Characterization of Periodic, Quasiperiodic, and Chaotic States in Nonpremixed Biodiesel/Air Jet Flames

Characterization for nonpremixed biodiesel/air jet flames instability is investigated by the 0-1 test for chaos and recurrence plots. Test conditions involve biodiesel from Jatropha curcas. Lfueled flames have inlet oil pressure of 0.2–0.6MPa, fuel flow rates Q1 of 15–30 kg/h, and combustion air flow rate Q2 of 150–750m3/h. This method is based on image analysis and nonlinear dynamics. Structures of flame are analyzed using an image analysis technique to extract position series which are representative of the relative change in temperature of combustion chamber. Compared with the method of maximum Lyapunov exponent, the 0-1 test succeeds in detecting the presence of regular and chaotic components in flame position series. Periodic and quasiperiodic characteristics are obtained by the Poincaré sections. A common characteristic of regular nonpremixed flame tip position series is detected by recurrence plots. Experimental results show that these flame oscillations follow a route to chaos via periodic and quasiperiodic states.