Three-Dimensional Flame Structure in Wall-Fired Swirl Flame Combustors

Author(s):  
Ay Su ◽  
Ze-Chern Lee ◽  
Wu-Chi Ho

A CFD solver CFX is used to analyze the complex behavior of turbulent reacting flow inside the furnace. The flow characteristics for various combustor geometries, fuel/air ratios, and injection velocities, and swirl levels are investigated. Starting with a cylindrical furnace fired with gaseous fuel from a concentric tube burner (both with and without swirl), the mixture-fraction is predicted using the k-ε and RSM turbulence models. The discrepancies between the predictions and measurements are most significant in the flame core of upstream regions. It may stem from inappropriateness of the assumed inlet conditions and the combustion model. However, the calculated results are still qualitatively acceptable. After the validation work of the numerical model, a rectangular furnace with four wall-fired swirling combustors is employed to investigate the effect of neighbouring burners and geometry on combustion characteristics. The central recirculation zone which appeared in the isothermal flowfield vanished in the combustion case. It may be attributed to the fact that the hot gas suddenly expands outward and destroys the recirculation mechanism. Thus, the central flame could not hold. In addition, the four corner flames are stretching against the wall and their shapes are similar to a “cam” profile. The results are intended to assist in the development and validation of a numerical model for predicting furnace flows in wall-fired power plants.

Author(s):  
Axel Widenhorn ◽  
Berthold Noll ◽  
Manfred Aigner

In this contribution the three-dimensional reacting turbulent flow field of a swirl-stabilized gas turbine model combustor is analyzed numerically. The investigated partially premixed and lifted CH4/air flame has a thermal power load of Pth = 35kW and a global equivalence ratio of φ = 0.65. To study the reacting flow field the Scale Adaptive Simulation (SAS) turbulence model in combination with the Eddy Dissipation/Finite Rate Chemistry combustion model was applied. The simulations were performed using the commercial CFD software package ANSYS CFX-11.0. The numerically achieved time-averaged values of the velocity components and their appropriate turbulent fluctuations (RMS) are in very good agreement with the experimental values (LDA). The same excellent results were found for other flow quantities like temperature and mixture fraction. Here, the corresponding time-averaged and the appropriate RMS profiles are compared to Raman measurements. Furthermore the instantaneous flow features are discussed. In accordance with the experiment the numerical simulation evidences the existence of a precessing vortex core (PVC). The PVC rotates with a frequency of 1596Hz. Moreover it is shown that in the upper part of the combustion chamber a tornado-like vortical structure is established.


Author(s):  
Masoud Darbandi ◽  
Majid Ghafourizadeh ◽  
Gerry E. Schneider

A hybrid finite-element-volume FEV method is extended to simulate turbulent non-premixed propane air preheated flame in a minichannel. We use a detailed kinetics scheme, i.e. GRI mechanism 3.0, and the flamelet model to perform the combustion modeling. The turbulence-chemistry interaction is taken into account in this flamelet modeling using presumed shape probability density functions PDFs. Considering an upwind-biased physics for the current reacting flow, we implement the physical influence upwinding scheme PIS to estimate the cell-face mixture fraction variance in this study. To close the turbulence closure, we employ the two-equation standard κ-ε turbulence model incorporated with suitable wall functions. Supposing an optically thin limit, it needs to take into account radiation effects of the most important radiating species in the current modeling. Despite facing with so many flame instabilities in such small size configuration, the current method performs suitably with proper convergence, and the encountered instabilities are damped out automatically. Comparing with the experimental measurements, the current extended method accurately predicts the flame structure in the minichannel configuration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Morsy ◽  
J. Yang

Abstract Particle image velocimetry (PIV) has become a popular non-intrusive tool for measuring various types of flows. However, when measuring three-dimensional flows with two-dimensional (2D) PIV, there are some uncertainties in the measured velocity field due to out-of-plane motion, which might alter turbulence statistics and distort the overall flow characteristics. In the present study, three different turbulence models are employed and compared. Mean and fluctuating fields obtained by three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics modeling are compared to experimental data. Turbulence statistics such as integral length scale, Taylor microscale, Kolmogorov scale, turbulence kinetic energy, dissipation rate, and velocity correlations are calculated at different experimental conditions (i.e., pressure, temperature, fan speed, etc.). A reasonably isotropic and homogeneous turbulence with large turbulence intensities is achieved in the central region extending to almost 45 mm radius. This radius decreases with increasing the initial pressure. The influence of the third dimension velocity component on the measured characteristics is negligible. This is a result of the axisymmetric features of the flow pattern in the current vessel. The results prove that the present vessel can be conveniently adopted for several turbulent combustion studies including mainly the determination of turbulent burning velocity for gaseous premixed flames in nearly homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Graphic abstract


Author(s):  
Alka Gupta ◽  
Mohamed Saeed Ibrahim ◽  
R. S. Amano

This paper presents the computational analysis of the dilution process involved in gas turbines order to cool the combustion gases to the desired temperature before it enters the turbine. Here, it should be noted that in order to focus only on the dilution process, non-reacting flow conditions were simulated and the complete system was reduced to mixing of a primary (hot) stream and dilution (cold) stream of air. Four different schemes were investigated based on the layout of the dilution holes and use of a blunt body. A complete three dimensional analysis was carried out for each case in order to investigate its effectiveness to produce a more uniform temperature conditions at the exit of the combustor, so as to reduce the detrimental effect these temperature non-uniformities have on the turbine blades. For comparison of the proposed schemes, a parameter is defined in terms of the temperatures of the dilution and primary flow streams at the inlet and the exit plane, called the mixture fraction. Based on this parameter, it was found that the staggered dilution holes with the blunt body has the mixture fraction closest to the equilibrium mixture fraction (0.4), which implies that this scheme with the mixture fraction of 0.36, resulted in best mixing and produced the most uniform temperature distribution at the exit amongst the four proposed schemes.


Author(s):  
Peter L. Woodfield ◽  
Kazuya Tatsumi ◽  
Kazuyoshi Nakabe ◽  
Kenjiro Suzuki

A three-dimensional unstructured finite-volume method is used to investigate laminar flow characteristics of a miniature chamber with a possible application to micro gas turbine combustor design. The chamber is cylindrical in shape and 20mm in diameter with the fuel stream entering via a single jet in the center of one end of the can. Oxidizer jets are generated by a circular baffle plate having six holes surrounding the fuel jet. Attention is given to the effect of the inlet conditions on the flow structure and mixing pattern inside the chamber. Computations are carried out with the calculation domain inlet being positioned at two different locations; (1) at the immediate entrance to the combustion chamber (2) one combustor diameter upstream of the baffle plate. Numerous inlet conditions are considered including ‘top-hat’, fully-developed, swirling, an annular backward facing step and some asymmetrically skewed profiles. The baffle plate is shown to have a significant smoothing effect on the inlet conditions for a Reynolds number of 100.


Author(s):  
Sherif Amin ◽  
Ahmed Emara ◽  
Adel Hussien ◽  
Ibrahim Shabaka

The objective of this paper is to study the effect of eccentricity on the thermal characteristics and flow field of a triple-concentric free jet burner. The investigation concerns three values of eccentricity (1.25, 1.88, and 2.5 times the inner-jet diameter); and in addition to the normal centric jet (no eccentricity). Prediction of the reacting flow characteristics and the planar flow visualization for all burners’ configurations is simulated with the CFD k-ε turbulence of “ANSYS-CFX”. In addition, the finite rate and eddy dissipation model is utilized to simulate the interaction between the chemical reaction and turbulence. The temperature, velocity and turbulence intensity are investigated to simulate the thermal-structure interaction. The results are obtained at a constant momentum rate. It showed significant changes in the coherent structures shed from the annular jets. By increasing the eccentricity, the maximum temperature will be attained more rapidly than centric case. In addition, the mixing point become nearer the burner rim, which increased the flame size and shifted the flame structure.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Salvadori ◽  
F. Montomoli ◽  
F. Martelli ◽  
P. Adami ◽  
K. S. Chana ◽  
...  

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) prediction of the unsteady aerothermal interaction in the HP turbine stage, with inlet temperature nonuniformity, requires appropriate unsteady modeling and a low diffusive numerical scheme coupled with suitable turbulence models. This maybe referred to as high fidelity CFD. A numerical study has been conducted by the University of Florence in collaboration with ONERA to compare capabilities and limitations of their CFD codes for such flows. The test vehicle used for the investigation is a turbine stage of three-dimensional design from the QinetiQ turbine facility known as MT1. This stage is a high pressure transonic stage that has an unshrouded rotor, configured, and uncooled with 32 stators and 60 rotor blades. Two different CFD solvers are compared that use different unsteady treatments of the interaction. A reduced count ratio technique has been used by the University of Florence with its code HYBFLOW, while a phase lag model has been used by ONERA in their code, ELSA. Four different inlet conditions have been simulated and compared with focus on the experimental values provided by QinetiQ in the frame of TATEF and TATEF2 EU Sixth Framework Projects. The differences in terms of performance parameters and hot fluid redistribution, as well as the time- and pitch-averaged radial distributions on a plane downstream of the rotor blade, have been underlined. Special attention was given to the predictions of rotor blade unsteady pressure and heat transfer rates.


Author(s):  
Bakhtier Farouk

Abstract A three-dimensional time dependent computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study of laminar and turbulent thermal mixing of two flows entering a 90° T-junction pipe is presented. The two incoming flows (both liquids) in the T-junction enter the flow domain with different inlet velocities, and temperatures. Water flow is considered in both the horizontal pipe and the vertical pipe. Inlet temperature differences and temperature dependent thermophysical properties are considered. Large eddy simulations (LES) with sub-grid scale (SGS) modeling were considered for the simulation of the turbulent cases. The flow characteristics, and thermal mixing behaviors and detailed mixing structures were simulated, and they showed that thermal mixing of the two streams are closely affected by the inlet conditions of the two streams and the inlet thermophysical properties of the two streams.


Author(s):  
Andrea Giusti ◽  
Savvas Gkantonas ◽  
Jenna M. Foale ◽  
Epaminondas Mastorakos

The understanding of the processes involved in soot formation and oxidation is a critical factor for a reliable prediction of emissions in aero-engines, particularly as legislation becomes increasingly stringent. This work studies the flame structure and soot formation in a lab-scale burner, which reproduces the main features of a Rich-Quench-Lean (RQL) combustor, using high-fidelity numerical simulations. The investigated burner, developed at the University of Cambridge, is based on a bluff-body swirl-stabilised ethylene flame, with air provided in the primary region through two concentric swirling flows and quenching enabled by means of four dilution jets at variable distance downstream. Measurements for different air split between the two inlet swirling flows and dilution ports, and different height of the dilution jets, indicate noticeable differences in the soot tendency. Numerical simulations have been performed using Large-Eddy Simulation with the Conditional Moment Closure combustion model and a two-equation model for soot, allowing a detailed resolution of the mixing field and to directly take into account the effect of turbulent transport on the flame structure, which has been shown to have an important effect on the soot formation and evolution. The main objective of this work is to study the flow field and mixing characteristics in the burner’s primary region, in order to improve the understanding of the mechanisms leading to the soot behaviour observed in the experiment at different operating conditions. Results show the key role of mixing in determining the level of soot in the burner, with the soot production mainly related to the extension of the flame zone characterized by a rich mixture, with pyrolysis products and soot precursors. The presence of additional dilution air seems to improve the oxidation and leads to a leaner mixture in the primary combustion region whereas the air added through the outer swirl stream seems to have less impact on the mixture formation in the primary region. Analysis of the solution in mixture fraction space shows the importance of residence time for the soot formation and highlights the existence of a range of values of mixture fraction, between 0.1 and 0.2, where the soot production terms are maximum. High residence times and local air-to-fuel ratio in the range of high soot production should be avoided to decrease the level of soot mass fraction in the burner.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1079-1080 ◽  
pp. 926-929
Author(s):  
Dan Han ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Bing Huan Li ◽  
Guo Jun Zhang ◽  
Shuo Wang

Intake port is an important part of the gasoline engine, its structure will influence the gas flow characteristics which directly affects the performance of the engine [1]. In this paper, three-dimensional CFD calculation and structural optimization were used to research the performance of gasoline engine. Firstly, the method of laser scanning and UG software were used to reverse modeling engine exhaust port and get the three-dimensional model. Secondly, after setting boundary conditions and turbulence models, the air flowing through the intake ports were simulated by FLUENT software respectively. Finally, based on numerical methods, the pressure field, velocity field were shown. The results of the simulation of flow field characteristics analysis show that the simulation and experimental results are in good agreement.


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