Application of High-Speed OH-PLIF Technique for Improvement of Lean Hydrogen-Air Combustion Modeling

The presented work aims to improve CFD explosion modeling for lean hydrogen-air mixtures on under-resolved grids. Validation data is obtained from an entirely closed laboratory scale explosion channel (GraVent facility). Investigated hydrogen-air concentrations range from 6 to 19 vol.-%. Initial conditions are p = 1 atm and T = 293 K. Two highly time-resolved optical measurement techniques are applied simultaneously: (1) 10 kHz shadowgraphy captures line-of-sight integrated macroscopic flame propagation; and (2) 20 kHz OH-PLIF (planar laser-induced fluorescence of the OH radical) resolves microscopic flame topology without line-of-sight integration. This paper presents the experiment, measurement techniques, data evaluation methods and initial results. The evaluation methods encompass the determination of flame tip velocity over distance and a detailed time-resolved quantification of flame topology based on OH-PLIF images. One parameter is the length of wrinkled flame fronts in the OH-PLIF plane obtained through automated post-processing. It reveals the expected enlargement of flame surface area by instabilities on microscopic level. A strong effect of mixture composition is observed.