Simulations of Cavity-Stabilized Flames in Supersonic Flow Using Reduced Chemical Kinetic Mechanisms (Postprint)

Abstract

The VULCAN CFD code integrated with a reduced chemical kinetic mechanism was applied to simulate cavity-stabilized ethylene-air flames and to predict flame stability limits in supersonic flows based on an experimental study. A 15-step reduced kinetic mechanism for ethylene was systematically developed through skeletal reduction with a directed relation graph and time scale reduction based on quasi-steady state assumptions. The accuracy of the reduced kinetic mechanism and its implementation in the VULCAN code were demonstrated in an auto-ignition problem with a range of parameters. 3D simulations were then carried out for cavity-stabilized flames at different fuel flow rates and turbulent Schmidt numbers. For comparison with the performance of the present reduced mechanism, a 3- and a 10-step global kinetic model were applied to simulate the same cavity combustor, and the results show that the 15-step reduced model predicts experimental results much better than the 3- and 10-step models. The importance of including accurate chemical kinetics in CFD simulations is therefore demonstrated.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA462104

Entities

People

  • Chung K. Law
  • Chung-jen Tam
  • Jiwen Liu
  • Tianfeng Lu

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Air Force
  • Chemical Kinetics
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Products
  • Combustors
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Hydrocarbons
  • Ignition Lag
  • Simulations
  • Steady State
  • Supersonic Combustion Ramjet Engines
  • Supersonic Flow
  • Turbulent Mixing

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flight