Proceedings of

2003 ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference

July 21-23, 2003, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

HT2003-47484

PREDICTION OF INSTABILITIES OF SPHERRICALLY PROPAGATING FLAMES IN LAMINAR

PREMIXITURE

M. Z. Haq
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
Tel. : (8802) 9665636
Fax. : (8802) 8613046
e-mail : zahurul@me.buet.ac.bd

ABSTRACT It is well established experimentally that under appropriate

A spherically expanding flame in a quiescent premixture is
a bifurcation phenomenon, in which the flame becomes
unstable at a radius, greater than some critical value, while
remaining stable below that critical radius. Beyond this critical
radius, developing instabilities are initiated by propagating
cracks to form a coherent structure covering the entire flame
surface and flame accelerates. The present paper reports a
schlieren photographic study of spherical flame propagation in
methaneair, iso-octaneair and n-heptaneair premixtures with the instability [5].
at different initial conditions where the onset of instability and
the flame acceleration are clearly perceived. Hence, elapsed
time and flame radius for onset of instability are correlated with
the flame parameters. Predicted critical time and flame radius
for the onset of instability are in good agreement with available
experimental data obtained from a large-scale unconfined
explosions in methane-air premixture.
Keywords: Flame instabilities, large-scale explosions,
spherical flames, heat and mass transfer in combustion.
INTRODUCTION
The development of flame instabilities in the form of cells
and ridges of characteristic sizes over the flame surface have
been attributed as `perhaps one of the most beautiful and
fascinating phenomena in the flame dynamics' [1]. It has long
been observed that the flame on a Bunsen burner may split up
into triangular flamelets to form a polyhedral pyramid that
sometimes even spins about its vertical axis [2]. Instability can
cause or enhance turbulence in the premixture and significant
acceleration of the flame front, and enhances the fuel burning
rate [3]. The enhanced burning rate is adored in most practical
applications. However, spills in case of the storage and
transportation of large quantities of fuels pose a potential
explosion hazard because of flame instability [4], and demands
a comprehensive analysis.
conditions, a spherically expanding flame may become
aerodynamically and thermo-diffusively unstable as a result of
the effects of heat conduction, mass diffusion combined with
the flame stretch at the flame front [5-9]. Such a spherical
flame provides a convenient mean to study the development of
flame instability as the size of the flame sphere limits the
perturbation wavelength range that is also growing in time, and
this sets definable limits to the critical wavelengths associated
Experimental programs have investigated such spherical
explosions [10,11], which are unique in their large length-
scales. Gostintsev et al. [12] reviewed these and other results
and suggested the self-turbularization and fractalization of the
initially laminar flames in case of unconfined explosions. The
first stage of a developing instability is the propagation of
surface `cracks' across the flame surface [7]. The onset of these
correspond with the onset of instabilities as predicted by the
linear theory of flame instability [13]. However, experiments
show a further delay to occur before the transition to a fully
developed cellular flame [6-8,14]. In fully developed cellular
flame regime, the temporal dependence of the flame radius is
nearly identical for a number of premixtures and correlates well
with the simple relation [12]:
r (t ) = C t 3 / 2 + C
1 2
(1)
Here, r(t) is the average radius of the wrinkled flame ball and
C1, C2 are empirical constants. Similar expressions are also
employed in recent analyses of flame instability [4,15].
In the present study, transition to cellular flames is studied
using Schlieren flame photography. Analyses of flame images
clearly show the flame to accelerate as the instability develops,
giving rise to a cellular flame structure. Critical conditions for
the transition to the cellular flames are estimated and compared
with the available experimental data.

1 Copyright 2003 by ASME

EVOLUTION OF INSTABILITIES
The seminal stability analyses of Darrieus and Ladau,
reviewed in [16], treated the flame as a gasdynamic surface of
discontinuity in density that propagates normal to itself at a
constant speed and formulated the problem of hydrodynamic
instability of a plane flame front. The instability is considered
purely hydrodynamic in nature and arises from the dilatation of
the fluid as it passes through the flame front. Hence, a small
perturbation in the unburned mixture becomes a
correspondingly larger perturbation in the burned products. If
both the unburned mixture and burned products are assumed to
be incompressible the amplified perturbation in the burned
products induces an amplified perturbation in the unburned
mixture and so the system is inherently unstable [17].
In real flames, instability condition is modified
significantly by gravity forces and also by the fact that the
premixed flames have finite thickness and a laminar burning
velocity which is sensitive to the flame stretching. Effect of
gravity is straightforward in the situation in which a fluid is
stratified vertically where the buoyancy force will destabilize
the flame if the direction of the flow is such as to place the low-
density combustion products below the high-density unburned
mixture, and vice versa. The effects of flame thickness and
stretch, however, are somewhat more complex in nature.
It has also been observed that intrinsic flame instability
primarily occurs in fuel-oxidizer mixtures where the Lewis
number of the deficient species is smaller than some critical
value. In other words, rich mixtures of heavy fuels or lean
mixtures of light fuels exhibit cellular instability [18].
Sivashinsky [19] has reviewed the flame instability mechanism,
and identified the source of this instability as `preferential
diffusion'. Simply stated the thermal gradients in the preheat
zone has a stabilizing effect because a convex section of the
flame would be expected to propagate more slowly than a
concave section if thermal diffusivity only were operating in
the region of the flame, and vice versa. However, when any
sufficiently light species of the fuel-oxidant pair is sufficiently
deficient, any concave perturbation of a flat flame shape would
grow to become a deep trough, because preferential diffusion of
the light and deficient species toward the reaction zone will
deplete that species in the neighborhood of the perturbation and
can cause the local burning velocity to be reduced, and vice
versa. Hence, a heavy-fuel lean-flame will be stable to such
perturbations while the heavyfuel rich-flame would be
expected to be unstable [18]. However, increasing the pressure
leads to an increase in stability and cellularity. Flame
instability is a complex interplay of thermo-diffusive and
hydrodynamic instabilities [9]. Hence, the concept of
preferential diffusion of species fails to explain the flame
instability developed at high pressures for the same
stoichiometry, and invokes the use of the concept of flame
stretch.
Flame stretch can increase or decrease the flame speed
significantly. Hence, the flame stretch rate, , at any point on
the flame surface is defined as the Lagrangian time derivative
of the logarithm of the area, A, of an infinitesimal element of
the surface surrounding the point [16],
d ln A 1 dA
= = (2)
dt A dt
Hence, for spherical flames, total stretch rate, , is given by:
1 dA 2 dru 2
= = = Sn (3)
A dt ru dt ru
A burned gas Markstein length, Lb, is defined to account
for the sensitivity of flame speed to stretch [20], such that:
S S = L
s n b
(4)
where, Ss is the unstretched flame speed. Markstein Length,
Lb, is normalized by l to produce Markstein number, Mab.
Incorporation of Markstein length into the linear stability
analysis showed that, for positive values of Lb, the flame
remained hydrodynamically unstable in the absence of
buoyancy forces only to the long-wavelength disturbances [17].
For a negative value of Lb, the burning velocity is decreased
where the flame is concave to the unburned mixture and that
the instability of the flame is therefore increased. The use of
Markstein lengths as a measure of the susceptibility to
instability, as in the present work, overcomes the confusion
between the two types of instability because, based on
experimental data, it is an indicator of the resultant effect, not
the cause. Further instability analysis using Markstein lengths
yield an inner cut-off of wavelength, where a planar flame is
stable to perturbations of shorter wavelength and unstable to
those of long-wave length. This approach results in the
stabilization of short-wave length disturbances only when the
value of the Markstein length is positive. When the sign is
reversed, the short-wave perturbations could provide an
additional destabilizing factor [1].
The development of instability in a spherically expanding
flame front is different from that in a planar flame, as the flame
size of the former increases with time. Hence, if the absolute
magnitudes of disturbance amplitudes rise in time more slowly
than the flame front itself, the flame surface becomes smoother.
The flame front wrinkling and flame acceleration are observed
only if the flame front disturbances grow faster than the flame
front propagation [5].
The time dependence of the disturbance during spherical
flame propagation follows a power law, rather than one of the
exponential growth rate which is inherent to the planar flame.
It has shown in [21] by dimensional arguments that the rate of
growth of the perturbation amplitude, d/dt, obeys the
relationship:
d
~ Sn (5)
dt
where, is the disturbance wavelength. For a planar flame,
is constant and integration of Eq. (5) leads to an exponential
law. For the spherical flame, however, the perturbation
wavelength should be expanded in a spherical harmonic series,
rather than an ordinary Fourier series, and the perturbation
wavelength corresponding to a particular spherical harmonic
increases in proportion to the radius of the sphere and,
therefore, to the time [21]. Hence, integration of Eq. (5) leads
to a power law. This implies that the perturbations grow more
slowly in a spherical flame than in a planar flame, and this has
been used to explain the difference between experimental and
theoretical results [5,22].
2 Copyright 2003 by ASME
 dimples along the flame front. The contrast in appearance
EXPERIMENTAL AND MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES between a cellular and non-cellular flame is emphasized in Fig.
In the present study, images of spherically expanding 3. The cellular flame, in Fig. 2, shows the distribution of cells
flames in quiescent premixture are captured using high-speed of different sizes as described by [24] as a `web' of cracks and
Schlieren photography at, typically, 6000 frames per second. A cells. The transition to instability requires delay in which the
380-mm-dimeter, spherical, stainless steel vessel was employed cells continue to grow and divide during flame growth.
which is capable of withstanding the temperatures and
pressures generated from explosions with initial pressures up to
1.5 MPa and initial temperatures up to 600 K. It has extensive
optical access through 3 pairs of orthogonal windows of 150
mm diameter. A Spectra-Physics 10 mW He-Ne laser, model
106-1, with a beam diameter of 0.65 mm and wavelength of (spark) (3.6 ms)
632.8 nm was used as a light source. Air-fuel mixtures were
prepared in the explosion vessel. Other aspects of the
equipment and experimental technique are given in [23].
Shown in Fig.1 are the flame images obtained from an
explosion of stoichiometric methane-air premixture. Flame (4.5 ms) (8.1 ms)
propagation is essentially spherical, and the flame front is
smooth and is easily identifiable from these images.

(9.0 ms) (12.6 ms)

(spark) (3.04 ms)

(13.5 ms) (17.1 ms)

(3.8 ms) (6.84 ms)

(18.0 ms) (21.6 ms)

(7.6 ms) (10.64 ms)

(22.5 ms) (26.1 ms)

Figure 2. Laminar flame propagation in a lean methane-air ( =

(11.4 ms) (14.44 ms) 0.8) premixture at an initial temperature of 300 K and pressure
of 0.5 MPa. First figure corresponds to the spark ignition and
the time interval between the figures is 0.9 ms. (Only every
fourth image is shown).

(15.2 ms) (18.24 ms)

P = 0.1 MPa, = 1.0 P = 0.5 MPa, = 0.8

(19.0 ms) (22.04 ms)

Figure 1. Laminar flame propagation in a stoichiometric

methane-air ( = 1.0) premixture at an initial temperature of
300 K and pressure of 0.1 MPa. First figure corresponds to the
spark ignition and the time interval between the figures is 0.76
ms. (Only every third image is shown).

(a) elapsed time = 22.04 ms (b) elapsed time = 22.5 ms

Shown in Fig. 2 are the images of a flame propagating in a
lean premixture at 300 K and 0.5 MPa. These images reveal Figure 3. Schlieren image of methane-air flames at 300 K,
the grainy appearance of cell formation and the formation of where flame is (a) not cellular (b) cellular.

3 Copyright 2003 by ASME

 Using the flame images, the flame speed, Sn, is calculated
from the measured flame front radius against time by
dr
Sn = u (6)
dt
Here, ru is the cold front. In [25], it was shown to be related to
the flame front radius that is observed by Schlieren
photography, rsch, by
0.5
ru = rsch + 1.95 l u (7)
b 1.5
Here, u is the density of the unburned and b that of the burned
gas at the adiabatic flame temperature and l is the laminar
flame thickness given by l = /ul, in which is the kinematic
viscosity of the unburned mixture and ul is the unstretched
laminar burning velocity, estimated using Eq. (8). The
evaluation of ru requires that ul be known. Hence, ul is first
estimated using rsch and then Eq. (7) is adopted to give ru.
The value of b is found from the calculated properties of
the equilibrated adiabatic products, computed using the
thermodynamic database of [26]. Pure gas viscosities are
computed using the kinematic theory of gases as described in
[27]. Gas mixture viscosity is calculated using the semi-
empirical formula of Wilke [28].
Equation (6) assumes that the Schlieren edge results from
an isotherm of 460 K. However, it is suggested in [29] that the
appropriate isotherm for spherical flame is a function of flame
radius and varies between 850 and 900 K. However, the
change in the flame radii for the different isotherms are
negligible [9], and for simplicity, Eq. (6) is used in the present
study.
Shown in Fig. 4 are the variation of flame speed with total
stretch rate for a stoichiometric methane-air premixture at 0.5
MPa with an initial temperature of 300 K. At high rates of
stretch (small flame radius), the flame speed is high. As the
flame expands, the flame speed slowly falls due to the reduced
flame stretch. As stretch is further reduced, a point is reached
where the flame becomes unstable and cellular flame develops,
and this is associated with an increase in flame speed. The
point at which the flame speed begins to accelerate rapidly with
decreasing stretch defines a critical Peclet number, Pecl , given
by the flame radius at the onset of flame acceleration,
normalized by the flame thickness, l. A linear relationship
between the flame speed and the total stretch exists over a wide
range of flame radii that excludes cellular flame regime. The
gradient of the best fit straight line to the experimental data,
presented in Fig. 4, gives Lb, and the intercept of the plot at zero
stretch gives the value of unstretched flame speed, Ss. The
Markstein length derived is expressed in dimensionless form, as
a Markstein number, Ma, by normalizing the Markstein length,
Lb, by laminar flame thickness, l. The unstretched laminar
burning velocity, ul, is deduced from Ss using:
ul = S s u (8)
b the correlation of 0.84 is found between Pecl and Mab.
Methane-Air Flame: P = 0.5 MPa, T = 300 K, = 1.0
1.8
Cellular regime Non cellular regime
1.7
Critical Peclet number, Pecl defined
Sn (m/s)
1.6
Slope = - Markstein Length, Lb
Unstretched flame speed, Ss
1.4
0 100 200 300 400
Flame stretch, (1/s)
Figure 4. Measured flame speeds at different flame stretch
rates.
MEASURED RESULTS AND CORRELATIONS
In the present paper, flame propagation in different
premixtures are studied at different initial conditions of
pressures, temperatures and stoichiometry where the onset of
flame instability and flame acceleration are clearly perceived.
The experimental conditions and the summarized results are
presented in Table 1.
Shown in Fig. 5 are variation of the Markstein Lengths as a
function of equivalence ratio for flame propagation in methane-
air premixtures at different initial conditions of pressures and
temperatures. At all measured conditions, the values of Lbs
increase with , for methane-air premixtures. Within the range
of pressures between 0.1 and 0.5 MPa, increasing the pressure
results in a dramatic decrease in Lbs, but between 0.5 and 1.0
MPa there is little variation in Lbs. Moreover, at high
pressures, the values of Lbs are negative for lean and
stoichiometric mixtures. The effect of the temperature on Lbs
are less clear and are not significant.
Flames in methane-air and iso-octane-air premixtures
respond to flame stretch rates differently, as demonstrated in
Fig. 6. The values of Lbs increase with for methane-air
premixture, and the opposite trend is observed for iso-octane-
air premixtures. This result is not surprising and it further
emphasizes the difference between the burning of different
fuels, lighter than and heavier than air.
Shown in Fig. 7 are the variation of critical Peclet numbers
as a function of Markstein numbers, for initial conditions
presented in Table 1. Critical Peclet numbers for onset of
flame instability are found to increase with Markstein numbers.
A straight line fit describes them well and the correlation
between Pecl and Mab can be written as:
Pe = 2331 + 34.67 Ma (9)
cl b
The scatter in the data presented in Fig. 7 is not significant and
4 Copyright 2003 by ASME
 Table 1. Experimental conditions and summery of results of the present study.

No. Fuel P T u/b ul l c Mab Pecl

cl
[MPa] [K] [m/s] [mm] [ms]
1 Methane 0.50 302 0.8 6.71 0.12 0.027 0.23 -22.25 1078 137
2 Methane 0.51 306 0.8 6.71 0.12 0.026 0.21 -24.50 1115 139
3 Methane 0.51 358 0.8 5.73 0.15 0.028 0.19 -8.95 1662 268
4 Methane 0.51 360 0.8 5.73 0.16 0.027 0.17 -7.26 1081 170
5 Methane 0.50 401 0.8 5.20 0.22 0.024 0.11 -16.08 937 155
6 Methane 0.50 301 1.0 7.58 0.19 0.017 0.09 -23.38 1096 119
7 Methane 0.50 301 1.0 7.58 0.20 0.016 0.08 -15.20 1734 204
8 Methane 0.51 350 1.0 6.44 0.26 0.016 0.06 -16.92 1427 193
9 Methane 0.51 359 1.0 6.44 0.27 0.016 0.06 -20.75 1927 270
10 Methane 0.50 404 1.0 5.82 0.32 0.016 0.05 -30.75 1455 216
11 Methane 0.50 397 1.0 5.82 0.31 0.017 0.05 -10.57 1929 318
12 Methane 1.02 310 0.8 6.73 0.09 0.018 0.20 -27.76 1104 129
13 Methane 1.02 311 0.8 6.73 0.08 0.019 0.23 -35.20 872 95
14 Methane 1.02 358 0.8 5.73 0.12 0.018 0.15 -33.08 1599 232
15 Methane 1.01 359 0.8 5.73 0.12 0.018 0.14 -23.85 1615 244
16 Methane 1.02 404 0.8 5.20 0.16 0.017 0.11 -3.49 1813 319
17 Methane 1.01 404 0.8 5.20 0.15 0.017 0.12 -16.38 1681 283
18 Methane 1.00 297 1.0 7.63 0.14 0.011 0.08 -34.09 1507 162
19 Methane 1.00 302 1.0 7.63 0.15 0.011 0.07 -24.02 1797 207
20 Methane 1.00 356 1.0 6.47 0.21 0.011 0.05 -27.72 2263 296
21 Methane 1.01 359 1.0 6.47 0.21 0.011 0.05 -30.17 2292 313
22 Methane 1.02 401 1.0 5.84 0.24 0.011 0.05 -3.54 2517 399
23 Methane 1.02 402 1.0 5.84 0.23 0.011 0.05 -18.38 1988 301
24 Iso-Octane 1.01 356 1.0 7.05 0.26 0.007 0.03 40.84 4095 645
25 Iso-Octane 1.01 350 1.0 7.16 0.25 0.007 0.03 26.91 4273 684
26 Iso-Octane 0.49 362 1.0 6.90 0.32 0.013 0.04 19.25 3395 502
27 Iso-Octane 0.50 361 1.0 6.92 0.32 0.012 0.04 35.17 3924 582
28 Iso-Octane 0.24 363 1.2 6.91 0.35 0.023 0.07 -1.74 1400 192
29 Iso-Octane 0.25 362 1.2 6.93 0.33 0.023 0.07 -3.86 1071 147
30 Iso-Octane 0.75 400 1.0 5.69 0.34 0.012 0.03 11.30 2340 409
31 Iso-Octane 0.75 452 1.0 5.67 0.32 0.012 0.04 -2.07 2337 414
32 Iso-Octane 0.75 451 1.0 5.67 0.31 0.013 0.04 2.20 2321 413
33 Iso-Octane 0.75 363 1.0 6.91 0.28 0.010 0.04 -23.56 2205 287
34 Iso-Octane 1.00 454 0.8 5.00 0.25 0.012 0.05 34.67 3407 694
35 n-Heptane 0.50 361 1.0 6.92 0.32 0.012 0.04 30.94 3102 460
36 n-Heptane 0.49 455 1.0 5.61 0.48 0.013 0.03 -2.50 2051 349
37 n-Heptane 0.52 452 1.0 5.65 0.47 0.012 0.03 -2.58 2684 446
38 n-Heptane 0.54 451 1.2 5.72 0.47 0.011 0.02 -8.15 2239 358
39 n-Heptane 0.53 450 1.2 5.73 0.44 0.012 0.03 -28.14 1409 207
40 n-Heptane 1.00 348 1.0 7.19 0.25 0.008 0.03 28.93 3959 537
41 n-Heptane 0.51 362 1.0 6.90 0.33 0.012 0.04 42.18 3391 502

In the present study, non-dimensional critical time for Markstein numbers. A straight line fit describes them well with
onset of flame instability, cl , is defined as the elapsed time a correlation of 0.86, and the correlation between cl and Mab
for onset of instability, tcl, normalized by the chemical time of can be written as:
the laminar flame propagation, given by c = l/ul. Shown in cl = 358.1 + 6.14Mab (10)

Fig. 8 are the variation of cl plotted as a function of Mab. It Less scatter in data is observed than data presented in Fig. 7.
is not surprising that flames with higher Markstein numbers
remain stable for longer time than the flames with lower

5 Copyright 2003 by ASME

 3 Methane-Air Flames 800
P = 0.1 MPa, T = 300 K
25 34
P = 0.5 MPa, T = 300 K 24
2 P = 0.1 MPa, T = 358 K 600 27
Lb (mm)

P = 1.0 MPa, T = 300 K 40

26 41
P = 0.1 MPa, T = 400 K 35
37
1 31 32 30
400 22

cl
38 36
2120 11 16
33 92317
3
0 1410 15
200 39 19 87 28
18 5 4
12 261 29
13
-1
0
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50

Markstein Number, Mab

Figure 5. Variations of Markstein Length, Lb, with equivalence Figure 8. Variation of non-dimensional time, with Mab for
ratio, , for different initial pressures and temperatures. (Some onset of flame instability. Numbers corresponds to initial
symbols have been displaces slightly on the x-axis to improve conditions presented at Table 1.
clarity).
To demonstrate the accuracy of prediction of critical radius
P = 0.1 MPa, T = 358 K
and elapsed time, using Eqs. (9) and (10) respectively, flame
4 radii are plotted in Fig. 9 against time obtained from a large
Methane-Air Flame
Iso-Octane-Air Flame scale explosion in methane-air premixture, reported in [10].
3 Also plotted in Fig. 9 are the flame radii against time data
measured in the present study for an initial temperature of 300
Lb (mm)

2 K at 0.1 MPa pressure. Laminar flames propagating in

stoichiometric methane-air premixtures at 0.1 MPa have ul =
1
0.36 m/s, Mab = 21.7, l = 0.044 mm and c = 0.122 ms [23].
Using Eq. (9), critical radius for instability is 135 mm for this
0
condition, and using Eq. (10), critical time is estimated as 60
ms. The values obtained are shown in the Fig. 9 with arrow
-1
0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
sign. No instability is observed for such condition in the
present work, and the calculated radius of 135 mm for onset of
instability is much larger than possible within the pre-pressure
period in the present vessel. However, in Fig. 9, it seems that
the Eqs. (9) and (10) are able to predict the critical radius and
Figure 6. Effect of on Lb for methane-air and iso-octane-air time, respectively, for onset of instability accurately.
premixtures.

5000 Methane-air flame

Horizontal radii Vertical radii
25
4000 24 1
40 27 10
Data from [10]: P = 0.1 MPa, T = 288 K, = 1.05
26 34 41
35
3000 0 slope = 1.32
10
Flame radii (m)

37
22
Pecl

2120 33 38 31 32 30 slope = 1.24

2000 36
923 11 16
19 177 -1 Estimated rcl, using Eq. (9)
14 15 3 10
181039 8 28 Data from present experiments
1000 12 261 4 29 P = 0.1 MPa, T = 300 K, = 1.0
13 5
-2
10
0 Estimated tcl, using Eq. (10)
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
-3
10
Markstein Number, Mab -4 -3 -2 -1 0
10 10 10 10 10
Elapsed time (s)
Figure 7. Variation of Pecl with Mab for onset of flame
instability. Numbers corresponds to initial conditions presented Figure 9. Methane-air atmospheric flame propagation. Present
at Table 1. work and that of [10].

6 Copyright 2003 by ASME


CONCLUSIONS
1. Spherically expanding flames propagating in fuel air
premixtures are subjected to flame stretch. Flame
stretch can increase or decrease the flame speed
significantly.
2. Markstein numbers are successfully utilized to account
for the sensitivity of flame speed to flame stretch and
susceptibility to development of flame instability.
3. A high value of Markstein number is stabilizing and
able to counter the perturbation in flame fronts, and
vice versa.
4. Lower values of Markstein numbers are associated
with early onset of instability at small flame radius in
flame propagation in laminar premixture. Flame
instability results in flame acceleration.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author acknowledges the friendship, cooperation and
help of Dr. Robert Woolley of School of Mechanical
Engineering, The University of Leeds, UK, during the long
periods of present experimentation.
REFERENCES
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[2] Smith, F. A. and Pickering, S. F., 1928, Bunsen Flames of
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[3] Bychkov, V. V. and Liberman, M. A., 2000, Dynamics
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[4] Bradley, D., 2000, Instabilities and Flame Speeds in Large
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Lond. A, 357, pp. 3567-3581.
[5] Istratov, A. G. and Librovich, V. B., On the stability of
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[6] Groff, E. G., 1982, The Cellular Nature of Confined
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octane-n-Heptane-Air Mixtures at Elevated Temperatures and
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