IR Thermography of Methane Combustion Process in External Electric Field of Various Intensities

• The methane flame plume changes in temperature when exposed to electric fields of varying intensities; • Temperature pulsation amplitude decreases when exposed to an external electric field of up to 4 kV (mode No. 1). A subsequent increase in voltage leads to a sharp drop in maximum amplitude to 4 K; • The temperature change spectrum exhibits a frequency of 17 Hz with its harmonics at voltages between 3.5 and 6.0 kV (mode No. 2). This is in addition to the essential frequency of 13 Hz. In this study, an electric field was used to study the effect of temperature pulsations in a methane diffusion flame plume. IR thermography was used to analyze the temperature field, which disturbs the process less than contact methods. In a specialized setup, an external electric field of up to 4 kV reduced the maximum amplitude of the temperature pulsations. In contrast, an increase in voltage led to a sharp drop in maximum amplitude. Using the obtained data, it was demonstrated that temperature pulsations were correlated with the hydrodynamic structure of the flame flow.