Effects of heat release on triple flames

Heat release effects on laminar flame propagation in partially premixed flows are studied. Data for analysis are obtained from direct numerical simulations of a laminar mixing layer with a uniformly approaching velocity field. The structure that evolves under such conditions is a triple flame, which consists of two premixed wings and a trailing diffusion flame. Heat release increases the flame speed over that of the corresponding planar premixed flame. In agreement with previous analytical work, reductions in the mixture fraction gradient also increase the flame speed. The effects of heat release and mixture fraction gradients on flame speed are not independent, however; heat release modifies the effective mixture fraction gradient in front of the flame. For very small mixture fraction gradients, scaling laws that determine the flame speed in terms of the density change are presented.