Particle-jet interactions in an MHD second stage combustor

Abstract

An Argonne two-phase combustion flow computer code is used to simulate reacting flows to aid in the development of an advanced combustor for magnetohydrodynamic power generation. The combustion code is a general hydrodynamics computer code for two-phase, two- dimensional, steady state, turbulent, and reacting flows, based on mass, momentum, and energy conservation laws for multiple gas species and particles. The combustion code includes turbulence, integral combustion, and particle evaporation submodels. A recently developed integral combustion submodel makes calculations more efficient and more stable while still preserving the major physical effects of the complex combustion processes. The combustor under investigation is a magnetohydrodynamic second stage combustor in which opposed jets of oxidizer are injected into a confined cross-stream of hot coal gas flow following a first stage swirl combustor. The simulation is intended to enhance the understanding the of seed particle evaporation in the combustor and evaluate the effects of combustor operating conditions on seed particle evaporation and vapor dispersion, which directly affect overall magnetohydrodynamic power generation. Computation results show that oxidizer jet angle and particle size may greatly affect particle evaporation and vapor dispersion. At a jet angle about 130 degrees, particle evaporation rate is the highest because of themore » highest average gas temperature. As particle size increases beyond 10 microns in diameter, the effects of particle size on wall deposition rate, evaporation delay, and downstream seed vapor dispersion become more pronounced. 16 refs., 10 figs.« less