Flame structure and emissions in two-stage combustion with partially cracked ammonia

Li, Jinzhou, Ma, Peng, Chavez, Samir Boset Rojas, Xie, Shumeng, Soni, Surendra Kumar, Hayakawa, Akihiro, Valera-Medina, Agustin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1580-7133 and Zhang, Huangwei 2026. Flame structure and emissions in two-stage combustion with partially cracked ammonia. Combustion and Flame 290 , 115083. 10.1016/j.combustflame.2026.115083

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Abstract

Primary-secondary flame structures and combustion emissions with partially cracked ammonia (PCA) are experimentally investigated in a two-stage swirl combustor. This study covers intermediate cracking ratios (0–0.4), equivalence ratio (ϕ = 0.3–1.5), and global equivalence ratio (ϕg = 0.5–0.9) at a fixed thermal power of 6 kW. Flame structure and interstage coupling are examined using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and OH- and NO-planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), complemented by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy measurements of exhaust emissions. The OH-PLIF shows increasing secondary flame intensity with primary equivalence ratio, indicating enhanced oxidation, while NO-PLIF exhibits a relatively uniform distribution in recirculation zones, with integrated intensity consistent with OH-PLIF and measured NO emissions. Introduction of secondary air significantly suppresses NH3 and CO slip and enables a rich-lean operating window that satisfies regulatory limits for NH3, NOx, and CO, although measurable N2O emissions remain. The secondary flame modifies the flow field, as revealed by PIV, by enhancing transverse momentum and altering the recirculation structure, which eliminates the outer reaction zone and governs the rich blow-off limit through competing thermal and aerodynamic effects. These results provide mechanistic insights into interstage flame interactions and offer guidance for the design of low-emission PCA-based gas turbine combustors.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Engineering
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/, Start Date: 2028-05-27
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0010-2180
Date of Acceptance:	22 May 2026
Last Modified:	05 Jun 2026 11:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187423

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