Keiko Nomura

Numerical simulations are conducted to study fundamental aspects of combustion stabilization in hydrogen-fueled gas turbines. The study focuses on laminar lifted flames at moderate Reynolds numbers in axisymmetric configurations, where a swirling hydrogen jet diluted with nitrogen is injected into stagnant, preheated, pre-compressed air. The conservation equations are formulated in the low-Mach-number approximation, employing a mixture-averaged model for molecular transport. Fuel oxidation is modeled using both detailed chemical kinetics and a previously derived explicit one-step reduced mechanism, which assumes steady-state behavior for chemical intermediates—a valid approximation under the high-pressure conditions typical of gas-turbine combustion chambers, and the accuracy of that approximation is ascertained. The investigation explores the interplay between vortex breakdown and flame dynamics, including liftoff and blowoff, as functions of the swirl and Damköhler numbers. The results elucidate the required flow criteria for lifted-flame stabilization and demonstrate the predictive capability and computational cost reduction of the one-step chemistry in connection with hydrogen combustion at high pressures. A regime diagram in a plane of swirl number and Damköhler number is derived, and conditions for the occurrence of steadily pulsating flames are established, along with indications of amplitudes and frequencies of those oscillations. While clearly not directly applicable to practical turbulent-flow conditions, the results can be useful in future analyses and design concepts for combustion chambers of hydrogen-fueled gas turbines. Novelty and significance statement This work presents, for the first time, results of computations of nitrogen-diluted hydrogen flame behavior for swirling fuel jets issuing into air that has been heated to temperatures expected at the entrance to gas-turbine combustion chambers. It is novel in that it compares predictions made using both detailed combustion chemistry and one-step systematically derived reduced chemistry. A significant finding is that the results obtained with the reduced chemistry are in general agreement with those of the detailed chemistry, thereby affording substantial reductions in computational cost. Another novel and significant result is the determination of injection and swirl gas-turbine conditions required for stable lifted flames to occur, rather than attached flames or blowoff. The existence and characteristics of pulsating oscillations also are established for the first time. These results will be useful in the design and analysis of hydrogen-fueled gas-turbine combustion chambers.

Axisymmetric numerical simulations are used to assess the swirl-induced stabilization of low-Mach-number non-premixed jet flames at a moderate Reynolds number (Re=200). Using a one-step model chemistry describing methane-air partially premixed combustion, we carry out a parametric investigation of the coupling between vortex breakdown and laminar flame liftoff/blowoff in a concentric jet configuration involving a central non-swirling methane jet surrounded by a swirling annular air jet issuing from a pipe with radius RA′ rotating with angular speed Ω′. The analysis considers order-unity values of the two relevant controlling parameters, namely, the Damköhler number DN, defined as the square of the ratio of the stoichiometric methane-air flame-propagation velocity to the mean air-jet velocity UA′, and the swirl number S=Ω′RA′/UA′. As the Damköhler number DN is decreased the attached edge flame lifts off from the injector rim. The resulting lifted triple flame migrates downstream on further decreasing DN until a critical blowoff value DN,b is reached. Results for fixed S=1 exhibit lower values DN,b than the corresponding simulations with fixed S=0. For a fixed Damköhler number, it is found that increasing S results in increased entrainment and reduced liftoff heights. At a critical value SB* of the swirl number, equal to SB*=1.2 for DN=0.35, a recirculation zone abruptly forms upstream of the lifted triple flame, enhancing the mixing and facilitating flame stabilization closer to the injector.

This study examines the two-dimensional interaction of two unequal co-rotating viscous vortices in uniform background shear. Numerical simulations are performed for vortex pairs having various circulation ratios $\varLambda _0 = \varGamma _{1,0}/\varGamma _{2,0} = (\omega _{1,0}/\omega _{2,0})(a^2_{1,0}/a^2_{2,0}) \leqslant 1$ , corresponding to different initial characteristic radii $a_{i,0}$ and peak vorticities $\omega _{i,0}$ of each vortex $i=1,2$ , in shears of various strengths $\zeta _0 = \omega _S/\omega _{2,0}$ , where $\omega _S$ is the constant vorticity of the shear. Two primary flow regimes are observed: separations ( $\zeta _0 < \zeta _{sep} < 0$ ), in which the vortices move apart continuously, and henditions ( $\zeta _0 > \zeta _{sep}$ ), in which the interaction results in a single vortex (where $\zeta _{sep}$ is the adverse shear strength beyond which separation occurs). Vortex motion and values of $\zeta _{sep}(\varLambda _0)$ are well-predicted by a point-vortex model for unequal vortices. In vortex-dominated henditions, shear varies the peak–peak distance $b$ , and vortex deformation. The main convective interaction begins when core detrainment of one vortex is established, and proceeds similarly to the no-shear ( $\zeta _0 = 0$ ) case: merger occurs if the second vortex also detrains, engendering mutual entrainment; otherwise straining out occurs. Detrainment requires persistence of straining of both sufficient magnitude, as indicated by relative straining above a consistent critical value, $(S/\omega )_i > (S/\omega )_{cr}$ , where $S$ is the strain rate magnitude at the vorticity peak, and conducive direction. Hendition outcomes are assessed in terms of an enhancement factor $\varepsilon \equiv \varGamma _{end}/\varGamma _{2,start}$ . Although $\varepsilon$ generally varies with $\zeta _0$ , $(a^2_{1,0} /a^2_{2,0} )$ and $(\omega _{1,0}/\omega _{2,0})$ in a complicated manner, this variation is well-characterized by the pair's starting enstrophy ratio, $Z_2/Z_1$ . Within a transition region between merger and straining out (approximately $1.65 < Z_2/Z_1 < 1.9$ ), shear of either sense may increase $\varepsilon$ .