Quantitative measurement of burner flame stability through spectroscopic analysis

Flame stability is a well-known problem in the power industry where low quality fuel is fired and combustion conditions change rapidly. Unstable flames often lead to lower combustion efficiency, higher pollutant emissions, and other operational problems. Although some methods, especially those based on digital image processing, have been proposed for flame stability measurement, there are no methods that have been reported for measuring flame stability through spectroscopic analysis. This paper presents a new method for the spectroscopic quantification of flame stability by introducing a term called flame stability index. Experimental tests were undertaken on a laboratory combustion test rig firing methane to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method. Experimental results suggest that the method is capable of measuring the stability of a premixed methane flame under a range of conditions.