Large Eddy Simulation modeling for sooting turbulent flames

M. E. Mueller, H. Pitsch

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The small-scale interactions between turbulence, chemistry, and soot have a profound effect on the soot formation, growth, and destruction processes in turbulent flames. The nucleation of soot occurs from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), whose chemistry, unlike the major products of combustion, is slower and more sensitive to the turbulent environment. In addition, measurements and two-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) have shown that soot is confined to relatively thin structures which are very intermittent, and accounting for these small-scale structural characteristics will be vital in predicting the mean behavior of the soot field. In this work, subgrid-scale (SGS) models for Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of sooting turbulent flames will be analyzed a priori using two tools: analysis of a DNS database and Lagrangian flamelet analysis. Analysis of the 2D-DNS database shows that including the effect of turbulent fluctuations on the scalars describing the soot population dramatically improves the prediction of the soot intermittency and evaluation of the soot source terms. Lagrangian flamelet analysis shows that PAH concentrations are slow to respond to changes in the scalar dissipation rate, and accounting for this transient response is vital in predicting the formation rate of soot which depends on the square of the PAH concentration.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationWestern States Section of the Combustion Institute Spring Technical Meeting 2010
PublisherWestern States Section/Combustion Institute
Pages263-278
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9781617384196
StatePublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes
EventWestern States Section of the Combustion Institute Spring Technical Meeting 2010 - Boulder, United States
Duration: Mar 22 2010Mar 23 2010

Publication series

NameWestern States Section of the Combustion Institute Spring Technical Meeting 2010

Other

OtherWestern States Section of the Combustion Institute Spring Technical Meeting 2010
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBoulder
Period3/22/103/23/10

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Mechanical Engineering

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