Hydroxyl space-time correlation measurements in partially premixed turbulent opposed-jet flames

A high repetition-rate, two-point, time-resolved, laser-induced fluorescence technique is used to perform simultaneous two-point OH time-series measurements in a series of turbulent opposed-jet partially premixed flames with varying fuel-side equivalence ratio and bulk Reynolds number. Time scales of OH in these flames have previously been reported; however, the extension to two-point detection permits measurements of new spatial and temporal statistics previously unavailable in such flames. In particular, the simultaneous OH time series are used here to compute spatial and temporal autocorrelation functions. Filtered OH length scales (l_r,OH), corresponding to radial OH fluctuations in turbulent stagnation flames, are obtained from the spatial autocorrelation function, including their variation across the stagnation plane. In general, maximum OH fluctuations occur at the stagnation plane, thus minimizing the OH integral length scale at the axial location of peak OH. For all flames of this study, trends in OH length scale follow those of axial time scale (τ_I,OH). For flames with constant Re, l_r,OH decreases with less partial premixing. However, this change in integral length scale appears to be more significant for flames at lower Re in comparison to those at higher Re. Similar to OH integral time scales, for flames with the same fuel composition, l_r,OH decreases with increasing Re. Moreover, fuel-lean mixtures appear to be more sensitive to Re variations as compared to fuel-rich mixtures.