Characteristics of Plasma-Assisted Jet Flame and Its Application to Cross-Flow Methane-Air Combustion

A burner with a nonthermal arc plasma jet pilot flame in a cross-flow configuration was developed for plasma-assisted partial premixed combustion. It was demonstrated that the nonthermal arc plasma has significant effect on promoting the radical production and methane oxidation in jet flame. Moreover, the stability of the jet flame was improved by the plasma assistance, being less likely to be blown out by the horizontal airflow. The results also showed that broader lean flammability limit was obtained by plasma-assisted jet flame (plasma-JF) ignition, and it approached 0.45 under optimum experimental condition. Furthermore, it was found that better enhancement effects of plasma on combustion correspond to higher emission intensity of OH radical in plasma-JF.