Simon Lapointe

Vorticity transformation in high Karlovitz number premixed flames

To better understand the two-way coupling between turbulence and chemistry, the changes in turbulence characteristics through a premixed flame are investigated. Specifically, this study focuses on vorticity, ω, which is characteristic of the smallest length and time scales of turbulence, analyzing its behavior within and across high Karlovitz number (Ka) premixed flames. This is accomplished through a series of direct numerical simulations (DNS) of premixed n-heptane/air flames, modeled with a 35-species finite-rate chemical mechanism, whose conditions span a wide range of unburnt Karlovitz numbers and flame density ratios. The behavior of the terms in the enstrophy, ω^2 = ω ⋅ ω, transport equation is analyzed, and a scaling is proposed for each term. The resulting normalized enstrophy transport equation involves only a small set of parameters. Specifically, the theoretical analysis and DNS results support that, at high Karlovitz number, enstrophy transport obtains a balance of the viscous dissipation and production/vortex stretching terms. It is shown that, as a result, vorticity scales in the same manner as in homogeneous, isotropic turbulence within and across the flame, namely, scaling with the inverse of the Kolmogorov time scale, τ_η. As τ_η is a function only of the viscosity and dissipation rate, this work supports the validity of Kolmogorov’s first similarity hypothesis in premixed turbulentflames for sufficiently high Ka numbers. Results are unaffected by the transport model, chemical model, turbulent Reynolds number, and finally the physical configuration.

Assessment of the constant non-unity Lewis number assumption in chemically-reacting flows

Accurate computation of molecular diffusion coefficients in chemically reacting flows can be an expensive procedure, and the use of constant non-unity Lewis numbers has been adopted often as a cheaper alternative. The goal of the current work is to explore the validity and the limitations of the constant non-unity Lewis number approach in the description of molecular mixing in laminar and turbulent flames. To carry out this analysis, three test cases have been selected, including a lean, highly unstable, premixed hydrogen/air flame, a lean turbulent premixed n-heptane/air flame, and a laminar ethylene/air coflow diffusion flame. For the hydrogen flame, both a laminar and a turbulent configuration have been considered. The three flames are characterised by Lewis numbers which are less than unity, greater than unity, and close to unity, respectively. For each flame, mixture-averaged transport simulations are carried out and used as reference data. The current analysis suggests that, for numerous combustion configurations, the constant non-unity Lewis number approximation leads to small errors when the set of Lewis numbers is chosen properly. For the selected test cases and our numerical framework, the reduction of computational cost is found to be minimal.