Combustion and Flame 165 (2016) 346353

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Combustion and Flame

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/combustflame

Experimental and theoretical study on the interaction between two

identical micro-slot diffusion ames: Burner pitch effects
Kazunori Kuwana a,, Seia Kato b, Akihiro Kosugi a, Taro Hirasawa b, Yuji Nakamura c
a

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yamagata University, Japan

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chubu University, Japan
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 27 June 2015
Revised 16 December 2015
Accepted 16 December 2015
Available online 13 January 2016
Keywords:
Micro-slot diffusion ames
Burner pitch
Flame shape
Total heat release rate
Analytical model

a b s t r a c t
This paper discusses the interaction between two identical micro-slot diffusion ames. First, it is experimentally found that the burner pitch (distance between burners) inuences the ame shapes and the
total heat release rate. The total heat release rate, measured by integrating the intensity of CH chemiluminescence, tends to increase with a decrease in burner pitch, but it has a local minimum. The critical burner pitch at which two ames touch each other is identied as a representative parameter that
characterizes the ame interaction. Then, a simple analytical model is developed to predict the critical burner pitch and the total heat release rate. A merit of the present simple model is its extensibility
to other multiple-burner congurations owing to the linearity of basic equation. The predicted critical
burner pitch and total heat release rate agree reasonably well with experimental data. It is thus conrmed that the proposed model can be used to predict ame interaction behaviors.
2015 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
A jet diffusion microame can be used as a small heat source
[17]. Sometimes, multiple microames are simultaneously used to
enhance overall heating performance. For example, Hirasawa and
Nakamura developed a heating device in which an array of microames was used; this device can achieve a high density and
uniform heating performance [810].
When multiple microames are simultaneously used, the
ames should not interfere with each other. Hirasawa and coworkers [1012] showed that if two microames (on circular-port burners) are placed too closely, then the ames merge into a larger
ame, losing characteristics as microames. The interaction between two microames is a similar phenomenon to the interaction
between two burning droplets [13].
This paper studies the interaction between two identical microslot diffusion ames. A micro-slot ame is a ame established
on a slot burner whose width is less than about 1 mm, and its
characteristics differ from those of a circular-port microame [14].
An array of parallel micro-slot ames is capable of more uniform
heating than that of circular-port microames. Furthermore, heat
transfer behavior through the burner wall to the fresh fuel for
a slot burner is different from a circular-port burner because of

Corresponding author at: 4-3-16 Jonan, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510, Japan.

Fax: +81 238 26 3414.
E-mail address: kuwana@yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp (K. Kuwana).

geometrical effects [15,16]. It is interesting to note that interacting

two slot ames is a similar conguration to an annular ame established on a coaxial triple burner [17] in which an annular fuel
stream is ejected between two coaxial air streams.
Another aspect of the interaction between two slot ames is
that it can be easily handled by a computational uid dynamics
(CFD) simulation because of its two-dimensional nature, whereas
the interaction between two circular-port ames is essentially a
three-dimensional phenomenon. Although three-dimensional CFD
simulations of two circular-port microames have been conducted
[11], a parametric study that requires a number of CFD simulations is computationally expensive. The present study utilizes twodimensional CFD results under a wide range of conditions.
Since the ame interaction can be characterized by the change
in ame shape caused by decreasing ame spacing, this paper particularly focuses on the effects of burner spacing on ame shape.
Furthermore, the total heat release rate is considered to quantify
the degree of ame interaction. Experimental observations are rst
presented, followed by a simple analytical model that predicts the
ame shapes and total heat release rate; the model prediction is
validated by comparing with experimental and CFD results.
2. Experimental method
Figure 1 shows the experimental setup. Methane-air diffusion
ames are established on two identical slot burners. The slot width
of each burner is 1 mm, while the thickness of the burner wall is

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.combustame.2015.12.017
0010-2180/ 2015 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

K. Kuwana et al. / Combustion and Flame 165 (2016) 346353

347

Nomenclature

B
c
D
E
h
L
Pe
Q
R
s
T
Tst
Ua
Uf
x, z
Yi
YF,F
YO,O
Z
Zst

burner pitch (distance between the centerlines of

two burners)
pre-exponential factor
specic heat
diffusion coecient
activation energy
ame height
slot width
Pclet number; Pe = Ua L/D
heat of combustion
universal gas constant
stoichiometric fuel-to-oxygen mass ratio
temperature
adiabatic ame temperature
representative ow velocity
fuel exit velocity
rectangular coordinates
mass fraction of species i
fuel mass fraction in the fuel stream
oxygen mass fraction in the oxidizer stream
mixture fraction
stoichiometric value of mixture fraction

Greek symbols

Zeldovich number

1 mm. Two different burner materials, copper and glass, are used
to test the thermal effects of burners. Burner pitch, dened as the
distance between burner centerlines, is varied from 3 to 11 mm.
When the burner pitch is 3 mm, two burners are in contact. The
burner pitch is controlled using a digital length indicator whose
accuracy is 0.03 mm. The average exit velocity of methane is varied from 36 to 70 mm/s.
Images of CH chemiluminescence (hereinafter called CH emission) are taken using a CCD camera with an optical lter of the
wavelength of 430 nm; the optical lter is xed on a slide mount
placed between the CCD camera and an optical lens. The intensity
of CH emission is considered a good indicator of heat release rate
for both premixed and diffusion ames [11,12,1721]. Experiments
are conducted three times under each condition, and the averaged
value of CH emission is reported below.
3. Experimental observations
Figure 2 shows the total heat release rate normalized by the
value at the burner pitch of 11 mm and the exit velocity of
40 mm/s using copper burners. The total heat release rate is calculated by integrating the intensity of CH emission; this method was
justied in Refs. [11,12]. It is found that the integrated CH emission
is nearly proportional to the fuel ow rate as it should be.
When the burner pitch is greater than about 7 mm, the total
heat release rate is independent of burner pitch, suggesting that
each ame behaves as if it were an isolated ame as evidenced
by the ame shapes shown in Fig. 3a. The total heat release rate
tends to increase when the burner pitch decreases. This is mainly
because ame height increases (i.e., ames are established farther
away from burners) with a decrease in burner pitch, reducing the
heat loss to the burners. When the burner pitch is 3 mm and
the two slot burners are in contact, the total heat release rate
is increased by about 30% from that of the isolated ame. Under this condition, however, two ames merge into a single ame
as shown in Fig. 3d, and the ame height is about three times

Fig. 1. Experimental setup.

Normalized heat release rate

2.5
Copper burner
Glass burner

60 mm/s

1.5

49 mm/s

1
0.5
2

40 mm/s

6
8
10
Burner pitch, a (mm)

12

Fig. 2. Normalized total heat release rate for different values of fuel exit velocity,
Uf .

larger than the isolated ame, losing characteristics as small-scale

ames.
The local minimum of total heat release rate observed in Fig. 2
is explained by the heat loss to burners and local extinction. As
shown in Fig. 3c, ames under a condition near the local minimum
are merged, and an inner ame and an outer ame are separately
formed. The inner ame is much closer to the burners than the
outer ame, being signicantly inuenced by heat loss. In addition,
the tip of the outer ame is locally extinguished probably because
of the inner ames blocking effect of oxygen, further lowering the
total heat release rate. The inuence of heat loss is also conrmed
by the observation that the total heat release rate of glass burners
is greater than that of copper burners; the latter material has a
higher thermal conductivity and takes more heat from ame.
Figure 4 shows the critical burner pitch at which the local
extinction at the ame tip is visibly observed. The theoretical and
CFD results shown in the same gure are discussed in Sections 4
and 5, respectively. Experiments are conducted at the burner-pitch
interval of 0.2 mm, and a 0.2-mm difference in burner pitch near
the critical condition results in a clear difference in the visible
shape of ames. Therefore, the experimental errors in Fig. 4 are
estimated to be less than 0.2 mm. It is found that the critical
burner pitch slightly increases with an increase in fuel exit velocity
because of the increase in ame width.
The experimental results presented thus far indicate that a
change in ame shape affects the total heat release rate. In particular, the critical burner pitch shown in Fig. 4 is a representative
parameter to characterize the ame interaction. A simple analytical
model is presented in the next section to predict the ame shape
and the total heat release rate.

348

K. Kuwana et al. / Combustion and Flame 165 (2016) 346353

Critical burner pitch (mm)

Fig. 3. Images of CH emission for different burner pitches, a. Uf = 49 mm/s. (a) a = 11 mm, (b) a = 7.4 mm, (c) a = 6.4 mm, (d) a = 3.0 mm.

10
8
6
4
2
0
20

Experiment
CFD (Ua = 100 mm/s)
CFD (Ua = 150 mm/s)
Eq. (8) (Ua = 150 mm/s)

30
40
50
60
70
Fuel exit velocity, Uf (mm/s)

80

model assumes a uniform ow and does not consider natural convection or thermal expansion, it cannot predict the value of Ua . For
the present model, Ua , the representative ow velocity, acts as a
model parameter, and its value should be estimated by other theoretical considerations or by tting experimental data.
As in Ref. [22], it is assumed that the diffusion term in the ow
direction is negligible as compared with the convection term. This
assumption is asymptotically correct for the large Pclet number,
Pe = Ua L/D, where L and D are the slot width and the diffusion coecient, respectively. It is shown in Appendix A that the assumption is reasonably accurate even for Pe as low as unity.
Under these assumptions, the basic equation is written as

Fig. 4. Critical burner pitch.

Ua
4. Line-source model
4.1. Analytical model
One of the simplest methods to predict the shape of a jet diffusion ame is to assume that the ow is uniform everywhere as
in the pioneering study by Burke and Schumann [22]. They also
assumed constant thermophysical properties and unity Lewis numbers for all species. Analytical solutions for ame shapes were then
derived, which have been conrmed to be qualitatively correct under various conditions. The inuences of variable properties can
be accounted by evaluating their values at a representative temperature between the room temperature and ame temperature
[15,23,24].
In the present study, two micro-slot ames are modeled as diffusion ames in the uniform ow of velocity Ua . Since the present

Z
2Z
=D 2
z
x

(1)

where Z is the mixture fraction, which is zero in the oxidizer

stream and unity in the fuel stream. The isovalue surface of Z = Zst
represents the ame sheet, where Zst is the stoichiometric value of
mixture fraction dened as

Zst = sYO,O /(YF,F + sYO,O )

(2)

where s is the stoichiometric fuel-to-oxygen mass ratio, YF,F is the

fuel mass fraction in the fuel stream, and YO,O is the oxygen mass
fraction in the oxidizer that is air in this study. When a typical combustible gas burns in air, Zst  1. Then, the exit of a
slot burner may be regarded as a line with zero width. In the
present case, the exits of two slot burners are modeled as lines
located at x = a/2, z = 0 (see Appendix A for the justication
of the line-source model). Similar point-source models have been
used for studying axisymmetric diffusion ames [1,4,2527]. Then,

K. Kuwana et al. / Combustion and Flame 165 (2016) 346353

349

(a) a = 11 mm

z (mm)

10

0
(b) a = 7.4 mm

z (mm)

10

Fig. 6. Flame merge curve.

50 mm/s. The present model assumes a uniform ow velocity Ua ,

which represents the air velocity induced by buoyancy and thermal expansion due to combustion. Note that under the conditions
of the present study, the fuel exit velocity is small (on the order
of 10 mm/s), and the burner width is only 1 mm. Therefore, the
fuel exit velocity little inuences the induced velocity. The value
of Ua , 150 mm/s used in Fig. 5 is chosen such that the predicted
ame shapes resemble Fig. 3. Because Uf is small, it is natural that
Ua > Uf .
Similarly to the experimental results, two ames behave as if
they were isolated ames when a = 11 mm. When the burner
pitch is decreased to a = 7.4 mm, the ames change their shapes
to approach each other. Further decrease in burner pitch results in
a merged ame. Also, the ame height increases with the decrease
in burner pitch. Thus, the present simple model can reproduce the
experimentally observed ame shapes.
The critical burner pitch at which two ames touch each
other must be related to the experimentally observed burner pitch
(Fig. 4) at which ame tip is locally extinguished. When two ames
touch each other, they do so at x = 0. Therefore, to obtain the
critical burner pitch, it is sucient to consider the mixture fraction distribution on the plane of symmetry. Substituting x = 0 into
Eq. (3) yields

0
(c) a = 6.4 mm

z (mm)

10

0
(d) a = 3.0 mm

z (mm)

10


0

-5

0
x (mm)

Z=

Fig. 5. Theoretically predicted ame shapes. Zst = 0.055 (methane-air), L = 1 mm,

D = 150 mm2 /s, Uf = 50 mm/s, Ua = 150 mm/s.

Uf2 L2
DUa z

Z=

Uf2 L2
4 DUa z

1/2 

+ exp

Ua (x a/2 )2
exp
4D
z

Ua (x + a/2 )
4D
z

=



Ua Z dx = 2Uf L

Ua a2
16D z


(5)

 ZstUa a 2
8

Uf

(6)

where  is dened as

(3)

where Uf is the fuel velocity at the burner exit. Eq. (3) ensures that


exp

If there exists the location of z = zst at which Z = Zst , two

ames are merged. Then, Eq. (5) can be rewritten as

2 ln 2 =
basic Eq. (1) has a simple analytical solution

1/2

(4)

which expresses that the integrated Z ux at any z is equal to the

total value at the burner exits. The present model allows a fuel
exit velocity different from Ua , unlike the original BurkeSchumann
model [22] that imposes that Uf = Ua .
4.2. Flame shape and critical burner pitch
Flame shapes predicted by Eq. (3) are shown in Fig. 5, where
the burner pitch is varied, while the fuel exit velocity Uf is xed at

DUa zst Zst2

Uf2 L2

(7)

The relationship between  and /8(ZstUa a/Uf L )2 , the right

hand side of Eq. (6), is shown in Fig. 6. When /8(ZstUa a/Uf L )2 <
e1 , there are two solutions for , meaning that there are two
locations along x = 0 at which Z = Zst as in Fig. 5c. On the
other hand, when /8(ZstUa a/Uf L )2 > e1 , there is no solution;
two ames are separated and not merged. Therefore, the critical
burner pitch at which two ames touch each other is given by
/8(ZstUa a/Uf L )2 = e1 , or

a=

 8 1/2 U L
f
e
Ua Zst

(8)

Eq. (8) predicts that the critical burner pitch is proportional to

the fuel exit velocity Uf if the representative ow velocity Ua remains constant. However, Ua should slightly increase with an increase in Uf . The experimentally-observed weak dependence of the

K. Kuwana et al. / Combustion and Flame 165 (2016) 346353

Volumetric reaction rate (mm /s)

350

100

50

0
0

4
6
8
10
Burner pitch, a (mm)

12

Fig. 7. Total volumetric reaction rate per unit depth. The same parameter values as
Fig. 5 are used.

critical burner pitch on Uf shown in Fig. 4 indicates that Ua increases with Uf . Nevertheless, Eq. (8) with constant Ua yields a reasonably accurate estimate of the critical burner pitch as shown in
Fig. 4.
Fig. 8. CFD model (unit: mm).

4.3. Total heat release rate

Here, the present line-source model is used to predict the total
heat release rate. To do so, local extinction must be considered.
Local extinction of a diffusion ame can be considered by solving
the following amelet equation [28]:

D| Z |st
2

Q
d2 T
+ B 3 eE/RTst YFYO eE/RT = 0
c
dZ 2

(9)

where | Z |2st is the value of | Z |2 at Z = Zst , which can be

computed from Eq. (3). Eq. (9) is asymptotically correct when
the ame thickness is small as compared with the representative
ame scale. In Eq. (9), the reaction is assumed to be rst order in
both fuel and oxygen concentrations. The pre-exponential factor
of the second-order reaction has a large value proportional to
3 eE/RTst , and Eq. (9) explicitly expresses the dependence. The
value of B is determined by tting the laminar burning velocity of
the stoichiometric mixture with its analytical solution. Note that
YF and YO are related to Z and T , and therefore there is no need to
solve equations for YF or YO . It is known [29] that Eq. (9) does not
have solution when the reduced Damkhler number

2
4BYO,O (1 Zst )3 Zst

(10)

D| Z |st
2

is less than a critical value, E .

In the present study, the volumetric reaction rate of methane
within a ame element dS is simply computed as

D| YF |st dS = D(YF,F + sYO,O )| Z |st dS when

0

when

E
< E

(11)

Figure 7 shows the total volumetric reaction rate, to which

the total heat release rate is proportional, obtained by integrating Eq. (11) along the ame sheet. The present simple model
qualitatively reproduces the existence of local minimum shown in
Fig. 2. Detailed analysis reveals that the local minimum at a
3 mm occurs when the inner ame is entirely extinguished, conrming that local extinction signicantly affects the total heat release rate. On the other hand, the extinction of ame tip observed
in Fig. 3c is not reproduced by the present model. The ame tip
extinction is not caused by heat loss to the burners but a result of
transport phenomena near the ame tip. Therefore, a more realistic
model than the present uniform ow model is needed to predict
the ame tip extinction and improve the accuracy in predicting the
total heat release rate.

5. Model validation by CFD

5.1. CFD model
This section tests the validity of model prediction, Eq. (8),
which yields the critical burner pitch as a function of Zst . CFD simulations are conducted to assess the validity of Eq. (8). In CFD, Zst
can be varied by, for example, varying the oxygen mass fraction in
the air, YO,O . Figure 8 schematically shows the present CFD model.
Because of the symmetry of the phenomenon, only the right half of
the entire domain is considered. The slot width is 1 mm as in the
experimental conguration. An outer no-slip wall is placed with
the xed temperature of 300 K to stabilize the computation. At
the bottom of computational domain, inlet boundary conditions of
methane and air at prescribed inlet velocities are adopted, similarly to the analytical model. Note that no backow was observed
under the conditions tested in this study.
One-step, overall reaction between methane and oxygen is assumed. Its activation energy and reaction order follow Ref. [30].
The pre-exponential factor is determined such that the burning velocity of the stoichiometric mixture is equal to about 30 cm/s. Under each condition, an unsteady calculation is conducted until a
steady state is reached. A modied version of reactingFoam, one of
reacting ow solvers of OpenFOAM, is used, in which the velocitypressure coupling is established using a combination of PISO (pressure implicit with splitting of operators) and SIMPLE (semi-implicit
method for pressure-linked equations) algorithms. Temperaturedependent transport properties are considered using Sutherland
coecients and a modied Eucken model [31]. The Sutherland coecients of each species are determined by tting measured viscosity data [31].
5.2. CFD results and discussion
The effect of gravity level is rst tested because the size of a
slot ame is known to be inuenced by buoyant effects unlike a
circular-port ame whose height is little affected by buoyancy [32].
Figure 9 compares the predicted distributions of heat release rate
under g = 0 (0G) and 9.8 m/s2 (1G) conditions. The ames under
0G condition are much larger than those under 1G condition; two
ames are merged under 0G condition, whereas they are separated
under 1G condition. This trend agrees with Ropers ame height

K. Kuwana et al. / Combustion and Flame 165 (2016) 346353

351

100

Eq. (8)
0G, Ua = Uf = 50 mm/s
1G, Ua = Uf = 50 mm/s
1G, Ua = Uf = 75 mm/s

a/L

40
20
10
4
2

0.04

0.1

0.2

Zst
Fig. 10. Validation of Eq. (8) by CFD.

Fig. 9. Gravity-level effect on predicted ame shape. Colors show the local heat
release rate. a = 12 mm and Ua = Uf = 50 mm/s. Both ames are shown, and the
dashed-dotted line is the plane of symmetry (see Fig. 8). (For interpretation of the
references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version
of this article.)

theory for a single slot ame [32]. When the relative importance
of buoyancy is increased by, for example, increasing the slot width,
a similar buoyancy inuence to Fig. 9 is expected.
When the burner pitch is slightly less than the critical value
and the ames are merged, local extinction at the ame tip is observed (Fig. 9a) similarly to experimental observations. This is a
clear difference between the CFD model and the analytical model
presented in Section 4, which does not predict tip extinction. Detailed transport phenomena have to be considered to predict local
extinction and hence total heat release rate with better accuracy.
The presence of a local minimum of predicted total heat release
rate is also conrmed by the present CFD simulations.
The numerically predicted critical burner pitch is shown in
Fig. 4. In CFD, the critical condition under which two ames
touch each other is determined as follows: CFD calculations for
different burner pitches are conducted under a given set of Ua
and Uf . If Z is always smaller than Zst along x = 0, then the
ames are separated, and vice versa. Then, from the results of a

separated-ame and a merged-ame conditions, the critical burner

pitch is interpolated. CFD results with Ua = 150 mm/s agree better
with experimental data than Eq. (8) with Ua = 150 mm/s does.
Critical burner pitch increases with a decrease in Ua as Eq. (8)
predicts. It is conrmed that the critical burner pitch can be estimated if the value of Ua , the model parameter, is properly chosen. The following question now arises: how can one determine
the value of Ua for estimating critical burner pitch? Since Ua represents the velocity of entrained air, a simple estimate is given by
Ua (gL )1/2 if buoyancy is the dominant mechanism of air entrainment. In this study, the slot width L is xed at 1 mm, and
therefore (gL )1/2 100 mm/s, a value reasonably close to the best
t with experiment, 150 mm/s.
The dependence of critical burner pitch on Zst predicted by
Eq. (8) is tested. Figure 10 compares Eq. (8) with CFD predictions
for various values of Zst , which is varied by changing the oxygen
mass fraction in the air stream, YO,O . For simplicity, only the results under the condition of Ua = Uf are shown. Overall, Eq. (8)
predicts the dependence of critical burner pitch on Zst reasonably
well. Since a uniform ow is assumed in the analytical model,
Eq. (8) predicts the same critical burner pitch for different gravity levels or fuel exit velocities, whereas the CFD result depends on
these parameters. However, the dependence of critical burner pitch
on these parameters is rather weak, and Eq. (8) can be used for a
rst estimate. A merit of the present simple model is its extensibility to other multiple-burner congurations owing to the linearity
of basic Eq. (1). Specically, more than two burners can be easily
handled by simply adding corresponding terms to Eq. (3).
Eq. (8) tends to overestimate the critical burner pitch; this tendency is also observed in Fig. 4. A major reason for the error is
because the model does not consider buoyant effects. As shown
in Fig. 9, ow acceleration due to buoyancy tends to reduce the
ame size, decreasing the critical burner pitch. This explains why
the model agree relatively well with 0G CFD results. Therefore, a
remedy for the model is to consider acceleration due to buoyancy,
which can be done by a similar technique to Ref. [32]. Then, the
model accuracy for predicting the inuence of gravity level may
be improved; such a model will be studied in a later work.
6. Conclusions
The interaction between two identical micro-slot ames is studied. Experimental observations show that the total heat release
rate tends to increase with a decrease in burner pitch, but it has
a local minimum at a certain burner pitch, which depends little on fuel exit velocity. These trends are attributed to the shape
of ames, indicating the importance of predicting ame shape.
Also, the critical burner pitch at which two ames touch each
other is identied as a representative parameter characterizing the
ame interaction. A simple line-source model is then developed
to predict the ame shape and total heat release rate. Two slot

K. Kuwana et al. / Combustion and Flame 165 (2016) 346353

burners are modeled as line sources in a uniform ow eld. The

present model allows a different fuel exit velocity from the uniform ow velocity, enabling to study the inuence of velocity ratio.
The model also predicts the total heat release rate by considering
local extinction near the burners. Model predictions agree reasonably well with the experimental and CFD results, demonstrating
that the present simple model can capture the phenomenon.

30

20

Pe = 1

z/L

352

Acknowledgment

10
Pe = 0.1

The support provided by Toyota Physical and Chemical Research

Institute is greatly appreciated.

Appendix A

2U
Z= f
Ua

sin (L/2 )

1
cos (x ) exp
2

Ua2
Ua
+ 42
D
D2


z

Z=

Uf2 L2

4 DUa z

1/2

Ua x
exp
4D z

1000
Uf/Ua = 1

100
10

Uf/Ua = 1/3

1
0.1
0.1

0.5

1
Pe

10

d
1

U
L/2 x
+x
+ erf L/2
Z = f erf 

2Ua
2 UDa z
2 UDa z
Model 3:

10

Fig. A2. Flame height predicted by models 1 (solid line) and 3 (dashed line).

(A1)
Model 2:

0
x/L

Fig. A1. Flame shapes predicted by models 1, 2, and 3 under the condition of Ua =
Uf . Thick solid line, model 1; dashed line, model 2; and thin solid line, model 3.

h/L

The use of the line-source model is justied here by comparing its predictions with those of two other models listed in
Table A1. Model 1 considers both the diffusion term in the ow direction and the nite size of burner exit; hence, it is the most complete among the three models. Although Chung and Law [33] considered a similar model, there are two differences between their
model and model 1; model 1 considers a slot burner while Ref.
[33] adopts cylindrical coordinates for a circular-port burner, and
the model in [33] has an outer cylinder within which air ows
while the present model is for innite domain. Model 2 considers the nite size of burner exit but neglects the diffusion in the
ow direction. Model 3 is the model used in the present study, i.e.,
the line-source model that neglects diffusion in the ow direction.
When a single burner is considered, the solutions of the three
models are
Model 1:

-10

(A2)

0.5

0
0


(A3)

Figure A1 compares the ame shapes predicted by the three

models under the condition of Ua = Uf . Note that the integral
of Eq. (A1) was numerically evaluated. For both Pe = 0.1 and
1, models 2 and 3 yield nearly identical ame shapes for Zst =
0.055 (methane-air), conrming that the line-source model is a
good approximation of model 2 that considers the nite size of
burner exit. Since erf1/x 2/ 1/2 x as x , both Eqs. (A2) and
(A3) can be expressed as Z (Uf2 L2 /4 DUa z )1/2 as Dz/Ua x2 .
When Pe = Ua L/D = 1, Eqs. (A1)(A3) yield nearly identical ame
shapes. When Pe = 0.1, on the other hand, the ame height predicted by model 1 is signicantly greater than those by models

Table A1
Three models compared.
Model

Diffusion in the z direction

Burner exit

1
2
3

Included
Neglected
Neglected

Finite width of L
Finite width of L
Zero width (line source)

0.1

0.2
0.3
0.4
/8(ZstUaa/UfL)2

0.5

Fig. A3. Flame merge curves obtained by model1 with Uf /Ua = 1 (dashed line),
with Uf /Ua = 1/3 (dashed-dotted line), and model 3 (solid line).

2 and 3. Diffusion in the ow direction cannot be neglected for

Pe  1.
Figure A2 shows the ame heights, h, predicted by models 1
and 3 as functions of Pe. The results of model 2 are not shown
because they are nearly equal to those of model 3. As in Ref. [33],
ame height is proportional to Pe when diffusion in the ow direction is neglected, while it approaches a constant value as Pe 0
when the streamwise diffusion is considered. When Ua = Uf , the
difference in models 1 and 3 is less than about 20% for Pe  0.4.
When the ratio of Uf to Ua is decreased to 1/3, ame height decreases, too. Then, diffusion in the ow direction becomes more
important, and the relative error of model 3 to model 1 increases.
Nevertheless, model 3 is still a reasonable approximation of model
1 for Pe  1; the error of model 3 is about 25% at Pe = 1.
Finally, the behaviors of two-ame interaction predicted by
models 1 and 3 are compared. Figure A3 shows the ame merge
curves (equivalent to Fig. 6) obtained by models 1 and 3. The ame

K. Kuwana et al. / Combustion and Flame 165 (2016) 346353

merge curve of model 3 is independent of Uf /Ua , while that of

model 1 depends on it. When Ua = Uf , the critical burner pitch
predicted by model 3 is nearly equal to that by model 1. The critical burner pitch tends to decrease with a decrease in Uf /Ua , and
the error of model 3 at Uf /Ua = 1/3 is about 15%, conrming
that model 3 is reasonably accurate for predicting the interaction
of two micro-slot ames.
Based on the above results, and considering the simplicity of
model 3 and the qualitative nature of the present analysis, model
3 is used in this paper. The comparison between the prediction of
model 3 and CFD results (Fig. 4) also supports the use of model 3.
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