The influence of pressure on the control of premixed turbulent flames using an electric field

Previous investigations of the effects of electric fields on flames have shown the potential for stabilizing flames and reducing emissions with comparatively little effort, but were restricted to atmospheric pressure. In the present work the influence of the electric field on premixed turbulent jet flames at increased pressure is investigated. Besides the question of whether field effects persist at elevated pressure, it is of interest to find physically based scaling laws. The current work describes experiments with premixed turbulent seven-hole Bunsen-jet flames for pressures between 1 and 10 bar, where the exit velocity was held constant, and where electric fields of varied strength and direction were applied to the flame. Concentrations of CO, NO, and NO2 were measured in the exhaust gas section. Experiments show that the electric field influence is clearly visible for increased pressures, without any indication that 10 bar should be an upper limit. CO emissions could be reduced by about 95%, irrespective of pressure. The decrease of CO was accompanied by an increase of NOx by about 25%. Both of these effects can be understood qualitatively within the framework of a one-dimensional model. For reduced voltages up to 3.5 kV/bar the model correctly describes the current-voltage characteristics and leads to the conclusion that high pressure should favor rather than hamper electric field effects on flames. The electric power required for a CO reduction of 95% amounted to 0.1% of the thermal power. The improvement of the lean blowoff limit upon application of an electric field observed so far ranges from 1 to 3% and increases with pressure.