scholarly journals Effect of the Preheated Oxidizer Temperature on Soot Formation and Flame Structure in Turbulent Methane-Air Diffusion Flames at 1 and 3 atm: A CFD Investigation

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3671
Author(s):  
Subrat Garnayak ◽  
Subhankar Mohapatra ◽  
Sukanta K. Dash ◽  
Bok Jik Lee ◽  
V. Mahendra Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Mole Fraction ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Reaction Rate ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Flame Structure ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Pressure Elevation

This article presents the results of computations on pilot-based turbulent methane/air co-flow diffusion flames under the influence of the preheated oxidizer temperature ranging from 293 to 723 K at two operating pressures of 1 and 3 atm. The focus is on investigating the soot formation and flame structure under the influence of both the preheated air and combustor pressure. The computations were conducted in a 2D axisymmetric computational domain by solving the Favre averaged governing equation using the finite volume-based CFD code Ansys Fluent 19.2. A steady laminar flamelet model in combination with GRI Mech 3.0 was considered for combustion modeling. A semi-empirical acetylene-based soot model proposed by Brookes and Moss was adopted to predict soot. A careful validation was initially carried out with the measurements by Brookes and Moss at 1 and 3 atm with the temperature of both fuel and air at 290 K before carrying out further simulation using preheated air. The results by the present computation demonstrated that the flame peak temperature increased with air temperature for both 1 and 3 atm, while it reduced with pressure elevation. The OH mole fraction, signifying reaction rate, increased with a rise in the oxidizer temperature at the two operating pressures of 1 and 3 atm. However, a reduced value of OH mole fraction was observed at 3 atm when compared with 1 atm. The soot volume fraction increased with air temperature as well as pressure. The reaction rate by soot surface growth, soot mass-nucleation, and soot-oxidation rate increased with an increase in both air temperature and pressure. Finally, the fuel consumption rate showed a decreasing trend with air temperature and an increasing trend with pressure elevation.

Analytical Formulation-Based Soot Modelling in Ethylene Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Makhija ◽  
Krishna Sesha Giri
Keyword(s):  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Mixture Fraction ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Smoke Point ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Detailed Model ◽  
Conservation Equations ◽  
Oxidation Rates

Abstract Soot volume fraction predictions through simulations carried out on OpenFOAM® are reported in diffusion flames with ethylene fuel. A single-step global reaction mechanism for gas-phase species with an infinitely fast chemistry assumption is employed. Traditionally soot formation includes inception, nucleation, agglomeration, growth, and oxidation processes, and the individual rates are solved to determine soot levels. However, in the present work, the detailed model is replaced with the soot formation and oxidation rates, defined as analytical functions of mixture fraction and temperature, where the net soot formation rate can be defined as the sum of individual soot formation and oxidation rates. The soot formation/oxidation rates are modelled as surface area-independent processes. The flame is modelled by solving conservation equations for continuity, momentum, total energy, and species mass fractions. Additionally, separate conservation equations are solved to compute the mixture fraction and soot mass fraction consisting of source terms that are identical and account for the mixture fraction consumption/production due to soot. As a consequence, computational time can be reduced drastically. This is a quantitative approach that gives the principal soot formation regions depending on the combination of local mixture fraction and temperature. The implemented model is based on the smoke point height, an empirical method to predict the sooting propensity based on fuel stoichiometry. The model predicts better soot volume fraction in buoyant diffusion flames. It was also observed that the optimal fuel constants to evaluate soot formation rates for different fuels change with fuel stoichiometry. However, soot oxidation strictly occurs in a particular region in the flame; hence, they are independent of fuel. The numerical results are compared with the experimental measurements, showing an excellent agreement for the velocity and temperature. Qualitative agreements are observed for the soot volume fraction predictions. A close agreement was obtained in smoke point prediction for the overventilated flame. An established theory through simulations was also observed, which states that the amount of soot production is proportional to the fuel flow rate. Further validations underscore the predictive capabilities. Model improvements are also reported with better predictions of soot volume fractions through modifications to the model constants based on mixture fraction range.

scholarly journals The influence of aliphatics on soot inception modelling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemanja Ceranic
Keyword(s):  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Fluid Dynamic ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Surface Reactivity ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Laminar Diffusion Flames ◽  
Laminar Diffusion ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic

Soot models have been investigated for several decades and many fundamental models exist that prescribe soot formation in agreement with experiments and theories. However, due to the complex nature of soot formation, not all pathways have been fully characterized. This work has numerically studied the influence that aliphatic based inception models have on soot formation for coflow laminar diffusion flames. CoFlame is the in-house parallelized FORTRAN code that was used to conduct this research. It solves the combustion fluid dynamic conservation equations for a variety of coflow laminar diffusion flames. New soot inception models have been developed for specific aliphatics in conjunction with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon based inception. The purpose of these models was not to be completely fundamental in nature, but more so a proof-of-concept in that an aliphatic based mechanism could account for soot formation deficiencies that exist with just PAH based inception. The aliphatic based inception models show potential to enhance predicative capability by increasing the prediction of the soot volume fraction along the centerline without degrading the prediction along the pathline of maximum soot. Additionally, the surface reactivity that was used to achieve these results lied closer in the range of numerically derived optimal values as compared to the surface reactivity that was needed to match peak soot concentrations without the aliphatic based inception models.

Soot and PAH Formation Characteristics in a Micro Flow Reactor With a Controlled Temperature Profile

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryu Tanimoto ◽  
Takuya Tezuka ◽  
Susumu Hasegawa ◽  
Hisashi Nakamura ◽  
Kaoru Maruta
Keyword(s):  
Flow Velocity ◽  
Temperature Profile ◽  
Mole Fraction ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Micro Flow

To examine soot and PAH formation processes for rich methane/air and acetylene/air mixtures, a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile was employed. In the experiment for a methane/air mixture, four kinds of responses to the variations of flow velocity and equivalence ratio were observed as follows: soot formation without a flame; a flame with soot formation; a flame without soot formation; and neither flame nor soot formation. Soot formations were observed in low flow velocity and high equivalence ratio. Starting point of soot formation shifted to the upstream side, i.e., low-temperature side, of the micro flow reactor with the decrease of flow velocity. One-dimensional steady-state computation was conducted by a flame code. In high flow velocity, low mole fraction of C2H2 and high mole fraction of OH were observed in the whole region of the micro flow reactor. Soot volume fraction did not increase in this case. On the other hand, in low flow velocity, high mole fraction of C2H2 and low mole fraction of OH were observed at the downstream side of the micro flow reactor. Soot volume fraction increased in this case. Since significant soot formation was observed at the low flow velocity and the high equivalence ratio, experiments with gas sampling were conducted for acetylene/air mixture to investigate temperature and equivalence ratio dependence of soot precursor production in such condition. Volume fractions of benzene increased with an increase of temperature. They were larger at higher equivalence ratio at the same temperature. Volume fractions of styrene increased with an increase of temperature. They were larger at higher equivalence ratio when the temperature is less than 1000 K. However the tendency was changed at 1000 K, styrene volume fraction at equivalence ratio of 7.0 was larger than that at equivalence ratio of 8.0.

scholarly journals A Numerical Investigation on Soot Formation From Laminar Diffusion Flames of Ethylene/Methane Mixture

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongsheng Guo ◽  
Stephanie Trottier ◽  
Matthew R. Johnson ◽  
Gregory J. Smallwood
Keyword(s):  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Fuel Mixture ◽  
Methyl Radical ◽  
Laminar Diffusion Flames ◽  
Laminar Diffusion ◽  
Methane Mixture ◽  
Phase Chemistry

The sooting propensity of laminar diffusion flames employing ethylene/methane mixture fuel is investigated by numerical simulation. Detailed gas phase chemistry and moments method are used to describe the chemical reaction process and soot particle dynamics, respectively. The numerical model captures the primary features experimentally observed previously. At constant temperatures of air and fuel mixture, both maximum soot volume fraction and soot yield monotonically decrease with increasing the fraction of carbon from methane in the fuel mixture. However, when the temperatures of air and fuel mixture are preheated so that the adiabatic temperatures of all flames are same, the variation of the maximum soot yield becomes higher than what would be expected from a linear combination of the flames of pure ethylene and pure methane, showing a synergistic phenomenon in soot formation. Further analysis of the details of the numerical results suggests that the synergistic phenomenon is caused by the combined effects of the variations in the concentrations of acetylene (C2H2) and methyl radical (CH3). When the fraction of carbon from methane in fuel mixture increases, the concentration of C2H2 monotonically decreases, whereas that of methyl radical increases, resulting in a synergistic phenomenon in the variation of propargyl (C3H3) radical concentration due to the reactions C2H2 + CH3 = PC3H4 + H and PC3H4 + H = C3H3 + H2. This synergistic phenomenon causes a qualitatively similar variation trend in the concentration of pyrene (A4) owing to the reaction paths C3H3 → A1 (benzene) → A2 (naphthalene) → A3 (phenanthrene) → A4. Consequently, the synergistic effect occurs for soot inception and PAH condensation rates, leading to the synergistic phenomenon in soot yield. The similar synergistic phenomenon is not observed in the variation of peak soot volume fraction, since the maximum surface growth rate monotonically decreases, as the fraction of carbon from methane in fuel mixture increases.

scholarly journals A computational study of soot formation and flame structure of coflow laminar methane/air diffusion flames under microgravity and normal gravity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Veshkini ◽  
Seth B. Dworkin
Keyword(s):  
Normal Gravity ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Flame Structure ◽  
Chemical Kinetic ◽  
Surface Growth ◽  
Rate Of Increase

A numerical study is conducted of methane-air coflow diffusion flames at microgravity (μg) and normal gravity (lg), and comparisons are made with experimental data in the literature. The model employed uses a detailed gas phase chemical kinetic mechanism that includes PAH formation and growth, and is coupled to a sectional soot particle dynamics model. The model is able to accurately predict the trends observed experimentally with reduction of gravity without any tuning of the model for different flames. The microgravity sooting flames were found to have lower temperatures and higher volume fraction than their normal gravity counterparts. In the absence of gravity, the flame radii increase due to elimination of buoyance forces and reduction of flow velocity, which is consistent with experimental observations. Soot formation along the wings is seen to be surface growth dominated, while PAH condensation plays a more major role on centerline soot formation. Surface growth and PAH growth increase in microgravity primarily due to increases in the residence time inside the flame. The rate of increase of surface growth is more significant compared to PAH growth, which causes soot distribution to shift from the centerline of the flame to the wings in microgravity. Keywords: laminar diffusion flame,methane-air,microgravity, soot formation, numerical modelling

scholarly journals Fuel Molecular Structure and Flame Temperature Effects on Soot Formation in Gas Turbine Combustors

1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
O¨. L. Gu¨lder ◽  
B. Glavincˇevski ◽  
M. F. Baksh
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Structure ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Smoke Point ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Diesel Fuels

A systematic study of soot formation along the centerlines of axisymmetric laminar diffusion flames of a large number of liquid hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon blends, and aviation turbine and diesel fuels was made. Measurements of the attenuation of a laser beam across the flame diameter were used to obtain the soot volume fraction, assuming Rayleigh extinction. Two sets of hydrocarbon blends were designed such that the molecular fuel composition varied considerably but the temperature fields in the flames were kept practically constant. Thus it was possible to separate the effects of molecular structure and the flame temperature on soot formation. It was quantitatively shown that the smoke point height is a lumped measure of fuel molecular constitution. The developed empirical relationship between soot volume fractions and fuel smoke point and hydrogen-to-carbon ratio was applied to five different combustor radiation data, and good agreement was obtained.

Investigation of Flame Structure and Soot Formation in a Single Sector Model Combustor Using Experiments and Numerical Simulations Based on the LES/CMC Approach

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Giusti ◽  
Epaminondas Mastorakos ◽  
Christoph Hassa ◽  
Johannes Heinze ◽  
Eggert Magens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Flame Structure ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Moment Closure ◽  
Quantitative Prediction ◽  
Lean Burn ◽  
Soot Precursors ◽  
Wide Range

In this work a single sector lean burn model combustor operating in pilot only mode has been investigated using both experiments and computations with the main objective of analyzing the flame structure and soot formation at conditions relevant to aero-engine applications. Numerical simulations were performed using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach and the Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) combustion model with detailed chemistry and a two-equation model for soot. The CMC model is based on the time-resolved solution of the local flame structure and allows to directly take into account the phenomena associated to molecular mixing and turbulent transport which are of great importance for the prediction of emissions. The rig investigated in this work, called Big Optical Single Sector (BOSS) rig, allows to test real scale lean burn injectors. Experiments, performed at elevated pressure and temperature, corresponding to engine conditions at part load, include OH-PLIF and PDA and have been complemented with new LII measurements for soot location. The wide range of measurements available allows a comprehensive analysis of the primary combustion region and can be exploited to further assess and validate the LES/CMC approach to capture the flame behaviour at engine conditions. It is shown that the LES/CMC approach is able to predict the main characteristics of the flame with a good agreement with the experiment in terms of flame shape, spray characteristics and soot location. Finite-rate chemistry effects appear very important in the region very close to the injector exit leading to the lift-off of the flame. Low levels of soot are observed immediately downstream of the injector exit, where a high amount of vaporized fuel is still present. Further downstream, the fuel vapour disappears quite quickly and an extended region characterised by the presence of pyrolysis products and soot precursors is observed. The strong production of soot precursors together with high soot surface growth rates lead to high values of soot volume fraction in locations consistent with the experiment. Soot oxidation is also very important in the downstream region resulting in a decrease of the soot level at the combustor exit. The results show a very promising capability of the LES/CMC approach to capture the main characteristics of the flame, soot formation and location at engine relevant conditions. More advanced soot models will be considered in future work in order to improve the quantitative prediction of the soot level.

scholarly journals Experimental and Numerical Study on the Sooting Behaviors of Furanic Biofuels in Laminar Counterflow Diffusion Flames

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 5995
Author(s):  
Qianqian Mu ◽  
Fuwu Yan ◽  
Jizhou Zhang ◽  
Lei Xu ◽  
Yu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Counterflow Diffusion Flames ◽  
C3 Species ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Counterflow Flames

Furanic biofuels have received increasing research interest over recent years, due to their potential in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the production of harmful pollutants. Nevertheless, the heterocyclic structure in furans make them readily to produce soot, which requires an in-depth understanding. In this study, the sooting characteristic of several typical furanic biofuels, i.e., furan, 2-methylfuran (MF), and 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), were investigated in laminar counterflow flames. Combined laser-based soot measurements with numerical analysis were performed. Special focus was put on understanding how the fuel structure of furans could affect soot formation. The results show that furan has the lowest soot volume fraction, followed by DMF, while MF has the largest value. Kinetic analyses revealed that the decomposition of MF produces high amounts of C3 species, which are efficient benzene precursors. This may be the reason for the enhanced formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soot in MF flames, as compared to DMF and furan flames. The major objectives of this work are to: (1) understand the sooting behavior of furanic fuels in counterflow flames, (2) elucidate the fuel structure effects of furans on soot formation, and (3) provide database of quantitative soot concentration for model validation and refinements.

Soot Formation With Light Extinction and Grayscale Extraction Methods Applied to Ethanol-Gasoline Blends Laminar Flame

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengli Wei ◽  
Jie Chen ◽  
Rui Xu ◽  
Tongyuan Ding ◽  
Xiqian Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Laminar Flame ◽  
Flame Structure ◽  
Extraction Methods ◽  
Light Extinction ◽  
Flame Height ◽  
Laminar Diffusion Flames ◽  
Mass Flowrate

Abstract In this paper, the two-dimensional parallel light extinction method was carried out to study the soot formation in laminar diffusion flames of four different ethanol-gasoline blends, of which ethanol volume fractions ranging from 0% up to 100% (E0, E20, E80, and E100). The flame images were processed synthetically via matlab to accurately calculate the flame height. In addition, the flame structure was redefined as three zones to observe the soot formation. The results indicate that the flame height changes with the variation of gas volume flowrate and fuel mass flowrate during the experiment. In terms of soot formation, as the volume fraction of ethanol increases, the proportion of soot forming zone decreases, while the area of blue flame zone grows. Simultaneously, the transition zone accounts for about 21% of the total flame area, which has no significant change with the increase of ethanol volume fraction.

scholarly journals Experimental Investigation of Oxygen Addition to Fuel on Soot Formation in Laminar Coflow Diffusion Flames of Ethylene and Propane

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengshan Liu ◽  
Kevin A. Thomson ◽  
Gregory J. Smallwood
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Diffusion Flames ◽  
Soot Formation ◽  
Soot Volume Fraction ◽  
Oxygen Flow Rate ◽  
Flame Height ◽  
Fuel Flow Rate ◽  
Fuel Flow ◽  
Oxygen Addition

Investigation of the effect of oxygen addition to fuel on the visible flame appearance and soot formation characteristics of laminar diffusion flames is important to gain comprehensive understanding of gas-phase combustion chemistry and its interaction with soot chemistry. This paper reports experimental results of oxygen addition to fuel on the visible flame height and soot volume fraction distributions in axisymmetric coflow laminar ethylene and propane diffusion flames at atmospheric flames. The carbon flow rate was maintained constant in all the experiments. Although many experimental studies have been conducted in the literature in this topic, the present investigation aimed at providing spatially resolved soot volume fraction distributions over the entire range of oxygen addition from no oxygen addition up to the point of flashback while keeping the carbon mass flow rate constant. The level of oxygen added to fuel right before flashback is about 45% (the percentage of oxygen addition is always by volume in this study) of the fuel flow rate in the ethylene flame and 300% of the fuel flow rate in the propane flame. As the added oxygen amount to ethylene increases, the visible flame height first increases. When the added oxygen flow rate is about 13% of the fuel flow rate, the flame becomes smoking, i.e., soot escapes from the flame tip. When the oxygen flow rate reaches about 42% of the fuel flow rate, the flame stops smoking. When oxygen was added to propane, the visible flame height linearly decreases with increasing the amount of oxygen. These very different effects of oxygen addition to ethylene and propane indicate that oxygen plays a drastically different role in the chemical pathways leading to soot formation in ethylene and propane flames. Distributions of soot volume fractions in these flames were measured using a 2D light attenuation technique coupled with the Abel inversion. The present study provides valuable experimental data for validating soot models.

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