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Effect of the wall thermal boundary condition on the structure of a confined swirling diffusion flame

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Abstract

The present study focuses on the effect of the wall heat loss on a confined swirling diffusion flame. The objective is to assess the effect of changing the wall thermal boundary condition (i.e., from isothermal to adiabatic) on the flow structure, the flame shape, and the mixing behavior. Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations are solved. The diffusion flamelet model is employed in the simulation. The comparison of the numerical and experimental axial wall heat flux distributions shows a good agreement. The inner recirculation zone (IRZ) is shorter in the case of the adiabatic wall. It features higher negative axial velocities. The radial gradient of the axial velocity is higher which could enhance mixing and flame stability. The outer recirculation zone (ORZ) size does not change with the wall thermal boundary condition. Generally, the exit flow from the furnace decelerates due to the formation of the IRZ. This effect is more pronounced when the IRZ is longer, as the case when there is a wall heat loss. The flame is longer in the adiabatic wall case. However, its position relative to the burner exit does not change compared to the isothermal wall. In both cases, the flame is stabilized on the boundary of the IRZ. The mixing behavior is similar for the two wall thermal boundary conditions. However, the adiabatic wall case features a more fuel-rich mixture in the flame stabilization region, mainly due to the different velocity fields. Pockets of very fuel-rich mixtures are formed in the ORZ.

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Abbreviations

\( a \) :

Absorption coefficient

\( C_{p} \) :

Mixture specific heat

\( C_{1\varepsilon } ,\;C_{2\varepsilon } ,\;C_{g} ,\;C_{d1} \) :

Constants

\( D_{\text{f}} \) :

Furnace diameter

\( D_{\text{i}} \) :

Hub diameter of the swirler

\( D_{\text{k,eff}} \) :

Effective diffusion coefficient of turbulence kinetic energy

\( D_{\text{o}} \) :

Outer diameter of the swirler (burner mouth)

\( D_{{\varepsilon ,{\text{eff}}}} \) :

Effective diffusion coefficient of turbulent dissipation rate

\( \overline{f} \) :

Mean mixture fraction

\( \overline{{f^{{{\prime }2}} }} \) :

Mixture fraction variance

\( G_{\text{k}} \) :

Generation of turbulence kinetic energy

\( I \) :

Radiation intensity

\( K \) :

Turbulence kinetic energy

\( k \) :

Mixture thermal conductivity

\( n \) :

Refractive index

\( pr \) :

Prandtl number

\( R \) :

Radius

\( R_{\varepsilon } \) :

A term to account for rapid strain and streamline curvature

\( \vec{r} \) :

Position vector

\( S \) :

Swirl number

\( \vec{S} \) :

Direction vector

\( \overrightarrow {{s^{\prime}}} \) :

Scattering direction vector

\( T_{\text{ad}} \) :

Temperature in the case of adiabatic wall

\( T_{\text{is}} \) :

Temperature in the case of isothermal wall

\( T_{\text{o}} \) :

Reference temperature (300 K)

\( u_{i} \) :

Velocity vector

\( u^{\prime}_{i} \) :

Velocity fluctuation vector

\( V_{\text{ax}} \) :

Axial velocity

\( V_{\text{j}} \) :

Fuel jet velocity

\( X \) :

Axial distance

\( \varepsilon \) :

Turbulent dissipation rate

\( \mu_{\text{t}} \) :

Turbulent viscosity

\( \rho \) :

Mass density

\( \rho_{\text{ad}} \) :

Mass density in the case of adiabatic wall

\( \rho_{\text{is}} \) :

Mass density in the case of isothermal wall

\( \sigma \) :

Stefan–Boltzmann constant (5.67 × 10−8 W/m2 K4)

\( \sigma_{\text{s}} \) :

Scattering coefficient

\( \varPhi \) :

Phase function

\( \varphi \) :

Swirler vane angle

\( \varOmega^{\prime} \) :

Solid angle

\( \delta_{ij} \) :

Kronecker delta

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44519, Egypt

    Sherif Ahdy, Mohammed A. Boraey, Hesham Abdel Hameed & Hafez El Salmawy

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, Nile University, Giza, 12588, Egypt

    Mohammed A. Boraey

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  1. Sherif Ahdy
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  2. Mohammed A. Boraey
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Correspondence to Sherif Ahdy.

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Technical Editor: Mário Eduardo Santos Martins.

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Ahdy, S., Boraey, M.A., Abdel Hameed, H. et al. Effect of the wall thermal boundary condition on the structure of a confined swirling diffusion flame. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 41, 517 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-019-2007-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-019-2007-1

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