The ame behaviour and the lean blow-o (LBO) mechanism of a multi-burner linear arrangement of ve identical burners each tted with a central blu body and a swirler upstream, operated in either premixed or non-premixed mode, was studied experimentally. The ame stability was assessed over a wide range of velocities. High-speed (5 kHz) OH chemiluminescence and low-speed (10 Hz) CH2O-PLIF were employed. As the velocity increased, the premixed ame exhibited a shape change with signi cant CH2O build up in the region between adjacent burners, suggesting the presence of localised quenching where the

ames interact. Close to LBO, the ame showed a pattern of lift-o and reattachment over individual blu bodies, with movement of OH and CH2O pockets across the burners. The non-premixed ame was shorter and showed less visible interaction between adjacent burners. When the fuel velocity was reduced, the ame showed intermittent blow-o /reignition prior to the complete extinction. The ame shapes and stability regions were compiled in a regime diagram and compared to a full annular combustor that used the same individual burners. Finally, the LBO conditions were correlated through a Damkh oler number (Da) based on laminar ame speed and compared to the annular combustor and a scaled-up single burner. In the premixed ame, the linear multi-burner LBO conditions agreed with those in the annular geometry when expressed in terms of Da, but the single burner did not. For the non-premixed ame, the correlation proved less successful. The results reported here improve the understanding of the LBO process in practical systems and can assist the development of turbulent ame models.