Experimental Investigation of Premixed Methane–Air Combustion Assisted by Alternating-Current Rotating Gliding Arc

In this paper, the experimental results on rotating gliding arc plasma-assisted premixed methane-air combustion are presented. It is demonstrated that the plasma has beneficial effect on stabilizing the flame via shrinking the methane oxidation zone, preventing the liftoff of flame, and promoting the reformation of CH4 into CO and H2 in the combustion process. The effects of discharge power and equivalence ratio on the relative population of OH radicals produced in the combustion chamber have also been investigated. It has been found that the relative population of OH radical rises with an increasing discharge power, but fluctuates with the increase in equivalence ratio due to the different methane oxidation mechanisms.