Due to concerns about pollutant emission combustion systems are increasingly being designed to operate in a lean premixed mode. However, the reduction in emissions offered by lean premixed combustion can be offset by its susceptibility to instabilities and ignition and extinction problems. These instabilities, caused by the coupling of unsteady heat release and pressure fluctuations can cause significant damage to combustion devices. One method of avoiding these problems whilst still operating a globally lean system is to employ a stratified premixed mode where areas of richer mixture are used to enhance the stability of the flame. In this thesis a computational modelling methodology for the simulation of stratified premixed flames is developed. Firstly, several sub-models for the dissipation rate of a reacting scalar are evaluated by the simulation of two laboratory scale flames, a turbulent stratified V-flame and a dump combustor fed by two streams of different mixture strength. This work highlights the importance of this quantity and its influence on the simulation results. Any model for stratified combustion requires at least two variables to describe the thermochemical state of the gas: one to represent the mixing field and another to capture the progress of reaction. In turbulent stratified flames the joint probability density function (pdf) of these variables can be used to recover the mean reaction rates. A new formulation for this pdf based on copula methods is presented and evaluated alongside two alternative forms. The new method gives improved results in the simulation of the two test cases above. As it is likely that practical stratified combustion devices will have some unsteadiness to the flow the final part of this work applies the modelling methodology to an unsteady test case. The influence of the unsteady velocity forcing on the pollutant emissions is investigated. Finally the methodology is used to simulate a developmental, liquid fuelled, lean burn aero-engine combustor. Here the model gives reasonable predictions of the measured pollutant emissions for a relatively small computational cost. As such it is hoped that the modelling methodology presented can be useful in the iterative industrial design process of stratified combustion systems.

Lorentz forces provide a unique method for the control and mixing of gas flows without the physical intrusion of objects into the flow. Lorentz forces arise when an electric current is passed through a volume in the presence of a magnetic field. The interaction between the electric current and the electric and magnetic fields produces a body force which affects the flow. These forces have been investigated experimentally by other researchers and show promise as a way to accelerate combustion in diffusion flames by increasing the mixing rate of fuel and oxidant streams. Theoretical and numerical models were developed to gain insight into this process. Alkali metal seeding raises the electrical conductivity of a flame by two to three orders of magnitude. This has two significant effects: the Lorentz force becomes stronger for the same applied electric current and magnetic field, and the alkali seed concentration becomes a dominant factor in determining electrical conductivity of seeded gases. This makes electrical conductivity much easier to predict, and so the Lorentz body force produced is easier to determine. A theoretical basis for numerical modeling of reactive flows with variable body forces has been developed. Many issues are important in simulating gas flows. Conservation of chemical species must be carefully maintained. Mass transport by gaseous diffusion, which limits combustion rates in a diffusion flame, must be appropriately modeled. Viscous action is also important, since it promotes mixing of the fuel and oxidant streams. Convective, conductive, and diffusive transport of energy must be carefully treated since energy transport directly affects the fluid flow. A numerical model of an incompressible gas flow affected by Lorentz forces was written and tested. Although assumptions made in the model, such as isothermal conditions and uniform density, are not found in diffusion flames, the numerical model predicts velocity vector patterns similar to those observed in actual Lorentz force tests on diffusion flames. A simulation code for compressible, reactive gas flows which include Lorentz forces has also been written. Several parts of the model have been validated, and the approach used appears likely to produce successful simulations. Further validation studies will be required, however, before complete modeling of the diffusion flame can proceed. / Graduation date: 1995

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 1982 / Includes bibliographical references. / by Dinah Georgianna McNutt. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering