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A multiphase approach for pyrolysis modelling of polymeric materials

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Abstract

In this study, a multiphase pyrolysis model has been proposed under the large eddy simulation (LES) framework incorporating moving boundary surface tracking, char formation, and detailed chemical kinetics combustion modelling. The proposed numerical model was applied to simulate the cone calorimeter test of two kinds of materials: (i) pinewood (charring) and (ii) low-density polyethylene (non-charring). Using a cone calorimeter setup, good agreement has been achieved between the computational and the experimental results. The model is capable of predicting the formation of the char layer and thus replicating the flame suppressing thermal and barrier effects. Furthermore, with the application of detailed chemical kinetics, the fire model was able to aptly predict the generation of asphyxiant gas such as CO/CO2 during the burning process. However, the pinewood experiments showed significant CO/CO2 emissions post flame extinguishment attributed to char oxidation effects, which were not considered by the fire model. Despite the limitation, the fully coupled LES model proposed in this study was capable of predicting the fluid mechanics and heat transfer for the turbulent reacting flow, solid-phase decomposition, and gaseous products under flaming conditions. In the future, it can be further extended to include char oxidation mechanisms to improve predictions for charring materials.

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Abbreviations

A :

pre-exponential factor

b* nuc :

normalised radical nuclei concentration

c :

material component fraction (pyrolysis kinetics)

C :

modelling constants

C p :

specific heat of constant pressure

d p :

soot particle mean diameter

D :

diffusion term

E :

activation energy

f :

mass fraction

F :

mixture fraction

F’ :

mixture fraction variance

\(\vec g\) :

gravitational acceleration force

k perm :

permeability coefficient

k t :

thermal conductivity

K :

empirical constant

m :

mass

M :

combustion flamelet library

M p :

soot average molecular weight

M s :

soot mass concentration

n :

exponential factor (pyrolysis kinetics)

N s :

soot number density

P :

sum of the partial pressures of gray gases

P(F):

beta probability density function (PDF)

r :

reaction rate

R :

universal gas constant

S :

source term

\({\tilde S_{ij}}\) :

strain rate

S d ij :

stress tensor

T :

temperature

ũ :

mean velocity component

\(\vec u\) :

velocity vector

v res :

residual mass fraction

V :

unit cell volume

X :

mole fraction

Y :

mass fraction

Δ:

filtered width

∇:

differential operator nabla

δ ij :

Kronecker delta

ρ :

density of gas mixture

φ :

porosity

ϕ :

transport variable

μ :

dynamic viscosity

μ T :

turbulent viscosity

σ T :

turbulent schmidt number

χ :

scalar dissipation

d:

stress tensor

c:

char

comb:

combustion

C2H2 :

acetylene

fuel:

fuel source

g:

gas volatile

i, j, k :

sequential indicators

OH:

hydroxyl radical

res:

residual

s:

solid

soot:

soot

w:

WALE constant

v:

volume fraction

α :

soot particle nucleation

β :

soot coagulation

γ :

surface growth of soot

ω :

soot particle oxidation

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Acknowledgements

The study is sponsored by the Australian Research Council (ARC Industrial Training Transformation Centre IC1701 00032) and the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. All financial and technical supports are greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Timothy Bo Yuan Chen, Luzhe Liu, Anthony Chun Yin Yuen, Qian Chen & Guan Heng Yeoh

  2. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Kirrawee DC, NSW, 2232, Australia

    Guan Heng Yeoh

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  1. Timothy Bo Yuan Chen
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  2. Luzhe Liu
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Correspondence to Anthony Chun Yin Yuen.

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Chen, T.B.Y., Liu, L., Yuen, A.C.Y. et al. A multiphase approach for pyrolysis modelling of polymeric materials. Exp. Comput. Multiph. Flow 5, 199–211 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42757-021-0122-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42757-021-0122-3

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