Vol. 25, No. 3 (2026), Sim26926 https://doi.org/10.24275/rmiq/Sim26926

Numerical analysis for non-premixed combustion interacting with a free vortex

 

Authors

M. T. Parra, V. Mendoza

Abstract

The present study was carried out with the goal of investigating the effects of swirl intensity on flow fields. For this purpose, a mesh was created to reproduce the benchmark test case developed by Roback and Johnson. With the main objective of properly evaluating the mixing quality inside the combustion chamber, the transport equations were solved to obtain the passive scalar and residence time in the combustion chamber for the isothermal case. The developed flow provides insights into the ways in which the primary flow (axial nozzle) and the secondary flow (annular nozzle) are mixed and the residence time of the flow, targeting the zones where the fluid becomes stagnant (i.e., long residence). The open-source code OpenFOAM® is employed to solve the Reynolds- Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with the k-ε standard turbulence model. In the isothermal case, the numerical results demonstrate reasonable agreement with the relevant experimental data, paving the way for an equitable understanding of the recirculation, mixing, and combustion zones. Moreover, a combustion model based on the Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) is utilized to identify the zones where reactions are produced and to analyze the variation in the Damköhler number with increasing swirl number.

Keywords

swirling flows; Eddy Dissipation Concept, free vortex, fluid age, non-premixed combustion.

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