Effects of Lewis number on scalar transport in turbulent premixed flames

Abstract

The effects of global Lewis number on scalar transport in turbulent premixed flames are studied using direct numerical simulation. Under the same initial conditions of turbulent flow field, it is observed that flames with global Lewis numbers significantly smaller than unity tend to exhibit countergradient transport, whereas the extent of gradient transport is shown to increase with increasing global Lewis numbers. The velocity difference between reactants and products in the flame normal direction is shown to be significantly affected by the global Lewis number. The flame normal acceleration is shown to increase with decreasing Lewis number, leading to an increase in the magnitude of the mean pressure gradient in the mean direction of flame propagation. This effect is shown to be is responsible for promoting countergradient transport in low Lewis number flames. It is also shown that turbulent transport of flame surface density tends to exhibit countergradient behavior for the flames with Lewis number significantly smaller than unity.