Interferometric visualization of jet flames

This paper presents visualizations of reacting, round jets of the premixed and nonpremixed type realized by using interferometry and, complementarily, direct photography. The available interferometer, proposed by Carlomagno (1986), employs low-cost components and is flexible and robust to geometrical misalignments, allowing the drawbacks limiting the application of traditional interferometric systems to be overcome. Several flames are produced by varying the non-dimensional, governing parameters (Reynolds number, equivalence ratio, Grashof number). The results discussion is organized considering laminar, transitional and turbulent flows. In the steady, laminar case, in view of the radial symmetry of the fringes pattern, the temperature field is reconstructed by the interferograms. The structure of the transitional and turbulent combusting jets, primarily determined by shear layer destabilization mechanisms and large-scale vortices formation due to buoyancy, is analyzed and differences with isothermal flows are pointed out. In turbulent regime, studied only for premixed combustion case, qualitative insights into the structure of the reaction zone as a function of the equivalence ratio and turbulence properties in the incoming fresh mixture are also deduced.