Abstract
In order to reveal the mechanism of turbulent flow in a premixed combustor, a numerical technique, using Chorin’s random vortex method to solve the Navier-Stokes equations and an interface propagation algorithm to trace the motion of the combustion front, are employed. A successive over-relaxation hybrid method is used as the initial step in the computational scheme to solve the Euler equations for a planar flow field.
Solutions obtained thereby for a backfacing step, the essential element of a planar dump combustor, turn out to be in satisfactory agreement with experimental results especially insofar as the global properties are concerned, such as the average velocity profiles and the reattachment lengths. Velocity fluctuations are found to compare well with experimental data, exhibiting, however, some discrepancies that can be ascribed to the omission of three-dimensional effects and the relatively small size of numerical data sampled for their evaluation.
The combustion field appears to be dominated by the large-scale eddy structure of the turbulent shear layer, whereby the effects of advection overpower those of diffusion—enhancing the entrainment of the fresh mixture into the combustion region. Under such circumstances, the front of the combustion zone acquires the properties of an interface between the unburnt medium and the burnt gases, rather than a flame, while the exothermic regime, being effectively decoupled from it, is confined within the kernel of the large-scale eddy.
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Oppenheim, A.K. (1991). Mechanics of Turbulent Flow in Combustors for Premixed Gases. In: Angelino, G., De Luca, L., Sirignano, W.A. (eds) Modern Research Topics in Aerospace Propulsion. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0945-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0945-4_1
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