Combustion instability mitigation by magnetic fields.

The present interdisciplinary study combines electromagnetics and combustion to unveil an original and basic experiment displaying a spontaneous flame instability that is mitigated as the non-premixed sooting flame experiences a magnetic perturbation. This magnetic instability mitigation is reproduced by direct numerical simulations to be further elucidated by a flow stability analysis. A key role in the stabilization process is attributed to the momentum and thermochemistry coupling that the magnetic force, acting mainly on paramagnetic oxygen, contributes to sustain. The spatial local stability analysis based on the numerical simulations shows that the magnetic field tends to reduce the growth rates of small flame perturbations.