Diffusion Flames Upwardly Propagating over PMMA: Theory, Experiment and Numerical Modeling

A numerical model and experiments over PMMA are used to evaluate the main assumptions used in the theoretical description of a diffusion flame established in a natural boundary layer. Flow characteristics (2-D Boundary Layer) and surface thermal balance are identified as the critical assumptions to be evaluated. Comparison of experiments, numerical results, and theoretical model serve to validate the assumptions leading to the definition of a mass transfer number but establish the need to model all three-dimensional features of the flow.