A Numerical Study on the Effects of N2 Dilution on the Flame Structure and Temperature Distribution of Swirl Diffusion Flames

The numerical modeling is performed to study the effects of N2 addition to the fuel stream on the flame structure and temperature distribution of methane-air swirl diffusion flames with different swirl intensities. The Open source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) has been utilized as the computational tool. Flamelet approach along with modified k-ε model is employed to model the flame characteristics.  The results indicate that the presence of N2 in the fuel stream leads to the flame temperature reduction. By increasing of swirl intensity, the flame structure changes significantly. The flame has a conical shape in low swirl intensity; however, it has an hour glass-shape with a shorter length in high swirl intensity. The effects of N2 dilution decrease the flame length in all swirl intensities; however, the rate of reduction is more noticeable in low swirl intensity.