Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25 (2012) 854-863

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Chinese Journal of Aeronautics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cja

CFD Study of NOx Emissions in a Model Commercial Aircraft

Engine Combustor
ZHANG Mana,*, FU Zhenbob , LIN Yuzhenb, LI Jibaoa
a
AVIC Commercial Aircraft Engine Co.,Ltd., Shanghai 200241, China
b
National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Aero-Engine Aero-thermodynamics, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Received 11 August 2011; revised 16 September 2011; accepted 23 September 2011

Abstract
Air worthiness requirements of the aircraft engine emission bring new challenges to the combustor research and design. With
the motivation to design high performance and clean combustor, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is utilized as the powerful
design approach. In this paper, Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations of reactive two-phase flow in an experi-
mental low emission combustor is performed. The numerical approach uses an implicit compressible gas solver together with a
Lagrangian liquid-phase tracking method and the extended coherent flamelet model for turbulence-combustion interaction. The
NOx formation is modeled by the concept of post-processing, which resolves the NOx transport equation with the assumption of
frozen temperature distribution. Both turbulence-combustion interaction model and NOx formation model are firstly evaluated by
the comparison of experimental data published in open literature of a lean direct injection (LDI) combustor. The test rig studied
in this paper is called low emission stirred swirl (LESS) combustor, which is a two-stage model combustor, fueled with liquid
kerosene (RP-3) and designed by Beihang University (BUAA). The main stage of LESS combustor employs the principle of lean
prevaporized and premixed (LPP) concept to reduce pollutant, and the pilot stage depends on a diffusion flame for flame stabili-
zation. Detailed numerical results including species distribution, turbulence performance and burning performance are qualita-
tively and quantitatively evaluated. Numerical prediction of NOx emission shows a good agreement with test data at both idle
condition and full power condition of LESS combustor. Preliminary results of the flame structure are shown in this paper. The
flame stabilization mechanism and NOx reduction effort are also discussed with in-depth analysis.

Keywords: air worthiness; computational fluid dynamics; low emission combustor; lean prevaporized and premixed; NOx reduc-
tion

1. Introduction1 sides in the context of development of Chinese next

The foundation of AVIC Commercial Aircraft En-
gine Co., Ltd. (ACAE) in Shanghai triggers the hot
upsurge of the civil aircraft engine development in
China [1]. The low emission combustor study group
headed by Professor Lin Yuzhen at Beihang Univer-
sity (BUAA) has conducted plenty of experimental
tests of the ultra low emission combustor in recent
years [2-4]. As the fruits of joint effort with the two
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-21-34290808-8213.
E-mail address: zhangman@acae.com.cn
1000-9361/$ - see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi: 10.1016/S1000-9361(11)60455-X
generation civil and low emission combustor, nu-
merical study of a single sector combustor is carried
out in this paper, with the experimental data provided
by BUAA.
The single sector combustor developed by BUAA
is called low emission stirred swirl (LESS) combus-
tor [4], which is a two-stage ultra low emission com-
bustor, fueled with liquid kerosene (RP-3). In order
to fulfill the next generation pollutant release stan-
dard defined by International Civil Aviation Organi-
zation (ICAO) [5], the main stage of LESS combustor
employs the principle of lean prevaporized and pre-
mixed (LPP) concept to reduce pollutant, while a
non-premixed flame as pilot source for flame stabili-
No.6 ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863
zation in pilot stage. Based on this test rig, Fu, et al.
firstly conducted experimental study of the ignition
performance of this chamber while assisted by some
numerical simulation analysis [4]. Their work shows
that the ignition position along the main stream di-
rection has little influence on the lean ignition
boundary of the whole chamber. This encouraging
result indicates that LESS combustor has pretty good
stabilization performance working under the lean
burn condition.
Although some similar LPP concept combustors
have been developed for many years, such as twin
annular premixed swirler (TAPS) family of low NOx
combustor developed by General Electric Aircraft
Engines (GEAE) [6-8], there is still a lack of funda-
mental understanding of LPP combustion mechanism.
The latest studies focusing on the combustion
mechanism of LPP reported is conducted by Dha-
nuka, et al. [9], who use planar laser-induced fluores-
cence (PLIF) to investigate unsteady flow character-
istics with the motivation to reveal the inside physics
of flame-flame interaction and to provide some sup-
ported data for further computational fluid dynamics
(CFD). Their work shows that the combustion inter-
action of the main stage and pilot stage would be the
source of combustion instability, and generates con-
siderable unsteady turbulent phenomena. However,
the influence of the flame-flame interaction in LPP
scheme on NOx formation is still absent at current
stage.
Experimental investigations of the complicated
flow physics of the premixed combustion and the
pilot flame are made more difficult due to the highly
transient nature of the processes and their interac-
tions. Thus the interaction of the pilot flame with
premixed combustion is still an outstanding issue
and needs further investigation as it has strong im-
plication on the combustor performance and NOx
reduction.
Developments of CFD techniques in the last 30
years have enabled more complicated engineering
cases to be simulated. The numerical approaches to
purely turbulent diffusion flame and perfectly pre-
mixed flame are rapidly developing in the context of
the studies of industrial combustion [10]. However,
there is still a threshold lying on the development road
of numerical simulation of LPP combustor. Because of
premixed flame, partially premixed flame and non-
premixed flame coexisting simultaneously in one
unique chamber, a unified flame model which could
handle these entire different combustion regimes
seems much more necessary [11].
Recent progress developed by Veynante and Legier,
et al. [12-13] shows that their extended flame model with
the hypothesis that turbulence brings effects of thicken
flame surface, could treat both partially premixed and
purely premixed flames with some reasonable results.
Its application to turbulent spray combustion for air-
craft combustors has seen some successes [13]. Thus, it
· 855 ·
is still believed that CFD could provide in-depth
analysis where experimental study cannot go at current
stage.
This paper presents a joint effort between ACAE
and BUAA to study the combustion characteristics
and NOx formation mechanism of the LESS com-
bustor. To achieve better understanding on the in-
teraction of LPP combustion and pilot flame under
the lean burning conditions, Reynolds averaged Na-
vier-Stokes (RANS) equations of reactive two-phase
flow are performed. Results are compared against
experimental data with good agreements. Prelimi-
nary results of the flame structure are shown in this
paper, which indicates that LESS combustor has
large potential to reduce NOx emission. The flame
stabilization mechanism and NOx reduction efforts
are also discussed with in-depth analysis.
2. Numerical Approach
Numerical simulation is carried out in ACAE. The
Reynolds averaged governing equations are discretized
numerically by a finite volume approach. High solu-
tion differencing scheme which is a hybrid of 1st and
2nd order is employed. Kerosene is modeled by the
mixture of 40% of n-C10H22 (decanenormal) and
60% of TMB-C9H12 (tetramethyl benzidine), thus the
averaged molar mass is about 128.8 g/mol. In this
work, Sauter mean diameter (SMD) distribution close
to downstream of the fuel nozzle obtained by fuel
droplets mass weighted rate is described instead of
direct modeling of the primary breakup processes of
droplets. However, the spray fuel nozzle inlet condi-
tions are also given by the half cone angle (45°), the
injection mass, injection direction, initial temperature
and the initial velocity. Atomization processes induced
by aerodynamics inside the swirler cup are modeled by
enhanced Taylor analogy breakup (ETAB) breakup
model [14]. Detailed discussion with the application of
the atomization model could be referred to the work of
Raju [15] and Zhang, et al. [16-18].
Subsonic condition is imposed at the inflow by
specifying the flow mass rate and temperature. While
only for the main stage inflow boundary, the mass
fraction ratio of fuel is also added with the assumption
of perfectly premixing. The pressure information is
given on the outflow boundary. The entire wall in the
combustion chamber is treated as impermeable and
no-slip. The droplets and wall interaction are neglected
in this paper due to lack of trustable model [19].
2.1. Turbulence-combustion interaction model
The extended coherent flame model (ECFM) [20]
used in this paper for turbulence and combustion in-
teraction is a hybrid model which combines classic
flame surface density model (FSDM) with laminar
flamelet model. The coupling of ECFM with the
· 856 · ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863 No.6

flamelet model for effects of non-premixedness ex- duction and consumption of NO and the related spe-
tends the range of applicability of the model to deal cies.
with different combustion regimes inside the gas tur- As thermal NOx formation plays a dominate role in
bine combustor. the whole different mechanisms, only thermal NOx is
Laminar burning velocity of kerosene which is considered in this paper. The mechanism of thermal
modeled by SL in ECFM is obtained from experi- NOx formation is based on the extended Zel’dovich
mental test data given by Eberius, et al. [21]. However, mechanism, which consists of the following equa-
because the original test data only concentrate within tions as described by Bowman [25] and Hanson and
the range of equivalence ratio of 0.9 to 1.4, SL in the Salimian [26]:
entire flammability range and under any operation
conditions is extended by a fifth order polynomial ⎧ N 2 + O ⇔ NO + N
correlation and an experiential correlation proposed by ⎪
⎨ N + O 2 ⇔ NO + O (5)
Metghalchi and Keck [22], which can be written as ⎪
⎩ N + OH ⇔ NO + H
α β
⎛T ⎞ ⎛ p ⎞
S L = S L,ref ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ (1)
⎝ Tref ⎠ ⎝ pref ⎠ 3. Validation

Numerical approach is validated by a lean direct in-

⎧α = 2.98 − 0.8φ jection (LDI) system developed by NASA Glenn Re-
⎨ (2)
⎩ β = −3.08 + 0.22φ search Center. Detailed structure and test condition can
be referred to Refs. [27]-[30]. Figures 1-2 give the
where subscript “ref” means reference condition, SL is geometry and the mesh solution of LDI test rig. The
the base value of burning velocity, α the preheat de- CFD and experimental data comparisons are shown in
pendency exponent, β the pressure dependency expo- Figs. 3-4. From the comparison of both temperature
nent, T the temperature, p the pressure and φ equiva- and the velocity distribution, it shows that the adopted
lence ratio. numerical approach in this paper gives a reasonable
Laminar flame thickness is model by Blint’s ap- prediction of the lean burn system.
proximation [23], which can be written as
0.7
⎛Tb ⎞
δ L = 2δ ⎜ u ⎟ (3)
⎝T ⎠
where δL is the laminar flame thickness, δ the diffusive
flame thickness, T b burnt fluid temperature and T u
unburnt fluid temperature.
The turbulent flame stretch accounts for the increase
of flame surface area due to stretching and wrinkling
of the flame front under turbulence. For ECFM this
effect is described by the intermittent turbulent net
flame stretch (ITNFS) model proposed by Meneveau
and Poinsot [24],

⎛ u′ l ⎞ ε
Kt = Γ K ⎜ , t ⎟ (4)
⎝ SL δ L ⎠ k Fig. 1 Geometry of LDI swirler.
where Kt is the turbulent time scale, u ′ the mean tur-
bulent velocity fluctuation, lt the integral length scale
of turbulence, k the turbulent kinetic energy, ε the tur-
bulent dissipation rate, and Γ K an efficiency function
taking into account the ability of all vortices to wrinkle
the flame.

2.2. NOx emission modeling

The current approach to model NO production is

solving the mass transport equation for the NO spe-
cies, taking into account convection, diffusion, pro- Fig. 2 Mesh of LDI combustor in CFD.
No.6 ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863 · 857 ·

cludes one annulus as premixer formed by two steel

pipes of different radius and 14 plain orifice atomiz-
ers with 14 small dual counter-rotating radial swirlers
arranged uniformly on the dome of the annulus.
There are a number of straight and inclined holes on
the surfaces of the main stage annulus. Furthermore, the
air injecting through the inclined holes can form swirl
within the annulus, and hence the fuel can be premixed
with the air and prevaporized in the annulus by jet stirred
swirl before entering the combustor chamber, thereby
leading to the main premixed flame. This therefore
allows, to some degree, fuel/air premixing within the
passages with attendant reduction in NOx and im-
proved combustor exit temperature quality.
The mass flow distribution for the dome inlet air
Fig. 3 Comparison of temperature distributions.
and the cooling air is about 7 to 3, while the mass flow
ratio of main stage to pilot stage is about 6.64 to 1. In
CFD work, wall film cooling holes are modeled by sev-
eral equal area slots for mesh saving (see Fig. 5(c)).

Fig. 4 Comparison of velocity distributions.

4. LESS Combustor Test Rig Simulation

4.1. LESS combustor test rig

LESS combustor studied in this paper is designed by

BUAA, which is a two-stage ultra low emission com-
bustor, fueled with liquid kerosene (RP-3). The main
stage of LESS combustor employs the principle of LPP
concept to reduce pollutant, while a non-premixed
diffusion flame is used as pilot source for flame stabi-
lization in pilot stage, which can be seen in Fig. 5. The
test rig of LESS is a single annular layout. The combus-
tor channel height, overall length and effective length
(defined as the ratio of combustor volume to combustor
reference area) are 120, 190, 160 mm, respectively.
The pilot stage is similar to a typical swirl cup
scheme which is equipped with a pressure swirl at-
omizer in the center line and with two dual counter- Fig. 5 Sketch and model of LESS combustor.
rotating radial swirlers for aerodynamic atomization.
The pilot flame forming inside of the swirl cup is a
fuel rich diffusion flame, which has evident advan- 4.2. Grid independency study
tages of ignition and flame stabilization. The main
stage surrounding coaxially with the pilot stage in- Three different gird sizes have been performed
· 858 · ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863 No.6

before the calculation of LESS test rig (see Fig.6 and Table 1 Predicted NOx compared with experimental
Table 1). Comparisons of resolution of different grids data for grid independence study
show that all three mesh size cases have satisfactory 0.5 1.0 2.5 Experimental
Grid size
consistency with the experimental data. Considering million million million data
the accuracy and time cost of both results, it is be- NOx/10−6 300 319 320 325
lieved that the gird size of 1.0 million is accurate CPU number 24 48 120 N/A
enough for RANS, thus this mesh size has been taken Total CPU
6 10 16 N/A
as the grid for all subsequent calculations. time/h

4.3. Pollutant prediction validation

Several numerical simulated conditions have been

performed to study LESS combustor while some of
them are compared by experimental data provide by
BUAA (see Table 2). Subscript “M” and “P” mean
main stage and pilot stage relatively, and “expt” and
“CFD” mean results from experimental test and CFD
prediction.

Table 2 Numerical simulated case for LESS study

Case
Conditions
1 2 3 4 5 6
φM 0 0 0.62 0.75 0 0.73
φP 0 0.8 0.8 0.8 3.0 0.52
pM/MPa 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 0.45 3.33
TM/K 663 663 663 663 524 840
NOexpt/10−6 N/A N/A 325 418 47 N/A
NOCFD/10−6 N/A 15 319 409 48 429
Tolerance/% N/A N/A 1.8 2.2 2.1 N/A

In Table 2, Case 3, Case 4 and Case 5 have been

tested by experiments previously conducted in Low
Emission Ground Test Laboratory of BUAA and stand
for the full power operation conditions (Case 3 and
Case 4) and idle condition (Case 5) of LESS combus-
tor according to the limits of ground test capability.
Case 6 stands for the real working condition during the
engine takeoff, while Case 1 and Case 2 are used to
compare with Case 3, Case 4 and Case 5 to find the
differences with the variance of equivalence ratio of
the main stage.
From the validation of predicted NOx amounts, we
can see that numerical approach adopted in this paper
shows good agreement with experiments, thus it could
bring us the credible resolution of the inner flow field
inside the chamber.
Furthermore, another aspect should be emphasized
is that the NOx emission of Case 6 which stands for the
engine takeoff also shows a limited value which still
lowers the standard by 60% margin compared with
CAEP6. The encouraging results mean that LESS cham-
ber has large potential to reduce the NOx emission.

4.4. Pilot stage burning characteristics

Case 2 and Case 5 are compared to study the effects

of variance of equivalence ratio of pilot stage. Figure 7
Fig. 6 Grid independency study of test rig. gives the temperature distribution on the center plane
No.6 ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863
of the chamber; Fig. 8, streamline distribution while
Fig. 9, the shear strain rate distribution. It should be
noted that each figure contains two parts separated by
the center dotted horizontal line of the chamber. The
upper pattern in each figure is for Case 2 and the lower
one is the description of Case 5.
Fig. 7 Temperature distribution under the conditions of
Case 2 and Case 5.
Fig. 8 Streamline distribution under the conditions of Case 2
and Case 5.
Fig. 9 Shear strain rate distribution under the conditions of
Case 2 and Case 5.
From the comparison of different equivalence ratios
of the pilot stage, it shows that significant flow struc-
tures can be caused due to the variance pilot stage
fuel/air ratio. For the case of pilot stage under lean
burn condition, although combustion could be main-
tained, the pilot diffusion flame is weak. The burning
area compressed by main stream recirculation fluid
motion is adjacent to the dome. The pilot flame nearly
burns in the shear layer between the main and the pilot
stage.
The combustion intensity is improved with the in-
· 859 ·
crease of pilot stage fuel/air ratio, which can be proved
by temperature contour in Fig. 7. Large area of high
temperature is shown in the center of the chamber,
where the recirculation vortex core coincides with it.
Due to the nature of diffusion combustion of the pilot
stage, the maximum temperature value is achieved
along the line of equivalence ratio of 1.0.
4.5. Pilot and main stage interaction
As mentioned above, the lasted study of LPP main
stage interacted with the pilot flame is reported by
Dhanuka and his fellows [9]. Due to lack of sufficient
data of the reaction fluid structure at current stage, the
PLIF results in their work are used here as a reference
for LESS combustor under the conditions of pilot and
main stage interaction (see Fig. 10).
Fig. 10 Numerical prediction of flame structure compared
against PLIF results.
It can be seen that although the working conditions
of LESS combustor have some discrepancy with Dha-
nuka’s work [9], the flame structure for the pilot and
main stage interaction looks similar.
Figure 10 shows that the lowest temperature occurs
at the center of the pilot spray, where conditions are so
fuel-rich that combustion is not possible. The flame is
located where the equivalence ratio around the value is
1.0, which shows the nature of diffusion flame. Also, it
can be seen that the main flame has a rounded shape
and it appears that the main flame has some distance
downstream of the main stage.
For the purpose of evaluating the effects of equiva-
lence ratio of main stage, Case 3 and Case 4 are com-
pared. Detailed difference of Case 3 and Case 4 can be
referred to Figs. 11-13. Figure 11 gives the tempera-
ture contour on the center plane of the chamber; Fig.
12, streamline distribution while Fig. 13, the shear
· 860 · ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863 No.6

strain rate distribution. layer between the main stream and the pilot stream,
and the other is the main stream mixed with the corner
vortex. Furthermore, Figs. 11-12 show that the pilot
stage fuel reacts with air along the shear layer as the
reason for scalar transport within it.

Fig. 11 Temperature distribution under the conditions of

Case 3 and Case 4.

Figure 11 shows that the area of equivalence ratio Fig. 13 Shear strain rate distribution under the conditions
between the values of 1.0 to 0.72 has been extended in of Case 3 and Case 4.
both Case 3 and Case 4 than the condition of only pilot
flame on (refer to Case 2 in Fig. 7). This phenomenon
must be influenced by the main stage. Meanwhile, 4.6. NOx formation mechanism
within this region, the temperature gradient dissipates
along the streamline, which is also the exclusive fea- Figures 14-17 present further information about the
ture belonging to the diffusion flame. However, the reacted species distribution inside LESS chamber to
exact location of the interaction of the main flame and study the NOx formation mechanism. Figure 14 is the
pilot flame is difficult to determine in the current CFD O radical mass fraction distribution contour, Fig. 15
technique and Dhanuka’s work because of the lack of the thermal NO reaction rate distribution contour, Fig.
useful approach to separate the two kinds of combus- 16 the resident time of the fluid motion, and Fig. 17
tion. The only judgment can be made is that inside the the NO mass fraction contour.
round shape adjacent to the swirl cup (equivalence
ratio is 1.0), pilot flame holds the dominate position,
and within the region of equivalence between the value
of 0.72 and 0.68, pilot flame and main stage flame
interaction take place.

Fig. 14 O radical mass fraction distribution in Case 3 and

Case 4.

Fig. 12 Streamline distribution under the conditions of Case 3

and Case 4.

What can be easily distinguished between Case 3

and Case 4 in Fig. 12 is the area of equivalence ratio
from 0.72 to 0.68. As for Case 4, this area overlaps
with the large scale recirculated motion, which should
bring additional resident time for the fuel air mixture,
thus inducing higher value of NOx formation. This
point of view could be evidenced in Section 4.6.
Figure 13 gives the illustration of where the high
intensity mixing process takes place. In the pilot and
combustion interaction flow field, two evident mixing
regions can be easily recognized. One is the shear
Fig. 15 Thermal NO reaction rate distribution in Case 3
and Case 4.
From Fig. 14 it can be seen that O radical concen-
trates in the region of high temperature level, i.e.,
along the equivalence ratio from 1.0 to 0.72 and dissi-
pates quickly after the equivalence ratio below the
No.6 ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863 · 861 ·

value of 0.68 due to main decomposition process of O2 vortex core. It should be noted that both these regions
accompanied by heat absorption. Thus, the NO gen- are based on the zone of Ux equal to 0.
eration process is followed by the accumulation of O
radical, where high intensity of thermal NO reaction
rate taking place coincides with the maximum amount
of O mass fraction.
As we know, the net generation amount of NO is not
only controlled by the chemical reaction rate, but also
by the resident time in a flowing fluid. However, at
current stage, the resident time scale of a moving fluid
is hard to measure, especially in the case with complex
geometry. In order to measure the resident time scale at
any location inside the chamber, a novel approach has
been developed in this work, as described below. Fig. 17 NO mass fraction distribution in Case 3 and Case 4.
In CFD work, the Courant number (or called CFL
number) is defined as 4.7. Analysis of reaction principle of LESS com-
U x Δt bustion
CCFL = (6)
Δx
In terms of the above analysis including the pilot
where Ux is the local velocity, ∆x the local girds space, stage burning characteristics and pilot-main stage in-
∆t the time step defined artificially, and CCFL the Cou- teraction feature, the mechanism of the pilot and main
rant number which could be easily obtained from any stage interaction could be summarized (see Fig. 18).
CFD codes, so the resident time τ could be defined by Figure 19 gives the NOx formation mechanism in these
Δx Δt fluid structures.
τ= = (7)
U x CCFL
According to the definition of resident time in this
work, the entire fluid resident time scale based on each
calculated node can be illustrated in Fig. 16.

Fig. 18 Fluid structure inside of LESS combustor.

Fig. 16 Resident time in Case 3 and Case 4.

Figure 16 shows that high value of resident time not

only concentrates inside the core of the recirculation
region, but also forms in the region next to the dome,
where even the highest value of resident time in the
chamber is. Referred to streamline distribution in Fig.
12, it can be easily found that due to the streamline turn-
ing around, the value of resident time increases. From the
mathematical point of view, we can say that the highest Fig. 19 NOx formation mechanism inside of LESS com-
value of resident time takes place at Ux→0. bustor.
Considering the joint efforts of both reaction rate
and the resident time, the NOx mass distribution is eas- It can be seen that Z.1 (Zone 1) stands for the pilot
ily understand (see Fig. 17). The overlapping region of flame domination area, and Z.3 (Zone 3) is the loca-
both high level of NO chemical rate and the resident tion where the major amount of premixed combustion
time controls NO mass rate. In this LESS chamber, takes place. However, the transition area from pilot
one major location is between the equivalence ratio flame to premixed combustion is located in the region
from 1.0 to 0.72 and the other one coincides with the of Z.2 (Zone 2). However, it is still hard to give a
· 862 · ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863
quantitative measurement of level set of the interaction
between pilot flame and the main stage in this work.
As the NOx formation mechanism illustrated in Fig.
19, the overlapping region of the higher value of tem-
perature and the resident time will be the place where
NO mass fraction achieves its maximum. The qualita-
tive analysis of this work indicates that the maximum
value of NOx formation appears in the region adjacent
to the zero value axial velocity iso-surface. From this
point of view, with the motivation to design the low
NOx emission combustor, the basic design principle
lies in the organization of this large-scale recirculation
fluid motion.
5. Conclusions
Some findings of this work could be summarized as
follows:
1) NOx predicted by CFD under the condition of en-
gine takeoff indicates that LESS combustor has large
potential to reduce NOx emission.
2) The flow pattern under the conditions of pilot
stage and main stage interaction has been clearly re-
solved by the current CFD approach, which is verified
by PLIF results in open literature.
3) The principles of the fluid motion and NOx for-
mation of LESS combustor have been illustrated in
this work. Reaction zones could be divided into three
parts inside of the LESS chamber under the condition
of the pilot stage and main stage co-working.
4) The overlapping region of the higher value of
temperature and the resident time is the place where
NO mass fraction achieves its maximum. The qualita-
tive analysis of this work indicates that the maximum
value of NOx formation appears in the region adjacent
to the zero value axial velocity iso-surface.
5) With the motivation to design the low NOx emis-
sion combustor, the basic design principle lies in the
organization of this large-scale recirculation fluid mo-
tion.
6) It is still hard to give a quantitative measurement
of level set of the interaction between pilot flame and
the main stage in this work, which is critical for the
design of LPP low emission chamber. Further efforts
will be made in the coming research.
Acknowledgements
The author appreciates the technical guidance from
senior engineer, Mr. HU Zhengyi of BUAA. The dis-
cussion with Dr. WANG Xiaofeng and LI Lin of
BUAA is also greatly acknowledged.
References
[1] http://www.acae.com.cn/.
[2] Lin Y Z, Peng Y H, Liu G E. A preliminary study of
NOx emission of staging/premixed and prevaporized
No.6
lean combustion low emission combustor scheme.
Journal of Aerospace Power 2003; 18(4): 492-497. [in
Chinese]
[3] Lin Y Z, Lin Y, Zhang C, et al. Discussion on combus-
tion airflow distribution of advanced staged combustor.
Journal of Aerospace Power 2010; 25(9): 1923-1930.
[in Chinese]
[4] Fu Z B, Lin Y Z, Li J B. Experimental investigation on
ignition performance of LESS combustor. Proceedings
of ASME Turbo Expo 2011, 2011; 1-8.
[5] Owen B, Lee D S, Lim L. Flying into the future: avia-
tion emissions scenarios to 2050. Environment Science
and Technology 2010; 44(7): 2255-2260.
[6] Mongia H C. TAPS-A 4th generation propulsion com-
bustor technology for low emissions. AIAA-2003-2657,
2003.
[7] Mongia H C. Recent progress in comprehensive mod-
eling of gas turbine combustion. AIAA-2008-1445,
2008.
[8] Dhanuka S K, Driscoll J F, Mongia H C. Instantaneous
flow structures in a reacting gas turbine combustor.
AIAA-2008-4683, 2008.
[9] Dhanuka S K, Temme J E, Driscoll J F, et al. Unsteady
aspects of lean premixed-prevaporized (LPP) gas tur-
bine combustor: flame-flame interactions. AIAA-2010-
1148, 2010.
[10] Westbrook C K, Mizobuchi Y, Poinsot T J, et al. Com-
putational combustion. Proceedings of the Combustion
Institute 2005; 30(1): 125-157.
[11] Bilger R W, Pope S B, Bray K N C, et al. Paradigms in
turbulent combustion research. Proceedings of the
Combustion Institute 2005; 30(1): 21-42.
[12] Veynante D, Vervisch L. Turbulent combustion model-
ing. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science 2002;
28(3): 193-266.
[13] Legier J P, Poinsot T, Veynante D. Dynamically thick-
ened flame LES model for premixed and non-premixed
turbulent combustion. Proceedings of the 2000 Study-
ing Turbulence Using Numerical Simulation Databases,
2000; 157-168.
[14] Tanner F X. Liquid jet atomization and droplet breakup
modeling of non-evaporating diesel fuel sprays. SAE
Transactions 1997; 106(3): 127-140.
[15] Raju M S. Numerical investigation of various atomiza-
tion models in the modeling of a spray flame.
NASA/CR-2005-214033, 2005.
[16] Zhang M. Research on turbulent spray combustion and
flame stabilizing mechanism in RBCC chamber. PhD
thesis, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 2010.
[in Chinese]
[17] Zhang M, Hu Z W, He G Q, et al. Large-eddy simula-
tion of kerosene spray combustion in a model scramjet
chamber. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
2010; 224(9): 949-960.
[18] Zhang M, Hu Z W, He G Q, et al. LES of kerosene
spray combustion with pilot flame in a model dual
mode ramjet chamber. AIAA-2009-5385, 2009.
[19] Gepperth S, Guildenbecher D, Koch R, et al. Pre-
filming primary atomization: experiments and model-
ing. 23rd Annual Conference on Liquid Atomization
and Spray Systems, 2010; 1-9.
[20] ANSYS CFX-solver theory guide. ANSYS Inc., 2010.
[21] Eberius H, Frank P, Kick T, et al. EU project computa-
tional fluid dynamics for combustion. No. GRD1-
No.6 ZHANG Man et al. / Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 25(2012) 854-863 · 863 ·

1999-10325, 2001. Biographies:

[22] Metghalchi M, Keck J C. Burning velocities of mix-
tures of air with methanol, isooctane and indolene at ZHANG Man visited University of Southampton for
high pressure and temperature. Combustion and Flame one-year co-education from 2008 to 2009 and received Ph.D.
1982; 48: 191-210. degree at Northwestern Polytechnical University in the year
[23] Poinsot T, Veynante D. Theoretical and numerical com- of 2010. In his career now, his position is the deputy director
bustion. Spring Hope: Edwards, Inc., 2001. of Department of Combustion Systems in R&D Center of
[24] Meneveau C, Poinsot T. Stretching and quenching of ACAE. His main research interest is the numerical simula-
flamelets in premixed turbulent combustion. Combus- tion of combustion, and he is participating in the project of
tion and Flame 1991; 86(4): 311-332. CJ-1000AX low-emission combustor design.
[25] Bowman C T. Kinetics of pollutant formation and de- E-mail: zhangman@acae.com.cn
struction in combustion. Progress in Energy and Com-
bustion Science 1975; 1(1): 33-45.
FU Zhenbo is a Ph.D. candidate in Beihang University. He
[26] Hanson R K, Salimian S. Survey of rate constants in
has been studying the aero-engine combustor since 2008. His
H/N/O systems. In: Gardient W C, editor. Combustion
main research fields focus on the design of aero-engine low
Chemistry, 1984.
emission combustor and the mechanism of combined com-
[27] Tacina K M, Lee C, Wey C. NASA Glenn high pres-
bustion. He is credited with four patents on low emission
sure low NOx emissions research. NASA/TM-2008-
combustor design, and three international and national pub-
214974, 2008.
lications.
[28] Iannetti A C, Liu N, Davoudzadeh F. The effect of
spray initial conditions on heat release and emissions
LIN Yuzhen received Ph.D. degree from Beihang University
in LDI CFD calculations. NASA/TM-2008-215422,
in 1997. He is a professor of Beihang University since 2007.
2008.
He has been engaged in the research of aero-engine com-
[29] Shih T, Liu N. A very large eddy simulation of the
bustor for almost 20 years since he suddied his master degree.
nonreacting flow in a single-element lean direct injec-
Now his research interests are mainly the aero-thermal dy-
tion combustor using PRNS with a nonlinear subscale
namics, time-space evolution of combustion, and combustion
model. NASA/TM-2009-215644, 2009.
instability of low emission combustor. He is credited with 15
[30] Iannetti A C, Moder J P. Comparing spray characteris-
patents on combustor design, and 80 international and na-
tics from Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)
tional publications.
national combustion code (NCC) calculations against
experimental data for a turbulent reacting flow.
NASA/TM-2010-216735, 2010.