2013 ANSYS, Inc.

September 19, 2013 1

CFX Combustion &
Radiation - Introduction

2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 2
What is combustion ?
Combustion:
Defined as an Exothermic Chemical Reaction of a fuel
(For example CH
4
) with an oxidant (For example O
2
) to
form products.

Modes of Combustion:

Flame Mode: Thin Zone of intense chemical reaction
called flame exists.

Non-Flame Mode: Volumetric Combustion Process.
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 3
Applications for Combustion Modeling
Wide range of reacting flows:
Furnaces
Boilers
Process heaters
Gas turbines
Rocket engines

Predictions of:
Flow field and mixing characteristics
Temperature field
Species concentrations
Particulates and pollutants

2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 4
Combustion Phenomenology
Chemistry
stoichiometry
chemical kinetics
Heat transfer
conduction, convection,
radiation
buoyancy
Mass transfer
Turbulence
turbulence-chemistry
interaction
Compressibility
Particle transport
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 5
Thermo-chemistry : Common Terms
Mass fraction (Y
k
) : Mass of Species k / Total mass

Mole fraction (X
k
): Moles of species k / Total Moles

Gas Molecular Weight (W): ; W
k
is the species molecular weight

Mole fraction (X
k
) = (W/W
k
) Y
k

Gas density(): PW / RT ; P = Gas Pressure, T=Temperature

Species Enthalpy (Sensible + Chemical):

Gas Enthalpy:

=
=
N
1 k
k
k
W
Y
W
1
0
k , f
T
T
pk k
h dT C h
ref
A + =
}

=
=
N
1 k
k k
Y h h
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 6
Combustion Types
Non-Premixed Partially Premixed Premixed
Fuel
Air
Air
Fuel + Air
Fuel
+Air
Fuel
+ Air
Fuel + Air
Stoichiometric
Surface
Premixed
Flame Front
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 7
Combustion Process
Combustion depends directly on Mixing and Chemistry. The relative speed
of chemical reaction to mixing is crucial.

Fast Reactions: reaction progress is limited by turbulent mixing.
Slow Reactions: reaction progress is limited by chemical kinetics.



Damkhler Number (Da) represents the ratio of the characteristic turbulent
mixing time to the characteristic chemical reaction time and determines
modelling approach:

Da = Mixing Time Scale / Chemical Time Scale

For Da >> 1, Chemical reaction rates are fast: mixing limited rate
For Da << 1, Chemical reaction rates are slow: Chemistry limits rate



2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 8
Numerical Modeling of Combustion
Fuel, Oxidant and Products of a combustion process are
scalar variables and are tracked as Mass Fractions of a
Multi-Component Fluid.

Each Mass Fraction is computed from a generic advection-
diffusion transport equation with source terms to account
for consumption or production of species.





where R
f
is the source term representing the generation or
consumption of reactant or product. The source term is model and
reaction dependent.



f
R
j
x
i
Y
eff
j
x
i
Y
j
u
j
x
t
i
Y
+
c
c
I
c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
) ( ) (

2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 9

Chemical Kinetics: Reaction Source Term
The k
th
species mass fraction transport equation is:



Nomenclature: chemical species, denoted S
k
, react as:



Example:




( ) ( )
k
i
k
k
i
k i
i
k
R
x
Y
D
x
Y u
x
Y
t
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c

c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c

= =
v v
N
1 k
k k
N
1 k
k k
S " S '
O H 2 CO O 2 CH
2 2 2 4
+ +
2 " 1 " 0 " 0 "
0 ' 0 ' 2 ' 1 '
O H S CO S O S CH S
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
2 4 2 3 2 2 4 1
= v = v = v = v
= v = v = v = v
= = = =
Forward and backward
Stoichiometric coefficients
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 10
Chemical Kinetics
The calculated reaction rate is proportional to the products of the
reactant concentrations raised to the power of their respective
reaction orders, or exponents

k
th
species reaction rate (for a single reaction):





[
=

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
N
j
j
RT
E
k k k k k
k
k
k
C e T A M R
1
'
) ' " (
q |
v v
- reactant and product stoichiometric coefficients
- rate exponent for reactant j and product j in reaction k
- temperature exponent of reaction k
E
k
- activation energy
R - universal gas constant
A
k
- pre-exponential factor
C
j
- molar concentration of species j
K
k
- equilibrium constant
- rate of production or consumption of species i in reaction k
k k
v v ' ' ' ,
k
q'
k
|
k
R
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 11
Why do we need Combustion Modeling?
Governing reacting Navier-Stokes equations are accurate,
but DNS is prohibitive ...

Turbulence
Large range of time and length scales
Modeling done by time (or Reynolds) averaging
Introduces terms (the Reynolds stresses) which must be modeled
Chemistry
Realistic chemical mechanisms have tens of species, hundreds of reactions, and
stiff kinetics (widely disparate time scales)
Determined for a limited number of fuels
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 12
Reynolds (Time) Averaged Species Equation

{unsteady term} convection convection molecular mean
(zero for by mean by turbulent diffusion chemical
steady flows) velocity velocity fluctuations source term

are the k
th
species mass fraction, diffusion coefficient and
chemical source term respectively

Turbulent flux term modeled by mean gradient diffusion as
, which is consistent in the k-c context

Gas phase combustion modeling focuses on
Arguably more difficult to model than the Reynolds stresses for turbulence
( ) ( ) ( )
k
i
k
k
i
k i
i
k i
i
k
R
x
Y
D
x
" Y " u
x
Y u
x
Y
t
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c

c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
)
`

+
c
c
k k k
R , D , Y
k
R
i k t t k i
x / Y /Sc Y" u" c c =
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 13
( ) RT E exp C AT R
j
j
k
j
=
[
v
|
Arrhenius reaction rate terms are highly nonlinear
Cannot neglect the effects of turbulence fluctuations on chemical
production rates
) T ( R R k k =
Turbulence Chemistry Interaction
2013 ANSYS, Inc. September 19, 2013 14
Combustion Models in ANSYS CFX
Combustion Models in ANSYS CFX-14:

- Eddy Dissipation Model (EDM Model) Da >> 1
- Finite Rate Chemistry Model (FRC Model) Da << 1
- Combined Model (EDM+FRC Model)
- PDF Flamelet
- Pre-mixed/Partially Premixed Model : Burning Velocity Model
- Extended Coherent Flame Model
- NOx Model
- Oil Combustion Model
- Coal Combustion Model