Modelling the generation of temperature inhomogeneities by a premixed flame

The response of a laminar, premixed flame to perturbations of upstream equivalence ratio is investigated and modelled, with emphasis on the generation of ‘entropy waves’, i.e. entropic inhomogeneities of downstream temperature. Transient computational fluid dynamics simulations of two adiabatic lean methane-air flames of different Péclet numbers provide guidance and validation data for subsequent modelling. The respective entropy transfer functions, which describe the production of temperature inhomogeneities, as well as transfer functions for the variation of the heat release, are determined from the computational fluid dynamics time series data by means of system identification. The processes governing the dynamics of the entropy transfer functions are segregated into two sub-problems: (1) heat release due to chemical reaction at the flame front and (2) advective and diffusive transport. By adopting a formulation in terms of a mixture fraction variable, these two sub-problems can be treated independently from each other. Models for both phenomena are derived and analysed using simple 0- and 1-dimensional configurations. The heat release process (1) is represented by a fast-reaction-zone model, which takes into account variations of the specific heat capacity with equivalence ratio in order to evaluate the magnitude of downstream temperature fluctuations with quantitative accuracy. For the transport processes (2), two types of models based on mean field data from the computational fluid dynamics simulation are proposed: A semi-analytical, low-order formulation based on stream lines, and a state-space formulation, which is constructed by Finite Elements discretisation of the transport equation for mixture fraction. Model predictions for the entropy transfer functions are found to agree well with the computational fluid dynamics reference data at very low computational costs.