Autoignition and flame propagation in non-premixed MILD combustion

Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data of Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution (MILD) combustion are analysed to gather insights on autoignition and flame propagation in MILD combustion. Unlike in conventional combustion, the chemical reactions occur over a large portion of the computational domain. The presence of ignition and flame propagation and their coexistence are studied through spatial and statistical analyses of the convective, diffusive and chemical effects in the species transport equations. Autoignition is observed in regions with lean mixtures because of their low ignition delay times and these events propagate into richer mixtures either as a flame or ignition. This is found to be highly dependent on the mixture fraction length scale, $\ell_Z$, and autoignition is favoured when $\ell_Z$ is small.N.A.K.D. acknowledges the financial support of the Qualcomm European Research Studentship Fund in Technology. This work used the ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service (http://www.archer.ac.uk) using computing time provided by EPSRC under the project number e419 and the UKCTRF (e305)

Analysis of Markers for Combustion Mode and Heat Release in MILD Combustion Using DNS Data

Various commonly used markers for heat release are assessed using direct numerical simulation (DNS) data for Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution (MILD) combustion to find their suitability for non-premixed MILD combustion. The laser induced fluorescence (LIF) signals of various markers are synthesised from the DNS data to construct their planar (PLIF) images which are compared to the heat release rate images obtained directly from the DNS data. The local ${\rm OH}$ values in heat releasing regions are observed to be very small compared to the background level coming from unreacted mixture diluted with exhaust gases. Furthermore, these values are very much smaller compared to those in burnt regions. This observation rises questions on the use of ${\rm OH}$-PLIF for MILD combustion. However, the chemiluminescent image obtained using ${\rm OH^*}$ is shown to correlate well with the heat release. Two-scalar based PLIF markers, $\left({\rm OH} \times {\rm CH_2O}\right)$ and $\left({\rm H} \times {\rm CH_2O}\right)$, correlate well with the heat release. Flame index (${\rm FI}$) and chemical explosive mode (CEMA) analyses are used to identify premixed and non-premixed regions in MILD combustion. Although there is some agreement between the CEMA and ${\rm FI}$ results, large discrepancies are still observed. The schlieren images deduced from the DNS data showed that this technique can be used for a quick and qualitative identification of MILD combustion before applying expensive laser diagnostics.Qualcomm European Research Studentship Fund in Technolog

Multiscale analysis of turbulence-flame interaction in premixed flames

Multiscale analysis of turbulence-flame interaction is performed using direct numerical simulation (DNS) data of premixed flames. Bandpass filtering method is used to educe turbulent eddies of various sizes and their vorticity and strain rate fields. The vortical structures at a scale of L ω are stretched strongly by the most extensional principal strain rate of eddies of scale 4L ω , which is similar to the behaviour in non-reacting turbulence. Hence, combustion does not influence the physics of vortex stretching mechanism. The fractional contribution from eddies of size L s to the total tangential strain rate is investigated. The results highlight that eddies larger than two times the laminar flame thermal thickness contributes predominantly to flame straining and eddies smaller than 2δ th contributes less than 10% to the total tangential strain rate for turbulence intensities, from u′/s L = 1.41 to u′/s L = 11.25, investigated here. The cutoff scale identified through this analysis is larger than the previous propositions and the implication of this finding to subgrid scale premixed combustion modelling is discussed.N.A.K.D. acknowledges the financial support of the Qualcomm European Research Studentship Fund in Technology. N. C. acknowledges the financial support of EPSRC

DNS of MILD combustion with mixture fraction variations

Direct numerical simulations of Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution combustion inside a cubical domain are performed. The computational do- main is specified with inflow and outflow boundary conditions in one direction and periodic conditions in the other two directions. The inflowing mixture is constructed carefully in a preprocessing step and has spatially varying mixture fraction and reaction progress variable field. Thus, this mixture in- cludes a range of thermo-chemical state for a given mixture fraction value. The combustion kinetics is modelled using a 58-step skeletal mechanism in- cluding a chemiluminescent species, OH∗, for methane-air combustion. The study of reaction zone structures in the physical and mixture fraction spaces shows the presence of ignition fronts, lean and rich premixed flames and non-premixed combustion. These three modes of combustion are observed without the typical triple-flame structure and this results from the spatio-temporally varying mixture fraction field undergoing turbulent mixing and reaction. The flame index and its pdf are analysed to estimate the fractional contributions from these combustion modes to the total heat release rate. The lean premixed mode is observed to be quite dominant and contribution of non-premixed mode increased from about 11% to 20% when the mean oxygen mole fraction in the inflowing mixture is reduced from about 2.7% to 1.6%. Also, the non-premixed contribution increases if one decreases the integral length scale of the mixture fraction field. All of these results and observations are explained on physical basis.N.A.K.D. acknowledges the financial support of the Qualcomm European Research Studentship Fund in Technology. This work used the ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service (http://www.archer.ac.uk) using computing time provided by EPSRC under the RAP project number e419 and the UKCTRF (e305). NS acknowledges the support of EPSRC. Y. M. acknowledges the support of JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) Grant Number 16K18026

Scale locality of the energy cascade using real space quantities

The classical energy cascade in turbulence as described by Richardson and Kolmogorov is predominantly a conjecture relying on the locality of interactions between scales of turbulence. This picture is generally accepted and assumes that energy and enstrophy transfers occur between neighbouring scales of turbulence and that vortex stretching plays a major role in the dynamics of this energy cascade. Direct numerical simulation data for Re_λ ranging from 37 to 1131 is used to gather evidence for the cascade by investigating the energy and enstrophy fluxes between scales and the interplay between vorticity at one scale and strain at an adjacent scale. This is achieved by using a bandpass filter to educe the turbulent structures at various length scales allowing one to determine the fluxes between these scales and to interrogate the role of non-local (in physical-space) vortex stretching. It is shown that the structures of a length scale L mostly transfer their energy to structures of size 0.3L and that most of the enstrophy flux goes from structures of scale L to 0.3L. Furthermore, vortical structures of a length scale L_ω are stretched mostly by straining structures of size 3 to 5L_ω and the stretching by eddies of sizes larger than 10L_ω is negligible. The stretching is dominated by the most extensive principal strain rate of the straining structures. These observations are found to be independent of Re_λ for the range investigated in this study. These results provide strong evidence for the classical view of an energy cascade transferring energy from large to small scales through a hierarchy of steps, each step consisting of the stretching of vortices by somewhat larger structures.Qualcomm European Research Studentship Fund in Technolog

Role of radicals on MILD combustion inception

The criterion used to define MILD combustion in non-premixed condition is analysed using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of MILD combustion of methane-diluted air established with internal exhaust gas recirculation. The simulations reveal multiple interacting reaction zones in MILD combustion which are extremely different from conventional combustion. Furthermore, DNS deduced S-curves highlight the role of chemically active species. Specifically, the temperature rise is accompanied with an increase in the scalar dissipation rate of mixture fraction, which is quite contrasting to the classical S-curve from the classical flame theories. This observations is explained on a physical basis.Qualcomm European Research Studentship Fund in Technolog

A priori investigation of subgrid correlation of mixture fraction and progress variable in partially premixed flames

Subgrid correlation of mixture fraction, Z, and progress variable, c, is investigated using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data of a hydrogen lifted jet flame. Joint subgrid behaviour of these two scalars are obtained using a Gaussian-type filter for a broad range of filter sizes. Joint probability density function (JPDF) constructed using single-snapshot DNS data is compared qualitatively with that computed using two independent β-PDFs and a copula method. Strong negative correlation observed at different streamwise locations in the flame is well captured by the copula method. The subgrid contribution to the Z-c correlation becomes important if the filter is of the size of laminar flame thickness or larger. A priori assessment for the filtered reaction rate using flamelet approach with independent β-PDFs and correlated JPDF is then performed. The comparison with the DNS data shows that both models provide reasonably good results for a range of filter sizes. However, the reaction rate computed using copula JPDF is found to have a better agreement with the DNS data for large filter sizes because the subgrid Z-c correlation effect is included

Short- and long-term predictions of chaotic flows and extreme events: a physics-constrained reservoir computing approach.

We propose a physics-constrained machine learning method-based on reservoir computing-to time-accurately predict extreme events and long-term velocity statistics in a model of chaotic flow. The method leverages the strengths of two different approaches: empirical modelling based on reservoir computing, which learns the chaotic dynamics from data only, and physical modelling based on conservation laws. This enables the reservoir computing framework to output physical predictions when training data are unavailable. We show that the combination of the two approaches is able to accurately reproduce the velocity statistics, and to predict the occurrence and amplitude of extreme events in a model of self-sustaining process in turbulence. In this flow, the extreme events are abrupt transitions from turbulent to quasi-laminar states, which are deterministic phenomena that cannot be traditionally predicted because of chaos. Furthermore, the physics-constrained machine learning method is shown to be robust with respect to noise. This work opens up new possibilities for synergistically enhancing data-driven methods with physical knowledge for the time-accurate prediction of chaotic flows

Filtered Reaction Rate Modelling in Moderate and High Karlovitz Number Flames: an a Priori Analysis

Abstract: Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of statistically planar flames at moderate and high Karlovitz number (Ka) have been used to perform an a priori evaluation of a presumed-PDF model approach for filtered reaction rate in the framework of large eddy simulation (LES) for different LES filter sizes. The model is statistical and uses a presumed shape, based here on a beta-distribution, for the sub-grid probability density function (PDF) of a reaction progress variable. Flamelet tabulation is used for the unfiltered reaction rate. It is known that presumed PDF with flamelet tabulation may lead to over-prediction of the modelled reaction rate. This is assessed in a methodical way using DNS of varying complexity, including single-step chemistry and complex methane/air chemistry at equivalence ratio 0.6. It is shown that the error is strongly related to the filter size. A correction function is proposed in this work which can reduce the error on the reaction rate modelling at low turbulence intensities by up to 50%, and which is obtained by imposing that the consumption speed based on the modelled reaction rate matches the exact one in the flamelet limit. A second analysis is also conducted to assess the accuracy of the flamelet assumption itself. This analysis is conducted for a wide range of Ka, from 6 to 4100. It is found that at high Ka this assumption is weaker as expected, however results improve with larger filter sizes due to the reduction of the scatter produced by the fluctuations of the exact reaction rate