Natural Convection Plume, Report No. 58, College of Engineering, State University of New York, Nov. 1965. 10. HINZE, J. O.: Turbulence, McGraw-Hill, 1959. 11. CORRSlN, S. AND UBEROI, M. S.: Further Experiments on the Flow and Heat Transfer in a Heated Turbulent Jet, NACA TN-1865, 1949. 12. FRISTROM, R. M.: Experimental Techniques for the Study of Flame Structure, Report No. 300, Applied Physics Lab., The Johns Hopkins University, Jan. 1963. 13. THRING, M. W. AND NEWBY, M. P.: Fourth

Symposium (International)

on Combustion, p.

789, Williams and Wilkins, 1953.

COMMENTS
Prof. H. W. Emmons (Harvard University): The air rotation introduced in the fire whirl causes a small turbulent fire to become long and of low turbulence. The fuel-air mixture rotation introduced into the jet flame of the paper's experiments causes a small turbulent fire to become still smaller and more turbulent. I believe these interesting differences are the result of the differences in radial stability rather than differences in buoyancy, axial Mach number, or other phenomena present in the two experiments. Many years ago, Lord Rayleigh proved that a
rotating fluid is stable if the angular momentum increases with radius, is unstable if the angular momentum decreases with radius, and is neutrally stable if the angular momentum is independent of radius. In the fire whirl, the angular momentum increases through the core and then remains constant in the free vortex. The stable core suppresses turbulence there; and there is no radius range which is unstable. In the rotating jet burner, the jet burns in a nonrotating atmosphere and, hence, the angular momentum increases from zero to a maximum near

498

FIRE RESEARCH of swirl beyond a certain value that is strong enough to produce the recirculation vortex in the central region of the rotating flow, the flame length will decrease with increasing swirl. In the case of the turbulent jet flame with a high degree of swirl, the fuel concentration is high in the region of high shear stresses in the flow. This is because of the velocity distribution in solid-body-type swirls that produces peaks of both the axial and tangential velocity profiles in the same region at some radial distance from the axis of the rotation. In this latter case, swirl effectively promotes turbulent mixing and reduces flame length. 2. Concerning Professor Emmons' observation on the radial spread of the swirling flow, I would like to mention a similar observation in fully separated flow. 1 It was found that the angle of spread of a swirling jet increased when heat was released, compared with a cold isothermal swirling jet of the same angular to linear momenta ratio. This could be explained by the increase of the value of the pressure term in the expression of the axial flux of the linear momentum due to thermal expansion in the core of the jet. The swirling jet can be characterized by the ratio:

the edge of the jet and then falls to zero through a jet boundary region, as shown in the paper. This boundary region is highly unstable. I t promotes turbulence, which further broadens the boundary region by decay of the core and mixing with ambient air. The thus-enimnced mixing process increases the effective flame speed in a premixed iet, or more rapidly supplies oxidizer in a nonpremixed jet. In either case, the flame is more turbulent, and shorter.

Prof. M. W. Thring (Queen Mary College, London University): I think that in many cases the primary effect of swirl is not the angular momentum but the radial component of velocity introduced by swirl when the flame spreads out from a small inlet into a large combustion chamber. I would like to see an experiment on a flame with a large radially outward velocity component but no swirl. In the paper, the flame did not have any enclosing wall. At IJmuiden, we found that very much higher rates of combustion can be obtained with nonpremix flames of moderate air swirl, by using a divergent cone wall which gives a very high rate of shear and, so, fuel-air mixing. Fuel-air mixing is just as important as recirculation in such flames.

S = fpUWr 2 dr/(fpU~r dr q- f P r dr),

where both the angular and linear momenta are conserved. 1 As a result of the heat-release and buoyant effects, the pressure will rise with height rapidly on the axis and this, in turn, will increase the radial separation between the flame and peaks of the axial-velocity profile. The increasing radial separation between the flame and the high-shear zone with increasing height of the flame can thus be explained.

Prof. J. M. Beer (University of Sheffield): 1. Swirling flows are discussed in the papers of Prof. Emmons and of Dr. Chigier. There is, however, an apparent discrepancy in the effect swirl has on the development of the flame in these two systems. In the case of the fire whirl, the flame length increases and turbulent mixing between the flame gases and the rotating flow becomes less intensive with increasing rotation of the air flow (increasing ratio of angular to forward momenta ratio or Rossby number) while the flame length decreases with increasing intensity of turbulent mixing in swirling jet flames. I think that this discrepancy can be resolved by considering the spatial distributions of shear and of fuel, respectively, in both systems. In the case of the fire whirl, the radial pressure gradient set up by the swirling flow increases the flow rate of air drawn into the center at ground level which in turn enables more of the pool of liquid fuel to be burned. The swirling flow does not contribute, however, to the faster mixing between fuel and air because the regions of high shear in the rotating flow are far outside the flame boundaries. The swirl is too weak to produce a recirculation vortex in the core region and its effect in this ease is that it separates fuel and air with the consequence of increasing flame length. It can be expected that, by increasing the intensity

Reference
1. Be6r, J. M. and Chigier, N. A.: 5th Journee d'Etudes sur les Flammes, Paris, Nov. 1963.

Dr. N. A. Chigier: The experiments carried out by Professor Emmons and Dr. Shuh-Jing Ying have shown that the introduction of swirl to the surrounding atmosphere leads to a large increase in flame length and a reduction in the rate of entrainment. In our work, we have found that the introduction of a swirling motion to the air supply leads to a reduction in the flame length and an increase in the rate of entrainment. These apparently contradictory effects can only be explained by the differences in the flow fields set up in the two systems. We expect that the increased rate of entrainment in our case of the swirling jet is associated with an increase in the intensities of

TURBULENT BURNING FREE JETS WITH SWIRL turbulence. Correspondingly, we might expect a damping of the turbulence in Emmon's case of the fire whirl associated with the reduced rate of entrainment. The explanation of the reasons for obtaining these different effects, as put forward by Emmons, is extremely interesting, and appears to be a plausible explanation. The different effects are sufficiently interesting to merit a detailed comparison of the flow fields and aerodynamic behavior of the two systems in order to verify Emmons' hypothesis. In reply to Professor Thring's comment, I cannot agree with his contention that the primary effect of swirl is not the angular momentum but the radial component of velocity introduced by the swirl. In the first instance, the introduction of a swirling motion with tangential components of velocity alters the nature, as can be seen from the equations of motion. In the experiment suggested by Professor Thring, in which there would be only axial and radial velocity components, it would only be necessary to consider the first two equations of motion in cylindrical coordinates, and no consideration need be made of the third equation of motion. A flame with a large radially outward velocity component would have a higher rate of entrainment than a nonswirling jet, due to the larger "externalsurface area." However, the increased rate of shear, as well as the additional Reynolds stresses set up by the swirling motion, will have a significant effect upon the rate of entrainment.

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Prof. H. W. Emmons: There are many interacting phenomena in both the fire whirl and the swirling jet burner. There are in fact so many effects present that it is impossible to solve the Navier-Stokes equations for either case, except in a rather crude approximate form. Thus, all "explanations" of a verbal character, such as those of Dr. Beer and the succeeding ones by the authors, are attempts to pick out of the complexity a few effects which lead to correct qualitative predictions and thus satisfy our desire to feel we "understand" what is happening. I do not believe that the dominating mechanism controlling the difference between the whirl and the jet is associated with the combustion, buoyancy, initial momentum, etc. I believe the dominating difference is the difference in radial stability of the two cases. The whirl has a free vortex surrounding a rotating core. The angular momentum has a positive or zero radial gradient everywhere. The flow is therefore stable or neutral everywhere. The swirling jet, on the other hand, has stationary air outside of the jet. Thus, at the jet boundary, there is a strong negative angular momentum radial gradient. The jet boundary is therefore unstable. Of course, there will be modifications of the above basic difference by combustion, buoyancy, etc., which effects will be important, even dominating, in some ranges of the appropriate dimensionless parameters. There is too little currently known about these effects to state rigorously that they are unimportant here, although I believe this to be the case.