Experiments on plasma assisted combustion using a dielectric barrier surface discharge

This paper report on experiments performed using a dielectric barrier surface discharge to increase the combustion rate in a Bunsen-type burner. The burner has a coaxial geometry where premixed fuel-air flows in the outer annular tube while a jet of air can be injected through the central tube, thus increasing turbulent mixing and flame speed. When the central jet is used the power density but not the total power of the flame increases and gives the possibility of studying the influence of the discharge as a function of power density in the flame. It is found that, although the total power in the flame is held constant, when the power density in the flame increases the influence of the electrical power on the flame characteristics decreases.