A numerical investigation of the effects of imperfect premixing on flame propagation

Gasoline direct-injection engines and lean-premixed prevaporized combustors have recently emerged as promising technologies for improving combustion efficiency and pollutant emission. In both applications, the time available for the mixing of fuel and oxidizer prior to combustion may be insufficient for the mixture to acquire a homogeneous composition, and this thesis addresses the propagation of premixed flames under such conditions.; Previous numerical studies, owing to severe spatio-temporal limitations, have been unable to provide a clear picture of what to expect from the effects of imperfect premixing on turbulent flames, and have not found agreement with existing experimental data. In this study, direct numerical simulations (DNS) of flame propagation in inhomogeneous mixtures with imposed velocity fluctuations are carried out. To avoid aforementioned limitations and to account for important flame dynamics such as the hydrodynamic instability, a configuration that permits larger domains and longer times than previously accessed by DNS is employed. The simulated flows are unavoidably restricted to two dimensions. One-step chemistry and Fick's diffusion law are considered, along with unity Lewis number assumption.; It is observed that relatively weak fluctuations in composition alone may lead to a large increase in flame wrinkling and propagation speed, consistent with experimental findings. The hydrodynamic instability caused by gas expansion is found to be responsible for such strong flame response. However, the impact of composition fluctuations diminishes as velocity fluctuations present become more intense, and eventually imperfect premixing ceases to affect the flame brush speed. This effect is explained based on the numerical results, and a criterion for the transition from one regime to the other is provided. It is also found that imperfect premixing always affects the structure of the flame brush. A gradual change in the composition of the unburnt mixture across the flame brush is observed and explained, and a model of this effect is developed and found to agree well with the numerical results. Finally, the effect of mixture stratification on flame propagation is also briefly investigated. Mixture stratification is found to impact on propagation speed, even when velocity fluctuations present become more intense.