XV.—The structure and chemistry of flames

Abstract

DURING the past 12 months we have been engaged in investigating some new points in connection with the structure and chemistry of flames. The investigation, which at first proceeded rapidly, has latterly become more complex and difficult, and much more work is demanded for the complete solution of the problems that have arisen. We fully intended t o delay the publication of our results until material for a complete memoir had been accumulated, especially as we believed ourselves to be working in an obscure corner of the subject. But in the Journal fiir praktische Chernie, 44, 246, there appeared a paper LLZur Kennzeichnung dep Flamme," by N. Tech, which was first brought to our notice by an abstract in this Journal (1891, 1309), and the paper gives a description of the very phenomenon which served as the starting point of our experiments. The author also, in a footnote, reserves to himself the investigation of the field to which this phenomenon opens the way. As the phenomenon in question was observed by one of us three or four years ago, and has indeed been since shown as a lecture experiment, and as we have been so long engaged in working out the points suggested by it: we feel compelled

NOx reduction mechanism of a methane–air Smithells flame

“…Of course the kinetic schemes to predict NO x production are still too large to be used for simulations of three-dimensional practical combustion devices, so it is desirable to introduce a simple-shaped research object that can model the two-staged combustion process. We have focused on a Bunsen burner with a special flame separator called a "Smithells separator" invented by Teclu and independently by Smithells and Ingle more than 100 years ago [6,7]. With this burner the outer diffusion flame is separated far from the inner rich premixed flame, so a very simple two-staged laminar combustion can be realized.…”

George Gabriel Stokes, Arthur Smithells and the Origin of Spectra in Flames

“…At the moment of combination of sodium with oxygen it is easy to imagine part of the chemical energy taking the form of light, just as the greater portion of it is liberated as heat and it does not appear difficult to picture the atoms attracted to one another by chemical affinity producing the "clash" and momentary ether disturbance which gives the D line.t 9 Assuming this could even eliminate the necessity of sodium's liberation in the flame. One could imagine that NaCI directly combined with oxygen or steam: 2NaCI + H20 -+ Na 2 0 + 2HCl.…”

“…Since the outer cone contained a large quantity of fully oxidized products and of nitrogen that passed through the inner cone, he believed that its temperature was much lower than that of the inner cone. 9 Smith ells utilized his method of splitting the Bunsen flame to investigate the spectra of various chemical species placed in the two regions of combustion.…”

Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Bart (1819–1903): his impact on science and scientists

“…on a large spectrograph, about which over ten letters were exchanged from November 1896 to March 1897) and for some occasional plain speaking: 31 Crookes to Stokes 24th December 1880 in Larmor [26, p. 441]. 32 Stokes to his father-in-law Thomas Romney Robinson, 6th April 1979 in Larmor [5, p. 355] 33 These experiments included a 'light windmill . .…”