SIMULATION SUCCESS STORIES

AltaSim Analyzes a Burning Candle with Simulation

Luke T. Gritter, Sergei Yushanov, Jeffrey S. Crompton, and Kyle C. Koppenhoefer

AltaSim Technologies, Columbus, Ohio

Using COMSOL Multiphysics, AltaSim Technologies were able to predict the temperature distribution and flow pattern of a burning flame during steady state candle burning.

In a burning candle, local temperatures in the flame exceed 1400 °C. The heat transfer would include radiation, conduction, and convection components while the low melting point of the candle wax would cause a local phase change to occur close to the wick, allowing mass transport via capillary flow prior to combustion in the flame.

Modeling this behavior has shown that the temperature and flow patterns are considerably influenced by the spatial location of the flame in a container, the geometry of the container, and the height of the candle within the container.

  •  /
1
Loading PDF...

Suggested Stories

On the Cutting Edge of Hearing Aid Research

On the Cutting Edge of Hearing Aid Research

Nearly 20% of the United States population has some degree of hearing impairment. Despite the relative ...

A New Route to High Sensitivity Pressure Sensors

A New Route to High Sensitivity Pressure Sensors

The environments in which sensors are most integral are often the most harsh and unforgiving, such as vacuum chambers, ...

Picking the Pattern for a Stealth Antenna

Picking the Pattern for a Stealth Antenna

Stealth airplanes and ships avoid radar detection by optimizing the shape of surfaces to reflect away from the radar ...

A STEP in the Right Direction: Modeling AC Losses in a Tokamak Design

A STEP in the Right Direction: Modeling AC Losses in a Tokamak Design

The Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) program aims to deliver a prototype fusion energy plant in the ...