Large Eddy Simulation of a Sooting Jet Diffusion Flame

The understanding of soot particle dynamics in combustion systems is a key issue in the development of low emission engines.~ Key mean quantities of the population such as total volume fraction and number density can be predicted without solving for the entire distribution, by just solving for a few moments of the distribution.~ The newly developed Hybrid Method of Moments (HMOM) allows for an efficient and accurate prediction of moments of the soot Number Density Function (NDF).~ This method has been validated for laminar premixed and diffusion flames with detailed chemistry and is now implemented in a semi-implicit low Mach number Navier-Stokes solver.~ A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of a piloted sooting jet diffusion flame (Delft flame) is performed to study the dynamics of soot particles in a turbulent environment.~ Combustion in the LES is modeled with the Flamelet/Progress Variable Approach (FPVA) to properly account for the effects of temperature on soot formation and growth.~ Profiles of temperature and major species as well as soot volume fraction are compared with experimental measurements.~ In addition, the influence of the turbulent environment on particle shape and size is investigated.