Extinction of tubular premixed laminar flames with complex chemistry

In this paper we study the extinction of tubular premixed methane-air and propane-air flames with detailed chemistry and complex transport. By seeking a similarity solution of the two-dimensional conservation equations in cylindrical coordinates, we are able to model the tubular flame system with a two-point boundary value problem along the radial coordinate. Extinction solutions are obtained by applying arclength continuation methods to the governing equations. Excellent agreement is obtained when the computed extinction distances and the extinction velocity gradients for both methane-air and propane-air systems are compared with the experimental work of Kobayashi and Kitano. Significant differences are obtained, however, when the tubular flame results are compared with corresponding twin counterflow flames in which curvature effects are absent.