AbstractThis paper models the combustion of a turbulent homogeneous mixture of propane and air within a duct having a stationary one-dimensional mean flow. The Bray-Moss model is applied to the closure of the chemical production terms, using a probability density function (pdf) of the temperature which is chosen as the characteristic variable. Under the conditions chosen for the study, chemical kinetic factors are important and the conventional assumption, that heat release is controlled by turbulent mixing, is not valid. The chemical model of Edelman and Fortune for the combustion of hydrocarbons is used and simplifying assumptions are made which reduce the systems of unknowns to that of the temperature alone. This leads to the introduction of two chemical production terms which are defined respectively in a “delay zone”, where the heat release is modest, and a “combustion zone”. The required equations for the Favre-averaged temperature, turbulence kinetic energy and the mean square fluctuation of the temperature are solved numerically. In the delay zone, a comparison is made between a second order Borghi type closure and the pdf closure. Good agreement is found in the case of relatively small turbulence intensity. It is shown that the pdf formulation does not require the two zones to be spatially distinct. Differing chemical source terms can be discriminated instantaneously by the reaction progress variable and contributions to the average production terms appropriately apportioned by its pdf. Predictions are made of the profiles of mean temperature and mean square fluctuation under different initial turbulence levels.


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    Title :

    The turbulent combustion of a propane-air mixture


    Contributors:
    Champion, M. (author) / Bray, K.N.C. (author) / Moss, J.B. (author)

    Published in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 5 , 11-12 ; 1063-1077


    Publication date :

    1978-05-26


    Size :

    15 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English