Stabilization of a premixed methane-air flame with a high repetition nanosecond laser-induced plasma

Laser-induced plasma ignition has been applied in various combustion systems, however, work on flame stabilization with repetitive laser-induced plasma (LIP) is rather limited. In this paper, stabilization of a premixed methane-air flame with a high repetition nanosecond LIP is reported. The plasma energy coupling and the temporal evolution of the flame kernels generated by the LIPs are investigated with different laser repetition rates, i.e., 1 Hz, 100 Hz and 250 Hz, respectively. The plasma energy coupling is not affected in the air flow and in the premixed methane-air flow with the applied laser repetition rates. Continuous combustion flame stabilization has been achieved with LIPs of 100 Hz and 250 Hz, in terms of catch-up and merging of the consecutive flame kernels. The flame kernel formed by the last LIP does not affect the evolution of the newly formed flame kernel by the next LIP. The catch-up distance, defined as the distance from the LIP initiation site to the flame kernel catch-up position, is estimated for different laser repetition rates based on the temporal evolution of the flame kernels. A higher laser repetition rate will lead to a shorter catch-up distance which is beneficial for flame stabilization. The up limit for the laser repetition rate to realize effective flame stabilization is determined from the critical inter-pulse delay defined from the onset of the LIP to the return of the initially contraflow propagating lower front to the LIP initiation site. The up limit is 377 Hz under the flow conditions of this work (equivalence ratio of 1, flow speed of 2 m/s, and Reynolds number of 1316).