Effect of Near-Critical Swirl on Burke-Schumann Flame

by Kang-Ho Sohn
+
and Zvi Rusak
++
and Ashwani K. Kapila
+++
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180-3590
Abstract
The influence of a near-critical swirling flow on the shape of the Burke-Schumann flame
reaction sheet in a straight cylindrical chamber is investigated by asymptotic and numerical
analyses. A high Reynolds number laminar, isothermal, and incompressible flow is
assumed. An asymptotic analysis is developed to study the nonlinear interaction between
the swirl at near-critical levels and the fuel/oxidizer mixture mass fraction distribution. It is
first found that the leading-order changes of the velocity field from a columnar state can be
described by a nonlinear reduced-order model. Then, these flow changes are used to
calculate the corrections due to swirl to the classical flame sheet structure according to
Burke and Schumann solution. The resulting corrections apply to both lean and rich
conditions of combustion. The asymptotic results show a nice agreement with direct
numerical simulations, specifically as the flow Reynolds number is increased. This study
shows that as swirl is increased toward the critical level the flow decelerates near the
chamber centerline, accelerates near the chamber wall, and an outward radial speed is
developed. For a sufficiently high level of swirl a large separation (near stagnation) zone
appears around the centerline. As a result, for lean combustion, the flame becomes shorter
and more compact as swirl is increased. For rich combustion, the flame length
+ Graduate Student, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering.
++ Professor, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering.
+++ Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences.
1
decreases with the increase of swirl and then increases after vortex breakdown appears.
This work extends for the first time the theory of the Burke-Schumann flame sheet to
include the effect of swirl.
Introduction
Diffusive (non-premixed) combustion has attracted attention over many years since it is
considered to be safer and more economical than premixed combustion. The classical
solution of Burke and Schumann
1
describes the steady-state flame sheet structure that
results from two co-axial jets of fuel and oxidizer that are injected into a straight cylindrical
chamber (see also Williams,
2
pages 40-44). Their formulation studied the balance between
streamwise convection and transverse diffusion of the species according to only the species
conservation equation. Constant axial velocity and infinite rates of reaction were assumed
and effects of heat release due to chemical reaction, transverse convection resulting from
thermal expansion effects, axial diffusion of species, and viscous dissipation were
neglected. Despite these significant simplifications, in comparison with the physical nature
of flames, the Burke-Schumann approach describes the fundamental character of the flame
sheet and this model problem was extensively used to illustrate the characteristics of
diffusional combustion.
Williams
2
(pages 73-76) used only the species and energy conservation equations and
extended the Burke-Schumann approach to compute the steady-state fields of the mixture
mass fraction and temperature in a diffusional flame for the case where the Lewis number
(Le) is unity. It should be noted, however, that the flow momentum equations were not
considered in the analysis; actually these equations cannot be satisfied with the solutions of
2
the mass fraction and energy equations. The study of Roper
3
modified the Burke-Schumann
theory to satisfy the continuity equation when the velocity and temperature fields are not
constant. Again, the flow momentum equations were not considered in the analysis. He
predicted a small effect of the modifications on the flame size in the case of a circular port
burner. The experiments of Roper, Smith and Cunningham
3
showed agreement with the
predicted flame height according to the theory of Roper.
4
Klajan and Oppenhiem
5
developed an analytical approach to describe the effect of exothermicity on the shape of jet
diffusion flames and the structures of their temperature and flow fields. They constructed
self-similar solutions using the Dorodnitsyn-Howarth transformation of the compressible
flow equations and found agreement of the flame length with experimental data under zero
gravity conditions. Chung and Law
6
revised the Burke-Schumann formulation to include
the effects of both streamwise and preferential diffusion of species and temperature for
flows with non-unity Lewis number. They used a perturbation analysis for flames at near
unity values of Le and described the effect of Le on the flame temperature and shape at
various Peclet number (Pe) flows. Li, Gordon, and Williams
7
analyzed highly over-
ventilated laminar diffusion flames in an infinite atmosphere at Le=1. They used the
reaction sheet approximation and included the effects of buoyancy. A boundary-layer
approximation in the stream function coordinates was used to simplify the numerical
integration of the flow and species equations. The flow radial momentum equation was not
considered in the analysis. Computed results of the flame height as function of fuel flow
rate for various hydrocarbon fuels showed agreement with experimental data.
The mode of diffusional combustion was used in various systems. However, it may
suffer from flame instabilities, lift-off situations, and extinction as function of the
3
Damkohler number (see, for example, Williams,
2
page 80-84). In recent years it has been
found that exerting swirl on diffusion flames may help to eliminate blowout, reduce flame
lift-off distance, improve flame stability, and enhance combustion performance (see, for
example, the experimental results in Gupta, Lilley, and Syred,
8
Marshall and Gupta,
9
Lefebvre,
10
Stephens, Acharya, Gutmark, and Allgoodn,
11
and Cha, Lee, and Chung
12
). The
flow field of a combustion state with high levels of swirl has complex patterns including
large-scale internal separation (vortex breakdown) zones that create transverse convection
which significantly affect the flame length and shape. Therefore, the analysis of such states
requires modeling of the nonlinear flow and combustion interactions and is very difficult to
conduct. All of the current studies concentrate on extensive numerical simulations of the
flow and chemical reaction fields (see, for example, the works of Khalil and Spalding,
13
Elgobashi,
14
Habib and Whitelaw,
15
and Shim, Sohn and Lee
16
). To the best of our
knowledge, there is no theoretical study of diffusive combustion with swirl.
As a first step toward developing a better understanding of the special effects of
swirling flows on diffusional flames, we focus in this paper on the influence of flows with
near-critical swirl levels on the classical flame structure of Burke and Schumann.
1
Understanding this interaction can help in identifying the fundamental physical
mechanisms that develop in such a process of chemical reaction with complicated fluid
mechanics. We conduct an asymptotic study and numerical simulations and look for the
correlation between them. The analysis may also provide a reduced-order model to
describe the effect of swirl level, viscosity, fuel to air equivalence ratio, and chamber
geometry on the flame sheet shape and stability of the infinite-rate reaction process.
4
We consider here the case where the swirl is near the critical level for vortex
breakdown, the flow is laminar and Reynolds number is high, and there is no heat release
as a result of the chemical reaction. In such a case, the solution of the flow field is
decoupled from that of the species. Also, the strong interaction between the swirl and small
viscous effects can be accurately described by the asymptotic approach of Wang and
Rusak
17
which shows a nice agreement with the numerical simulations according to the
Navier-Stokes equations of Beran and Culick,
18
Beran,
19
and Lopez.
20
In the present paper
we use this asymptotic solution to estimate the changes in the flame sheet structure from
the Burke and Schumann
1
solution due to swirl. These theoretical predictions have also
been numerically substantiated through extensive simulations of the flow field and flame
shape. The present work provides for the first time a theoretical model to study diffusional
combustion with swirl.
Mathematical Formulation
The mathematical formulation of the combustion problem with a swirling flow in a
straight pipe is based on several assumptions about the nature of the flow and the process
of reaction. We consider the limit of zero heat release and low Mach number. Then
energy balance implies that the flow is isothermal, i.e.,

T =

T
0
, while the gas law leads to
the conclusion that density is constant, i.e.,

r = r
0
. Following Burke-Schumann we also
consider infinitely fast chemistry so that the reaction is confined to a thin sheet.
The mixing rate is lower than the chemical reaction rate and the latter is often of negligible
importance for diffusion flame. The chemical reactions are typically completed in a very
5
narrow region which suggests that the flame is identified as the surface on which the fuel
and oxygen rates of delivery are in stoichiometric proportions. In this study, we consider
reaction with an infinite rate but without any heat generation. Therefore, the temperature
field is constant and in the case of low Mach number flows the density is also nearly
constant. Then, the swirling flow may be assumed incompressible. It is also assumed that
the coefficient of inter-diffusion of the two gas (fuel/oxidizer) streams is constant. Then the
non-dimensional continuity, momentum, energy and species equations governing for a
steady, axi-symmetric, incompressible and viscous flow of a reactive non-premixed fluid
are:
( ) , 0
1
= +
x r
w ru
r
(1)

uu
r
+ wu
x
- x
0
2
v
2
r
= - x
0
2
p
r
+
x
0
Re
1
r
ru ( )
r






r
+
u
xx
x
0
2






,
(2)
( ) ,
1
2
0
0

= + +
x
v
rv
r Re
x
wv
r
uv
uv
xx
r
r x r
(3)

uw
r
+ ww
x
= - p
x
+
x
0
Re
1
r
rw
r
( )
r
+
w
xx
x
0
2






,
(4)
( ) ,
1
2
0
0

+ = +
x
f
rf
r Pe
x
wf uf
xx
r r x r
(5)

f =
nY
F
- Y
O
+Y
O,0
nY
F,0
+Y
O,0
, where n =
W
O
n
O
- n
O
( )
W
F
n
F
- n
F
( )
.
(6)
These dimensionless forms are based on the following reference properties. The axial
length scales with the pipe length
0

l and the radial length with the pipe radius,

0
r
, with
0 0 0

r l x being the length-to-radius ratio. We consider a sufficiently long pipe such that
6
1
0
>>
. The axial and circumferential speeds are scaled with the inlet axial speed
0

U and
the radial speed with
0 0

x U . The speeds u, v and w are the non-dimensional radial,

circumferential, and axial components of the velocity, Y
F
and Y
O
denote the fuel and
oxygen mass fraction in reaction, and

f
is the mixture mass fraction, derived for example
in [ ]. Also, W
F
and W
O
are the molecular weights of fuel and oxygen, respectively,
i

is the
stoichiometric coefficient for species i appearing as a reactant,
i

is the coefficient for
species i appearing as a product,

is the stoichiometric oxygen-to-fuel mass ratio. The

dimensionless parameters appearing in these equations above are
0 0
2
0
0

, the
reference Mach number,

0 0 0
r U
Re = , the Reynolds number, and
D
U r
Pe

0 0 0

, the
Peclet number, where
0

is the flow constant density,

is the constant viscosity,

D

is the
constant diffusion coefficient of fuel and oxygen, and

the ratio of specific heats. The

pressure

p
appearing in the above equations is the pressure excess above the ambient value

p
0
= r
0
R

T
0
, in units of

M
0
2
p
0
, i.e.,

p = p
0
(1+ gM
0
2
p) . We consider a sufficiently long
pipe and a large Re such that the following asymptotic ordering applies:

x
0
>>1, Re >>1, and
x
0
Re
<<1.
7
1 0
0
<< <
. Note from (2)-(4) that
Re x
0
is the non-dimensional parameter
governing the problem. Equations (1)-(5) also show that in the present case the solution of
the flow field speeds velocity and pressure is decoupled from the solution of f. The
solution for f is determined after the solution for the velocity field has been found.
We consider a reactive flow in a straight circular pipe with the following boundary
conditions. Along the pipe inlet x=0 the axial, circumferential, and radial velocity in the
fuel and air regions are specified to have the following profiles are prescribed as

w 0, r ( ) = w
0
r ( ), u
x
0, r ( ) = 0, v 0, r ( ) =wv
0
r ( ) for 0 r 1. (7)
Here

is a swirl ratio which that represents the strength of the vortex flow. These inlet
conditions are general and may represent a swirling flow that is generated at the inlet by a
vortex generator in front of the pipe and in a steady and continuous operation. The
conditions (7) may reflect the physical situation in the cold and incompressible vortex flow
experiments of Bruecker and Althuas,
21
Malkiel et al.,
22
and Mattner et al.
23
The inlet
condition on the radial speed u is set to allow a degree of freedom to develop a radial
velocity at the inlet to reflect the upstream influence by disturbances that have a tendency
to cast such an influence. In addition to the flow conditions (7) we assume that the inlet
flow is of a two-gas (fuel and oxidant) stream, and is divided into two regions separated at
an inner radius
1 0 < <

. The mixture mass fraction in each region is given by

. 1 for 0 ) , 0 ( : Air , 0 for 1 ) , 0 ( : Fuel < <

(8)
At the pipe outlet x=1 it is assumed that the radial speed and the streamwise derivatives of
the axial and circumferential speeds and the mixture mass fraction vanish, i.e.

u 1, r ( ) = v
x
1, r ( ) = w
x
1, r ( ) = 0, f
x
1, r ( ) = e.s.t for 0 r 1. (9)
8
Here, e.s.t. denotes an exponentially small term, in accordance with the Burke-Schumann
solution and the expected columnar state at the outlet for

x
0
>>1.
This is in accordance
with an expected columnar state at the outlet when x
0
is sufficiently large.
The pipe axis of symmetry is a streamline along which the radial and azimuthal velocity
components vanish, as do the radial gradients of the axial velocity and mixture fraction.
Consequently we set

u x,0 ( ) = v
r
x,0 ( ) = w
r
x,0 ( ) = f
r
x,0 ( ) = 0 for 0 x 1. (10)
Only the impermeability, but not no-slip, condition is enforced along the wall r=1. , in
accordance with the expectation that in a high Re flow the wall boundary layers are very
thin with respect to the pipe radius and a boundary-layer analysis can be conducted near the
wall to apply the no-slip condition. However, such a local analysis is beyond the scope of
this work. This condition ignores the influence of wall boundary layers, with the
expectation that this influence exerts at most a qualitative effect on the phenomenon under
study; see for example, the relevant discussion in [ Beran and Culick] and [Lopez ]. Also,
along the pipe wall, the radial gradient of the mixture mass fraction vanishes. Thus it is
assumed that

u x,1 ( ) = f
r
x,1 ( ) = 0 for 0 x 1. (11)
By virtue of the axisymmetry and the continuity equation (1), a stream function
( ) y x, y can be defined where the radial component of velocity is
r u
x

and the axial
component of velocity is r w
r
. Let With 2
2
r y , y u
x
2 ,
y
w
, and the
azimuthal vorticity is
r =
where

yy
+y
xx
2yx
0
2
( ). Along the inlet we find that
9
( ) y
0
y y =
where
( ) y w
y 0 0
= y
and
y
w
0 0

. The circulation function K is defined as
rv K and along the inlet we have and
( ) ( ) r rv y K K
0 0
w = =
. Equations (15) can now
be expressed as The reactive flow equations which relate between the stream function

,
azimuthal vorticity

, and the circulation function K are derived from (1)-(5) and given by
,
2
1
2
2
0
0

,
_

(12)
( )
, 4
2
1
2
4
2
0
0
2
2

+ + = -
y
xx
yy
x
y x x y
y x
y
Re
x
y
K
c
c
c c y c y
(13)
( ) . 2
2
0
0

+ = -
x
f
yf
Pe
x
f f
xx
y
y y x x y
y y
(14)
Note that the pressure is eliminated from the problem by the cross differentiation of (2) and
(4) and introduction of . The boundary conditions (7)-(11) become
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) . 2 1 0 for e.s.t , 1 , 0 , 1 , 1 , 1
2 where , 1 for 0 , 0 , 0 for 1 , 0
, 2 1 0 for , 0 , 0 , 0 , , 0
, 1 0 for 0 2 1 , 0 , , 2 1 2 1 , , 0 0 ,
2
0 0
0
= = = =
= < = < =
= = =
= = = =
y y f y K y y
R y y y y f y y y f
y y K y K y y y
x x f x f x x
x x x x
i i i i
xx
y y
c y
y y y
y y y
(15)
Equations (11)-(14) show that the solution of

and K is decoupled from the solution of f.

The function f can be determined only after we solve

.

Asymptotic Solution
Perturbation equations
In the absence of viscosity the base solution is columnar, i.e.,

w = w
0
(y),
and the
location of the reaction zone is given by the Burke-Schumann solution,

f = f
BS
(x, y).
For
small swirl levels, departures from the columnar state induced by viscosity are small, and
10
as a result, so is the perturbation to the reaction-sheet location. However, as the swirl level
increase towards the critical, changes in the flow become more pronounced [give ref], and
correspondingly larger perturbations in the reaction-sheet location are anticipated. The
following asymptotic analysis estimates these changes. We begin by postulating the
asymptotic expansions
It is expected that the swirl and viscous stresses create transverse convective effects in
the reactive flow in the pipe that influence the shape of the flame sheet. To study the effect
of the near-critical swirl (
c

where
c
is the critical swirl) and the slight viscosity
( ) 1
0
<< Re x
, we assume that the velocity components consist of the inlet velocity profiles
and small perturbation terms. The velocity perturbation also creates a correspondingly
small perturbation to the base Burke-Schumann field of the mixture mass fraction,
( ) y x f
BS
,
, which satisfies the inlet, outlet, centerline and wall conditions for f in (14).
Accordingly, we postulate the following asymptotic expansions
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) . , , ,
, , , ,
, , , ,
, , , ,
1 1
2 2 1 1 0
2 2 1 1 0
2 2 1 1 0
+ + =
+ + =
+ + =
+ + =
y x f y x f y x f
y x y x y y x
y x K y x K y K y x K
y x y x y y x
BS
e
c e c e c c
e e
y e y e y y
(16)
Following the analysis of Wang and Rusak,
17
it can be shown that we assume here that
1
and
2
are functions of
c

and
Re x
0
,
1
1 2
<< <<
and that
Re x and
0 1
2
1 2
, , are of the same order. Furthermore, one finds that This means
that it is expected that the small viscosity effects create a much greater effect in both the
velocity and f fields.
11
From the boundary conditions (14), we find that the solution (15) has to satisfy
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) . 2 1 0 for e.s.t , 1 , 0 , 1 , 1 , 1
, 2 1 0 for 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0
, 1 0 for 0 2 1 , 0 , 2 1 , 0 ,
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
= = = =
= = = =
= = = =
y y f y K y y
y y f y K y y
x x f x f x x
x x x x
xx
y y
c y
y y
y y
(16)
Flow-Field Disturbance
We first solve the flow field perturbation. Following the analysis of Wang and Rusak
17
we can show that in the leading-order terms
, 1
0
0
1

(17)
and
( )
. 2
Re
1
2
1
0
0
0
2 0
2
1
0
0
2
2
1
0
2
0
0
2
x
K
y
x
K K
K
y
yy
y
y
y
y
y y
y
y e y
y
y e
e
y
y
y
+

- =
(18)
At order
1
we also find that
0
2
~ ~
2
1
0
0
2
0
2
0 0
2
0
1
1

,
_

,
_

(19)
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) 2 1 0 for , 0 , 1 , 0
1 0 for , 0 2 1 , 0 ,
1 1
1 1
= =
= =
y y y
x x x
x
y y
y y
(20)
Here we use
0 0
~
K K and let
2
. The boundary-value problem (19) and (20) has
nontrivial solutions only for specific eigenvalues values of . The first eigenvalue
2
c c
of this problem was defined by Wang and Rusak
17
as the critical level of swirl.
The critical eigenfunction is determined by

1
x, y ( ) =y
1c
x, y ( ) = F y ( )sin
p
2
x





,
(17)
12
where and
c
are found from the solution of
( ) ( ) . 0 2 1 , 0 0 with 0
2
4
2
~ ~
2
0
2
0
0
2
0
2
0 0
= F = F = F

- - W + F
y
x
w
w
w y
K K
yy y
c yy
p
(22)
The size of
1
is determined from the analysis of the second-order terms. We find that
0
2
~ ~
2
2
~ ~
Re
2
2
~ ~ ~
2 2
~ ~
1
2
~ ~
2
2
~ ~
2
1
2
0
2
0 0
1
0
0 0
2
0
0 0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
0
2
0 0
0
2
1
2
0
0
2
0
2
0 0
2
0
2
2 2
1
0
0
2
0
2
0 0
2
0
1
1 1
+
1
1
]
1

+
+ +

,
_

1
1
1
]
1

'

,
_

,
_

'

+
1
1
]
1

,
_

+ + +
1
1
]
1

,
_

+ +

(23)
Here, we define
, 1 where <<
c c
and the following boundary
conditions are used
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) . 2 1 0 for , 0 , 1 , 0
, 1 0 for , 0 2 1 , 0 ,
2 2
2 2


y y y
x x x
x xx


(24)
Equation (23) is a non-homogeneous partial differential equation for
2
, subject to
homogeneous boundary conditions (24). Since the corresponding homogeneous problem
has the nontrivial solution
c 1

, solvability requires that the forcing term above be

orthogonal to
c 1

. Multiplying (23) by
c 1

, integrating over the domain 1 0 x ,

2 1 0 y , and using (24) gives the solvability condition
. 0
Re
3
0
2 1 1
2
1
+ M
x
M M
(25)
13
Here
3
2
3
2
2 1 1
4
,
2
,
3
4
N M
N
M N M


(26)
where
( )
,
2
1
~ ~
3 2 1
0 0
0
0
2 3
0
0 0
2 3
0
1
dy
y
w
w
w yw
K K
yw
N
y
yy
y
y
c

1
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

( ) ,
2
~ ~
2
2 1
0
2
0
2
0 0
2
dy y
w y
K K
N
y
y

(27)
( ) dy y
w
w yw
yw
K K
N
yy yyy yy
c

1
1
]
1

2 1
0 0
0 0
2
0
0 0
3
2
2
~ ~
2
.
Equation (25) has a real solution of
1
if and only if
Re
3
16
0
2
3 1
3
x
N
N N

(28)
When ( )( ) Re 3 16
0 2 3 1
3
x N N N < , (25) has no solution and, therefore, it
indicates that no steady and near-columnar viscous solution exists close to the critical state.
We also find now that near the critical state and when (28) is satisfied

( )

3 8
Re 3
64
4 2
,
Re
1
3 1
0
3
2
2
2
2
0
1
N
N N
x N N
x

,
_

,
_

(29)
The states where ( )( ) Re 3 16
0 2 3 1
3
x N N N or where
Re
3
16
Re
3
16
0
2
3 1
3
2
2
2
0
2
3 1
3
1
2
1
x
N
N N
x
N
N N
c cv cv
c cv cv

+

(30)
14
are special states which are limit and fold bifurcation points of solutions of the
axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations.
From (15), (21) and (25), the asymptotic expansion of the stream function ( ) y x, near
the critical swirl
c

is described by
( ) ( )
( )
( )
,
_

+
,
_

,
_

+
Re 2
sin
3 8
Re 3
64
4 2
,
0
1
3 1
0
3
2
2
2
2
0
x
O x y
N
N N
x N N
y y x

(31)
and the axial velocity is described by
( ) ( )
( )
( )

,
_

,
_

+ x y
N
N N
x N N
y w y x w
y
2
sin
3 8
Re 3
64
4 2
,
1
3 1
0
3
2
2
2
2
0

.
(32)
Flame Shape at Near-Critical Swirl
To study the flame shape in a near-critical swirling flow, we consider the expansion of f
according to (15). At the leading order and when
1
0
>> x
, the axial diffusion term in (13)
may be neglected and the function
( ) y x f
BS
,
is described by the same form of Burke-
Schumann
1
equation

,
_

y
f
y
y Pe
x
x
f
BS BS
2
0
.
(33)
From (14), the function
( ) y x f
BS
,
must satisfy the conditions
( )
( )
( ) ( ) . 1 0 for 0 2 1 , 0 ,
, 2 1 y 0 for e.s.t , 1
, 2 1 for 0
, 0 for 1
, 0

'

<
<

x x f x f
y f
y y
y y
y f
BSy BSy
x BS
i
i
BS
(34)
The solution of (33)-(34) when
1
0
w
is described by
15
( )

+
1
0
0
2
2
n
x
Pe
x
n n BS
n
e y J B f f

(35)
where
0
J
is the Bessel function of the first kind of order zero,
( ) , 2 , 1 n
n

are the roots

of
( ) 0
1

n
J
, and
( )
( ) [ ]
2
0
1
2 2 2
, 2
n
i n
n
i
n i
J
y J y
B y f

.
(36)
At order
1
we find from (13) that
1
f may be described by
2
2
0 1
1 1
1 0 1
1
2
x
f
x Pe x
f
y
f
y
f
y
y Pe
x
x
f
BS BS
y
BS
x

,
_

(37)
where from (21), we have
( ) ( ) .
2
sin ,
2
cos
2
1 1

,
_

,
_

x y x y
y y x

(38)
Upon substituting the derivatives of
BS
f
and (38), equation (37) becomes
( )

,
_

1
1 0 1
, 2
m
m
y x Q
y
f
y
y Pe
x
x
f
(39)
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) . 2
1 1
2
2
sin
2
2
2
cos
2
, where
0
2
0
2
0
2
0 1
0
0
2
1
1
1
x
Pe
x
m
m
m
m
y
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
e y J
Pe
x
Pe x
y J
Pe
x
x y
y J
y
x y B y x Q

1
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

,
_

,
_

,
_

Equation (39) is a non-homogenous partial differential equation for
1
f with boundary
conditions (16). The method of eigenfunctions expansion is used to solve (39). The
corresponding eigenfunctions of (39) are
16
( ) ( ) y J y
n n
2
0

(40)
and ( ) y x f ,
1
consists of a series of the related homogeneous eigenfunctions
( ) ( ) ( )

1
1
,
n
n n
y x a y x f
(41)
where
( ) y
n

satisfies 0 2 2
2 2 2
+ +
n n n n
dy d dy d y . Substituting (41) into (39)
yields
( )
( ) ( ) ( ) . ,
1 1
0
2

1
]
1

+
m
m
n
n n
n n
y x Q y x a
Pe
x
dx
x da

(42)
Due to the orthogonality of the functions
( ) y
n

, we obtain
( )
( )
( )
( )

+
2 1
0
2
2 1
0
1
2
0
2
1
) , (
dy y
dy y y x Q
x a
Pe
x
dx
x da
n
n
m
m
n
n n

.
(43)
where the relationships
( ) ( )
( ) [ ] ( )

'

l n J
l n
dy y J y J
n
l n
2
0
0
2 1
0
0
2
1
) ( 0
2 2

are used. Then, the functions
( ) x a
n
are found from the solution of
( )
( )
( ) [ ]
.
1 1
2
sin
2
cos
2
2
0
2 2
0
2
0 1
3
0
2
2
1
1
2
0
2
0
x
Pe
x
n
mn
m
mn
m mn
m
m
n
n
n n
m
e
Pe
x
Pe x
I x
Pe
x
I
x I B
J
x a
Pe
x
dx
x da

,
_

+
,
_

,
_

'

,
_

(44)
where
17
( )
( ) ( )

2 1
0
0 1 1
2 2
2
dy y J y J
y
y
I
n m mn

( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )

2 1
0
0 0 3
2 1
0
0 0
'
2
2 2
2 2
dy y J y J I
dy y J y J y I
n m mn
n m mn


(45)
Multiplying (44) by
x
Pe
x
n
e
0
2

and integrating from 0 to x gives

( )
( ) [ ]
( )
( )
( )
.
2
sin
2
cos
2
2
0
2
0
2
0 1
3
0
2
0
2
0
1
1
2
0
0
2 2
0
2 2
0
2 2
0
2

,
_

+
+

,
_

'

,
_

x
x
Pe
x
n mn
x
Pe
x
x
mn
m
x
x
Pe
x
m mn
m
m
n
x
Pe
x
n
x d e
Pe
x
Pe x
I
x d e x I
Pe
x
x d e x I B
J
e x a
m n
m n
m n m

(46)
Finally, the correction function
1
f is
18
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( ) [ ]
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
.
4
2
sin
2
cos
2 2
4
2
cos
2
sin
2
2
2
2 ,
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
2
2 2
4
2
1
3
2
2
0
2 2
0
2 2
2
0
2
2
2
0
2 2
0
2 2
0
2 2
1
1 1
2
0
0
1
1

1
1
]
1

+
+
1
1
]
1

1
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

'

+
1
1
]
1

1
1
]
1

,
_

+
,
_

x
Pe
x
x
Pe
x
m n
m mn
m n
x
Pe
x
m n
x
Pe
x
mn
m
m n
x
Pe
x
m n
x
Pe
x
m n
m mn
m
m
n
n
n
n
n
n
n m
m n
n m
e e
Pe
I
Pe
x
e x
Pe
x
x e
I
Pe
x
Pe
x
e
Pe
x
e x
Pe
x
x
I
B
J
y J
y x a y x f

(47)
Using (29), (35), and (47) the modified flame sheet as a result of swirl is found at all points
where
( ) ( )
st BS
f y x f y x f + , ,
1 1

where
( )
0 , 0 , 0 , O F O st
Y Y Y f +
.
Numerical Scheme
To obtain a discrete version of the governing equations (1)-(5), the finite-volume method
was adopted. The numerical solution of the discrete equations was found by the well-
known SIMPLER algorithm which stands for Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked
Equation Revised (see more details in Patankar
24
). The pressure corrections at nearby
locations can alter the neighboring velocities and thus cause a velocity correction at the
point under consideration. The SIMPLER algorithm does not include this influence and
thus working with this scheme is only partially, and not totally, implicit. However, in the
converged solution, the pressure field is used to satisfy the continuity equation, and the
details of the construction of the pressure correction become irrelevant to the correctness of
19
the converged solution. This algorithm starts with a guessed velocity field. The pseudo-
velocities are defined from the momentum equations in which the pressure gradient is
absent and are treated to obtain a Poisson equation for pressure. The solution of the Poisson
equation for pressure is used to obtain a solution of the momentum equations. The velocity
component is then used to define the pressure correction
p
which is solved by the
pressure- correction equation. Velocity corrections are then computed as required to satisfy
the continuity equation using the computed
p
. This procedure is repeated in iterations
until the solution converges. To determine the sensitivity of the numerical calculations to
axial and radial node spacing, solutions of swirling flows at Reynolds number Re=2,000
and 4,000 in a straight circular pipe with
0
x
=15 were computed by various meshes. A
basic grid of 55060 (axialradial) was used for the calculations. Computed results show
that the decrease of the spatial step sizes x and r (with meshes of 75090 and 950120)
had only a small effect on the quantitative behavior of the computed solutions for swirl
levels before vortex breakdown appears. For flow cases where vortex breakdown zones
exist, the computed velocities do not show full convergence at regions near and inside the
breakdown zone. Furthermore, Beran and Culick
18
reported that the structure and behavior
of the breakdown bubble is sensitive to the choice of inflow conditions for the azimuthal
vorticity. Therefore, in the present computations, a smaller axial step size was used near the
pipe inlet than at the downstream region to increase the computational accuracy of the
solution near the inlet.
Computed Examples
20
We demonstrate the results found in this paper for the case where the inlet flow is
described by the Burgers vortex model,
( ) y e v w
y
2 1 , 1
0 0

.
Here is a constant related to the vortex core radius, 12 . 1
c
r . The Burgers vortex
model is typically used in numerical studies of vortex stability and breakdown (see Refs.
18-20). Note that in this case swirl is imparted at the inlet to both the streams of air and
fuel. In the examples presented here we use =4 as a representative case. We first describe
solutions of the viscous flow in the pipe at various values of
Re x
0
.
Figure 1 shows the values of the minimum axial speed along the pipe centerline and the
maximum axial speed along the pipe wall (note that the pipe wall satisfies only a slip
boundary condition) as function of the incoming swirl ratio for the two cases where
400 1
0
Re x
and 800 1 . The asymptotic results describe the non-uniqueness of solutions
and a fold behavior over a certain ranges of the swirl ratio at near-critical swirl levels. The
numerical results present a unique solution for each value of but exhibit very rapid
changes in structure at the near-critical swirl ratios as well as the appearance of vortex
breakdown. By definition, breakdown takes place when the minimum axial velocity is
equal or less than zero. It can be seen that the upper branch of the asymptotic results (with
the + sign in Eq.(32)) shows agreement with results of the numerical simulations,
specifically as the ratio
Re x
0
is decreased. Also, the value of the limit swirl ratio
cvl

,
where the fold occurs, shows agreement with the swirl ratio where vortex breakdown
appears for the fist time as is increased.
21
Figures 2a-2d present the axial velocity distributions along the pipe centerline and wall at
the case
800 1
0
Re x
for several near-critical swirl ratios. As the swirl ratio is increased
toward the critical level the flow perturbation from columnar increases. It can be seen that
in the range of swirl up to the fold point the asymptotic solutions according to Eq. (32)
show a good correlation with the numerical results all along the pipe axis. For higher levels
of swirl the flow exhibits large perturbations and vortex breakdown and, then, the
asymptotic approach is not valid.
We present now results of the computed combustion states. Note the in the case of a
diffusion flame, most of the reaction occurs in a narrow zone that is approximated as a
surface. The mixing rate is lower than the chemical-reaction rate. The reaction-sheet
approximation model assumes that the chemical reaction time is much shorter than the
diffusion time of species and the reaction only occurs on the border between fuel and air.
Therefore, the flame sheet surface can be identified by the surface along which the mixture
mass fraction has a stoichiometric value. We consider in the examples below two
combustion states. One where the ratio of fuel to air radii is
6 1
i
R
. Then, the inlet
mixture mass fraction is less than the stoichiometric value and combustion in the chamber
is lean. This condition results in an over-ventilated flame sheet that closes at the cylinder
axis. The second case considers a rich combustion state, where we take
4 1
i
R
. This
condition results in an under-ventilated flame sheet which connects to the pipe wall. We
study the combustion states for variety of values of Pe.
Figures 3a and 3b present the length of the flame as function of the swirl ratio for
both the over- and under-ventilated combustion cases and for various values of Pe. The
figures show the comparison of asymptotic results using Eqs. (15), (35), and (47) with
22
numerical computations at two cases where
800 1
0
Re x
and
400 1
0
Re x
. The
asymptotic results nicely predict the numerically computed flame length for swirl ratios up
to the limit level
cvl

. It can be seen that the flame height is slightly reduced as the swirl
ratio is increased toward the limit level for both the over- and under-ventilated combustion
states.
Figure 4a and 4b show the scaled flame length Pe h as function of the swirl ratio for
both the over- and under-ventilated combustion states. This classical parameter comes from
the exponential term of Burk-Schumann solution (given by Eqs. (35) and (36)) and has a
unique value for each flame type. Results are presented for two cases where
800 1
0
Re x
and 400 1 . It can be seen that when Pe is sufficiently high, the value of the
scaled flame length is nearly constant for swirl ratios up to the limit swirl level;
125 . 0 ~ Pe h for the over-ventilated combustion (with
6 1
i
R
) and 21 . 0 ~ Pe h for the
under-ventilated combustion (with R
i
= 1/4). These values change as the incoming swirl
ratio is further increased and vortex breakdown zones appear in the low. Then, the flow and
flame behavior are much more nonlinear and can not be predicted by the present
asymptotic approach.
Figures 5a and 5b illustrate the effect of
Re x
0
on scaled flame length according to the
asymptotic analysis. We can see that as the flow perturbation increases with the decrease of
Re the flame length is decreased. Note, however, that the present analysis is limited to
small values of
Re x
0
and when this parameter increases above 1/200 the asymptotic
results are not accurate any more.
23
Figures 6a-6c show a comparison between the asymptotic results for the over and under-
ventilated flame shapes with numerical simulations at
Re x
0
=1/800 and various near-
critical swirl ratios. The predicted shape of the flame according to the asymptotic solution
is close to that computed by the numerical simulations. Note, however, that the asymptotic
solution is not valid for higher levels of the swirl ratio.
Representative streamline patterns and flame sheet surfaces for the case where
5
0
x
,
Re=4000, Pe=20, and various levels of swirl are presented in Fig. 7. These numerical
computations show that the nearly columnar flow is significantly disturbed as the swirl
ratio level is increased. A vortex breakdown (reversed flow) zone near the pipe centerline
appears when the swirl ratio is above the limit level. The breakdown zone moves upstream
as swirl in further increased. Before breakdown appears, the flame length decreases with
the increase of swirl for both the over- and under-ventilated cases. As the breakdown zone
appears and increases, the over-ventilated flame becomes much shorter and compact and
expands sidewise. On the other hand, the under-ventilated flames become longer and
narrower.
These changes in the flames shape are directly related to the changes in the flow pattern
as the incoming swirl ratio is increased. The axial flow deceleration and development of an
outward radial flow near the centerline influence the size of the over-ventilated flame and
cause it to become shorter and expand sidewise as swirl is increased. This effect is even
more pronounced when vortex breakdown zones appear. On the other hand, the
development of an outward radial flow near the wall influences the size of the under-
ventilated flame and makes it shorter as swirl is increased toward the limit level. When
24
vortex breakdown zones appear, the accelerated flow near the wall causes an increase in the
under-ventilated flame length.
Conclusions
The effect of near-critical swirling flow on the structure of the classical Burke-Schumann
flame sheet can be investigated by asymptotic analysis. It is found that in high Reynolds
number flows the changes from a columnar state due to swirl can be described by a
nonlinear reduced order model, similar to the work of Wang and Rusak.
17
These flow
changes are used to calculate the corrections due to swirl to the classical flame structure
according to Burke and Schumann
1
solution. The resulting corrections apply to both lean
and rich conditions of combustion. It is found that as swirl is increased toward the critical
level the flow decelerates near the chamber centerline, accelerates near the chamber wall,
and a field of an outward radial speed develops. For sufficiently high level of swirl a large
separation (near stagnation breakdown) zone appears around the centerline, the leading
point of which shifts toward the chamber inlet as swirl is further increased. As a result, in
the case of lean combustion, the flame height becomes shorter, expands sidewise, and the
flame becomes more compact. On the other hand, the flow changes near the wall as swirl is
increased result in nonlinear changes in the length of the rich flame. When the swirl is
below the limit level the flame becomes shorter but as breakdown appears the rich flame
becomes more narrow and longer. The asymptotic results show nice agreement with direct
numerical simulations, specifically as the Reynolds number is increased.
25
This work extends of the first time the theory of the Burke-Schumann flame sheet to
include the effect of swirl. It also demonstrates that the interaction between a diffusion
flame and swirling flow may result in improved combustion states.
Acknowledgement
This research was carried out with the support of the National Science Foundation under
Grand No. CTS-9904327.

References
1
Burke, S.P. and Schumann, T.E., Diffusion Flames, Industrial and Engineering
Chemistry., Vol. 20, No. 10, 1928, pp. 998-1004.
2
Williams, F.A., Combustion Theory, 2
nd
Edition, Benjamin Cummings, 1985.
3
Roper, F.G., The Prediction of Laminar Jet Diffusion Flame Sizes: Part I. Theoretical
model, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 29, 1977, pp. 219-226.
4
Roper, F.G., Smith, C. and Cunningham, A.C., The Prediction of Laminar Jet
Diffusion Flame Sizes: Part II. Experimental Verification, Combustion and Flame
Vol. 29, 1977, pp. 227-234.
26
5
Klajan, M. and Oppenheim, A.K., Influence of Exothermicity on the Shape of a
Diffusion Flame, 19
th
Symposium (International) on combustion, The combution
Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, 1982, pp. 223-235.
6
Chung, S.H. and Law, C.K., Burke-Schumann Flame with Streamwise and
Preferential Diffusion, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 37, 1984, pp. 21-46.
7
Li, S.C., Gordon, A.S. and Williams, F.A., A Simplified Method for Computation of
Burke-Schumann Flames in Infinite Atmospheres, Combustion Science and
Technology, Vol. 104, 1995, pp. 75-91.
8
Gupta, A.K., Lilley, D.G., and Syred, N., Swirl Flows, Abacus Press, 1984.
9
Marshall, A. W. and Gupta, A. K., Effects of Jet Momentum on Thermal
Characteristics of Co-Swirling Flames, AIAA paper 96-0404, 1996.
10
Lefebvre, A.H., Gas Turbine Combustion, 2
nd
Edition, Taylor and Francis, 1998.
11
Stephens, J.R., Acharya, S., and Gutmark, E.J., Controlled Swirl-Stabilized Spray
Combustor, AIAA paper 97-0464, 1997.
12
Cha, M.S., Lee, D.S., and Chung, S.H., Effect of Swirl on Lifted Flame
Characteristics in Nonpremixed Jets, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 117, 1999, pp. 636-
645.
13
Khalil, E.E., D.B. Spalding, D.B. and Whitelaw, J.H., The Calculation of Local
Flow Properties in Two Dimensional Furnace, International Journal Heat and Mass
Transfer, Vol. 18, 1975, pp. 775-791.
14
Elgobashi, S.E., Characteristics of Gaseous Turbulent Diffusion Flames in
cylindrical Furnace, Ph.D. Thesis, London University, 1974.
27
15
Habib, M.A. and Whitelaw, J.H., Velocity Characteristics of Confined Coaxial Jets
With and Without Swirl, Journal of Fluids and Engineering, Vol. 102, 1980, pp. 44-
53.
16
Shim, S.Y., Sohn K.H., and Lee, C.S., A Study on the Combustion Characteristics of
Coaxial Jet Furnaces with Swirl Flow, KSME Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4, 1993, pp. 389-
398.
17
Wang, S. and Rusak, Z., The Effect of Slight Viscosity on a Near-Critical Swirling
Flow in a Pipe, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 9, No. 7, 1997, pp. 1914-1927.
18
Beran P.S. and Culick, F.E.C., The Role of Non-Uniqueness in the Development of
Vortex Breakdown in Tubes, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 242, 1992, pp. 491-
527.
19
Beran, P.S., The Time-Asymptotic Behavior of Vortex Breakdown in Tubes,
Computers and Fluids, Vol. 23, 1994, pp. 913-937.
20
Lopez, J.M., On the Bifurcation Structure of Axisymmetric Vortex Breakdown in a
Constricted pipe, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 6, No. 11, 1994, pp. 3683-3693.
21
Bruecker, Ch., and Althaus, W., Study of Vortex Breakdown by Particle Tracking
Velocimetry (PTV), Part 3: Time Dependent Structure and Development of Breakdown
Modes, Experiments in Fluids, Vol. 18, 1995, pp. 174-186.
22
Malkiel, E., Cohen, J., Rusak, Z., and Wang, S., Axisymmetric Vortex Breakdown
in a Pipe - Theoretical and Experimental Studies, 36
th
Israel Annual Conference on
Aerospace Sciences, Tel-Aviv, Israel, February, 1996, pp. 24-35.
23
Mattner, T.W., Joubert, P.N., and Chong, M.S., Vortical Flow. Part 1. Flow Through
a Constant-Diameter Pipe. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 463, 2002, pp. 259-291.
28
24
Patankar, S.V., Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Hemisphere, Washington,
D.C., 1980.
(a)
29
(b)
Fig. 1. Minimum axial velocities along the pipe centerline (asymptotic results () and
numerical simulations ()) and maximum axial velocities on pipe wall (asymptotic results
(---) and numerical simulations ()) at: (a)
Re x
0
=1/400 (Re=2000,
0
x
=5)
(b)
Re x
0
=1/800 (Re=4000,
0
x
=5).
(a)
(b)
30
(c)
(d)
Fig. 2 The axial velocity along the pipe centerline and wall according to asymptotic results
(,o) and numerical simulations (, ----) for
Re x
0
=1/800 (Re=4000,
0
x
=5) at:
(a) =0.6, (b) =0.7, (c) =0.75, (d) =0.78.
(a)
31
(b)
Fig. 3a Comparison of asymptotic results () for flame length with numerical simulations
() for
Re x
0
=1/400 (Re=4000,
0
x
=10):
(a) over-ventilated (b) under-ventilated.
(a)
32
(b)
Fig. 3b Comparison of asymptotic results () for flame length with numerical
simulations () for
Re x
0
=1/800 (Re=4000,
0
x
=5):
(a) over-ventilated (b) under-ventilated.
(a)
33
(b)
Fig. 4. Scaled flame length h/Pe against swirl ratio according to asymptotic results ()
and numerical calculations () for: (a)
Re x
0
=1/400 (Re=4000,
0
x
=10),
(b)
Re x
0
=1/800 (Re=4000,
0
x
=5).
34
(a)
(b)
Fig. 5. The effect x
0
/Re on the scaled flame length according to the asymptotic solutions:
(a) over-ventilated with x
0
/Pe=5/40, (b) under-ventilated with x
0
/Pe=5/20.
(a) =0.6
35
(b) =0.7
(c) =0.78
Fig. 6 Comparison of flame shapes from asymptotic results () and numerical calculations
(), for
Re x
0
=1/800 (Re=4000,
0
x
=5) and Pe=20.

=0.6
=0.7
36
=0.75
=0.78
=0.8
=0.82
=0.84
=0.85
Fig. 7 Streamlines pattern and flames shape from numerical results for several swirl ratios
at
Re x
0
=1/800 (Re=4000,
0
x
=5) and Pe=20.
37