Theoretical Analysis of Nitric Oxide Production in a Methane/Air Turbulent Diffusion Flame

The coherent flame model is applied to the methane-air turbulent diffusion flame with the objective of describing the production of nitric oxide. The example of a circular jet of methane discharging into a stationary air atmosphere is used to illustrate application of the model. In the model, the chemical reactions take place in laminar flame elements which are lengthened by the turbulent fluid motion and shortened when adjacent flame segments consume intervening reactant. The rates with which methane and air are consumed and nitric oxide generated in the strained laminar flame are computed numerically in an independent calculation. The model predicts nitric oxide levels of approximately 80 parts per million at the end of the flame generated by a 30.5 cm (1 foot) diameter jet of methane issuing at 3.05 x 10^3 cm/sec (100 ft/sec). The model also predicts that this level varies directly with the fuel jet diameter and inversely with the jet velocity. A possibly important nitric oxide production mechanism, neglected in the present analysis, can be treated in a proposed extension to the model.