From traveling waves to chaos in combustion

The nonlinear evolution of nonadiabatic, nonsteady cellular flames is studied numerically as a function of a parameter related to heat loss. The specific problem considered is that of a premixed flame established in the region between two coaxial cylinders. The combustible mixture is fed in through the inner cylinder, and the products of combustion are removed through the outer cylinder. A diffusional thermal model is employed, which allows for nonadiabatic effects due to heat transfer through the outer cylinder and due to the injection of cold fuel through the inner cylinder. The pulsating regime Le>1 is considered, where Le is the Lewis number of the deficient component of the combustible mixture. The effect of increasing heat loss on spinning cellular flames corresponding to traveling waves along the flame front is studied.