Physical Insights on MILD Combustion From DNS

MILD combustion is gaining interest in recent times because it is attractive for green combustion technology. However, its fundamental aspects are not well understood. Recent progresses made on this topic using direct numerical simulation data are presented and discussed in a broader perspective. It is shown that a revised theory involving at least two chemical timescales is required to describe the inception of this combustion not only showing both autoignition and flame characteristics but also a strong interaction between these two phenomena. The reaction zones have complex morphological and topological features and the most probable shape is pancake-like structure implying micro-volume combustion under MILD conditions unlike the sheet-combustion in conventional cases. Relevance of the MILD (micro-volume) combustion to supersonic combustion is explored theoretically and qualitative support is shown and discussed using experimental and numerical Schlieren images.EPSR

Scalar fluctuation and its dissipation in turbulent reacting flows

The dissipation rate of a scalar variance is related to mean heat release rate in turbulent combustion. Mixture fraction is the scalar of interest for non-premixed combustion and a reaction progress variable is relevant for premixed combustion. A great deal of work is conducted in past studies to understand the spectra of passive scalar transport in turbulent flows. A very brief summary of these studies to bring out salient characteristics of passive scalar spectrum is given first. Then, the classical analysis of reactive scalar spectrum is revisited in the lights of recent understanding gained through analyzing the scalar spectrum deduced from direct numerical simulation data of both non-premixed and premixed combustion. The analysis shows that the reactive scalar spectral density in premixed combustion has a dependence on Karlovitz and Damköhler numbers, which comes through the mean scalar dissipation rate appearing in the spectral expression. In premixed combustion, the relevant scale for the scalar dissipation rate is shown to be of the order of the chemical length scale and the dissipation rate is not influenced by the scales in the inertial-convective range unlike for the passive scalar dissipation rate. The scalar fluctuations produced near the chemical scales cascade exponentially to larger scales. These observations imply that the passive scalar models cannot be extended to premixed combustion.EP/S025650/1, EP/R029369/

Direct Numerical Simulation of Complex Fuel Combustion with Detailed Chemistry: Physical Insight and Mean Reaction Rate Modeling

Direct numerical simulation of freely-propagating premixed flames of a multicomponent fuel is performed using a skeletal chemical mechanism with 49 reactions and 15 species. The fuel consists of CO,H2,H2O,CH4 and CO2 in proportions akin to blast furnace gas or a low calorific value syngas. The simulations include low and high turbulence levels to elucidate the effect of turbulence on realistic chemistry flames. The multi-component fuel flame is found to have a more complex structure than most common flames, with individual species reaction zones not necessarily overlapping with each other and with a wide heat releasing zone. The species mass fractions and heat release rate show significant scatter, with their conditional average however remaining close to the laminar flame result. Probability density functions of displacement speed, stretch rate, and curvature are near-Gaussian. Five different mean reaction rate closures are evaluated in the RANS context using these DNS data, presenting perhaps the most stringent test to date of the combustion models. Significant quantitative differences are observed in the performance of the models tested, especially for the higher turbulence level case.ZMN and NS acknowledges the funding through the Low Carbon Energy University Alliance Programme supported by Tsinghua University, China. ZMN and NS also acknowledge Prof. S. Cant for the DNS code. ZMN acknowledges the educational grant through the A.G. Leventis Foundation. This work made use of the facilities of HECToR, the UK’s national high performance computing service, which is provided by UoE HPCx Ltd at the University of Edinburgh, Cray Inc and NAG Ltd, and funded by the Office of Science and Technology through EPSRC’s High End Computing Programme. EPSRC support is acknowledged.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00102202.2015.106491

Unstrained and strained flamelets for LES of premixed combustion

The unstrained and strained flamelet closures for filtered reaction rate in large eddy simulation (LES) of premixed flames are studied. The required sub-grid scale (SGS) PDF in these closures is presumed using the Beta function. The relative performances of these closures are assessed by comparing numerical results from large eddy simulations of piloted Bunsen flames of stoichiometric methane–air mixture with experimental measurements. The strained flamelets closure is observed to underestimate the burn rate and thus the reactive scalars mass fractions are under-predicted with an over-prediction of fuel mass fraction compared with the unstrained flamelet closure. The physical reasons for this relative behaviour are discussed. The results of unstrained flamelet closure compare well with experimental data. The SGS variance of the progress variable required for the presumed PDF is obtained by solving its transport equation. An order of magnitude analysis of this equation suggests that the commonly used algebraic model obtained by balancing source and sink in this transport equation does not hold. This algebraic model is shown to underestimate the SGS variance substantially and the implications of this variance model for the filtered reaction rate closures are highlighted.The authors express their gratitude to EPSRC, Siemens and Rolls-Royce for their support. This work is funded by the grant numbered EP/I027556/1.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor & Francis via https://doi.org/10.1080/13647830.2016.114023

Heat release rate markers for premixed combustion

The validity of the commonly used flame marker for heat release rate (HRR) visualization, namely the rate of the reaction OH + CH2O ⇔ HCO + H2O is re-examined. This is done both for methane–air and multi-component fuel–air mixtures for lean and stoichiometric conditions. Two different methods are used to identify HRR correlations, and it is found that HRR correlations vary strongly with stoichiometry. For the methane mixture there exist alternative HRR markers, while for the multi-component fuel flame the above correlation is found to be inadequate. Alternative markers for the HRR visualization are thus proposed and their performance under turbulent conditions is evaluated using DNS data.ZMN and NS acknowledges the funding through the Low Carbon Energy University Alliance Programme supported by Tsinghua University, China. ZMN also likes to acknowledge the educational grant through the A.G. Leventis Foundation. This work made use of the facilities of HECToR, the UK’s national high-performance computing service, which is provided by UoE HPCx Ltd at the University of Edinburgh, Cray Inc. and NAG Ltd., and funded by the Office of Science and Technology through EPSRC’s High End Computing Programme.This is the final published version. It first appeared at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010218014001606#

Bacteriophages as a model for studying carbon regulation in aquatic system

The interconversion of carbon in organic, inorganic and refractory carbon is still beyond the grasp of present environmentalists. The bacteria and their phages, being the most abundant constituents of the aquatic environment, represent an ideal model for studing carbon regulation in the aquatic system. The refractory dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a recently coined terminology from the microbe-driven conversion of bioavailable organic carbon into difficult-to-digest refractory DOC by microbial carbon pump (MCP), is suggested to have the potential to revolutionize our view of carbon sequestration. It is estimated that about 95% of organic carbon is in the form of refractory DOC, which is the largest pool of organic matter in the ocean. The refractory DOC is supposed to be the major factor in the global carbon cycle whose source is not yet well understood. A key element of the carbon cycle is the microbial conversion of dissolved organic carbon into inedible forms. The time studies of phage-host interaction under control conditions reveal their impact on the total carbon content of the source and their interconversion among organic, inorganic and other forms of carbon with respect to control source. The TOC- analysis statistics stipulate an increase in inorganic carbon content by 15-25 percent in the sample with phage as compared to the sample without phage. The results signify a 60-70 fold increase in inorganic carbon content in sample with phage, whereas, 50-55 fold in the case of sample without phages as compared with control. This increase in inorganic carbon content may be due to lysis of the host cell releasing its cellular constituents and utilization of carbon constituent for phage assembly and development. It also proves the role of phages in regulating the carbon flow in aquatic systems like oceans, where their concentration outnumbered other species

Subgrid scale modelling for MILD combustion

A simple closure for filtered reaction of a reaction progress variable is analysed in this study using explicitly filtered DNS data of turbulent MILD combustion of methane for Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The conditional averages of major and minor species mass fractions, and reaction rate constructed from the DNS data along with those obtained using flamelet and Perfectly Stirred Reactor (PSR) models suggest that the PSR can serve as a good canonical reactor for MILD combustion modelling. The flamelet predictions of reaction rate are observed to be poor because it does not include effects of flame interactions, which are abundant in the MILD combustion. The PSR solution obtained over a wide range of residence time along with presumed beta sub-grid PDF seems a reasonable closure for the filtered reaction rate for the LES filter size greater than three flame thermal thicknesses. Both spatial variations and joint PDF of modelled and DNS values of filtered reaction rates are analysed.Y. M. acknowledges the financial support of Nippon Keidanren. EPSRC support is acknowledged. This work made use of the facilities of HECToR, the UK’s national high-performance computing service, which is provided by UoE HPCx Ltd at the University of Edinburgh, Cray Inc and NAG Ltd, and funded by the Office of Science and Technology through EPSRC’s High End Computing Programme.This is the final published version. It first appeared at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1540748914003356

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)

Scalar gradient behaviour in MILD combustion

The results of three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of Moderate, Intense Low-oxygen Dilution (MILD) and conventional premixed turbulent combustion conducted using a skeletal mechanism including the effects of nonunity Lewis numbers and temperature dependent transport properties are analysed to investigate combustion characteristics using scalar gradient information. The DNS data is also used to synthesise laser induced fluorescence (LIF) signals of OH, CH2O, and CHO. These signals are analysed to verify if they can be used to study turbulent MILD combustion and it has been observed that at least two (OH and CH2O) LIF signals are required since the OH increase across the reaction zone is smaller inMILD combustion compared to premixed combustion. The scalar gradient PDFs conditioned on the reaction rate obtained from the DNS data and synthesised LIF signals suggests a strong gradient in the direction normal to the MILD reaction zone with moderate reaction rate implying flamelet combustion. However, the PDF of the normal gradient is as broad as for the tangential gradient when the reaction rate is high. This suggests a non-flamelet behaviour, which is due to interaction of reaction zones. The analysis of the conditional PDFs for the premixed case confirms the expected behaviour of scalar gradient in flamelet combustion. It has been shown that the LIF signals synthesised using 2D slices of DNS data also provide very similar insights. These results demonstrate that the so-called flameless combustion is not an idealised homogeneous reactive mixture but has common features of conventional combustion while containing distinctive characteristics.The financial supports of Nippon Keidanren, Cambridge Overseas Trust and EPSRC are acknowledged. The direct simulations were made using the facilities of HECToR, the UK’s national high-performance computing service, which is provided by UoE HPCx Ltd at the University of Edinburgh, Cray Inc and NAG Ltd, and funded by the Office of Science and Technology through EPSRCs High End Computing Programme.This is the accepted manuscript. The final published version is available from Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010218013003799