Unified scaling and shape laws for turbulent premixed methane and hydrogen jet flames

Abstract

The scaling of turbulent premixed flames is typically described by correlations derived for unity-Lewis-number fuels. However, their validity for hydrogen (H$_{2}$) remains uncertain due to the thermodiffusive effects associated with its low Lewis number. In this study, turbulent premixed H$_{2}$ and methane (CH$_{4}$) jet flames are systematically compared over a wide range of operating conditions. Experiments were conducted for Reynolds numbers between 5000 and 60000 and effective Karlovitz numbers spanning 3-368. Flame structure and global flame geometry were characterized using spatially resolved OH$^{*}$ chemiluminescence imaging, allowing consistent comparison between the two fuels across different turbulence intensities. The results are interpreted via a unified framework that incorporates two thermodynamic- and fuel-dependent parameters: a flame speed factor, $\alpha$, representing the enhancement of local burning rates, and a shape factor, $\gamma$, describing the scaling of mean flame geometry. Despite significant fuel-specific thermodiffusive effects associated with preferential diffusion and intrinsic reactivity, which lead H$_{2}$ flames to exhibit enhanced sensitivity to turbulence and more compact flame configurations, both H$_{2}$ and CH$_{4}$ flames are found to exhibit robust and consistent turbulent scaling behavior when analysed within the proposed unified framework. The resulting correlations provide a generalised description of turbulent burning velocity and flame structure, demonstrating that key turbulence-chemistry interactions can be captured within a common model across fuels with widely different Lewis numbers. Overall, the dataset spans multiple turbulence regimes and flame geometries for both fuels, providing a valuable experimental benchmark for the validation of turbulent combustion models across different regimes.