Relationships Between Bifurcation and Numerical Analyses for Ignition of Hydrogen-air Diffusion Flames

Linear bifurcation and numerical techniques are employed to determine critical conditions for ignition in steady, counterflow, nonpremixed hydrogen-air systems, with varying degrees of nitrogen dilution of the fuel, at temperatures larger than the crossover temperature associated with the second explosion limit for hydrogen. Analysis of profiles of the radical pool at ignition reveals that, irrespective of the degree of dilution of the fuel or oxidizer streams, the O-atom steady state fails on the oxidizer side of the mixing layer. Therefore, at least three overall steps, with O and H atoms as the chain-branching species, are necessary to describe the ignition process. A simplified model with variable density, specific heat and transport properties, and with Stefan-Maxwell approximations for the diffusion velocities, is proposed to describe the structure of the H{sub 2}-O{sub 2}-N{sub 2} weakly reactive mixing layer. Results of bifurcation analysis with this flow-field model and a three-step reduced chemical-kinetic scheme show excellent agreement with results of numerical integration of the full conservation equations with detailed chemistry for all degrees of dilution of the fuel feed.