Sub-grid combustion modeling for compressible two-phase reacting flows

A generic formulation for modeling the turbulent combustion in compressible, high Reynolds number, two-phase; reacting flows has been developed and validated. A sub-grid mixing/combustion model called Linear Eddy Mixing (LEM) model has been extended to compressible flows and used inside the framework of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) in this LES-LEM approach. The LES-LEM approach is based on the proposition that the basic mechanistic distinction between the convective and the molecular effects should be preserved for accurate prediction of complex flow-fields such as those encountered in many combustion systems.; Liquid droplets (represented by computational parcels) are tracked using the Lagrangian approach wherein the Newton's equation of motion for the discrete particles are integrated explicitly in the Eulerian gas field. The gas phase LES velocity fields are used to estimate the instantaneous gas velocity at the droplet location. Drag effects due to the droplets on the gas phase and the heat transfer between the gas and the liquid phase are explicitly included. Thus, full coupling is achieved between the two phases in the simulation.; Validation of the compressible LES-LEM approach is conducted by simulating the flow-field in an operational General Electric Aircraft Engines combustor (LM6000). The results predicted using the proposed approach compares well with the experiments and a conventional (G-equation) thin-flame model. Particle tracking algorithms used in the present study are validated by simulating droplet laden temporal mixing layers. Quantitative and qualitative comparison with the results of spectral DNS exhibits good agreement.; Simulations using the current LES-LEM for freely propagating partially premixed flame in a droplet-laden isotropic turbulent field correctly captures the flame structure in the partially premixed flames. Due to the strong spatial variation of equivalence ratio a broad flame similar to a premixed flame is realized. The current approach also successfully captures the triple flame structure observed in the flow-field due to the equivalence ratio fluctuations.