PSI recordPSI-21Investigation dossier

ACME CLD Flame

Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments / Coflow Laminar Diffusion Flame

Principal investigator: Marshall Long
Platform: International Space Station (ISS)
Hardware: Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), ACME
Dates: 10-01-2006 → 05-31-2022
Licence: CC0-1.0
PSI version: v4 · modified 22-Jan-2025
Publications listed: 18

PSI record (opens in a new tab)doi 10.60555/23e1-9950 (opens in a new tab)psi.nasa.gov/physci/repo/data/investigations/PSI-21

Evidence proximity, not a safety rating. This page describes what was tested and where each value comes from.

Footprint

ACME CLD Flame has no individual runs to place.

0 of 0 runs drawn.

Source: NASA PSI run tables (snapshot 2026-11-14) and the published papers listed under Sources. Evidence proximity, not a safety rating; not a hazard map.

Objective

As written in the PSI record:

In order to provide the experimental data needed to allow rigorous testing of computational models at the extremes of the fuel dilution spectrum, we have the following objectives: A) Characterize the behavior of weak coflow diffusion flames of methane and ethylene, as a function of velocity and fuel dilution, through measurement of flame shape, lift-off heights, temperatures and extinction limits. B) Characterize the sooting tendencies of diffusion flames with long residence times, as a function of velocity and fuel dilution, through measurement of flame shape, gas temperatures in the soot-free portion of the flame, soot luminosity, soot temperatures, and soot volume fractions.

Fingerprint COMPUTED

PSI has summary rows only for this investigation (32 rows in PSI-21_Experimental table_CLD Flame.csv), not individual runs, so there is nothing to fingerprint run by run. The summary rows are listed below.

Where the runs sit: O₂ × pressure, zoomed to the data

Nothing from this investigation can be placed on an O₂ × pressure chart: there are no individual runs to place.

Source: the normalized O₂ and pressure of each run in the run table below (NASA PSI run tables or the cited paper); the original cell and any conversion are in each run’s provenance. Reference atmospheres are MARGIN’s presets. Not a hazard map.

Run table

PSI has no run-level table for this investigation: its experimental table holds summary rows only (each summarises a test series, not a single run), so nothing is placed or compared. The summary rows are listed below.

Summary rows (not runs)

32 summary rows from PSI-21_Experimental table_CLD Flame.csv, as they appear in PSI.

32 summary rows from PSI-21_Experimental table_CLD Flame.csv, as they appear in PSI
Row	Test Type	Test Day	Fuel MFC	N2 MFC	Fuel Bottle	Fuel conc. Range	Flames ignited	Notes
1	Methane based test	17319	0.1	0.1	40% CH4	30%-40%	10	Test Day - includes the year as the first two digits followed by the 3-digit day of the year (where any late-hour transition to the next day is neglected). MFC - identifies the maximum flow rate of the specified ACME Mass Flow Controller (MFC) in slpm on a nitrogen basis. Fuel conc. - (as diluted with nitrogen on a volume basis) was varied between tests and sometimes during tests where the listing here accounts for both. However, it does not account for extinction that sometimes occurred before the flame fully reached the lowest concentration. Flames ignited is the number ignited on that test day.
2	Methane based test	17324	0.1	0.1	40% CH5	30%-40%	5
3	Methane based test	17342	0.1	0.1	40% CH6	40%	8
4	Methane based test	17356	0.1	0.1	40% CH7	30%-40%	3
5	Methane based test	18003	0.1	0.1	40% CH8	25%-40%	9
6	Methane based test	18005	0.1	0.1	40% CH9	30%-40%	7
7	Methane based test	18008	0.1	0.1	40% CH10	25%-40%	8
8	Methane based test	18011	0.1	0.1	40% CH11	25%-40%	14
9	Methane based test	18022	0.1	0.1	40% CH12	30%-40%	3
10	Methane based test	18026	0.1	0.1	40% CH13	25%-40%	16
11	Methane based test	18032	0.1	0.1	40% CH14	30%-40%	13
12	Methane based test	18039	0.1	0.05	100% CH4	50%-80%	8
13	Methane based test	18043	0.1	0.05	100% CH5	50%-100%	10
14	Methane based test	18053	0.1	0.02	100% CH6	30%-40%	16
15	Ethylene based test	18145	0.2	0.1	100% C2H4	80%-100%	3
16	Ethylene based test	18151	0.2	0.1	100% C2H5	100%	2
17	Ethylene based test	18177	0.2	0.1	100% C2H6	80%-100%	9
18	Ethylene based test	18186	0.2	0.1	100% C2H7	60%-100%	14
19	Ethylene based test	18192	0.2	0.1	100% C2H8	50%-60%	10
20	Ethylene based test	18199	0.2	0.1	100% C2H9	40%-100%	16
21	Ethylene based test	18214	0.2	0.05	100% C2H10	100%	13
22	Ethylene based test	18218	0.2	0.05	100% C2H11	80%	18
23	Ethylene based test	18235	0.2	0.1	50% C2H4	50%	16
24	Ethylene based test	18239	0.2	0.1	50% C2H5	40%	14
25	Ethylene based test	18241	0.1	0.2	50% C2H6	10%-20%	6
26	Ethylene based test	18249	0.1	0.2	50% C2H7	10%-30%	12
27	Ethylene based test	18253	0.1	0.2	50% C2H8	15%-30%	14
28	Ethylene based test	18257	0.1	0.2	50% C2H9	15%-20%	15
29	Improved coflow tests	21041	0.2	0.2	30% C2H4	0%-30%	9
30	Improved coflow tests	21046	0.2	0.2	30% C2H5	15%-20%	16
31	Improved coflow tests	21050	0.2	0.2	40% CH4	20%-40%	16
32	Improved coflow tests	21062	0.2	0.2	40% CH5	30%-40%	11

Investigation dossier

Loading dossier…

Reading the record, its runs and their sources.

ACME CLD Flame

Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments / Coflow Laminar Diffusion Flame

Principal investigator

Marshall Long

Platform

International Space Station (ISS)

Hardware

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), ACME

Dates

10-01-2006 → 05-31-2022

Licence

CC0-1.0

PSI version

v4 · modified 22-Jan-2025

Publications listed

Evidence proximity, not a safety rating. This page describes what was tested and where each value comes from.

Objective

As written in the PSI record:

In order to provide the experimental data needed to allow rigorous testing of computational models at the extremes of the fuel dilution spectrum, we have the following objectives: A) Characterize the behavior of weak coflow diffusion flames of methane and ethylene, as a function of velocity and fuel dilution, through measurement of flame shape, lift-off heights, temperatures and extinction limits. B) Characterize the sooting tendencies of diffusion flames with long residence times, as a function of velocity and fuel dilution, through measurement of flame shape, gas temperatures in the soot-free portion of the flame, soot luminosity, soot temperatures, and soot volume fractions.

Summary rows (not runs)

32 summary rows from PSI-21_Experimental table_CLD Flame.csv, as they appear in PSI.

32 summary rows from PSI-21_Experimental table_CLD Flame.csv, as they appear in PSI
Row	Test Type	Test Day	Fuel MFC	N2 MFC	Fuel Bottle	Fuel conc. Range	Flames ignited	Notes
1	Methane based test	17319	0.1	0.1	40% CH4	30%-40%	10	Test Day - includes the year as the first two digits followed by the 3-digit day of the year (where any late-hour transition to the next day is neglected). MFC - identifies the maximum flow rate of the specified ACME Mass Flow Controller (MFC) in slpm on a nitrogen basis. Fuel conc. - (as diluted with nitrogen on a volume basis) was varied between tests and sometimes during tests where the listing here accounts for both. However, it does not account for extinction that sometimes occurred before the flame fully reached the lowest concentration. Flames ignited is the number ignited on that test day.
2	Methane based test	17324	0.1	0.1	40% CH5	30%-40%	5
3	Methane based test	17342	0.1	0.1	40% CH6	40%	8
4	Methane based test	17356	0.1	0.1	40% CH7	30%-40%	3
5	Methane based test	18003	0.1	0.1	40% CH8	25%-40%	9
6	Methane based test	18005	0.1	0.1	40% CH9	30%-40%	7
7	Methane based test	18008	0.1	0.1	40% CH10	25%-40%	8
8	Methane based test	18011	0.1	0.1	40% CH11	25%-40%	14
9	Methane based test	18022	0.1	0.1	40% CH12	30%-40%	3
10	Methane based test	18026	0.1	0.1	40% CH13	25%-40%	16
11	Methane based test	18032	0.1	0.1	40% CH14	30%-40%	13
12	Methane based test	18039	0.1	0.05	100% CH4	50%-80%	8
13	Methane based test	18043	0.1	0.05	100% CH5	50%-100%	10
14	Methane based test	18053	0.1	0.02	100% CH6	30%-40%	16
15	Ethylene based test	18145	0.2	0.1	100% C2H4	80%-100%	3
16	Ethylene based test	18151	0.2	0.1	100% C2H5	100%	2
17	Ethylene based test	18177	0.2	0.1	100% C2H6	80%-100%	9
18	Ethylene based test	18186	0.2	0.1	100% C2H7	60%-100%	14
19	Ethylene based test	18192	0.2	0.1	100% C2H8	50%-60%	10
20	Ethylene based test	18199	0.2	0.1	100% C2H9	40%-100%	16
21	Ethylene based test	18214	0.2	0.05	100% C2H10	100%	13
22	Ethylene based test	18218	0.2	0.05	100% C2H11	80%	18
23	Ethylene based test	18235	0.2	0.1	50% C2H4	50%	16
24	Ethylene based test	18239	0.2	0.1	50% C2H5	40%	14
25	Ethylene based test	18241	0.1	0.2	50% C2H6	10%-20%	6
26	Ethylene based test	18249	0.1	0.2	50% C2H7	10%-30%	12
27	Ethylene based test	18253	0.1	0.2	50% C2H8	15%-30%	14
28	Ethylene based test	18257	0.1	0.2	50% C2H9	15%-20%	15
29	Improved coflow tests	21041	0.2	0.2	30% C2H4	0%-30%	9
30	Improved coflow tests	21046	0.2	0.2	30% C2H5	15%-20%	16
31	Improved coflow tests	21050	0.2	0.2	40% CH4	20%-40%	16
32	Improved coflow tests	21062	0.2	0.2	40% CH5	30%-40%	11