Large-eddy structures of turbulent swirling flows and methane-air swirling diffusion combustion

Turbulent swirling flows and methane-air swirling diffusion combustion are studied by large-eddy simulation （LES） using a Smagorinsky-Lilly subgrid scale turbulence model and a second-order moment （SOM） SGS combustion model, and also by RANS modeling using the Reynolds Stress equation model with the IPCM＋wall and IPCM pressure-strain models and SOM combustion model. The LES statistical results for swirling flows give good agreement with the experimental results, indicating that the adopted subgrid-scale turbulence model is suitable for swirling flows. The LES instantaneous results show the complex vortex shedding pattern in swirling flows. The initially formed large vortex structures soon break up in swirling flows. The LES statistical results of combustion modeling are near the experimental results and are as good as the RANS-SOM modeling results. The LES results show that the size and range of large vortex structures in swirling combustion are different from those of isothermal swirling flows, and the chemical reaction is intensified by the large-eddy vortex structures.

Numerical Study of Air Nozzles on Mild Combustion for Application to Forward Flow Furnace

An attempt was made to extend mild combustion to forward flow furnace, such as the refinery and petrochemical tube furnace. Three dimensional numerical simulation was carried out to study the performance of this furnace. The Eddy Dissipation Concept(EDC) model coupled with the reaction mechanism DRM-19 was used. The prediction showed a good agreement with the measurement. The effect of air nozzle circle(D), air nozzle diameter(d), air nozzle number(N), and air preheating temperature(Tair) on the flow, temperature and species fields, and the CO and NO emissions was investigated. The results indicate that there are four zones in the furnace, viz.: a central jet zone, an ignition zone, a combustion reaction zone, and a flue gas zone, according to the distribution profiles of H_2 CO and OH. The central jet entrains more flue gas in the furnace upstream with an increasing D while the effect of D is negligible in the downstream. The air jet momentum increases with a decreasing d or an increasing Tair, and entrains more flue gas. The effect of N is mainly identified near the burner exit. More heat is absorbed in the radiant section and less heat is discharged to the atmosphere with a decreasing d and an increasing N as evidenced by the flue gas temperature. The CO and NO emissions are less than 50 μL/L and 10 μL/L, respectively, in most of conditions.

Effect of methane-hydrogen mixtures on flow and combustion of coherent jets

Coherent jets are widely used in electric are furnace （EAF） steelmaking to increase the oxygen utilization and chemical reaction rates. However, the influence of fuel gas combustion on jet behavior is not fully understood yet. The flow and combustion characteristics of a coherent jet were thus investigated at steelmaking temperature using Fluent software, and a detailed chemical kinetic reaction mecha- nism was used in the combustion reaction model. The axial velocity and total temperature of the supersonic jet were measured via hot state experiments. The simulation results were compared with the experimental data and the empirical jet model proposed by Ito and Muchi and good consistency was obtained. The research results indicated that the potential core length of the coherent jet can be prolonged by optimizing the combustion effect of the fuel gas. Besides, the behavior of the supersonic jet in the subsonic section was also investigated, as it is an important factor for controlling the position of the oxygen lance. The investigation indicated that the attenuation of the coherent jet is more notable than that of the conventional jet in the subsonic section.

Development of high intensity low emission combustor for achieving flameless combustion ofliquid fuels

This paper presents the experimental and numerical results for a two stagecombustor capable of achieving flameless combustion with liquid fuels for different thermalheat inputs of 20,30,40 and 60 kW and heat release density of 5-15 MW/m^(3).Combustioncharacteristics and pollutant emissions are studied for three different fuels,kerosene,diesel andgasoline.The influence of droplet diameter on pollutant emissions at all conditions is studied.The fuel and oxidizer are supplied at ambient conditions.The concept of high swirl flows hasbeen adopted to achieve high intemal recirculation rates,residence time and increased dilutionof the fresh reactants in the primary combustion zone,resulting in flameless combustion mode.Air is injected through four tangential injection ports located near the bottom of the combustorand liquid fuel is injected through a centrally mounted pressure swirl injector.Computationalanalysis of the flow features shows that decrease in the exit port diameter of the primarychamber increases the recirculation rate of combustion products and helps in achieving theflameless combustion mode.Based on preliminary computational studies,a 30 mm primarychamber exit pont diameter is chosen for experimental studies.Detailed experimentalinvestigations show that flameless combustion mode was achieved with evenly distributedcombustion reaction zone and unifom temperature distribution in the combustor.Pollutant emissions of CO, NO_(x),C_(x)H_(y) are measured and compared for all operating conditions ofdifferent fuels and different thermal inputs. The acoustic emission levels are reduced by6-8 dB as combustion mode shifts from conventional mode to flameless combustion mode.

Flow Field Calculations for Afterburner

In this paper a calculation procedure for simulating the combustion flow in the afterburner with the heat shield, flame stabilizer and the contracting nozzle is described and evaluated by comparison with experimental data. The modified two-equation k - ε model is employed to consider the turbulence effects, and the k - ε - g turbulent combustion model is used to determine the reaction rate. To take into account the influence of heat radiation on gas temperature distribution, heat flux model is applied to predictions of heat flux distributions. The solution domain spanned the entire region between centerline and afterburner wall, with the heat shield represented as a blockage to the mesh. The enthalpy equation and wall boundary of the heat shield require special handling for two passages in the afterburner. In order to make the computer program suitable to engineering applications, a subregional scheme is developed for calculating now fields of complex geometries. The computational grids employed are 100×100 and 333 × 100 (non-uniformly distributed). The numerical results are compared with experimental data. Agreement between predictions and meads surements shows that the numerical method and the computational programs used in the study are fairly reasonable and appropriate for primary design of the afterburner.