Flame emission spectroscopy analysis of distributed liquid fuel combustion

•FES analysis of distributed and reference flames (V, straight) are presented.•Distributed flames occupy a large volume in the chamber with no typical shape.•Equivalence ratio control by radical ratio is cumbersome for distributed flames.•The reaction zone of distributed flames starts 50 mm downstream in our burner.•Axial and spatial OH*, CH*, C2*, two H2O*, and O2* distribution are presented.