Lean flameout characteristics and unsteady dynamics of swirling non-premixed flame with and without outer flame

The planar laser induced hydroxyl fluorescence (OH-PLIF) technique was used to study three kinds of swirling flame, namely flames I, II, and III, by changing swirl conditions. According to the PLIF results, double structure exists in flames I and II. The inner flame burns in the inner shear layer and is anchored by vortex breakdown, which is similar to the M- or V-shaped flame. The unique outer flame is attached to the inner wall of the air annular nozzle and burns in the outer shear layer. The lean blowout (LBO) equivalent ratio of swirling flame with outer flame is lower than that without outer flame. It is interesting to compare the LBO mechanisms among the three types and the traditional swirling flame, and investigate their unsteady characteristics. Firstly, the flameout process of flames I and II starts from the local extinguishing at the root of the outer flame. However, the LBO process of flame III is consistent with that of traditional swirling flame, that is, it starts with repeated extinguishing and reigniting at the root of the inner recirculation zone (IRZ). Secondly, the unsteady characteristics of the three flames are analyzed by spectral proper orthogonal decomposition. It is found that flame oscillations, asymmetric disturbances, and longitudinal disturbances of different frequencies exist in different combinations under near-LBO conditions. In particular, asymmetric and P-wave disturbances mainly exist in the inner shear layer and jet breaking down, which further indicates the stability and anti-LBO potential of the outer flame.