Reynolds Analog in Combustor Modeling

Accurate temperature prediction is vital for the development of advanced combustion systems. The Reynolds analogy concept has been almost exclusively used in current turbulent reacting flow RANS simulations. In this paper, this hypothesis applied to a diffusion flame model combustor is discussed and assessed. Some of the numerical results obtained from a flamelet combustion model with the turbulence Prandtl/Schmidt number from 0.25 to 0.85 are presented, and compared with a benchmark experimental database. It is found that the turbulence Prandtl/Schmidt number has significant effect on the predicted temperature and species fields inside the combustor, as well as the temperature profile at the combustor wall. In contrast, its effect on the velocity field is insignificant in the range assessed. With the optimized turbulence Prandtl/Schmidt number, both velocity and scalar fields can be reasonably and quantitatively predicted. For the present configuration and operating conditions, the optimal Prandtl/Schmidt number is 0.5, lower than the commonly accepted values, ∼0.70. This study suggests that for accurate prediction of scalar transfers in turbulent reacting flows, the Reynolds analogy concept should be improved and new approaches should be developed.