Large Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Premixed Swirling Flames Using Dynamic Thickened Flame with Tabulated Detailed Chemistry

A sub-grid scale (SGS) combustion model by combining dynamic thickened flame (DTF) with flamelet generated manifolds (FGM) tabulation approach (i.e. DTF-FGM) is developed for investigating turbulent premixed combustion. In contrast to the thickened flame model, the dynamic thickening factor of the DTF model is determined from the flame sensor, which is obtained from the normalized gradient of the reaction progress variable from the one-dimensional freely propagating premixed flame simulations. Therewith the DTF model can ensure that the thickening of the flame is limited to the regions where it is numerically necessary. To describe the thermo-chemistry states, large eddy simulation (LES) transport equations for two characteristic scalars (the mixture fraction and the reaction progress variable) and relevant sub-grid variances in the DTF-FGM model are presented. As to the evaluation of different SGS combustion models, another model by utilizing the combination of presumed probability density function (PPDF) and FGM (i.e. PPDF-FGM) is also described. LES of two cases with or without swirl in premixed regime of the Cambridge swirl burner flames are performed to evaluate the developed SGS combustion model. The predicted results are compared with the experimental data in terms of the influence of different LES grids, model sensitivities to the thickening factor, the wrinkling factor, and the PPDF of characteristic scalars, the evaluation of different modelling approaches for the sub-grid variances of characteristic scalars, and the predictive capability of different SGS combustion models. It is shown that the LES results with the DTF-FGM model are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data, and better than the results with the PPDF-FGM approach due to its ability to predict better in regions where flame is not resolved.