Mansha Kumari / International Journal of Computer Science & Engineering Technology (IJCSET)

CFD Analysis of Flow Through Rotating

Combustion Swirler
MANSHA KUMARI
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Technology & Engineering,
M.S.University Baroda (INDIA)
E-mail:manshakumari28@yahoo.com
Abstract: Swirling flow generates rotating flows, turbulence and free jet wakes at the downstrean of swirler in
combustion chamber. Swirling flow generates complex interaction between pressure gradients and fluid flow.
To study the flow behavior and its effect in combustion chamber, experimental procedure is performed and
recirculation zone is found out by using unsymetrical six vanes swirler.Here vanes used are of 45° at exit of
swirler and 10° at inlet to the flow.To find out three dimentional velocities, five hole probe is used with multi
tube manometer.To findout velocity at inlet duct anemometer is used. To validate experimental results, three
dimentional flow within the flow geometry and through the swirler have been simulated by means of
computational fluid dynamics(CFD) usind the code FLUENT Swirler applicable for producing CRZ (Central
Recirculating Zone) to control length & stability of flame. Whole assembly design includes inlet pipes, Swirler,
diffuser, expansion chamber, and tailpipe.The core objective of this study is to present the details of the
experimental swirl flow. The flow through 8 blades at 45° rotating vane swirler is studied by using CFD Ansys.
Present work gives complete behaviour and knowledge about recirculation zone & effect of guide vanes.
Keywords: Swirl, Expansion Chamber, Tailpipe, CRZ, Guide vane.
I. INTRODUCTION
Swirling jets are used as a means of controlling flames in combustion chambers and have also found application
in various types of spray driers and burners. The aerodynamics of swirling turbulent jets combine the
characteristics of rotating motion and the free turbulence phenomena encountered in jets and wake flows.
When rotating motion is imparted to a fluid upstream of an orifice, the flow emerging from the orifice has a
tangential velocity component in addition to the axial and radial components of velocity encountered in non-
swirling jets. The presence of swirl, results in the setting up of radial and axial pressure gradients, which in turn
influence the flow field. In case of strong swirl, the adverse axial pressure gradient is sufficiently large to result
in reverse flow along the axis and hence setting up of an internal re-circulation zone [1].
Swirling flows are highly three dimensional and it is quite complex to obtain enough details experimentally to
fully understand if and to comprehend the mechanism involved. Any attempt to identify and rectify turbulence
models defects for swirling flows is bound to be frustrated unless comprehensive experimental results of the jet
are available. As well any numerical solution strongly relies upon the basic experimental benchmark data for
validating the results [2].
The degree of swirl is characterized by swirl number, which is defined as the ratio of axial flux of angular
momentum to the flux of axial momentum [4].

S=

Φ
S=

For curved vanes, swirl number is defined as

 4

1 −  R h 

S =
1 1  R  tan α 0
1 − ψ 2  2

1 −  R h 

 R 
zs cos α
Where blockage factor ψ=
6.28 R
Where R is radius of swirler, Rh is radius of hub, S is swirl number, s is thickness of vanes, z is number of
vanes, α is vane inlet angle and α0 is vane outlet angle at trailing edge

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 Mansha Kumari / International Journal of Computer Science & Engineering Technology (IJCSET)

II. COMPUTATIONAL PROCEDURE

In CFD simulations, consistently accurate results can be obtained only by applying a complete computational
methodology to the problem at hand. The computational methodology applied here consists of four steps. The
four tasks involved are:
a. Modeling of the geometry;
b. Meshing the flow geometry;
c. Solving the flow equations using the CFD softwares;
d. Post processing of predicted results.[cfd of swirler]
CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic ) is a Software which is used to analysis the flow field or fluid problem
analyze. CFD provides numerical approximation to the equation that govern fluid motion. First , the
mathematical equation describing the fluid flow are written. these equation are then discretized to produce a
numerical analogue of the equations. domain is then divided into small grids or elements. After providing the
initial and boundary condition solution is obtained.
It mainly includes the following steps.
1) Geometry Creation
This is the first step in building and analyzing the flow model. It includes the geometry creation by using CAD
package, or geometry import, which import the geometry from other software directly into the CFD. Fig.1
shows Complete geometry consisting inlet pipe, diffuser, expansion chamber, tailpipe

Fig.1 Complete geometry consisting inlet pipe, diffuser, expansion chamber, tailpipe.

2) Meshing
After geometry creation , it is divided or discritized into number of segment which called meshing. Meshing is
done in hybrid meshing(tetrahedral+ prism element) shown in fig 2

Fig.2 Meshing of Complete geometry

3) Numerical Simulation and Turbulence Modeling

In order to obtain the flow field details in a swirling flow the governing equations to be solved are
a) Continuity equation;
b) Three momentum equations;
c) Turbulence kinetic energy model equations.
In this case to solve the problem control-volume based technique is used in which segregated solver is used.
The segregated solver uses under relaxation factors to control the update of computed variables at each
iteration. If the residuals continue to increase after the first 4 or 5 iterations, then the values under relaxation
factors should be reduced.SIMPLE(Semi Implicit Pressure Linked Equation) schme is used for pressure
velocity coupling.This procedure is based on cyclic series of guess and correct operations to solve the governing
equations. This procedure continues until the solution converges.
k-ε is a two equation turbulence model. K is the turbulence kinetic energy and is defined as the varience of the
fluctuation in velocity. ε is the turbulence eddy dissipation( rate at which the velocity fluctuation dissipate).
Two equation turbulence models are widely used as they offering a good compromise between numerical effort
and computational accuracy.

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 Mansha Kumari / International Journal of Computer Science & Engineering Technology (IJCSET)

COMPUTATIONAL DETAILS:
GAMBIT is used for making geometry of set up.For this operation tool geometry is used and geometry made is
of same as that of experimental set up. To make vanes swirler cascade geometry is used as shown in figure
below as points A,B,C and D. The Swirler portion geometry is shown in figure below.
Meshing is made in GAMBIT. For meshing of swirler portion tetrahedral schme is used with size of 1.0 and for
expansion chamber cooper scheme is used with size of 10.0. Equisize skewness is of 0.97.
ASSUMPTIONS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS :
Flow is assumed to be three dimentional, steady, incompressible, isothermal and turbulent. Buoyancy effects are
negligible. The inlet boundary condition chosen is of velocity inlet of 15.5 m/s. Fluid used is of air and pressure
outlet of atmospheric is provided at exit. Wall boundary condition has been used for near wall effects. Default
interior is taken as interior.
III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
PRESSURE PLOT: In the Diffuser region, at the inlet the pressure at the centre , which increases at it move in
to the mid-plane, At the near to the wall the pressure drops. In the entire diffuser region the pressure remain
constant. In the Expansion Chamber pressure remain constant shown in the fig.3

Fig. 3 Pressure plot for rotating 8 vanes swirler in CFD

VELOCITY SURFACE STREAMLINE PLOT : In the Diffuser region at the center the velocity gradient is low
as compare to the velocity gradient near the wall and the mid-plane. at the wall the velocity is increasing. In the
expansion chamber the velocity gradient is low in the central region as ,flow moves towards the wall from the
center velocity gradient increases as shown in Fig.4 Velocity streamline plot in 3-D for rotating 8 vanes swirler
in CFD

Fig.4 Velocity streamline plot in 3-D for rotating 8 vanes swirler in CFD

In Diffuser region, at the centre, reverse velocity is observed which become positive in mid-plane and near the
wall.

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 Mansha Kumari / International Journal of Computer Science & Engineering Technology (IJCSET)

In Expansion Chamber region, at the centre, reverse velocity is observed. In the mid-plane it become positive.
Near the wall it becomes negative.
From the contours of axial velocity, it can be clearly seen the recirculation zone takes place at the exit of the
swirler in the diffuser and expansion chamber.
In the recirculation zone axial velocity decreases up to -17 to -18 m/s in case of axial velocity contour. The
velocity magnitude in the central zone has only negative values.
The flow downstream of the swirler shows maximum reverse velocity of 18 m/s which shows the formation of
recirculation zone. The contours are obtained by plotting the axial velocities which ranges from zero to
maximum negative value within the recirculation zone as shown in Fig. 5 Surface velocity streamline plot for
rotating 8 vanes swirler in CFD

Fig. 5 Surface velocity streamline plot for rotating 8 vanes swirler in CFD

IV. CONCLUSIONS
From results it is observed that large deviation occurs. CFD analysis , it has found that better air-fuel mixing is
obtained in rotating swirler without guide vane. as it has complete recirculation zone and better central mixing
region.
The expansion chamber is connected with the tail pipe at the end for avoiding atmospheric air to enter in the
expansion chamber and to get good air-fuel mixing with good flame stabilization
Due to the tailpipe of 120 mm diameter attached at the end of the expansion chamber low pressure region
occurs in the expansion chamber. Tail pipe will avoid the atmospheric disturbance and detain the atmospheric
entering into the chamber. In the entire Expansion Chamber, Complete recirculation zone is formed. The
expansion chamber is connected with the tail pipe at the end for avoiding atmospheric air to enter in the
expansion chamber and to get good air-fuel mixing with good flame stabilization. The recirculation zone in the
mid plane downstream of the swirler.
REFERENCES
[1] S.Bharat Krishna, Non Member & Prof. V.Ganesan, Member, CFD analysis of flow through combustion swirler, vol-86,April 2005
IE(I) Journal.
[2] R Thundil Karuppa Raj & V.Ganesan, Experimental study of recirculating flows induced by vane swirler, Indian Journal of
Engineering & material Science, Vol.16, February 2009,pp.14-22.
[3] E.Kilik, better swirl generation by usnig curved vanes, California state university, Long Beach, California.
[4] Combustion Aerodynamics by J.M.Beer and N.A.Chingier. R.Thundil Karupparaj, V.Ganesan, study on the effect of various
parameters on flow development behind vane swirlers, International Journal of Thermal sciences 47(2008) 1204-1225.

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