Partial premixing and stratification in turbulent flames

Recent research in turbulent partially premixed as well as stratified flames is reviewed. Detailed measurements in burners representative of those found in gas turbine combustors show that partial premixing at the lifted flame base increases with instability. Well-characterised laboratory burners where different fuel concentration gradients may be imposed at the jet exit plane show improved flame stability due to mixed-mode combustion. Maximum stability is reached at some optimum level of compositional inhomogeneity. Highly resolved measurements in turbulent stratified flames show that the mass fractions of CO and H2 increase with stratification; a result that is consistent with laminar flame studies. Such experiments are, however, very difficult and require multi-level conditioning of the data. The paper concludes with a brief review of potential numerical approaches employed in the calculations of turbulent flames with inhomogeneous inlet conditions. A key challenge here is to reproduce the effects of increasing levels of stratification and/or inhomogeneity on the compositional structure of turbulent flames.