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The influence of unsteady vortex shedding on combustion instabilities is examined using simulation
databases for two configurations: a dump combustor and a model afterburner equipped with a bluff-body
flame holder for different operating conditions. These databases have been generated using a recently
developed flame-wrinkling large eddy simulation (LES) model, described elsewhere. As a first necessary
step, a detailed comparison is made between predicted and experimentally obtained statistics to quantify
the accuracy of the LES and determine whether LES reproduces the observed statistical trends in the
experiments. The objective of the present study is to examine these databases using visualization techniques
in order to investigate the mechanisms responsible for combustion instabilities in relation to unsteady
vortex phenomena. Combustion instabilities are found, experimentally as well as computationally, in both
configurations and under different operating conditions. Based on the LES databases, the origin of these
instabilities can be identified and attributed to key events such as vortex shedding, excitation of pressure
fluctuations due to exothermicity, extinction by strain, and operating conditions. The unsteady behavior of
the dump combustor is dominated by extinction due to the high strain rate, while the dynamics of the
model afterburner was associated mainly with excitation of pressure fluctuations due to exothermicity and
operating conditions.
Introduction
The development of future combustors, including
lean premixed prevaporized (LPP) combustors and
ramjets, in which the flame is stabilized in the wake
of a flame holder or a rearward facing step, requires
better understanding of combustion instabilities, unsteady vortex dynamics, ignition, flashback, and
flame-holding capacity. The operation of such devices is often impaired by potentially harmful combustion instabilities, which at the lean limit may
cause blow off, and at the rich limit may lead to
flashback. In dump combustors and combustors with
bluff-body flame holders, vortices are formed in the
shear layer, separating regions of high-speed flow
from regions of low speed flow due to KelvinHelmholtz instabilities. In general, the high-speed flow is
composed of an unburned mixture of fuel and air
while the low-speed stream is composed of hot combustion products, forming the flame holder recirculation region behind the dump plane or the bluffbody. Turbulent mixing after the trailing edges of a
bluff-body flame holder or behind the step in a
dump combustor together with the effects of recirculation are known to be important to the stability
of the flame and have been successfully examined in
different experimental facilities (e.g., Refs. [13]).
Computational studies are often restricted by the
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extensive material in the LES databases, and selected figures are used only to illustrate some general features of the combustion dynamics. A further
objective is to establish how well the LES flamewrinkling model can represent different modes of
operation found in the laboratory experiments. In
this work, we discuss flowfield parameters such as
vorticity, density, and rate-of-strain and how they are
related to key phenomena such as ignition, flashback, and flame stabilization.
G, the LES equations result. The unresolved transport terms are not unique to reacting LES, and ordinary subgrid models, such as the one-equation
eddyviscosity model [16], can therefore be used to
close the LES equations and to model the effects of
the subgrid eddy scales on the resolved flow. The
definition of the Favre-filtered reaction coordinate
b provides a suitable measure of the large-scale geometry of the flame, but to accurately simulate flame
propagation we must also consider the subgrid flame
wrinkling. It can be shown [9] that the filtered
source term in the HamiltonJacobi equation can be
decomposed as
qSu|grad b| qSu R
where denotes surface filtering, and
|grad b|
R
is the amount of flame surface within the support of
the filter kernel G. By introducing the flame-wrinkling density
N R/|grad
b|
where
|grad b|
is the area of the resolved flame surface, we may take
the decomposition one step further, so that
qSu|grad b| qSuN|grad b|
From the definition of N, it is evident that it represents the amount of surface per unit filtered flame
surface. Based on the true balance equation for N, a
modeled balance equation has been proposed [9].
By decomposition into total and surface strain rates
rT and rI, respectively, and by introducing the subgrid generation and removal rates G and R, this
model becomes
t(N) vI N GN R(N 1) N(rI rT)
where vI is modeled as
slip Sun/N
vI v (1 b)v
and n is the unit normal vector of b. Following [9
10], v is the LES velocity, vslip is the velocity difference over the flame due to the density ratio and the
subgrid turbulence, and Sun/N represents the effects of differential propagation and cusp formation.
The turbulenceflame interaction model uses the
flame speed model of Gulder [17], resulting in expressions for G and R [9]. To account for strain and
curvature, a transport equation for the flame speed
Su is introduced [9], under the assumption that Su is
advected with the flame velocity and affected only
by the resolved strain rate and chemical time scale.
The LES model finally consists of low-pass filtered
equations of mass, momentum, and energy; the
HamiltonJacobi equation for b; and model equations for N and Su. To close the equations and to
model the subgrid turbulence, a one-equation eddy
viscosity model [16], is used. The laminar flame
speed and the associated strain response data are
derived from databases to correspond to the freestream flow conditions.
The governing equations are discretized using an
unstructured finite volume method. Second-order
schemes are used in space and time, central differencing for velocity, a bounded normalized variable
diagram (NVD) scheme for scalars [18], and a threepoint backward differencing in time. To decouple
the pressurevelocity system, a Poisson equation,
obtained from the discretized continuity and momentum equations, is constructed for the pressure.
The set of scalar equations are solved sequentially
with iteration over the explicit coupling terms to obtain rapid convergence. The segregated approach results in a Courant number restriction; a maximum
Courant number of 0.5 gives satisfactory numerical
stability and temporal accuracy, but a value of 0.2 is
preferable for temporal accuracy.
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Dump Combustors
Fig.
1.
Typical
profiles
of
(a)
v1,
(b) vrms
1 , (c) T, and (d) YCO2 for the dump combustor at
x1/h 5.0. , LES of non-reacting case; , LES of
reacting case at 170 80 40; - -, LES of reacting case
at 255 120 60; , experiments of non-reacting case;
and experiments of reacting case.
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Fig. 2. Experimental and computational visualization of the dump combustor using (a) schlieren [7], (c) an isosurface
of k2 to illustrate the vorticity, (b) semitranslucent isosurfaces of b to emulate the schlieren image, and (d) contours of
the effective reaction rate combined with iso-surfaces of the peak values. The computational results are selected from a
typical cycle in an animation to match the experimental schlieren image.
vorticity,
Daily [7], semitranslucent iso-surfaces of b,
and the effective reaction rate. Following Jeong and
Hussain [20], the vorticity is represented as an iso
surface of k2 (for values smaller than zero), where
k2 is the intermediate eigenvalue of the tensor L2
D2 W2, where D is the rate-of-strain tensor and
W the rate-of-rotation tensor. This interpretation of
a vortex is based on the fact that L2 determines
the existence of a local pressure minimum due to
vortical motion. By comparing schlieren images with
or the density q, we see that the
animations of b,
LES model is successful in capturing the flow, in
particular the shape of the shear layer and the development of large CS. The spanwise vortices that
shed of the step develop as a result of the rollup of
the boundary layer. Due to concentration of vorticity,
longitudinal vortices develop together with undulations of a newly shed spanwise vortex in areas of
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w
quSuN |grad b|
is primarily confined to topological arrangements of
sheetlike structures, which fold into the cores of the
vortices where rapid burning takes place. The longitudinal vortices mainly wrinkle the reaction sheet,
and hence this surface develops regions of high curvature. As the flame is advected downstream, it
propagates normal to itself at the flame speed SuN,
causing negatively curved wrinkles to contract and
positively curved wrinkles to expand. This also increases the possibility of pockets of reactants breaking away from the rest of the reactants. As spanwise
vortices shed of the step rollup, cold premixed reactants and hot combustion products become entrained and mix macroscopically. Reaction is, however, suppressed by the high strain in the shear layer
after which the reaction continues, causing further
volumetric expansion and intense burning, forming
the characteristic large-scale pattern of burning CSs.
Fig.
3.
Typical
profiles
of
(a)
v1,
(b) vrms
1 , (c) T, and (d) YCO2 for the bluff-body flame
holder case at x1/h 11.5. - - , LES of case I;
, LES of case II; , LES of case III; , experiments of
case I, , experiments of case II, and , experiments of
case III.
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Fig. 4. Computational visualisations of the bluff-body flame holder cases II (a) and III (b), by means of an isosurface
and contours of the Rayleigh parameter R in copperplate
of k2 to illustrate the vorticity, semitranslucent isosurfaces of b,
style cov[p, Q] at the centerplane. Gray contour lines denote regions with R in copperplate style 0, and black
contour lines denote regions with R in copperplate style 0, representative of driving.
the recirculation region and the Strouhal (St) number, are very well predicted (see Ref. [10]), for the
non-reacting as well as for the two reacting cases.
Figure 4a and b shows iso-surfaces of b and k2 and
contours of the covariance between the pressure and
the heat release for cases II and III, respectively. In
both cases, the flame is essentially confined to topological arrangements of sheetlike structure, emanating in the shear layers, and stabilized through recirculation of hot combustion products in the near
wake. The general flow features include spanwise
vortices being shed of the edges of the prism, either
simultaneously as in case II or alternating as in case
III, and rollup while advected downstream, under
the influence of vortex stretching, allowing reactants
and combustion products to mix macroscopically before burning. For case II, LES predicts a varicoselike behavior, with symmetric shedding of spanwise
vortices, and characterized by longitudinal oscillations. For case III, a sinuous-like behavior is obtained that renders large-scale antisymmetric shedding with every other spanwise vortex being shed
from the upper (or lower) edge of the prism. Depending on if the spanwise vortices are shed simultaneously (as in case II) or alternating (as in case III),
the resulting vortex interaction processes will be different, before being further modified by the exothermicity. For case II, the simultaneous shedding and
rollup results in longitudinal vortices stretched between sequential spanwise vortices on either side of
the centerline of the wake. For case III, the alternate
shedding and rollup results in vortex dynamics similar to that of the non-reacting case with longitudinal
vortices stretched between successive spanwise vortices of alternate sign. In both cases, however, following the first rollup and the subsequent growth of
longitudinal vortices, combustion-related effects,
such as volumetric expansion, baroclinic torque effects, and increased molecular viscosity (due to exothermicity), combine to modify the vorticity, resulting in the development of multiple small-scale
vortices with reduced vorticity magnitude in the core
region, as apparent in the k2 distributions of Fig. 4.
Following Putnam [22], it can be argued that the
dynamics observed are due to the combined effects
of vortex shedding and excitation of acoustic oscillations due to exothermicity. According to Rayleigh
[23], this occurs when a proper phase relationship
between the (periodic) heat release and pressure oscillations exists. To examine this we compare, in Fig.
4a and b, the Rayleigh parameter R in copperplate
style cov[p, Q], where p is the pressure and Q the
heat release, between cases II and III. For case II,
driving occurs frequently in the shear layers between
the spanwise vortical structures and in regions with
positive curvature, while for case III, driving occurs
less frequently in selected regions with positive curvature. In addition to this, other mechanisms, such
as blow off, may be relevant to consider. By varying
u0 and , with reference to case II, we find that the
varicose mode dominates at low-flow velocities,
while for higher-flow velocities, near the blow off
limit, the sinuous mode is the preferred configuration of the flame. However, for the asymmetric
flame, a symmetric region is observed near the
prism, where the recirculation region exists.
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REFERENCES
1. Ganji, A. R., and Sawyer, R. F., AIAA J. 18:817824
(1980).
2. Keller, J. O., Vaneveld, L., Korschelt, D., Hubbard,
G. L., Ghoniem, A. F., Daily, J. W., and Oppenheim,
A. K., AIAA J. 20:254262 (1982).
3. Smith, D. A., and Zukoski, E. E., Combustion Instability Sustained by Unsteady Vortex Combustion,
AIAA paper 85-1248, 1985.
4. Speziale, C. G., Modeling of Turbulent Transport
Equations, in Simulation and Modeling of Turbulent
Flows, (T. B. Gatski, M. Y. Hussaini, and J. L. Lumley,
eds.), Oxford University Press, New York, 1996.
5. Reynolds, W. C., Turbulence at the Crossroads, (J. L.
Lumley ed.), Springer Verlag, 1992, p. 313.
6. Bray, K. N. C., Proc. Combust. Inst. 26:126 (1996).
7. Pitz, R. W., and Daily, J. W., AIAA J. 21:15651570
(1983).
8. Sjunneson, A., Olovsson, S., and Sjoblom, B., Validation RigA Tool for Flame Studies, Report No.
9370-308 VOLVO Aero AB, S-461 81, Trollhattan,
Sweden, 1991.
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COMMENTS
Thierry Baritaud, IFP, France. Did you use the law of
the wall for turbulence and combustion, or just a refined
grid? Can you comment on the influence of the used procedure?
Authors Reply. In all the simulations reported, the grid
was refined toward the combustor walls (including the
prism wall) to obtain y 895 10. The OEEVM
subgrid model is then integrated all the way to the wall.
For non-reacting cases, this approach has been discussed
and examined elsewhere [1], but for reacting flows, no
careful examination of this approach has been made. Depending on the character of the wall in the laboratory combustor, no suitable information is readily available for comparison. This is an important issue but, as yet, there is a
general lack of understanding of how to handle wall boundary conditions well in non-reacting LES, an issue even
more complicated in reacting flows where reactions may
be influenced at the wall by, for example, catalysis.
Authors Reply. In the flame-wrinkling model, the laminar-flamelet approach is adopted in which the flame propagates normal to itself at the local laminar flame speed Su.
Su is considered to be a function of the thermodynamic
state of the reactants, rate-of-strain, and curvature. To represent transport and hereditary effects, an evolution equation for Su is hypothesized in which Su is assumed to be
advected with the surface averaged interface velocity vI
influenced by chemical and strain-rate timescales, as modeled using asymptotic relaxation. The model requires the
unstrained flame speed SuO and the strain-response sect
as input, both of which may be the result of an analysis of
the reactive-diffusive structure of the premixed flame (e.g.,
via one-dimensional full kinetics laminar flame simulations). The model has been used to study several different
flames [1,2] from which it is evident that this model is superior to its equilibrium versions. The numerical results
per se are not influenced by this model. It may also be
possible to derive a similar equation from the reactive-diffusive structure, but it is not clear how to proceed.
REFERENCE
1. Fureby, C., AIAA. J. 37:1401 (1999).
REFERENCES
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REFERENCES
1. Moller, S.-I., Lundgren, E., and Fureby, C., Proc. Combust. Inst. 26:241248 (1996).
2. Fureby, C., Grinstein, F. F., and Kailasanath, K., Large
Eddy Simulation of Premixed Turbulent Flow in a Rearward-Facing-Step Combustor, AIAA paper 00-0863,
2000.