Numerical Simulations of Soot Formation in Turbulent Premixed Flames of Jet Fuels

Numerical simulations of soot formation in a fuel-rich turbulent premixed flame of a gasified jet fuel are studied in a canonical setup. The fuel kinetics is based on 62 species mechanism developed by T. Lu & co-workers at University of Connecticut and includes reactions for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation and growth. Two different modeling approaches, Method of Moments with Interpolative Closure (MOMIC) [Frenklach, M. Chemical Engineering Science 57.12 (2002): 2229-2239.] and a three-equation model [Franzelli, B. et. al. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 37.4 (2019): 5411-5419.], are assessed under identical flow conditions to determine and compare their predictions of global soot quantities such as number density, surface area and volume fractions. The effects of different equivalence ratios of the premixed mixture as well as different turbulence intensities on soot formation and growth are studied. Results are analyzed to determine stages of soot nucleation in a turbulent premixed flame based on different PAH species and their sensitivity to predictions will be addressed using both models.