A level set formulation for premixed combustion LES considering the turbulent flame structure

In this paper, a consistent and rigorous formulation is developed for the coupling of the G-equation model to an LES flow solver that describes the interactions of the scales of the flame, the turbulence, and the filtering procedure from the resolved turbulence regime to the broadened preheat regions regime. A progress variable equation is introduced to describe the filtered flame structure. The models provided for the sub-filter diffusivity and the filtered reaction term appearing in this equation are consistent with the solution of the G-equation model. The solution of the progress variable equation ensures that the resolved part of the turbulent mixing in the preheat region can be described. However, the C-field is underresolved if the sub-filter Damköhler number is not much smaller than unity, and hence the solution of the C-equation cannot be expected to produce the correct flame propagation speed. The coupling with the G-equation ensures that the flame front described by the filtered reaction progress variable moves with the correct propagation velocity, independent of numerical diffusion caused by an underresolution of the flame. Formulations both for low-Mach number flow solvers and for fully compressible solvers are presented. To validate the formulation, the model is applied in compressible LES of two turbulent flames anchored by a triangular flame-holder. For the statistically stationary case, the mean and RMS progress variable are in very good agreement with experimental data, demonstrating that the model correctly reproduces the flame anchoring and the flame-turbulence interactions in the recirculation zone. For the acoustically pulsed case, the LES fields show the same large scale fluctuations that are present in the experimental data.     

Effect of free stream turbulence on NOx and soot formation in turbulent diffusion CH4-air flames

A two-dimensional axisymmetric RANS numerical model was solved to investigate the effect of increasing the turbulence intensity of the air stream on the NOx and soot formation in turbulent methane diffusion flames. The turbulence–combustion interaction in the flame field was modelled in a k − ε/EDM framework, while the NO and soot concentrations were predicted through implementing the extended Zildovich mechanism and two transport equations model, respectively. The predicted spatial temperature gradients showed acceptable agreement with published experimental measurements. It was found that the increase of free stream turbulence intensity of the air supply results in a significant reduction in the NO formation of the flame. Such phenomenon is discussed by depicting the spatial distribution of the NO concentration in the flame. An observable reduction of the soot formation was also found to be associated with the increase of inlet turbulence intensity of air stream.     

Turbulence effects on cellular burning structures in lean premixed hydrogen flames

We present numerical simulations of lean hydrogen flames interacting with turbulence. The simulations are performed in an idealized setting using an adaptive low Mach number model with a numerical feedback control algorithm to stabilize the flame. At the conditions considered here, hydrogen flames are thermodiffusively unstable, and burn in cellular structures. For that reason, we consider two levels of turbulence intensity and a case without turbulence whose dynamics is driven by the natural flame instability. An overview of the flame structure shows that the burning in the cellular structures is quite intense, with the burning patches separated by regions in which the flame is effectively extinguished. We explore the geometry of the flame surface in detail, quantifying the mean and Gaussian curvature distributions and the distribution of the cell sizes. We next characterize the local flame speed to quantify the effect of flame intensification on local propagation speed. We then introduce several diagnostics aimed at quantifying both the level of intensification and diffusive mechanisms that lead to the intensification.     

A DNS study of hydrogen/air swirling premixed flames with different equivalence ratios

Hydrogen/air swirling premixed flames with different equivalence ratios are studied using direct numerical simulation. A fourth-order explicit Runge–Kutta method for time integration and an eighth-order central differencing scheme for spatial discretization are used to solve the full Navier–Stokes (N–S) equation system. A 9 species 19-step reduced mechanism for hydrogen/air combustion is adopted. The flames are stabilized with the help of a recirculation zone characterizing a high swirling flow. The vortex structures of the swirling premixed flames are presented. The flame structures are investigated in terms of the flame front curvature and tangential strain rate probability density functions (pdfs). The local flamelet temperature profiles are also extracted randomly along the flame front and compared with the corresponding laminar flame temperature profile. In order to study preferential diffusion effects, direct numerical simulation of two additional freely propagating planar flames in isotropic turbulence is conducted. Preferential diffusion effects observed in the planar flames are suppressed in the swirling flames. Further analysis confirms that the coherent small-scale eddies play important roles in the interactions between turbulence and the flame front. They are able to change the dynamic properties of the flame font and lead to enhanced burning intensity in the flame front with negative curvature for both stoichiometric and fuel-lean flames.     

Numerical simulation of high-pressure hydrogen jet flames during bonfire test

Characteristics of high-pressure hydrogen jet flames resulting from ignition of hydrogen discharge during the bonfire test of composite hydrogen storage vessels are studied. Firstly, a 3-D numerical model is established based on the species transfer model and SST k − ω turbulence model to study the high-pressure hydrogen jet flow. It is revealed that under-expanded jets are formed after the high-pressure hydrogen discharging from the vessel. Secondly, the mathematical methods are adopted to study the high-pressure hydrogen jet flames. The effects of pressure, initial temperature and the nozzle diameter on the jet flames are investigated. The results show that the jet flame length increases with the increase of discharge pressure, but decreases with the increase of nozzle diameter and temperature difference between the filling hydrogen temperature and the environment temperature. Finally, the simulation models are established to study the characteristics of hydrogen jet flames in an open space. The effects of barrier walls on the distribution of jet flames are also studied. The results show that the barrier walls can greatly reduce the damage from hydrogen jet flames to testers and properties around.     

Validation of leading point concept in RANS simulations of highly turbulent lean syngas-air flames with well-pronounced diffusional-thermal effects

While significant increase in turbulent burning rate in lean premixed flames of hydrogen or hydrogen-containing fuel blends is well documented in various experiments and can be explained by highlighting local diffusional-thermal effects, capabilities of the vast majority of available models of turbulent combustion for predicting this increase have not yet been documented in numerical simulations. To fill this knowledge gap, a well-validated Turbulent Flame Closure (TFC) model of the influence of turbulence on premixed combustion, which, however, does not address the diffusional-thermal effects, is combined with the leading point concept, which highlights strongly perturbed leading flame kernels whose local structure and burning rate are significantly affected by the diffusional-thermal effects. More specifically, within the framework of the leading point concept, local consumption velocity is computed in extremely strained laminar flames by adopting detailed combustion chemistry and, subsequently, the computed velocity is used as an input parameter of the TFC model. The combined model is tested in RANS simulations of highly turbulent, lean syngas-air flames that were experimentally investigated at Georgia Tech. The tests are performed for four different values of the inlet rms turbulent velocities, different turbulence length scales, normal and elevated (up to 10 atm) pressures, various H₂/CO ratios ranging from 30/70 to 90/10, and various equivalence ratios ranging from 0.40 to 0.80. All in all, the performed 33 tests indicate that the studied combination of the leading point concept and the TFC model can predict well-pronounced diffusional-thermal effects in lean highly turbulent syngas-air flames, with these results being obtained using the same value of a single constant of the combined model in all cases. In particular, the model well predicts a significant increase in the bulk turbulent consumption velocity when increasing the H₂/CO ratio but retaining the same value of the laminar flame speed.     

DNS of spark ignition and edge flame propagation in turbulent droplet-laden mixing layers

A parametric study of forced ignition at the mixing layer between air and air carrying fine monosized fuel droplets is done through one-step chemistry direct numerical simulations to determine the influence of the size and volatility of the droplets, the spark location, the droplet-air mixing layer initial thickness and the turbulence intensity on the ignition success and the subsequent flame propagation. The propagation is analyzed in terms of edge flame displacement speed, which has not been studied before for turbulent edge spray flames. Spark ignition successfully resulted in a tribrachial flame if enough fuel vapour was available at the spark location, which occurred when the local droplet number density was high. Ignition was achieved even when the spark was offset from the spray, on the air side, due to the diffusion of heat from the spark, provided droplets evaporated rapidly. Large kernels were obtained by sparking close to the spray, since fuel was more readily available. At long times after the spark, for all flames studied, the probability density function of the displacement speed was wide, with a mean value in the range 0.55-0.75S_L, with S_L the laminar burning velocity of a stoichiometric gaseous premixed flame. This value is close to the mean displacement speed in turbulent edge flames with gaseous fuel. The displacement speed was negatively correlated with curvature. The detrimental effect of curvature was attenuated with a large initial kernel and by increasing the thickness of the mixing layer. The mixing layer was thicker when evaporation was slow and the turbulence intensity higher. However, high turbulence intensity also distorted the kernel which could lead to high values of curvature. The edge flame reaction component increased when the maximum temperature coincided with the stoichiometric contour. The results are consistent with the limited available experimental evidence and provide insights into the processes associated with ignition of practical spray flames.     

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.     

LES–ODT study of turbulent premixed interacting flames

The LES–ODT model is implemented for the study of twin turbulent premixed flames in decaying isotropic turbulence. The approach is based on the coupling of large-eddy simulation (LES) for mass and momentum with a fixed 3D lattice of 1D fine-grained solutions based on the one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model. The ODT solutions for momentum and reactive scalars are designed to capture subgrid scale physics that is not captured by LES. The LES–ODT formulation is capable of capturing important fine-scale processes, such as flame–flame interactions, which play an important role in flame shortening in turbulent premixed flames, and the role of preferential diffusion on curved flames’ structures.     

Measurement of the instantaneous flame front structure of syngas turbulent premixed flames at high pressure

Instantaneous flame front structure of syngas turbulent premixed flames including the local radius of curvature, the characteristic radius of curvature, the fractal inner cutoff scale and the local flame angle were derived from the experimental OH-PLIF images. The CO/H₂/CO₂/air flames as a model of syngas/air combustion were investigated at pressure of 0.5 MPa and compared to that of CH₄/air flames. The convex and concave structures of the flame front were detected and statistical analysis including the PDF and ADF of the local radius of curvature and local flame angle were conducted. Results show that the flame front of turbulent premixed flames at high pressure is a wrinkled flame front with small scale convex and concave structures superimposed with large scale flame branches. The convex structures are much more frequent than the concave ones on flame front which reflects a general characteristic of the turbulent premixed flames at high pressure. The syngas flames possess much wrinkled flame front with much smaller fine cusps structure compared to that of CH₄/air flames and the main difference is on the convex structure. The effect of turbulence on the general wrinkled scale of flame front is much weaker than that of the smallest wrinkled scale. The general wrinkled scale is mainly dominated by the turbulence vortex scale, while, the smallest wrinkled scale is strongly affected by the flame intrinsic instability. The effect of flame intrinsic instability on flame front of turbulent premixed flame is mainly on the formation of a large number of convex structure propagating to the unburned reactants and enlarge the effective contact surface between flame front and unburned reactants.     

Can we characterize turbulence in premixed flames?

Modeling of premixed turbulent combustion involves averaging reaction rates in turbulent flows. The focus of most approaches to resolving this problem has been placed on determining the dependence of the mean rate of product creation on the laminar flame speed SL, the rms turbulence velocity u^′, etc. The goal of the present work is to draw attention to another issue: May the input quantity u^′ for a model of be considered to be known? The point is that heat release substantially affects turbulence and, hence, turbulence characteristics in premixed flames should be modeled. However, standard moment methods for numerically simulating turbulent flows do not allow us to evaluate the true turbulence characteristics in a flame. For instance, the Reynolds stresses in premixed flames are affected not only by turbulence itself, but also by velocity jump across flamelets. A common way to resolving this problem consists of considering the Reynolds stresses conditioned on unburned (or burned) mixture to be the true turbulence characteristics. In the present paper, this widely accepted but never proved hypothesis is put into question, first, by considering simple model constant-density problems (flame motion in an oscillating one-dimensional laminar flow; flame stabilized in a periodic shear, one-dimensional, laminar flow; turbulent mixing). In all the cases, the magnitude of velocity fluctuations, calculated using the conditioned Reynolds stresses, is affected by the intermittency of reactants and products and, hence, is not the true rms velocity. Second, the above claim is further supported by comparing balance equations for the mean and conditioned Reynolds stresses. The conditioned Reynolds stresses do not characterize the true turbulence in flames, because conditional averaging cuts off flow regions characterized by either high or low velocities.     

耦合天然气详细反应机理的三维湍流预混火焰结构数值预测

以具有279机理的天然气燃烧为例,分别采用涡耗散概念EDC湍流燃烧模型、修正的涡旋破碎EBU湍流燃烧模型以及基于时均值的Arrhenius关系,对燃烧室内复杂的湍流反应流进行了三维数值模拟,并对预测结果进行了分析．结果表明,EDC模型可以较好地反映湍流化学作用,并且能够较好地描述各基元反应,从而为工程实际复杂燃烧情况下其有害排放、中间物质、自由基和痕迹物质生成机理的研究提供基础。     

Modelling and simulation of lean premixed turbulent methane/hydrogen/air flames with an effective Lewis number approach

Recent work on reaction modelling of turbulent lean premixed combustion has shown a significant influence of the Lewis number even at high turbulence intensities, if different fuels and varied pressure is regarded. This was unexpected, as the Lewis number is based on molecular transport quantities (ratio of molecular thermal diffusivity to mass diffusivity), while highly turbulent flames are thought to be dominated from turbulent mixing and not from molecular transport. A simple physical picture allows an explanation, assuming that essentially the leading part of the wrinkled flame front determines the flame propagation and the average reaction rate, while the rear part of the flame is of reduced importance here (determining possibly the burnout process and the flame brush thickness but not the flame propagation). Following this argumentation, mostly positively curved flame elements determine the flame propagation and the average reaction rate, where the influence of the preferential molecular diffusion and the Lewis number can easily seen to be important. Additionally, an extension of this picture allows a simple derivation of an effective Lewis number relation for lean hydrogen/methane mixtures. The applicability and the limit of this concept is investigated for two sets of flames: turbulent pressurized Bunsen flames, where hydrogen content and pressure is varied (from CNRS Orléans), and highly turbulent pressurized dump combustor flames where the hydrogen content is varied (from PSI Baden). For RANS simulations, comparison of flame length data between experiment and an effective Lewis number model shows a very good agreement for all these flames with hydrogen content of the fuel up to 20 vol.%, and even rather good agreement for 30% and 40% hydrogen.     

Effects of the external turbulence on centrally-ignited spherical unstable Ch4/H2/air flames in the constant-volume combustion bomb

In the present study, we conducted experiments to investigate the effects of external turbulence on the development of spherical H₂/CH₄/air unstable flames developments at two different equivalence ratios associated with different turbulent intensities using a spherical constant-volume turbulent combustion bomb and high speed schlieren photography technology. Flame front morphology and acceleration process were recorded and different effects of weak external turbulent flow field and intrinsic flame instability on the unstable flame propagation were compared. Results showed the external turbulence has a great influence on the unstable flame propagation under rich fuel conditions. For fuel-lean premixed flames, however, the effects of external turbulence on the morphology of the cellular structure on the flame front was not that obvious. Critical radius decreased firstly and then kept almost unchanged with the augment of the turbulence intensity. This indicated the dominating inhibiting effect of flame stretch on the turbulent premixed flame at the initial stage of the flame front development. Beyond the critical radius, the acceleration exponent was found increasing with the enhancement of initial turbulence intensity for fuel-lean premixed flames. For fuel-rich conditions, however, the initial turbulence intensity had little effect on acceleration exponent. In order to evaluate the important impact of the intrinsic flame instability and external turbulent flow field for spherical propagating premixed flames, intrinsic flame instability scale and average diameter of vortex tube were calculated. Intrinsic flame instability scale decreased greatly and then stayed unchanged with the propagation of the flame front. The comparison between intrinsic flame instability scale and average diameter of vortex tube demonstrated that the external turbulent flow filed will be more important for the evolution of wrinkle structure in the final stage of the flame propagation, when the turbulence intensity was more than 0.404 m/s.     

Direct comparison of turbulent burning velocity and flame surface properties in turbulent premixed flames

Direct comparison of the turbulent burning velocity (obtained from flame speeds) to the flame perimeter ratio has been made in turbulent premixed flames propagating freely downward for propane/air mixtures at various equivalence ratios, with u′/S_L of ranging from 1.4 to 5.3. The turbulent flame speed ranged from 2.6 to about 7 times the laminar flame speed at high turbulence intensities, while the flame perimeter ratio ranges from 1.4 to 3.3. In the current freely propagating flames, the global flame curvature can lead to an enhancement of the flame speed by a factor of up to 3.5. This global flame curvature is attributable to the wall heat loss in the current burner configuration, and flame brush thickness has been used as a measure of the global flame curvature. For flames involving coupling of the globally curved flame geometry with flow divergence or any flow non-uniformity, correcting for this geometrical effect requires a careful consideration of the flame topology and flow field. The difference between the observed flame speed and the 2-D flame perimeter ratio, after correcting for the global flame curvature effect, is attributed to the fact that the flame wrinkles in three-dimensions are associated with a larger flame surface area than that determined from the flame perimeter ratio data. This also points to a need to better understand the 3-D geometrical effects including the global flame curvature and the local flame wrinkle structure in turbulent premixed flames. The observed turbulent flame speed data for the most part follow the flame speed models of Bray and Damkohler, wherein the flame surface area increase is modeled as a function of turbulence and thermochemical properties. The above results, taken together, indicate that the fundamental assumption that the turbulent flame speed depends primarily on the increased flame surface area is valid. This concept can be used to estimate the turbulent flame speed within reasonable accuracy provided that the 3-D flame effects associated with the global flame curvature and local flame wrinkle structure are considered.Keywords: Turbulent premixed flames, Flame speed, Flame surface, Burning velocity     

Investigations of swirl flames in a gas turbine model combustor: II. Turbulence–chemistry interactions

The thermochemical states of three swirling CH₄/air diffusion flames, stabilized in a gas turbine model combustor, were investigated using laser Raman scattering. The flames were operated at different thermal powers and air/fuel ratios and exhibited different flame behavior with respect to flame instabilities. They had previously been characterized with respect to their flame structures, velocity fields, and mean values of temperature, major species concentrations, and mixture fraction. The single-pulse multispecies measurements presented in this article revealed very rapid mixing of fuel and air, accompanied by strong effects of turbulence–chemistry interactions in the form of local flame extinction and ignition delay. Flame stabilization is accomplished mainly by hot and relatively fuel-rich combustion products, which are transported back to the flame root within an inner recirculation zone. The flames are not attached to the fuel nozzle, and are stabilized approximately 10 mm above the fuel nozzle, where fuel and air are partially premixed before ignition. The mixing and reaction progress in this area are discussed in detail. The flames are short (<50 mm), especially that exhibiting thermoacoustic oscillations, and reach a thermochemical state close to adiabatic equilibrium at the flame tip. The main goals of this article are to outline results that yield deeper insight into the combustion of gas turbine flames and to establish an experimental database for the validation of numerical models.     

Experimental and numerical analyses of the combustion characteristics of Mg/PTFE/Viton fuel-rich pyrolants in the atmospheric environment

Abstract

Magnesium/polytetrafluoroethylene/Viton (MTV) fuel-rich pyrolants use the atmospheric oxygen as a complementary oxidizer to sustain and alter the performance of the combustion reaction. The flame diffusion characteristics of MTV fuel-rich pyrolants in the atmospheric environment are studied by a high-speed camera (HSC). The flame temperature and combustion components are measured by using remote sensing Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR). In order to obtain the combustion component distribution more accurately, an aerobic combustion model containing the oxidation reaction of the excess reactant Mg and carbonaceous species with O₂ is established in this study. Eddy dissipation concept (EDC) model is applied to the numerical simulation of the three dimensional anaerobic and aerobic combustion field coupled with Realizable k-ε two-equation turbulence model. The research results show that flame temperature is mainly contributed by anaerobic combustion reaction. The flame structure obtained by the aerobic combustion model is closer to the experimental results, and the result of component distribution calculated by aerobic combustion is more consistent with characteristic spectrum. Therefore, the aerobic combustion model is more suitable for describing the actual MTV flame, and the combustion field can be divided into an anaerobic core zone and an aerobic diffusion zone.     

Turbulent burning velocity of stoichiometric syngas flames with different hydrogen volumetric fractions upon constant-volume method with multi-zone model

Syngas has been widely concerned and tested in various thermo-power devices as one promising alternative fuel. However, little is known about the turbulent combustion characteristics, especially on outwardly propagating turbulent syngas/air premixed flames. In this paper, the outwardly propagating turbulent syngas/air premixed flames were experimentally investigated in a constant-volume fan-stirred vessel. Tests were conducted on stoichiometric syngas with different hydrogen volumetric fractions (X_H2, 10%–90%) in the ambience with different initial turbulence intensity (u'_rms, 0.100 m/s~1.309 m/s). Turbulent burning velocity was taken as the major topic to be studied upon the multi-zone model in constant-volume propagating flame method. The influences of initial turbulent intensity and hydrogen volumetric fraction on the turbulent flame speed were analysed and discussed. An explicit correlation of turbulent flame speed was obtained from the experimental results.     

Preferential diffusion effects on the burning rate of interacting turbulent premixed hydrogen-air flames

The upstream interaction of twin premixed hydrogen-air flames in 2-D turbulence is studied using direct numerical simulations with detailed chemistry. The primary objective is to determine the effect of flame stretch on the overall burning rate during various stages of the interaction. Preferential diffusion effects are accounted for by varying the equivalence ratio from symmetric rich-rich to lean-lean interactions. The results show that the local flame front response to turbulence is consistent with previous understanding of laminar premixed flames, in that rich premixed flames become intensified in regions of negative strain or curvature, while the opposite response is found for lean premixed flames. The overall burning rate history with respect to the surface density variation is found to depend on the mixture condition; the consumption rate enhancement advances (follows) the surface enhancement for the rich-rich (lean-lean) case. For the lean-lean case, a self-turbulization mechanism results in a large positive skewness in the area-weighted mean tangential strain statistics. Because of the statistical dominance of positive stretch on the flame surface, the lean-lean case results in a significantly larger burning enhancement (over a twofold increase) in addition to the surface density production. For the case of rich-rich interaction, the abundance in hydrogen species results in an instantaneous overshoot of the radical pool in the post-flame region, resulting in an additional “burst” in the reactant consumption rate history, suggesting its potential impact on the pollutant formation process.