Fundamental Studies of Lifted and Attached Jet Flames in Cross Flows

The jet flames (an example in Figure 1), is of practical importance in gas turbines, engines, furnaces and hazardous environments. In a flare stack with a cross flow of air normal to the fuel flow, the reaction rate of the jet flame initially is increased by the air flow, but subsequently it sharply diminishes, due to excessive air dilution and turbulence strain.  The underlying mechanism of this phenomenon has not been fully understood yet. This is therefore an area of particular interest for the study of methane jet flame in cross flow. An example of measured and CFD predicted jet flame in a gas turbine burner was shown in Figure 2. 

The present project aims to map the variety of methane jet flame/air interactions in different regimes in detail, analytically and computationally using Open Source CFD software; and develop a more complete understanding of the diverse regimes of methane jet combustion.  

This is industry aligned/end user aligned project with STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) who will provide expertise and support including flamelet theory, CFD training and parallel computing. 

The PhD student will also benefit from membership of the Leeds Institute for Fluid Dynamics (LIFD), a cross-disciplinary research institute bringing together the expertise of over 200 researchers from 12 Schools in 4 Faculties at the University of Leeds. The institute provides a hub to facilitate world-leading research and education in fluid dynamics and to bring interdisciplinary perspectives to complex flow challenges. Read more about the Leeds Institute for Fluid Dynamics.

Figure 1: An example of jet flame [1]

Figure 2: An ethylene jet flame in gas turbine burner: Comparison of experimental FSD image showing the time-averaged flow [2] (left)and the volumetric heat release rate predicted by 3D CFD LES (right) [3]

References

[1] Royal Socitety Grants, the Netwon international award allumus, Adriana Palacois.  

[2]Balachandran R. Experimental investigation of the response of turbulent premixed flames to acoustic oscillations, Ph.D. thesis. Cambridge (UK): University of Cambridge; 2005

[3] Han X; Yang J; Mao J (2016) LES investigation of two frequency effects on acoustically forced premixed flame. Fuel, 185, pp. 449-459