Tut 15
Tut 15
Introduction
A 300KW BERL combustor simulation is modeled using a Probability Density Function
(PDF) mixture fraction model. The reaction can be modeled using either the species
transport model or the non-premixed combustion model. In this tutorial you will set up
and solve a natural gas combustion problem using the non-premixed combustion model
for the reaction chemistry.
This tutorial demonstrates how to do the following:
The non-premixed combustion model uses a modeling approach that solves transport
equations for one or two conserved scalars and the mixture fractions. Multiple chemical
species, including radicals and intermediate species, may be included in the problem
definition. Their concentrations will be derived from the predicted mixture fraction
distribution.
Property data for the species are accessed through a chemical database and turbulence-
chemistry interaction is modeled using a β-function for the PDF. For details on the
non-premixed combustion modeling approach, see Chapter 16 in the separate User’s
Guide.
Prerequisites
This tutorial is written with the assumption that you have completed Tutorial 1, and
that you are familiar with the ANSYS FLUENT navigation pane and menu structure.
Some steps in the setup and solution procedure will not be shown explicitly.
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Problem Description
The flow considered is an unstaged natural gas flame in a 300 kW swirl-stabilized burner.
The furnace is vertically-fired and of octagonal cross-section with a conical furnace hood
and a cylindrical exhaust duct. The furnace walls are capable of being refractory-lined
or water-cooled. The burner features 24 radial fuel ports and a bluff centerbody. Air is
introduced through an annular inlet and movable swirl blocks are used to impart swirl.
The combustor dimensions are described in Figure 15.1, and Figure 15.2 shows a close-
up of the burner assuming 2D axisymmetry. The boundary condition profiles, velocity
inlet boundary conditions of the gas, and temperature boundary conditions are based on
experimental data [1].
195 mm
o
20
swirling 1.66 Do
combustion air 1.33 Do
Do 1.15 Do
24 holes 0.66 Do
natural gas
∅ 1.8 mm
Do = 87 mm
2. Unzip non_premix_combustion.zip.
The files, berl.msh and berl.prof can be found in the non premix combustion
folder, which will be created after unzipping the file.
The mesh file, berl.msh is a quadrilateral mesh describing the system geometry
shown in Figures 15.1 and 15.2.
4. Enable Double-Precision.
For more information about FLUENT Launcher, see Section 1.1.2 in the separate
User’s Guide.
Note: The Display Options are enabled by default. Therefore, after you read in the mesh,
it will be displayed in the embedded graphics window.
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Step 1: Mesh
1. Read the mesh file berl.msh.
File −→ Read −→Mesh...
The ANSYS FLUENT console will report that the mesh contains 9784 quadrilateral
cells. A warning will be generated informing you to consider making changes to the
zone type, or to change the problem definition to axisymmetric. You will change
the problem to axisymmetric swirl in Step 2.
Mesh
FLUENT 12.0 (2d, dp, pbns, lam)
Due to the mesh resolution and the size of the domain, you may find it more useful
to display just the outline, or to zoom in on various portions of the mesh display.
Extra: You can use the mouse zoom button (middle button, by default) to zoom
in to the display and the mouse probe button (right button, by default) to find
out the boundary zone labels. The zone labels will be displayed in the console.
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Figure 15.4: 2D BERL Combustor Mesh Display Including the Symmetry Plane
Step 3: Models
Models
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(d) Click the Boundary tab to add and define the boundary species.
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i. Retain the default values for all the parameters in the Table Parameters
group box.
The maximum number of species determines the number of most prepon-
derant species to consider after the equilibrium calculation is performed.
ii. Click Calculate PDF Table to compute the non-adiabatic PDF table.
iii. Click the Display PDF Table... button to open the PDF Table dialog box.
Figure 15.5: Non-Adiabatic Temperature Look-Up Table on the Adiabatic Enthalpy Slice
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Step 4: Materials
Materials
All thermodynamic data for the continuous phase, including density, specific heat,
and formation enthalpies are extracted from the chemical database when the non-
premixed combustion model is used. These properties are transferred to the pdf-
mixture material, for which only transport properties, such as viscosity and thermal
conductivity need to be defined.
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(a) Select Intensity and Hydraulic Diameter from the Specification Method drop-
down list in the Turbulence group box.
(b) Enter 5% for Backflow Turbulent Intensity.
(c) Enter 600 mm for Backflow Hydraulic Diameter.
(d) Click the Thermal tab and enter 1300 K for Backflow Total Temperature.
(e) Click OK to close the Pressure Outlet dialog box.
The exit gauge pressure of zero defines the system pressure at the exit to be the
operating pressure. The backflow conditions for scalars (temperature, mixture frac-
tion, turbulence parameters) will be used only if flow is entrained into the domain
through the exit. It is a good idea to use reasonable values in case flow reversal
occurs at the exit at some point during the solution process.
(a) Select Components from the Velocity Specification Method drop-down list.
(b) Select vel-prof u from the Axial-Velocity drop-down list.
(c) Select vel-prof w from the Swirl-Velocity drop-down list.
(d) Select Intensity and Hydraulic Diameter from the Specification Method drop-
down list in the Turbulence group box.
(e) Enter 17% for Turbulent Intensity.
(f) Enter 29 mm for Hydraulic Diameter.
Turbulence parameters are defined based on intensity and length scale. The
relatively large turbulence intensity of 17% may be typical for combustion air
flows.
(g) Click the Thermal tab and enter 312 K for Temperature.
For the non-premixed combustion calculation, you have to define the inlet Mean
Mixture Fraction and Mixture Fraction Variance in the Species tab. In this case,
the gas phase air inlet has a zero mixture fraction. Therefore, you can retain
the zero default settings.
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(a) Select Components from the Velocity Specification Method drop-down list.
(b) Enter 157.25 m/s for Radial-Velocity.
(c) Select Intensity and Hydraulic Diameter from the Specification Method drop-
down list in the Turbulence group box.
(d) Enter 5% for Turbulent Intensity.
(e) Enter 1.8 mm for Hydraulic Diameter.
The hydraulic diameter has been set to twice the height of the 2D inlet stream.
(f) Click the Thermal tab and enter 308 K for Temperature.
(g) Click the Species tab and enter 1 for Mean Mixture Fraction for the fuel inlet.
(h) Click OK to close the Velocity Inlet dialog box.
6. Similarly, set the boundary conditions for wall-7 through wall-13 using the following
values:
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8. Plot the profiles of velocity for the swirling air inlet (air-inlet-4).
(a) Plot the profile of axial-velocity for the swirling air inlet.
Plots −→ Profile Data −→ Set Up...
Figure 15.7: Profile Plot of Axial-Velocity for the Swirling Air Inlet (air-inlet-4)
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Figure 15.8: Profile Plot of Swirl-Velocity for the Swirling Air Inlet (air-inlet-4)
The Operating Pressure was already set in the PDF table generation in Step 3.
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Step 7: Solution
1. Set the solution parameters.
Solution Methods
(a) Select PRESTO! from the Pressure drop-down list in the Spatial Discretization
group box.
(b) Retain the default selection of First Order Upwind for other parameters.
(a) Set the following parameters in the Under-Relaxation Factors group box:
Under-Relaxation Factor Value
Pressure 0.5
Density 0.8
Momentum 0.3
Turbulent Kinetic Energy 0.7
Turbulent Dissipation Rate 0.7
P1 1
The default under-relaxation factors are considered to be too aggressive for
reacting flow cases with high swirl velocity.
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(a) Ensure that the Plot is enabled in the Options group box.
(b) Click OK to close the Residual Monitors dialog box.
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Step 8: Postprocessing
1. Display the predicted temperature field (Figure 15.9).
Graphics and Animations −→ Contours −→ Set Up...
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1.99e+0
1.90e+0
1.82e+0
1.74e+0
1.65e+0
1.57e+0
1.48e+0
1.40e+0
1.32e+0
1.23e+0
1.15e+0
1.06e+0
9.81e+0
8.97e+0
8.13e+0
7.29e+0
6.45e+0
5.62e+0
4.78e+0 Y
3.94e+0 Z X
3.10e+0
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1. Compute the gas phase mass fluxes through the domain boundaries.
Reports −→ Fluxes −→ Set Up...
(a) Retain the default Selection of Mass Flow Rate in the Options group box.
(b) Select air-inlet-4, fuel-inlet-5, and poutlet-3 from the Boundaries selection list.
(c) Click Compute.
The net mass imbalance should be a small fraction (say, 0.5% or less) of the total
flux through the system. If a significant imbalance occurs, you should decrease your
residual tolerances by at least an order of magnitude and continue iterating.
2. Compute the fluxes of heat through the domain boundaries.
Reports −→ Fluxes −→ Set Up...
(a) Select Total Heat Transfer Rate in the Options group box.
(b) Select all the zones from the Boundaries selection list.
(c) Click Compute and close the Flux Reports dialog box.
The value will be displayed in the console. Positive flux reports indicate heat
addition to the domain. Negative values indicate heat leaving the domain.
Again, the net heat imbalance should be a small fraction (say, 0.5% or less) of
the total energy flux through the system. The reported value may change for
different runs.
3. Compute the mass weighted average of the temperature at the pressure outlet.
Reports −→ Surface Integrals −→ Set Up...
(a) Select Mass-Weighted Average from the Report Type drop-down list.
(b) Select Temperature... and Static Temperature from the Field Variable drop-down
lists.
(c) Select poutlet-3 from the Surfaces selection list.
(d) Click Compute.
A value of 1297.46 K will be displayed in the console.
(e) Close the Surface Integrals dialog box.
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Summary
In this tutorial you learned how to use the non-premixed combustion model to represent
the gas phase combustion chemistry. In this approach the fuel composition was defined
and assumed to react according to the equilibrium system data. This equilibrium chem-
istry model can be applied to other turbulent, diffusion-reaction systems. You can also
model gas combustion using the finite-rate chemistry model.
You also learned how to set up and solve a gas phase combustion problem using the P1
radiation model, and applying the appropriate absorption coefficient.
References
1. A. Sayre, N. Lallement, and J. Dugu, and R. Weber “Scaling Characteristics of
Aerodynamics and Low-NOx Properties of Industrial Natural Gas Burners”, The
SCALING 400 Study, Part IV: The 300 KW BERL Test Results, IFRF Doc No
F40/y/11, International Flame Research Foundation, The Netherlands.
Further Improvements
This tutorial guides you through the steps to reach first generate an initial solution,
and then reach a more-accurate second-order solution. You may be able to increase the
accuracy of the solution even further by using an appropriate higher-order discretization
scheme and by adapting the mesh. Mesh adaption can also ensure that your solution is
independent of the mesh. These steps are demonstrated in Tutorial 1.