甲烷/空气预混射流火焰的大涡模拟

在不同射流速度条件下,对甲烷/空气预混射流火焰进行了大涡模拟.甲烷/空气预混射流气体按化学当量比混合,计算采用两步简化反应机理和WALE亚格子湍流输运模型,3个算例下流场特征和火焰结构计算结果与前人实验结果一致,中心线轴向速度和温度场结果与实验数据相符.通过对不同Karlovitz数条件下甲烷/空气预混射流火焰结构进行分析,并计算Takeno指数,研究了湍流涡对预混火焰的影响.研究发现:在Ka100(Ka=37)条件下,预混射流火焰会出现预热区的增厚,放热区保持完整,湍流火焰保持为预混燃烧;在Ka100(Ka=112)条件下,湍流火焰进入分布反应区模式.Takeno指数显示,由于卷吸和小尺度涡的作用,湍流火焰出现局部的部分预混燃烧.甲烷/空气预混射流湍流火焰的大涡模拟证实了湍流火焰分布反应区模式的特点:未燃气体与燃后气体之间不再有明显的界面,火焰面模型不再适用;反应区增厚,放热区展宽,放热率降低;由于卷吸和小尺度涡对火焰的作用,湍流火焰局部出现部分预混燃烧;湍流火焰温度降低,放热区附近温度场趋向均匀.     

旋流数对燃烧不稳定性及NO_x生成的影响

采用大涡模拟方法分析了旋流数对燃气轮机燃烧室内预混燃烧不稳定性以及NO_x生成特性的影响.结果表明:增大旋流数使得流场的扩张角增大,中心回流区范围扩大,对燃烧产物的卷吸能力增强,预混段内温度升高,高温区范围扩大,有利于燃料气流的着火与稳定燃烧,火焰长度也有所缩短;旋流数为0.7时,流场中仅存在一个进动涡核,旋流数较大时,则出现2个明显的进动涡核;增大旋流数使得涡旋周期性的脱落频率增加,破碎位置向上游移动,同时由于火焰长度缩短,热释放区域相对更为集中,从而导致燃烧室内压力脉动频率及其对应的压力峰值增大;增大旋流数也使得火焰宽度增大,峰值温度有所降低,有利于控制NO_x排放体积分数.     

航空发动机燃烧室环境中非预混旋流火焰的标量特征

参考航空发动机燃烧室典型工况设计了微型模型非预混旋流燃烧室并进行了直接数值模拟,基于火焰因子对火焰标量特征进行了分析．研究发现,在非预混燃烧中,预混燃烧模态广泛存在且是放热的主要贡献者．不同工况中火焰面的分布位置和预混火焰的产生机制均存在显著差异．在贫燃工况中,火焰分布在内剪切层中,氧气优先向燃料侧输运从而在富燃料侧产生预混火焰;而在富燃工况中,火焰主要分布在外剪切层中,由于燃料中间产物优先向空气侧输运,预混火焰主要产生于富氧气侧．对标量通量的研究发现：非守恒标量(如YCO2)通量在各燃烧模态中均基本符合梯度假设;守恒标量(如混合分数Z)通量仅在预混燃烧模态中符合假设,在扩散火焰面附近不遵循这一假设．     

空燃比对燃气轮机燃烧室燃烧不稳定性影响的数值研究

针对某型燃气轮机旋流燃烧室,建立了全尺寸三维燃烧室数值模型,数值研究了空燃比对其扩散和预混燃烧稳定性的影响.结果表明,扩散燃烧模式下,保持燃烧室入口燃气总流量不变,空燃比变化对燃烧室压力脉动主频及燃烧稳定性影响较小.预混燃烧模式下,保持燃烧室入口燃气总流量不变,调整空燃比,燃烧室压力脉动振幅相对稳定;但空燃比增大,燃烧室压力脉动主频减小,燃烧不稳定增长时间缩短,燃烧稳定性相对变差;而空燃比降低,燃烧室压力脉动主频增加,燃烧不稳定增长时间增加,燃烧稳定性相对增强.     

非均匀入流部分预混射流火焰的大涡模拟

针对部分预混火焰的大涡模拟(LES)问题,通过采用基于反应-扩散流形(REDIM)方法和假定滤波概率密度函数(PFDF)构造的REDIM-PFDF亚网格燃烧模型,对悉尼大学及Sandia实验室联合测量的非均匀射流部分预混火焰(FJ200-5GP-Lr75-57)进行了大涡模拟研究.随后对该状态的火焰及流场结构进行了分析,并将计算结果与实验数据进行对比,研究表明,在所研究的部分预混火焰工况下,大涡模拟预测得到的温度、CO2、CO等组分与实验值吻合良好.这也进一步验证了REDIM-PFDF模型在计算部分预混燃烧方面的能力.     

当量比对甲烷预混低旋流燃烧的影响

通过实验和数值模拟的方法研究了甲烷/空气预混低旋流燃烧的流场结构及当量比对甲烷低旋流燃烧的影响.结果表明,甲烷/空气预混低旋流气流在喷嘴出口处扩张,形成有利于燃烧稳定的低速区;预混火焰"悬浮"于喷嘴上方,在剪切区的内侧,火焰呈W型;富燃时,随着当量比的增加,火焰的推举高度略有增加;甲烷/空气预混低旋流流场具有自相似性,无量纲轴向速度的径向分布几乎不受当量比的影响.同时,燃烧室出口的温度随着当量比的增加而增加,并且在当量比为0.8~1.4时变化较为明显,当量比超过1.4后,增加趋势变缓.     

贫燃预混旋流火焰的燃烧不稳定性

在低污染模型燃烧室上,从实验角度研究了常温常压下贫燃预混旋流火焰燃烧不稳定性.主要着眼于当量比、旋流数和掺混段结构对于燃烧不稳定性的影响.结果表明,当量比对燃烧的稳定性具有重要影响,随着当量比的提高,燃烧经历了稳定-不稳定-极限环,振荡的频率变化不大,而脉动压力幅值显著增大,最终达到极限环状态.旋流强度增大会导致压力脉动增大,进入不稳定的最小当量比降低.实验所采用的开孔掺混方式与开放式的自由混合方式相比,对燃烧不稳定压力脉动有减小的效果.     

零碳燃料对燃气锅炉燃烧过程调控作用

利用小型化模拟炉膛开展了零碳燃料氢气对燃气锅炉燃烧过程调控作用实验研究,研究了掺氢比对炉膛内部预混火焰宏观形态、炉膛温度均匀性、炉膛污染物排放规律的影响,并总结了CO及NO_x的排放规律。实验结果表明：随着预混当量比增加,纯甲烷火焰长度逐渐缩短;对于20%掺氢火焰,随着预混程度的提高,火焰长度降低明显;不同火焰条件下,炉膛温度只由燃烧功率控制;改变燃烧条件时,处于壁面附近位置的温度变化较为平稳,而靠近火焰处温度变化较大;天然气中掺入氢气,燃烧时可以有效降低未燃CO排放;在相同预混程度下,全局当量比减小导致未燃空气增加,热量被稀释,火焰温度降低,热力型NO_x的生成降低;随着掺氢比的增加,燃烧时火焰温度升高,导致热力型NO_x排放增加。     

CH_4/空气预混稀燃临吹熄火焰结构研究

预混稀燃是最具有前景代替传统扩散燃烧的清洁燃烧方式之一.然而,高速流动的预混稀燃中常出现低当量比下火焰吹熄的情况.吹熄给燃烧过程带来了极大的不稳定性.旋流和钝体是实际燃烧中常用的稳焰方式.吹熄的机理研究大多基于钝体或旋流火焰进行,但同时加入两者稳焰时的吹熄研究尚且不足.本研究基于OH-PLIF技术,在旋流加钝体稳焰下,针对CH_4/空气预混稀燃临熄火条件下的火焰面结构进行了测量和表征.研究表明,临熄火过程中火焰根部抬升逐渐增加,火焰面密度减小,火焰趋向于向回流区聚集.结果表明,火焰根部局部熄火对吹熄过程可能有重要影响,同时验证了未燃气回流促进吹熄的结论.     

生物乙醇喷雾蒸发和预混过程的数值模拟研究

基于生物乙醇燃料的贫燃预混、预蒸发燃烧技术(Lean Premixed Pervaporation,LPP),采用数值模拟方法,研究了预混室内生物乙醇雾化蒸发流场,分析了预热空气温度为500、600和1 000 K以及旋流数为0.47、0.8和1.41时的生物乙醇蒸发和气体混合特性的规律。研究表明:在LPP预混室旋流流场中,中心回流区宽度随预混室距离的增加先增大后减小,并且会受喷雾射流的影响拉伸变长,中心回流区随旋流强度的增大更贴近喷雾出口,角回流区的长度随旋流强度增大而缩短直至消失,旋流强度对液雾整体蒸发速率影响不大,但会影响液雾分布;进气温度增加会增大进气速度,提高液滴蒸发速率,缩短液雾炬长度;液滴蒸发过程存在一定程度上的压力振荡,会对LPP不稳定燃烧过程产生一定影响。     

A filtered-laminar-flame PDF sub-grid-scale closure for LES of premixed turbulent flames: II. Application to a stratified bluff-body burner

Large eddy simulation of the two stratified nonswirling configurations of the Cambridge burner studied by Sweeney et al. (2012) is presented. The sub-grid-scale combustion closure relies on a physical space filtering operation with a filter size determined locally depending on the resolved and sub-grid-scale flame properties, which is discussed in a companion paper. Similarly to the premixed configuration of the same burner, the modeling reproduces the differential diffusion effects leading to accumulation of carbon and an enhancement of mixture fraction in the recirculation zone, an effect that is less pronounced than in the fully lean premixed case, because of the modification of the topology of the reaction zone that is induced by the mixture stratification. The study of the LES combustion regimes shows that the reaction zones develop under a quite large range of flame topologies, from wrinkled flamelets up to thin reaction zones. Instantaneous and time-averaged LES data were analyzed to extract information concerning the degree of stratification and the orientation of flame and mixing vectors. A decomposition of the flame response into premixed, diffusion, and partially premixed flamelets is performed, to conclude that the premixed mode dominates close to the burner, with a partially premixed burning regime further downstream. Overall, the length scales associated with stratification were found to be much larger than that of the reaction zone and flame, resulting in a quasi-homogeneous propagation, predominantly in a back supported stratified combustion regime. Overall good agreement between simulation and measurements was obtained for either configurations.     

Hydrogen-air deflagrations in open atmosphere: Large eddy simulation analysis of experimental data

The largest known experiment on hydrogen-air deflagration in the open atmosphere has been analysed by means of the large eddy simulation (LES). The combustion model is based on the progress variable equation to simulate a premixed flame front propagation and the gradient method to decouple the physical combustion rate from numerical peculiarities. The hydrodynamic instability has been partially resolved by LES and unresolved effects have been modelled by Yakhot's turbulent premixed combustion model. The main contributor to high flame propagation velocity is the additional turbulence generated by the flame front itself. It has been modelled based on the maximum flame wrinkling factor predicted by Karlovitz et al. theory and the transitional distance reported by Gostintsev with colleagues. Simulations are in a good agreement with experimental data on flame propagation dynamics, flame shape, and outgoing pressure wave peaks and structure. The model is built from the first principles and no adjustable parameters were applied to get agreement with the experiment.     

A priori and a posteriori analyses of algebraic flame surface density modeling in the context of Large Eddy Simulation of turbulent premixed combustion

The flame surface density (FSD) based reaction rate closure is one of the most important methodologies of turbulent premixed flame modeling in the context of Large Eddy Simulations (LES). The transport equation for the Favre-filtered reaction progress variable needs closure of the filtered reaction rate and the subgrid scalar flux (SGSF). The SGSF in premixed turbulent flames has both gradient and countergradient components, where the former is typically modeled using eddy diffusivity and the latter can be modeled either on its own or in combination with the filtered reaction rate term using an appropriate wrinkling factor. The scope of the present work is to identify an explicit SGSF closure for the optimum performance in combination with an already established LES FSD model. The performance of different SGSF models for premixed turbulent combustion has been assessed recently by the authors using a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) database of freely propagating turbulent premixed flames with a range of different values of turbulent Reynolds number. The two most promising models have been implemented in the LES code. The modeling methodology identified based on a priori DNS analysis is assessed further a posteriori by comparing the LES simulation results of turbulent methane Bunsen flames with the well-documented experimental data. A significant change of the overall flame speed is not observed for different SGSF models. However, the flame shape and thickness respond to the modeling of SGSF. Considering the fact that the SGSF models have very different characteristics, the overall effect on the LES results in this work is smaller than expected. An extension of a previous a priori DNS analysis provides detailed explanations for the observed behavior.     

甲烷预混多喷嘴阵列燃烧器热声振荡模态实验研究

为研究燃气轮机模型燃烧室的非预混燃烧流场,采用大涡模拟方法分别结合火焰面生成流形模型（FGM）和部分预混稳态火焰面模型（PSFM）对甲烷/空气同轴射流非预混燃烧室开展了数值模拟研究,并与试验结果进行对比。结果表明：FGM所预测的速度分布、混合分数分布、燃烧产物及CO分布与试验结果更符合;两种模型均能捕捉到燃烧室中的火焰抬举现象;燃烧过程中的火焰结构较为复杂,同时存在预混燃烧区域和扩散燃烧区域,扩散燃烧主要分布在化学恰当比等值线附近,预混燃烧区域主要分布在贫油区。     

Experimental and numerical investigation of premixed flame propagation with distorted tulip shape in a closed duct

High-speed schlieren photography, pressure records and large eddy simulation (LES) model are used to study the shape changes, dynamics of premixed flame propagation and pressure build up in a closed duct. The study provides further understanding of the interaction between flame front, pressure wave and combustion-generated flow, especially when the flame acquires a “distorted tulip” shape. The Ulster multi-phenomena LES premixed combustion model is applied to gain an insight into the phenomenon of “distorted tulip” flame and explain the experimental observations. The model accounts for the effects of flow turbulence, turbulence generated by flame front itself, selective diffusion, and transient pressure and temperature on the turbulent burning velocity. The schlieren images show that the flame exhibits a salient “distorted tulip” shape with two secondary cusps superimposed onto the two original tulip lips. This curious flame shape appears after a well-pronounced classical tulip flame is formed. The dynamics of “distorted tulip” flame observed in the experiment is well reproduced by LES. The numerical simulations show that large-scale vortices are generated in the burnt gas after the formation of a classical tulip flame. The vortices remain in the proximity of the flame front and modify the flow field around the flame front. As a result, the flame front in the original cusp and near the sidewalls propagates faster than that close to the centre of the original tulip lips. The discrepancy in the flame propagation rate finally leads to the formation of the “distorted tulip” flame. The LES model validated previously against large-scale hydrogen/air deflagrations is successfully applied in this study to reproduce the dynamics of flame propagation and pressure build up in the small-scale duct. It is confirmed that grid resolution has an influence to a certain extent on the simulated combustion dynamics after the flame inversion.     

LES of a premixed jet flame DNS using a strained flamelet model

Turbulent premixed flames in the thin and broken reaction zones regimes are difficult to model with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) because turbulence strongly perturbs subfilter scale flame structures. This study addresses the difficulty by proposing a strained flamelet model for LES of high Karlovitz number flames. The proposed model extends a previously developed premixed flamelet approach to account for turbulence’s perturbation of subfilter premixed flame structures. The model describes combustion processes by solving strained premixed flamelets, tabulating the results in terms of a progress variable and a hydrogen radical, and invoking a presumed PDF framework to account for subfilter physics. The model is validated using two dimensional laminar flame studies, and is then tested by performing an LES of a premixed slot-jet direct numerical simulation (DNS). In the premixed regime diagram this slot-jet is found at the edge of the broken reaction zones regime. Comparisons of the DNS, the strained flamelet model LES, and an unstrained flamelet model LES confirm that turbulence perturbs flame structure to leading order effect, and that the use of an unstrained flamelet LES model under-predicts flame height. It is shown that the strained flamelet model captures the physics characterizing interactions of mixing and chemistry in highly turbulent regimes.     

Relevance of the Bray number in the small-scale modeling of turbulent premixed flames

The present study is devoted to the analysis of the influence of expansion phenomena on turbulent small scales in premixed reactive flows. It is shown that, under certain conditions, the expansion that takes place across wrinkled laminar flamelets can be sufficient to control the fluctuating velocity gradients and associated dissipation rate functions. These conditions are fixed by the respective values of a set of nondimensional parameters, namely the turbulence Reynolds number ReT, the Bray number, and the ratio between integral length scale of turbulence and thermal flame front thickness. A new criterion is introduced that makes it possible to delineate the influence of expansion phenomena on small-scale turbulent premixed reactive flows. The relevance of this criterion is analyzed in the light of experimental results represented in the classical diagram of combustion regime. The present analysis confirms that special care is required to represent and include the influence of expansion phenomena when using either RANS or LES closures to model turbulent premixed combustion.     

Large-eddy simulation of lean hydrogen–methane turbulent premixed flames in the methane-dominated regime

The application of large-eddy simulation (LES) to the prediction of H₂-enriched lean methane–air turbulent premixed combustion is considered. A presumed conditional moment (PCM) subfilter-scale combustion model is coupled with the flame prolongation of intrinsic low-dimensional manifold (FPI) chemistry tabulation technique. The LES and PCM-FPI modelling procedures are then applied to the prediction of laboratory-scale axisymmetric Bunsen-type turbulent premixed flames. Both premixed methane–air and H₂-enriched methane–air flames are considered and the predicted solutions are examined and compared to available experimental data. The enriched flame has 20% H₂ in terms of mole fraction and lies in the methane-dominated regime of hydrogen–methane mixtures. The LES simulations predict similar qualitative trends to those found in the experiments for flame height and curvature. The addition of H₂ decreases the flame height and broadens the curvature probability density functions, which show a Gaussian-type shape centred around zero. Moreover, the enriched flame displays a higher degree of wrinkling with sharper ridges of negative curvature and larger pockets of positive curvature. Overall, the proposed treatment for the PCM-FPI combustion model, in terms of progress variable and tabulated data, seems to perform well for the H₂-enriched methane flame in the methane-dominated regime.     

DNS of a premixed turbulent V flame and LES of a ducted flame using a FSD-PDF subgrid scale closure with FPI-tabulated chemistry

Two complementary simulations of premixed turbulent flames are discussed. Low Reynolds number two-dimensional direct numerical simulation of a premixed turbulent V flame is first performed, to further analyze the behavior of various flame quantities and to study key ingredients of premixed turbulent combustion modeling. Flame surface density, subgrid-scale variance of progress variables, and unresolved turbulent fluxes are analyzed. These simulations include fully detailed chemistry from a flame-generated tabulation (FPI) and the analysis focuses on the dynamics of the thin flame front. Then, a novel subgrid scale closure for large eddy simulation of premixed turbulent combustion (FSD-PDF) is proposed. It combines the flame surface density (FSD) approach with a presumed probability density function (PDF) of the progress variable that is used in FPI chemistry tabulation. The FSD is useful for introducing in the presumed PDF the influence of the spatially filtered thin reaction zone evolving within the subgrid. This is achieved via the exact relation between the PDF and the FSD. This relation involves the conditional filtered average of the magnitude of the gradient of the progress variable. In the modeling, this conditional filtered mean is approximated from the filtered gradient of the progress variable of the FPI laminar flame. Balance equations providing mean and variance of the progress variable together with the measure of the filtered gradient are used to presume the PDF. A three-dimensional larger Reynolds number flow configuration (ORACLES experiment) is then computed with FSD-PDF and the results are compared with measurements.     

A general flamelet transformation useful for distinguishing between premixed and non-premixed modes of combustion

The flame index was originally proposed by Yamashita et al. as a method of locally distinguishing between premixed and non-premixed combustion. Although this index has been applied both passively in the analysis of direct numerical simulation data, and actively using single step combustion models, certain limitations restrict its use in more detailed combustion models. In this work a general flamelet transformation that holds in the limits of both premixed and non-premixed combustion is developed. This transformation makes use of two statistically independent variables: a mixture fraction and a reaction progress parameter. The transformation is used to produce a model for distinguishing between premixed and non-premixed combustion regimes. The new model locally examines the term budget of the general flamelet transformation. The magnitudes of each of the terms in the budget are calculated and compared to the chemical source term. Determining whether a flame burns in a premixed or a non-premixed regime then amounts to determining which sets of these terms most significantly contribute to balancing the source term. The model is tested in a numerical simulation of a laminar triple flame, and is compared to a recent manifestation of the flame index approach. Additionally, the model is applied in a presumed probability density function (PDF) large eddy simulation (LES) of a lean premixed swirl burner. The model is used to locally select whether tabulated premixed or tabulated non-premixed chemistry should be referenced in the LES. Results from the LES are compared to experiments.