In Situ Detailed Chemistry Calculations in Combustor Flow Analyses

Abstract

In the numerical simulation of turbulent reacting flows, the high computational cost of integrating the reaction equations precludes the inclusion of detailed chemistry schemes, therefore reduced reaction mechanisms have been the more popular route for describing combustion chemistry, albeit at the loss of generality. The in situ adaptive tabulation scheme (ISAT) has significantly alleviated this problem by facilitating the efficient integration of the reaction equations via a unique combination of direct integration and dynamic creation of a look-up table, thus allowing for the implementation of detailed chemistry schemes in turbulent reacting flow calculations. In the present paper, the probability density function (PDF) method for turbulent combustion modeling is combined with the ISAT in a combustor design system, and calculations of a piloted jet diffusion flame and a low-emissions premixed gas turbine combustor are performed. It is demonstrated that the results are in good agreement with experimental data and computations of practical turbulent reacting flows with detailed chemistry schemes are affordable.