Large eddy simulation of premixed combustion with a thickened-flame approach

A thickened-flame (TF) modeling approach is combined with a large eddy simulation (LES) methodology to model premixed combustion, and the accuracy of these model predictions is evaluated by comparing with the piloted premixed stoichiometric methane-air flame data of Chen et al. (1996, 'The Detailed Flame Structure of Highly Stretched Turbulent Premixed Methane-Air Flames,' Combust. Flame, 107, pp. 233-244) at a Reynolds number Re = 24,000. In the TF model, the flame front is artificially thickened to resolve it on the computational LES grid and the reaction rates are specified using reduced chemistry. The response of the thickened-flame to turbulence is taken care of by incorporating an efficiency function in the governing equations. The efficiency function depends on the characteristics of the local turbulence and on the characteristics of the premixed flame such as laminar flame speed and thickness. Three variants of the TF model are examined: the original thickened-flame model, the power-law flame-wrinkling model, and the dynamically modified TF model. Reasonable agreement is found when comparing predictions with the experimental data and with computations reported using a probability distribution function modeling approach. The results of the TF model are in better agreement with data when compared with the predictions of the G-equation approach. [DOI: 10.1115/1.3094021] Keywords: thickened-flame, flame-wrinkling, turbulence, gas turbine emission, large eddy simulation