Effects Of Flame Stretch Research Articles

FGM modeling considering preferential diffusion, flame stretch, and non-adiabatic effects for hydrogen-air premixed flame wall flashback

Preferential diffusion plays an important role especially in hydrogen flames. Flame stretch significantly affects the flame structure and induces preferential diffusion. A problematic phenomenon occurring in real combustion devices is flashback, which is influenced by non-adiabatic effects, such as wall heat loss. In this paper, an extended flamelet-generated manifold (FGM) method that explicitly considers the preferential diffusion, flame stretch, and non-adiabatic effects is proposed. In this method, the diffusion terms in the transport equations of scalars, viz. the progress variable, mixture fraction, and enthalpy, are formulated employing non-unity Lewis numbers that are variable in space and different for each chemical species. The applicability of the extended FGM method to hydrogen flames is investigated using two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations of hydrogen-air flame flashback in channel flows. The results of the extended FGM method are compared with those of detailed calculations and other FGM methods. The two-dimensional numerical simulations show that considering both preferential diffusion and flame stretch improves the prediction accuracy of the mixture fraction distribution and flashback speed. The three-dimensional numerical simulations show that the prediction accuracy of the flashback speed, backflow region, and distributions of physical quantities near the flame front is improved by employing the extended FGM method, compared with the FGM method that considers only the heat loss effect. In particular, the extended FGM method successfully reproduced the relationship between the reaction rate and curvature. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the extended FGM method.Novelty and Significance Statement The novelty of this research is the development of a flamelet-generated mani-fold (FGM) method that explicitly considers preferential diffusion, flame stretch, and non-adiabatic effects. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies have performed numerical simulations of pure hydrogen flames using such an FGM method. The developed FGM method was applied to numerical simula- tions of hydrogen-air premixed flame flashback at an equivalence ratio of 0.5 and reproduced the flashback speed of lean hydrogen-air premixed flame. The applicability of the FGM method to the numerical simulation of hydrogen-air flashback is reported first. This research is significant because the FGM method is one of the most widely used combustion models for premixed combustion, and the development of an accurate FGM method will contribute to the engineering field. The accurate prediction of the flame flashback attempted in this study is particularly important for the development of hydrogen-fueled combustion devices.

Investigation of differential diffusion in lean, premixed, hydrogen-enriched swirl flames

Hydrogen combustion is a promising alternative to fossil fuel combustion in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint. However, hydrogen combustion is prone to thermodiffusive instabilities largely dependent on differential diffusion, a phenomenon that can lead to higher probabilities of flashback in industrial burners, given hydrogen’s high reactivity and diffusivity. This paper evaluates low-swirl flames of methane and air enriched with hydrogen to highlight the onset of differential diffusion. Testing was conducted in a fully controllable swirl burner, where bulk velocity Uav = 13 m/s and swirl number S = 0.6 were kept constant for each hydrogen–methane blend to isolate increases in flame surface area from increases in turbulence intensity. Furthermore, each fuel blend of hydrogen and methane is evaluated at the same laminar flame speed of SLo = 0.267 m/s to isolate flame stretch effects on the turbulent burning rate. Combined hydroxyl (OH) PLIF and stereoscopic PIV at the National Research Council of Canada were used to analyze the OH fluorescence in a 2D-3C velocity field for each flame condition. High-speed PIV at McGill University was used to resolve local flame phenomena, such as local flame displacement velocity and flame stretch rate. Using these techniques, it can be observed that the flame displaces axially in response to turbulent flame speed while exhibiting increases in flamefront wrinkling. This increased corrugation due to flame stretch is highlighted in the PDFs of local curvature and κSf and is further evidenced by a shift towards positive curvatures (κ> 0) for increasing H2 volume fraction. This trend suggests that there is a strong correlation with increases in turbulent burning rate and positive curvature as a result of differential diffusion, but it is not necessarily a control mechanism of the most forward propagating points proposed by the theory of leading points.

Effects of preferential diffusion and flame stretch on FGM method for numerical simulations of ammonia/air premixed combustion

Importance of the considerations of preferential diffusion and flame stretch effects in the flamelet-generated manifold (FGM) method on the prediction accuracy is investigated by two-dimensional numerical simulations of cylindrical NH3/air premixed flames, under the conditions of an unburnt gas temperature of 673K, an ambient pressure of 2MPa, and equivalence ratios of 0.8 to 1.2. Results of the numerical simulations using the detailed chemistry, in which 32 species and 204 reactions are directly solved in the physical space without the FGM method, show that the mixture fraction in the burnt gas increases from the unburnt gas value when considering the preferential diffusion effect, whereas it remains flat when assuming the unity Lewis number. This means that assuming the unity Lewis number causes the underprediction and overprediction of the burnt gas temperature under fuel-lean and fuel-rich conditions, respectively. Results of the numerical simulations using the FGM methods show that considering the preferential diffusion and flame stretch effects in the FGM method is important for accurate prediction of the flame propagating speed, and the effectiveness is more evident for the flame stretch effect than for the preferential diffusion effect for the NH3/air premixed flames.

Effects of radiative heat loss on extinction limits of counterflow premixed ammonia-air flames

The effect of radiative heat loss on counterflow premixed ammonia-air flames has been investigated as a function of equivalence ratio and system pressure. Non-adiabatic counterflow premixed flame simulations incorporating detailed chemistry, transport, and radiative heat transfer in the optically thin limit have been employed to elucidate important underlying physics and extinction characteristics. Similar to methane-air flame systems, non-adiabatic counterflow premixed computations show that the combined effects of positive flame stretch, sub-unity Lewis number, and radiative heat loss lead to the extension of the lean flammability limit for ammonia-air flames, revealing a C-shaped curve near the lean flammability limit that exhibits both radiation-induced and stretch-induced extinction states. The computations compare favorably with the experimentally determined extinction stretch rate values for the stretch-induced extinction states over a wide range of equivalence ratios at different pressures up to 5 atm. A novel feature sensitivity analysis has also been developed to highlight important sensitive reactions for the stretch- and radiation-induced extinction states. Furthermore, the controlling chemistry at the dual-extinction states and at varying pressures are compared and discussed.

The effect of flame curvature and flame base movement on the frequency response of a conical Bunsen flame

We create a general model for the tracking of a premixed flame sheet. This model is based on a Lagrangian formulation of the interface motion, which is more computationally efficient than the level-set formulation solved on a grid. We apply this model to a conical Bunsen flame in which flame-base oscillations and flame stretch effects are also considered. We demonstrate that the flame-front dynamics, the heat release rate perturbations, and the flame transfer function (FTF) are affected by three features: (i) the velocity field locally perturbing the flame-front, (ii) the flame-base oscillations normal to the steady flame-front propagating along the flame and (iii) the flame-base oscillations tangential to the flame-front reducing and increasing the flame-length. We provide a physical explanation for the saturation of the FTF phase shift with increasing forcing frequency, which is found experimentally. We show why a n−τ model with fixed τ cannot model this simple flame and that, when building a quantitatively-accurate model of a thermoacoustic system containing this flame, the flame dynamics need to be simulated directly or modelled more accurately than with the n−τ model. The flame model used in this paper has been designed to be differentiable so that it can be used for rapid data assimilation using Laplace’s method. Code is provided so that the user can generate the FTF of a conical premixed flame with any set of parameters and any flame-base trajectory.

On the flame transfer function models for laminar premixed conical and V- flames considering the stretch effect

This paper investigates a predictive model that considers the impact of stretch on the dynamic response of laminar premixed conical and V- flames; the flame stretch consists of two components: the flame curvature and flow strain. The steady and perturbed flame fronts are determined via the linearized G-equation associated with the flame stretch model. Parameter analyses of the effects of Markstein length L, flame radius R and unstretched flame aspect ratio β are also conducted. Results show that the flame stretch reduces the steady flame height, with this effect being more significant for larger Markstein lengths and smaller flame sizes. The effects of flame stretch on perturbed flames are evaluated by comparing the flame transfer function (FTF) considering the flame stretch and not. For flames of different sizes, the impact of flame stretch on FTF gain can be divided into three regions. When both β and R are relatively small, due to the decrease in steady flame height and the impact of flow strain, the FTF gain increases. As β and R gradually increase, the FTF gain of the conical flame oscillates periodically while the FTF gain of the V-flame decreases, primarily due to the flame curvature enhancing the flame front disturbance and the wrinkle counteracting effect. When β and R are large, a disruption in wrinkle counteracting effect ensues, leading to a significant increase in FTF gain. Furthermore, as the actual flame height is reduced, the flame stretch also reduces the FTF phase lag which is related to the disturbance propagation time from the flame root to the tip.

Flame Surface Density and Artificially Thickened Flame Combustion Models Applied to a Turbulent Partially-Premixed Flame

The Sydney Flame provides an excellent framework for systematic analysis of premixed, partially premixed and non-premixed methane/air combustion. It represents (depending on the axial position from the fuel inlet) non-premixed, partially premixed and fully premixed combustion. We simulate the test case FJ200-5GP-Lr75-57, which represents the partially premixed mode. Large-eddy simulations (LES) are conducted using a flame surface density combustion model (FSD) using one-step chemistry and an artificially thickened flame model (ATF) with a global two-step and an analytically reduced multi-step chemistry reaction mechanism. Unity Lewis numbers are assumed (Le=1\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Le=1$$\\end{document}) at first. The FSD and ATF models are compared using the same computational mesh, numerical scheme and boundary conditions. Both models will be analysed regarding their accuracy and computational efficiency in the regime of partially premixed combustion. A comparison of the results points out the strengths and weaknesses of the FSD models. The FSD model with inclusion of flame stretch effects yields good agreement with mean experimental temperature, CO2 and H2O mass fraction distributions in contrast to the ATF model using the global two-step mechanism, which overestimates downstream temperature, CO2 and H2O mass fractions. The FSD model performs well in all regions, which are dominated first by premixed, then partially premixed and finally non-premixed combustion along the flame. The ATF multi-step chemistry shows good results only in the premixed mode region, while mean temperature, CO2 and mass fractions are overestimated in the non-premixed mode regions at higher mixture fraction values. Including differential diffusion into the transport equations improved the ATF model results in comparison with experiments. A mesh study revealed, that the ATF model performs only after mesh refinement. In particular results are improved in the non-premixed combustion region. In contrast, the FSD model is less resolution sensitive and performs very well for both meshes. An evaluation of the Wasserstein metric provides a quantitative assessment of different ATF model setups on simulation accuracy. Finally, computational times for all simulation setups are compared.

Macroscopic View of Reynolds Scaling and Stretch Effects in Spherical Turbulent Premixed Flames

The burning rate in a spherically expanding turbulent premixed flame is explored using direct numerical simulations, and a model of ordinary differential equations is proposed. The numerical dataset, from a previous work, is obtained from direct numerical simulations of confined spherical flames in isotropic turbulence over a range of Reynolds numbers. We begin the derivation of the model with an equation for the burning rate for the domain under consideration, and using a thin flame assumption and a two-fluid approach, we find the normalized turbulent burning rate to be controlled by the increase in flame surface area due to turbulent wrinkling, and correction factor that is observed to be consistently less than unity. A Reynolds scaling hypothesis for the flame turbulent wrinkling from a previous work using the same numerical dataset is used to model the term controlling the increase in flame surface area. The correction factor is hypothesized to reflect flame stretch effects, and hence this factor is modeled using Markstein theory applied to global averaged quantities. The ordinary differential equations are rewritten to reflect easily observable quantities such as the chamber pressure and mean flame radius, and then expressed in dimensionless form to assess dependence on various dimensionless parameters. The model predictions are found to be in good agreement with the numerical data within expected variances. Additionally, Markstein theory is found to be sufficient in describing the effects of flame stretch in the turbulent premixed flames under consideration.

Flammability Limits: A Comprehensive Review of Theory, Experiments, and Estimation Methods

Flammability limits play an important role in combustion research, industrial applications, and fire safety. This article provides a comprehensive review of recent developments in the fundamental understanding of flammability limits and their experimental determination as well as estimation methods for pure fuels and fuel mixtures. The article begins with a discussion of the importance and challenges of determining flammability limits. It then presents the theoretical, computational, and experimental methods available to understand the mechanism of flammability limits and to quantify them. The experimental setups using cylindrical and spherical vessels to determine the flammability limits are discussed. The effects of buoyancy, thermal radiation, and flame stretch are examined. The relationship between the fundamental flammability limits and the extinction limits of stretched flames via strain and radiation is presented. The effects of initial temperature, pressure, mixtures of different fuels, and diluents are examined, and available estimation methods are presented. Finally, the flammability limits of renewable and alternative fuels are addressed and strategies for estimating the flammability limits of these fuels are presented.

Minimum ignition energy of hydrogen-air mixtures at ambient and cryogenic temperatures

The ignition and combustion of hydrogen in air is considered more hazardous compared to other fuels due to the lower minimum ignition energy (MIE) and the wider flammability range. Spark discharge is the most common type of electrostatic ignition hazard. There is a need in validated safety engineering tools to accurately calculate MIE in a wide range of temperatures from atmospheric to cryogenic which are characteristic for hydrogen systems and infrastructure. Current MIE assessment methodologies rely on the availability of experimental data on quenching distance and/or laminar burning velocity and thus are mostly empirical correlations. This prevents their application beyond the limited number of experimental data, i.e. to arbitrary composition of the hydrogen-air mixture at arbitrary temperatures including cryogenic. This work aims at the development of a model able to accurately predict MIE for hydrogen-air mixtures with arbitrary initial composition and temperature. Cantera and Chemkin software are used to calculate the properties and unstretched laminar burning velocity of hydrogen-air mixtures. The flame thickness is found to well represent the critical flame kernel in the suggested model. The model is validated against experimental data on MIE for mixtures at ambient and cryogenic (down to 123 K) temperatures. Results show that the effect of flame stretch and preferential diffusion shall be considered to accurately predict MIE for lean hydrogen-air mixtures, which was not possible for previous models.

Direct Numerical Simulation of Partial Fuel Stratification Assisted Lean Premixed Combustion for Assessment of Hybrid G-Equation/Well-Stirred Reactor Model

Abstract Partial fuel stratification (PFS) is a promising fuel injection strategy to stabilize lean premixed combustion in spark-ignition (SI) engines. PFS creates a locally stratified mixture by injecting a fraction of the fuel, just before spark timing, into the engine cylinder containing homogeneous lean fuel/air mixture. This locally stratified mixture, when ignited, results in complex flame structure and propagation modes similar to partially premixed flames and allows for faster and more stable flame propagation than a homogeneous lean mixture. This study focuses on understanding the detailed flame structures associated with PFS-assisted lean premixed combustion. First, a two-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) is performed using detailed fuel chemistry, experimental pressure trace, and realistic initial conditions mapped from a prior engine large-eddy simulation (LES), replicating practical lean SI operating conditions. DNS results suggest that the conventional triple flame structure is prevalent during the initial stage of flame kernel growth. Both premixed and nonpremixed combustion modes are present with the premixed mode contributing dominantly to the total heat release. Detailed analysis further reveals the effects of flame stretch and fuel pyrolysis on flame displacement speed. Based on the DNS findings, the accuracy of a hybrid G-equation/well-stirred reactor (WSR) combustion model is assessed for the PFS-assisted lean operation in the LES context. It is found that the G-equation model qualitatively captures the premixed branches of the triple flame, while the WSR model predicts the nonpremixed branch of the triple flame. Finally, potential needs for improvements to the hybrid G-equation/WSR modeling approach are discussed.

Flame speed in diffusion dominated premixed flames

Development of a premixed flame theory that includes the effects of flame stretch and curvature has been at the forefront of combustion research. Diffusion dominated flames such as highly curved flame balls present a challenging flame structure that has not been included in current flame stretch theory so far. In such flames, the relationship between consumption speed and negative displacement speed usually marks the boundary of what flame stretch theory can predict. In this work, our objective is to derive a general formulation which naturally includes this relationship. We use flamelet equations derived using a mass based stretch rate and show that if the diffusion flux at the unburnt side is not ignored, as is normally done in flame stretch theory, a formulation that can describe the propagation of different types of premixed flames can be derived. Based on the thin reaction zone assumption, solutions from theory are verified against numerical results for 1D ideal flame balls. Further verification is done for multi-dimensional ball-like flames, where both convection and diffusion dominated regions are present for highly curved flames. It is shown that the extended theory is able to predict the flame kinematics in a better way by describing the diffusion dominated flame propagation as well.

Turbulent flame speed and morphology of pure ammonia flames and blends with methane or hydrogen

Ammonia appears a promising hydrogen-energy carrier as well as a carbon-free fuel. However, there remain limited studies for ammonia combustion especially under turbulent conditions. To that end, using the spherically expanding flame configuration, the turbulent flame speeds of stoichiometric ammonia/air, ammonia/methane and ammonia/hydrogen were examined. The composition of blends studied are currently being investigated for gas turbine application and are evaluated at various turbulent intensities, covering different kinds of turbulent combustion regimes. Mie-scattering tomography was employed facilitating flame structure analysis. Results show that the flame propagation speed of ammonia/air increases exponentially with increasing hydrogen amount. It is less pronounced with increasing methane addition, analogous to the behavior displayed in the laminar regime. The turbulent to laminar flame speed ratio increases with turbulence intensity. However, smallest gains were observed at highest hydrogen content, presumably due to differences in the combustion regime, with the mixture located within the corrugated flamelet zone, with all other mixtures positioned within the thin reaction zone. A good correlation of the turbulent velocity based on the Karlovitz and Damköhler numbers is observable with the present dataset, as well as previous experimental measurements available in literature, suggesting that ammonia-based fuels may potentially be described following the usual turbulent combustion models. Flame morphology and stretch sensitivity analysis were conducted, revealing that flame curvature remains relatively similar for pure ammonia and ammonia-based mixtures. The wrinkling ratio is found to increase with both increasing ammonia fraction and turbulent intensity, in good agreement with measured increases in turbulent flame speed. On the other hand, in most cases, the flame stretch effect does not change significantly with increasing turbulence, whilst following a similar trend to that of the laminar Markstein length.

Near-wall dynamics of premixed methane/air flames

This work focuses on sidewall quenching (SWQ) for premixed methane/air flames that are forced by a periodic oscillatory inflow with excitation frequency f = 100 Hz. The effects of steady-state and transient flame stretch on the near-wall flame dynamics are evaluated using two-dimensional direct numerical simulation (2D-DNS) and the GRI 3.0 reaction mechanism. The velocity fluctuations lead to significant changes in flame speed and flame stretch, as well as the associated Markstein numbers. The phenomenon of SWQ is analyzed using flame quenching distance, wall heat flux and heat release rate. For steady-state conditions, there is a strong correlation between the maximum wall heat flux WHFmax and the flame quenching Peclet Number (Peq), as well as between the flame speed and the flame stretch; for transient conditions, the flame quenching distance (dq) increases continuously from phase angles of 1/4f−1 to 3/4f−1 in one cycle as time progresses, and the fluctuation of the quenching distance (Δdq) decreases gradually with increasing equivalence ratio (∅). The flame stretch changes from negative to positive in the process from 1/4f−1 to 3/4f−1, while the heat release rate and fuel reaction rate near the wall gradually decrease. Furthermore, the FWI region is dominated by negative flame stretch while positive flame stretch is present at the base of the flame. Moreover, the methane/air flame has a nearly twofold increase in the consumption speed during the oscillation from phase angle 3/4f−1 to the next cycle at 1/4f−1 at ∅ = 0.5 and ∅ = 1.0. These results show that flow field perturbations are not negligible in elucidating the effects of flame-wall interactions.

Dynamics of premixed hydrogen/air flames in unsteady flow

Fully resolved numerical simulations with finite rate chemical reactions and detailed molecular diffusion have been conducted for a series of laminar premixed hydrogen–air flames under atmospheric condition. The objective of the work is to study the influence of unsteadiness of the flow on the local and global flame dynamics. Two equivalence ratios with Φ=0.5 and 4 are considered, leading to a negative and a positive Markstein number Ma0 at steady-state condition. The flames are excited with oscillating inflows at pre-defined frequencies f to assess the effect of unsteady flame stretch on flame dynamics. The Damköhler number, defined by the ratio of the inverse frequency of the oscillations and flame transit time, is used to characterize the interactions between the flow and the chemical reactions based on their time scales. For both lean and rich flame conditions, the local flame speed Sl is less sensitive to the flame stretch in an unsteady flow, which results in a reduced magnitude of the Markstein number |Ma¯|. In addition, |Ma¯| is smallest when the time scale of the flow approaches the intrinsic time scale of the flame (Da≈1). The global consumption speed St, computed from integration of the fuel burning rate over the whole computational domain, yields a phase delay and a damped oscillation with respect to the unsteady inflow. The phase delay increases with f or decreasing Da, whereas the reverse trend has been found for the oscillation amplitude of St. The flame is not able to follow the unsteady flow or adjust its flame surface at high excitation frequencies with Da <1, and vice versa in the low frequency range with Da≫1. An efficiency factor E has been introduced to model the damped response of the flame due to flow unsteadiness, which reproduces the asymptotic behavior of E→0 at Da≪1 and E→1 at Da≫1. The simulation results reveal that the fluctuation time scale plays a significant role in elucidating the effect of flame–flow interaction, which should be considered for turbulent combustion modeling.

Turbulent burning velocity and its related statistics of ammonia‐hydrogen‐air jet flames at high Karlovitz number: Effect of differential diffusion

To clarify the role of differential diffusion in highly turbulent premixed flames, a series of turbulent premixed ammonia/hydrogen/air flames were investigated using the NH-PLIF diagnostics. The investigated flames have almost the same laminar burning velocity, SL, but are characterized by different Lewis number, Le, from 0.56 to 1.77. The Karlovitz number, Ka, of these flames ranges from 11 to 1052, and the turbulence intensity, u’/SL, covers from 10 to 156. It is observed that the global consumption speed, ST,GC/SL, of sub-unity Le flames is much larger than that of super-unity Le flames at high Ka, indicating that the differential diffusion plays a significant role in highly turbulent flames. The flame surface density and the area ratio of turbulent flames with different Le are, however, similar under wide turbulent conditions. The stretch factor of sub-unity Le flames is estimated to be significantly larger than that of super-unity Le cases. The enhanced ST,GC of sub-unity Le flames is suggested to be attributed to the promotion of local burning rates by the couple effect of differential diffusion and turbulent flame stretch within the flame brush, rather than the enlargement of flame surface area at high Ka. Furthermore, three correlations for the ST,GC were developed based on Damkohler's second hypothesis with consideration of the Le effect. The correlation of ST,GC/SL ∼ (ReT·Le-2)0.5 is further validated by using small-scale methane/air and large-scale ammonia/air flames at high Ka, where ReT is turbulent Reynolds number. It suggests that the ST,GC is roughly inversely proportional to the Le, and the differential diffusion effect should be included in the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of highly turbulent flames.

Impacts of the Lewis and Markstein numbers on premixed flame acceleration in channels due to wall friction

The effects of flame stretch as well as that of thermal and molecular diffusion on the scenario of flame acceleration in channels are quantified by means of computational and analytical endeavors. The analytical formulation incorporates the internal transport flame properties into the theory of flame acceleration due to wall friction by means of the Markstein number, which characterizes the flame response to curvature and stretch. Being a positive or negative quantity and a function of the thermal-chemical combustion parameters, such as the thermal expansion ratio as well as the Lewis and Zeldovich numbers, the Markstein number either moderates or promotes flame acceleration. While the Markstein number may provide a substantial impact on the flame acceleration rate in narrow channels, this effect diminishes with increase in the channel width. The analytical formulation is accompanied by extensive computational simulations of the reacting flow equations, which clarify the impact of the Lewis number on flame acceleration. It is noted that for Lewis numbers below a certain critical value, at the initial stage of flame acceleration, a globally convex flame front splits into two or more finger-like segments, accompanied by a drastic increase in the flame front surface area and associated enhancement of flame acceleration. Later, however, these segments of the flame front meet, promptly consuming cavities and pockets, which substantially decreases the flame surface area and moderates acceleration. Eventually, this dynamics results in a single, globally convex flame, which keeps accelerating. Overall, the thermal-diffusive effects substantially facilitate flame acceleration, thereby advancing a potential deflagration-to-detonation transition.

Modeling of Turbulent Premixed CH4/H2/Air Flames Including the Influence of Stretch and Heat Losses

Abstract This paper presents a Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes turbulent combustion model for CH4/H2/air mixtures which includes the effect of heat losses and flame stretch. This approach extends a previous model concept designed for methane/air mixtures and improves the prediction of flame stabilization when hydrogen is added to the fuel. Heat loss and stretch effects are modeled by tabulating the consumption speed of laminar counterflow flames in a fresh-to-burnt configuration with detailed chemistry at various heat loss and flame stretch values. These computed values are then introduced in the turbulent combustion model by means of a turbulent flame speed expression which is derived as a function of flame stretch, heat loss, and H2 addition. The model proposed in this paper is compared to existing models on experimental data of spherical expanding turbulent flame speeds. The performance of the model is further validated by comparing computational fluid dynamics predictions to experimental data of an atmospheric turbulent premixed bluff-body-stabilized flame fed with CH4/H2/air mixtures ranging from pure methane to pure hydrogen.

Alternative approaches to the reaction rate modelling in gas explosion simulation using STOKES

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been increasingly applied to process safety studies involving scenarios of accidental gas explosions. By offering a deeper understanding of the underlying physics of flame propagation, CFD can improve existing consequence analysis and risk assessment, particularly when confinement or obstructions are present. In the numerical modelling of gas explosions, the reaction rate is a quantity of fundamental importance because it ultimately leads to the values of flame speed and peaks of overpressure. In this work, we investigate the reaction rate models implemented in the CFD tool STOKES, which has been designed for the simulation of gas explosions in complex geometries. STOKES counts on the Bray–Moss–Libby (BML) reaction rate model, where the effects of flame stretch are neglected in its original version, which may lead to an inaccurate representation of the flame behaviour. Also, the length scale of wrinkling is often calculated as a function of the velocity fluctuations via empirical correlations that depend on adjustable constants. In a first approach, we propose an expression for calculating the stretch factor dynamically, based on the local divergence of velocity. In a second approach, a hybrid reaction rate model is presented, incorporating the well-known fractal approach into the BML model. The hybrid approach also counts on the calibration of parameters of the initial laminar burning model. Despite some improvement, the proposed dynamic stretch factor leads to unexpectedly enlarged flame contours. Results using the hybrid approach on the other hand improved agreement with experimental data, particularly in the early stages of flame acceleration when combustion chambers of relatively small sizes are considered. However, applications in real-scale semi-confined geometries indicate that the initial stages of flame development require further work.

Quenching distance, wall heat flux and CO/NO thermochemical states in the wall vicinity of laminar premixed biogas-hydrogen impinging flame

The quenching distance, wall heat flux and pollutant thermochemical states of the laminar premixed biogas-hydrogen impinging flame at ϕ = 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 were investigated using the numerical simulation with detailed chemical kinetics and transport parameters. With the 10% H2 addition, the biogas composed of 75% CH4 and 25% CO2 was used as fuel in the study. Results show that PeQ ≈5 is obtained for the laminar premixed biogas-hydrogen impinging flame at ϕ = 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2. The smaller PeQ than that of CH4 flame is resulted from the CO2 increasing the flame thickness, as well as the decelerated flame propagation due to the strong stretch effects. The quenching distance of biogas-hydrogen flame is codetermined by intrinsic characteristics of heat transfer process and effects of equivalence ratio and flame stretch on the flame propagation. The wall heat flux of laminar premixed biogas-hydrogen impinging flame is maximum at ϕ = 1.0, followed by ϕ = 1.2 and 0.8. At ϕ = 0.8 and 1.2, the location difference between the quenching point and peak wall heat flux of premixed biogas-hydrogen impinging flame is ascribed to the oxidization of escaped unburned fuel near the wall, and the worse field synergy of temperatue and velocity near the quenching point. Additionally, it is found that the fast NO accumulation near the wall at ϕ = 0.8 is ascribed to the transportation of NO generated by NNH route and the effective prompt NO production, while that at ϕ = 1.2 is resulted from the prompt NO production primarily. In the wall vicinity, the low temperature shift of NO production are resulted from the much faster characteristic time scale of heat transfer, while the NNH route and prompt route play the dominant roles in this low-temperature shifts of NO production at ϕ = 0.8 and 1.2, respectively. This means the increased importance of prompt and NNH routes on the NO emission in the downsized combustor.