Thermographic phosphor heat flux measurements of laminar methane/air flame impinging on a cylindrical surface

The stagnation point heat fluxes of methane/air flames impinging normal on a cylindrical surface were determined experimentally. Light induced phosphorescence from thermographic phosphors was used to investigate surface temperatures at the stagnation point from a nearly 1D laminar premixed flame burning against a water-cooled ceramic tube. The ceramic tube was coated with 1.1% chromium-doped alumina (ruby) at the impingement area and excited with a green light-emitting diode (LED) to measure the surface temperature. The flame temperature profiles were also measured with a thermocouple of type R (Pt/Pt  +  13% Rh). Effects on variations in cold gas velocity (0.1 m s⁻¹–0.5 m s⁻¹) relative to the flame speed, equivalence ratio (Ф  =  0.85–1.2), burner to impingement surface spacing (H/d  =  0.5–2) and surface curvature are reported. The stagnation point heat fluxes are strongly influenced by the flame stabilization mechanism, which changes from burner to wall stabilization, which also is seen from the measured flame temperature profiles. Increasing the cold gas velocity of the reactants leads to higher stagnation point heat fluxes. In addition, decreasing the distance between the burner and impingement surface increases the heat flux, with higher heat fluxes recorded for a tube compared to a flat plate. (paper)