Towards a Numerical Simulation of the Blue Whirl

ORAL

Abstract

The blue whirl is a newly observed flame structure shown to evolve from a fire whirl. A new computational model is being developed to simulate this phenomenon and help explain the transition and structure. A three-dimensional numerical model was constructed to solve the partially compressible, reactive Navier-Stokes equations. The fourth-order Flux- Corrected Transport (FCT) algorithm is used for convection and the Barely Implicit Correction (BIC) is applied to remove the time step restriction imposed by the sound speed. A simplified chemical-diffusive (CD) model accounts for the chemical-energy release. The diffusion process models the mass diffusion, heat conduction, and viscous diffusion. The CD chemical model implemented here allows for variable equivalence ratios, allowing for computations of both premixed and non-premixed systems without the additional numerical cost of solving a multi-step chemical model and tracking many intermediate species. The implementation of these methods and models along with various test problems are presented.

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Authors

  • Xiao Zhang

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

  • Joseph Chung

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

  • Ryan Houim

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, University of Florida, University of Maryland

  • Carolyn Kaplan

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

  • Elaine Oran

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Univ of Maryland-College Park