Numerical Simulation and Flame Characteristics Analysis of Non-Premixed Swirling Combustion

Swirling flames are important in practical industrial combustors. The dynamic characteristics of swirling flames form complex velocity and temperature fields, which indicate combustion efficiency and influence pollutant emission. A reliable numerical simulation that can calculate the entire velocity and temperature fields is required to understand and investigate the underlying combustion mechanism. The governing equations of the methane swirling combustion process consist of the mass conservation, Navier-Stokes, and energy equations, all of which are solved by the SIMPLE algorithm based on finite volume method. This study performed a simulation using the realizable k-ε and non-premixed models in conjunction with the GRI Mech 3.0 mechanism. The characteristics of swirling combustion were analyzed on the bases of visualizations of temperature distribution, velocity distribution, and streamlines. In each cross section with varying heights from the nozzle, the high velocity and high temperature areas showed similar closed or semi-closed annular structures. In the central longitudinal section, the V-shaped high temperature and high velocity regions showed the swirling structure of the combustion flow field. The high temperature area did not coincide with the high velocity area but was located relatively downstream. The high velocity area was in the periphery of the high temperature area. Furthermore, the effects of swirl blade position on methane combustion characteristics were discussed. The validity of the numerical simulation results was verified by the simultaneous laser measurement of 3D temperature and velocity fields in the swirling flame.

Thermoacoustic Instabilities of Hydrogen-Enriched Partially Premixed Flames in a Swirl Combustor

Large eddy simulations (LES) of premixed hydrogen-enriched swirling flames were performed to investigate the flame topology and combustion instabilities with different hydrogen concentrations. A compressible LES approach is utilised to account for the self-excited combustion dynamics. A transported probability density function (pd f) approach is adopted to account for sub-grid scale (sgs) turbulence-chemistry interaction, and the solution to the joint sgs – pd f evolution equation of the scalars is obtained by the stochastic field method. The chemistry is represented using a reduced chemical reaction mechanism containing 15 reaction steps and 19 species. The results revealed that as the concentration of hydrogen increases, the flame is shortened in the injecting direction and more confined in the cross-sectional direction, which is consistent with experimental observations. The self-excited limit-cycle oscillations for all considered cases were successfully reproduced, with the predicted peak frequencies of the chamber pressure spectra in excellent agreement with the measured values. The feedback loop of the oscillations is successfully captured and analysed with the temporal evolution of axial velocity and heat release presented.