Three-Dimensional Simulation of Turbulent Hot-Jet Ignition for Air-CH4-H2 Deflagration in a Confined Volume

Abstract

This work describes essential aspects of the ignition and deflagration process initiated by the injection of a hot transient gas jet into a narrowly confined volume containing air-CH4-H2 mixture. Driven by the pressure difference between a prechamber and a long narrow constant-volume-combustion (CVC) chamber, the developing jet or puff involves complex processes of turbulent jet penetration and evolution of multi-scale vortices in the shear layer, jet tip, and adjacent confined spaces. The CVC chamber contains stoichiometric mixtures of air with gaseous fuel initially at atmospheric conditions. Fuel reactivity is varied using two different CH4/H2 blends. Jet momentum is varied using different pre-chamber pressures at jet initiation. The jet initiation and the subsequent ignition events generate pressure waves that interact with the mixing region and the propagating flame, depositing baroclinic vorticity. Transient three-dimensional flow simulations with detailed chemical kinetics are used to model CVC mixture ignition. Pre-ignition gas properties are then examined to develop and verify criteria to predict ignition delay time using lower-cost non-reacting flow simulations for this particular case of study.