On the spatial structure and intermittency of soot in a lab-scale gas turbine combustor: Insights from large-eddy simulations

IF 5.9 2区工程技术 Q2 ENERGY & FUELS

Combustion and Flame Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-26 DOI:10.1016/j.combustflame.2026.114891

Leonardo Pachano , Daniel Mira , Abhijit Kalbhor , Jeroen van Oijen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This work presents a numerical investigation of soot formation in the Cambridge lab-scale gas turbine combustor. Large-eddy simulations (LES) of a swirl-stabilized ethylene flame are performed using the flamelet generated manifold method coupled with a discrete sectional model to account for soot formation, growth, and oxidation. The study aims to elucidate the mechanism governing the spatial structure and intermittency of soot, supported by comparisons with experimental data. The predicted soot distribution agrees well with measurements, with peak concentrations near the bluff body. Flow recirculation is identified as the key mechanism driving soot accumulation in fuel-rich regions, where surface reactions dominate soot mass growth. Soot intermittency arises from fluctuations in the flow field driven by interactions between the flame front and the recirculation vortex. Two soot modeling approaches are evaluated, differing in their treatment of soot model quantities: the first approach employs on-the-fly computation of source terms (FGM-C), while the second uses fully pre-tabulated source terms (FGM-T). Their predictive performance and computational cost are compared in the context of unsteady, sooting flames in swirl-stabilized combustors.

Novelty and Significance Statement

This paper offers detailed insights into soot production within a swirl-stabilized gas turbine combustor by employing a framework that couples Flamelet Generated Manifold chemistry with a Discrete Sectional Method for soot formation. Notably, this study provides a detailed characterization of flow-soot interactions, revealing the mechanism that governs the spatial structure of soot within the Cambridge rich-quench-lean combustor. Furthermore, it presents the first numerical investigation of soot intermittency in this turbulent flame configuration. This study also constitutes the first direct evaluation of the FGM-T formulation with soot section clustering in comparison with the more detailed FGM-C formulation within a lab-scale gas turbine combustor, offering insight into their respective predictive performance and computational cost.

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实验室规模燃气轮机燃烧室烟尘的空间结构和间断性：来自大涡模拟的见解

本文对剑桥实验室规模的燃气轮机燃烧室中烟灰的形成进行了数值研究。大涡模拟（LES）的旋涡稳定的乙烯火焰使用火焰生成流形方法与离散截面模型相结合，以说明烟灰的形成，生长和氧化。本研究旨在通过与实验数据的比较，阐明烟灰空间结构和间断性的控制机制。预测的烟灰分布与实测吻合较好，烟灰浓度峰值在钝体附近。流动再循环是富燃料区烟尘聚集的关键机制，在富燃料区，表面反应主导烟尘团块生长。烟灰的间断性是由火焰锋面与再循环涡相互作用驱动的流场波动引起的。评估了两种烟灰建模方法，它们对烟灰模型量的处理不同：第一种方法采用源项的实时计算（FGM-C），而第二种方法使用完全预制表的源项（FGM-T）。在旋流稳定燃烧室非定常烟尘火焰的情况下，比较了这两种方法的预测性能和计算成本。新颖性和意义声明：本文通过采用一种框架，结合火焰生成的流形化学与烟灰形成的离散截面方法，提供了对涡流稳定燃气轮机燃烧室内烟灰产生的详细见解。值得注意的是，本研究提供了流动-烟尘相互作用的详细特征，揭示了控制剑桥富淬贫燃烧室内烟尘空间结构的机制。此外，本文还首次对紊流火焰结构中烟灰的间歇性进行了数值研究。本研究还首次对带有烟灰部分聚类的FGM-T配方进行了直接评估，并与实验室规模的燃气轮机燃烧室中更详细的FGM-C配方进行了比较，从而深入了解了它们各自的预测性能和计算成本。

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来源期刊

Combustion and Flame 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

9.50

自引率

20.50%

发文量

631

审稿时长

3.8 months

期刊介绍： The mission of the journal is to publish high quality work from experimental, theoretical, and computational investigations on the fundamentals of combustion phenomena and closely allied matters. While submissions in all pertinent areas are welcomed, past and recent focus of the journal has been on: Development and validation of reaction kinetics, reduction of reaction mechanisms and modeling of combustion systems, including: Conventional, alternative and surrogate fuels; Pollutants; Particulate and aerosol formation and abatement; Heterogeneous processes. Experimental, theoretical, and computational studies of laminar and turbulent combustion phenomena, including: Premixed and non-premixed flames; Ignition and extinction phenomena; Flame propagation; Flame structure; Instabilities and swirl; Flame spread; Multi-phase reactants. Advances in diagnostic and computational methods in combustion, including: Measurement and simulation of scalar and vector properties; Novel techniques; State-of-the art applications. Fundamental investigations of combustion technologies and systems, including: Internal combustion engines; Gas turbines; Small- and large-scale stationary combustion and power generation; Catalytic combustion; Combustion synthesis; Combustion under extreme conditions; New concepts.