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Simulations of flame propagation during the ignition process in an annular multiple-injector combustor

Dongmei Zhao (Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China and School of Computer Science and Technology, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, China)
Yifan Xia (School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China)
Haiwen Ge (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA)
Qizhao Lin (Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China)
Jianfeng Zou (School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China)
Gaofeng Wang (School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China)

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow

ISSN: 0961-5539

Article publication date: 9 April 2019

Issue publication date: 11 June 2019

317

Abstract

Purpose

Ignition process is a critical issue in combustion systems. It is particularly important for reliability and safety prospects of aero-engine. This paper aims to numerically investigate the burner-to-burner propagation during ignition process in a full annular multiple-injector combustor and then validate it by comparing with experimental results.

Design/methodology/approach

The annular multiple-injector experimental setup features 16 swirling injectors and two quartz tubes providing optical accesses to high-speed imaging of flames. A Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes model, adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) and complete San Diego chemistry are used to predict the ignition process.

Findings

The ignition process shows an overall agreement with experiment. The integrated heat release rate of simulation and the integrated light intensity of experiment is also within reasonable agreement. The flow structure and flame propagation dynamics are carefully analyzed. It is found that the flame fronts propagate symmetrically at an early stage and asymmetrically near merging stage. The flame speed slows down before flame merging. Overall, the numerical results show that the present numerical model can reliably predict the flame propagation during the ignition process.

Originality/value

The dedicated AMR method together with detailed chemistry is used for predicting the unsteady ignition procedure in a laboratory-scale annular combustor for the first time. The validation shows satisfying agreements with the experimental investigations. Some details of flow structures are revealed to explain the characteristics of unsteady flame propagations.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of Convergent Science Inc. to this research by providing free academic license. The authors acknowledge the High-Performance Computing Center at Texas Tech University at Lubbock for providing HPC resources that have contributed to the research results reported within this paper. This research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No.91541108) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.2017FZA4032 and 2017XZZX008-04).

Citation

Zhao, D., Xia, Y., Ge, H., Lin, Q., Zou, J. and Wang, G. (2019), "Simulations of flame propagation during the ignition process in an annular multiple-injector combustor", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 1947-1964. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-08-2018-0432

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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