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Article
Publication date: 30 October 2020

Nikhil Kalkote, Ashwani Assam and Vinayak Eswaran

The purpose of this study is to present and demonstrate a numerical method for solving chemically reacting flows. These are important for energy conversion devices, which rely on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to present and demonstrate a numerical method for solving chemically reacting flows. These are important for energy conversion devices, which rely on chemical reactions as their operational mechanism, with heat generated from the combustion of the fuel, often gases, being converted to work.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical study of such flows requires the set of Navier-Stokes equations to be extended to include multiple species and the chemical reactions between them. The numerical method implemented in this study also accounts for changes in the material properties because of temperature variations and the process to handle steep spatial fronts and stiff source terms without incurring any numerical instabilities. An all-speed numerical framework is used through simple low-dissipation advection upwind splitting (SLAU) convective scheme, and it has been extended in a multi-component species framework on the in-house density-based flow solver. The capability of solving turbulent combustion is also implemented using the Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) framework and the recent k-kl turbulence model.

Findings

The numerical implementation has been demonstrated for several stiff problems in laminar and turbulent combustion. The laminar combustion results are compared from the corresponding results from the Cantera library, and the turbulent combustion computations are found to be consistent with the experimental results.

Originality/value

This paper has extended the single gas density-based framework to handle multi-component gaseous mixtures. This paper has demonstrated the capability of the numerical framework for solving non-reacting/reacting laminar and turbulent flow problems. The all-speed SLAU convective scheme has been extended in the multi-component species framework, and the turbulent model k-kl is used for turbulent combustion, which has not been done previously. While the former method provides the capability of solving for low-speed flows using the density-based method, the later is a length-scale-based method that includes scale-adaptive simulation characteristics in the turbulence modeling. The SLAU scheme has proven to work well for unsteady flows while the k-kL model works well in non-stationary turbulent flows. As both these flow features are commonly found in industrially important reacting flows, the convection scheme and the turbulence model together will enhance the numerical predictions of such flows.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1998

Shu‐Hao Chuang, Zuu‐Chang Hong and Jhy‐Horng Wang

A turbulent kinetic theory due to Chung and a Green’s function method by Hong were employed to solve a reacting turbulent plane jet problem. An instantaneous mixing concept was…

Abstract

A turbulent kinetic theory due to Chung and a Green’s function method by Hong were employed to solve a reacting turbulent plane jet problem. An instantaneous mixing concept was used to simulate the steady state of turbulent plane jet with combustion. The probability density function description of the fluid elements in a turbulent reacting flow could properly explain the turbulent flame zone structure and the turbulent transport of heat, momentum and chemical species even under the infinitely fast reaction rate assumption. The calculated distributions of the various moments of the turbulent combustion field were found in good agreement with the available experimental data. The dynamic behaviour of combustion in the turbulent field could be better understood via the probability density function description of the present turbulent kinetic theory approach.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 March 2020

Hamidreza Khodayari, Fathollah Ommi and Zoheir Saboohi

The purpose of this paper is to review the applications of the chemical reactor network (CRN) approach for modeling the combustion in gas turbine combustors and classify the CRN…

612

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the applications of the chemical reactor network (CRN) approach for modeling the combustion in gas turbine combustors and classify the CRN construction methods that have been frequently used by researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper initiates with introducing the CRN approach as a practical tool for precisely predicting the species concentrations in the combustion process with lower computational costs. The structure of the CRN and its elements as the ideal reactors are reviewed in recent studies. Flow field modeling has been identified as the most important input for constructing the CRNs; thus, the flow field modeling methods have been extensively reviewed in previous studies. Network approach, component modeling approach and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), as the main flow field modeling methods, are investigated with a focus on the CRN applications. Then, the CRN construction approaches are reviewed and categorized based on extracting the flow field required data. Finally, the most used kinetics and CRN solvers are reviewed and reported in this paper.

Findings

It is concluded that the CRN approach can be a useful tool in the entire process of combustion chamber design. One-dimensional and quasi-dimensional methods of flow field modeling are used in the construction of the simple CRNs without detailed geometry data. This approach requires fewer requirements and is used in the initial combustor designing process. In recent years, using the CFD approach in the construction of CRNs has been increased. The flow field results of the CFD codes processed to create the homogeneous regions based on construction criteria. Over the past years, several practical algorithms have been proposed to automatically extract reactor networks from CFD results. These algorithms have been developed to identify homogeneous regions with a high resolution based on the splitting criteria.

Originality/value

This paper reviews the various flow modeling methods used in the construction of the CRNs, along with an overview of the studies carried out in this field. Also, the usual approaches for creating a CRN and the most significant achievements in this field are addressed in detail.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 92 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2013

Jih Lung Lin

Low combustion completeness has been the main defect of hybrid rockets. The present study tries to address the problem by bringing up the setup of the precombustion zone, which do…

Abstract

Purpose

Low combustion completeness has been the main defect of hybrid rockets. The present study tries to address the problem by bringing up the setup of the precombustion zone, which do not increase the manufacture cost and complexity.

Design/methodology/approach

A precombustion zone can provide a space for the liquid oxidizer to vaporize before entering the combustion zone, and prevents the endothermic effect of liquid oxidizer which can block the chemical reaction as well as the fuel regression. Therefore, this design is expected to raise the combustion completeness. The numerical simulation focuses on the flow field inside a cylindrical hybrid combustor. The distribution of temperature, combustion mode, mass fraction of reactants, velocity, combustion completeness, and solid‐fuel regression rate are presented.

Findings

With the setup of prevaporized zone of appropriate length, the upstream separation bubble which is unobvious for the case with no prevaporized zone can increase the mixing of reactants, and then increases the combustion completeness. Besides, the radial temperature distribution is more uniform. But when the length of prevaporized zone exceeds about one fourth of the combustor length, due to no enough space for the reactants to react, the combustion completeness begins to decrease and the radial temperature distribution becomes uneven. Therefore, a prevaporized zone with about 24 per cent of the combustor length can have optimum combustion completeness in the present study.

Originality/value

This study provides a useful design to raise the combustion completeness of a traditional hybrid rocket. However, the manufacture cost and complexity are not increased. So the results can be a good reference for the hybrid rocket designers.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 85 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2021

Lei Pang, Qianran Hu and Kai Yang

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the harm to personnel and equipment caused by an external explosion during natural gas explosion venting. The external explosion…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the harm to personnel and equipment caused by an external explosion during natural gas explosion venting. The external explosion characteristics induced by the indoor natural gas explosion are the focal points of the investigation.

Design/methodology/approach

Computational fluid dynamics technology was used to investigate the large-scale explosion venting process of natural gas in a 6 × 3 × 2.5 m room, and the characteristics of external explosion under different scaled vent size (Kv = Av/V2/3, 0.05, 0.08, 0.13, 0.18) were numerically analyzed.

Findings

When Kv = 0.08, the length and duration of the explosion fireball are 13.39 and 450 ms, respectively, which significantly expands the degree and range of high-temperature hazards. The suitable flow-field structure causes the external explosion overpressure to be more than twice that indoors, i.e. the natural gas explosion venting overpressure may be considerably more hazardous in an outdoor environment than inside a room. A specific range for the Kv can promote the superposition of outdoor rupture waves and explosion shock waves, thereby creating a new overpressure hazard.

Originality/value

Little attention has been devoted to investigating systematically the external explosion hazards. Based on the numerical simulation and the analysis, the external explosion characteristics induced by the indoor large-scale gas explosion were obtained. The research results are theoretically significant for mitigating the effects of external gas explosions on personnel and equipment.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1956

A.D.Y., H.B.H., D.B.S. and S.J.P.

The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn celebrated in 1955 its centenary and as part of the celebrations a Conference on High Speed Aeronautics was organized. In this book are…

Abstract

The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn celebrated in 1955 its centenary and as part of the celebrations a Conference on High Speed Aeronautics was organized. In this book are collected the lectures presented at the Conference. The list of lectures is impressive, whilst the lectures are all of great interest, many containing much that is new and fundamental in this ever‐expanding subject. As might be expected, most attention was focused on flight at very high Mach numbers and the aerodynamic and structural problems associated with kinetic heating effects, but that persistent source of problems, transonic flow, also received attention.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 28 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1953

EUGENE B. JACKSON

Aeronautical research scientists of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics have in the last six years indexed 7,070 non‐security classified NACA research reports under…

Abstract

Aeronautical research scientists of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics have in the last six years indexed 7,070 non‐security classified NACA research reports under 458 different subject classification headings for a total of 18,619 subject entries. They further face the task of subject classifying over 400 similar research reports per year, plus the large number of security classified reports issued annually.

Details

Aslib Proceedings, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

Alain Fossi and Alain DeChamplain

Safety improvement and pollutant reduction in many practical combustion systems and especially in aero-gas turbine engines require an adequate understanding of flame ignition and…

Abstract

Purpose

Safety improvement and pollutant reduction in many practical combustion systems and especially in aero-gas turbine engines require an adequate understanding of flame ignition and stabilization mechanisms. Improved software and hardware have opened up greater possibilities for translating basic knowledge and the results of experiments into better designs. The present study deals with the large eddy simulation (LES) of an ignition sequence in a conical shaped bluff-body stabilized burner involving a turbulent non-premixed flame. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of spark location on ignition success. Particular attention is paid to the ease of handling of the numerical tool, the computational cost and the accuracy of the results.

Design/methodology/approach

The discrete particle ignition kernel (DPIK) model is used to capture the ignition kernel dynamics in its early stage of growth after the breakdown period. The ignition model is coupled with two combustion models based on the mixture fraction-progress variable formulation. An infinitely fast chemistry assumption is first done, and the turbulent fluctuations of the progress variable are captured with a bimodal probability density function (PDF) in the line of the Bray–Moss–Libby (BML) model. Thereafter, a finite rate chemistry assumption is considered through the flamelet-generated manifold (FGM) method. In these two assumptions, the classical beta-PDF is used to model the temporal fluctuations of the mixture fraction in the turbulent flow. To model subgrid scale stresses and residual scalars fluxes, the wall-adapting local eddy (WALE) and the eddy diffusivity models are, respectively, used under the low-Mach number assumption.

Findings

Numerical results of velocity and mixing fields, as well as the ignition sequences, are validated through a comparison with their experimental counterparts. It is found that by coupling the DPIK model with each of the two combustion models implemented in a LES-based solver, the ignition event is reasonably predicted with further improvements provided by the finite rate chemistry assumption. Finally, the spark locations most likely to lead to a complete ignition of the burner are found to be around the shear layer delimiting the central recirculation zone, owing to the presence of a mixture within flammability limits.

Research limitations/implications

Some discrepancies are found in the radial profiles of the radial velocity and consequently in those of the mixture fraction, owing to a mismatch of the radial velocity at the inlet section of the computational domain. Also, unlike FGM methods, the BML model predicts the overall ignition earlier than suggested by the experiment; this may be related to the overestimation of the reaction rate, especially in the zones such as flame holder wakes which feature high strain rate due to fuel-air mixing.

Practical implications

This work is adding a contribution for ignition modeling, which is a crucial issue in various combustion systems and especially in aircraft engines. The exclusive use of a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code widely used by combustion system manufacturers allows a direct application of this simulation approach to other configurations while keeping computing costs at an affordable level.

Originality/value

This study provides a robust and simple way to address some ignition issues in various spark ignition-based engines, namely, the optimization of engines ignition with affordable computational costs. Based on the promising results obtained in the current work, it would be relevant to extend this simulation approach to spray combustion that is required for aircraft engines because of storage volume constraints. From this standpoint, the simulation approach formulated in the present work is useful to engineers interested in optimizing the engines ignition at the design stage.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2015

Alain Fossi, Alain DeChamplain and Benjamin Akih-Kumgeh

The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the three-dimensional (3D) reacting turbulent two-phase flow field of a scaled swirl-stabilized gas turbine combustor using…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the three-dimensional (3D) reacting turbulent two-phase flow field of a scaled swirl-stabilized gas turbine combustor using the commercial computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software ANSYS FLUENT. The first scope of the study aims to explicitly compare the predictive capabilities of two turbulence models namely Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes and Scale Adaptive Simulation for a reasonable trade-off between accuracy of results and global computational cost when applied to simulate swirl-stabilized spray combustion. The second scope of the study is to couple chemical reactions to the turbulent flow using a realistic chemistry model and also to model the local chemical non-equilibrium(NEQ) effects caused by turbulent strain such as flame stretching.

Design/methodology/approach

Standard Eulerian and Lagrangian formulations are used to describe both gaseous and liquid phases, respectively. The computing method includes a two-way coupling in which phase properties and spray source terms are interchanging between the two phases within each coupling time step. The fuel used is liquid jet-A1 which is injected in the form of a polydisperse spray and the droplet evaporation rate is calculated using the infinite conductivity model. One-component (n-decane) and two-component fuels (n-decane+toluene) are used as jet-A1 surrogates. The combustion model is based on the mean mixture fraction and its variance, and a presumed-probability density function is used to model turbulent-chemistry interactions. The instantaneous thermochemical state necessary for the chemistry tabulation is determined by using initially the equilibrium (EQ) assumption and thereafter, detailed NEQ calculations through the steady flamelets concept. The combustion chemistry of these surrogates is represented through a reduced chemical kinetic mechanism (CKM) comprising 1,045 reactions among 139 species, derived from the detailed jet-A1 surrogate model, JetSurf 2.0 using a sensitivity based method, Alternate Species Elimination.

Findings

Numerical results of the gas velocity, the gas temperature and the species molar fractions are compared with their experimental counterparts obtained from a steady state flame available in the literature. It is observed that, SAS coupled to the tabulated flamelet-based chemistry, predicts reasonably the main flame trends, while URANS even provided with the same combustion model and computing resources, leads to a poor prediction of the global flame trends, emphasizing the asset of a proper resolution when simulating spray flames.

Research limitations/implications

The steady flamelet model even coupled with a robust turbulence model does not reproduce accurately the trend of species with slow oxidation kinetics such as CO and H2, because of the restrictiveness of the solutions space of flamelet equations and the assumption of unity Lewis for all species.

Practical implications

This work is adding a contribution for spray flame modeling and can be seen as an extension to the significant efforts for the modeling of gaseous flames using robust turbulence models coupled with the tabulated flamelet-based chemistry approach to considerably reduce computing cost. The exclusive use of a commercial CFD code widely used in the industry allows a direct application of this simulation approach to industrial configurations while keeping computing cost reasonable.

Originality/value

This study is useful to engineers interested in designing combustors of gas turbines and others combustion systems fed with liquid fuels.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1984

J.I. Ramos

A mathematical model has been developed to study turbulent, confined, swirling flows under reacting non‐premixed conditions. The model solves the conservation equations of mass…

Abstract

A mathematical model has been developed to study turbulent, confined, swirling flows under reacting non‐premixed conditions. The model solves the conservation equations of mass, momentum, energy, species, and two additional equations for the turbulent kinetic energy and the turbulent length scale. Combustion has been modelled by means of a one‐step overall chemical reaction. The numerical predictions based on the eddy‐break‐up model of turbulent combustion show a recirculation zone in the form of a one‐celled toroidal vortex at the combustor centreline. High levels of turbulence characterize the recirculation zone, whose diameter and velocity first decrease and then increase as the magnitude of the outer swirl number is first decreased from counter‐swirl to zero and then increased to co‐swirl flow conditions. Counter‐swirl produces steeper velocity gradients at the inter‐jet shear layer, promotes faster mixing and yields better combustion efficiency than co‐swirl. The numerical results are compared with those obtained under non‐reacting conditions in order to assess the influence of the heat release on the size of the recirculation zone.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

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