Reacting Turbulent Flow and Thermal Field in a Channel With Inclined Bluff Body Flame Holders

Abstract

In this paper, a numerical study has been carried out to investigate the effects of inlet turbulent intensity and angle of attack on the chemically reacting turbulent flow and thermal fields in a channel with an inclined bluff body V-gutter flame holder. With a basic geometry used in a previous experimental study, the inlet turbulent intensity was varied from 2% to 100%, while the angle of attack of the V-gutter was varied from 0 deg to 30 deg. The turbulent flow was modeled with a realizable k-ε two-equation turbulence model. The chemical reaction was premixed propane-air combustion with an equivalence ratio of 0.6. The chemistry-turbulence interaction was simulated with an eddy-dissipation model. Numerical results indicated that increasing the inlet turbulent intensity and V-gutter angle of attack resulted in an increase not only in the size, but also in the magnitude of the downstream high turbulence areas with shedding vortexes. The recirculation flow behind the flame holder tended to maintain the rear wall at constant temperature, except at the edges of the wall. The friction factor of the flow channel was more sensitive to the change in inlet turbulence intensity at smaller angle of attack of the V-gutter.