On the correlation of inverted flame blow-off limits with the boundary velocity gradient at the flame holder surface

Conductive heat losses from the base of a lean methane–air inverted flame stabilized behind the trailing edge of a thin rod have been experimentally evaluated. The results favor the view that the heat losses to the flame holder play a crucial role in the inverted flame stabilization and blow-off. Simple estimations have been performed, which indicate that the well-established correlation between the mixture composition and the boundary velocity gradient at the flame holder, usually considered as a proof of the flame stretch theory of blow-off, can be explained without involving the flame stretch concept. The suggested explanation of this correlation is based on the assumption that the heat loss to the flame holder is the main factor that determines the inverted flame blow-off behavior and on the similarity between the mechanisms of energy and momentum diffusion in gases (Pr≈ 1).