Quenching Mechanisms of Gaseous Hydrocarbon-Air Flames in Packed Beds

The objective of the present study is to investigate the phenomenon of flame quenching in a packed bed of spheres, both experimentally and through detailed numerical modeling. The quenching limits are determined experimentally as a function of the packed bed parameters, and the dependency is studied to elucidate the mechanisms of flame quenching in a packed bed of spherical particles. The effect of heat losses on the extinction of gas flames in a packed bed is assessed and compared to the effect of flame stretch induced by the flow. Numerical simulations are also used to separately test, via "ideal" experiments, the influence of each sub-mechanism.