CFD simulations of combustion in Afterburner

A Project Report
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the Degree of
Master of Engineering
in
Faculty of Engineering

by

Hareesh.Bitla

Aerospace Engineering
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
BANGALORE – 560 012, INDIA

July 2008
 i

Acknowledgements
It is my privilege and great pleasure to express my deep sense of gratitude to my guide
Prof.P.J.Paul sir, for his guidance and excellency in giving suggestions on the problems
i faced during my project work.
I acknowledge the full support and encouragement extended by Prof. B. N. Raghunandan,
Chairman of the Aerospace Engineering Department.
I thank my mom and dad, who living lonely and taking the pain of my absence only
waiting for my quick completion of my M.E, though i am not quick enough, now the
chance for me to ask sorry from them.
I thank all of my friends(shru,bindu,ashok,subbu,durga) who are there for me all the time,
during my course work.
I thank my labmates chetan bhai, abhishek, pradeep verma, for all the help they made
during my working time in the lab. I specially want to thank Ravi sir, for allowing me to
make use of high-speed computer when i am hang up with my old and slow computer.
Last but not least i sincerely believe in you, my God that you are behind my every
proceedings. Nothing much i can give you but a quote, that i am your devotee i love you
god so much.
Abstract

This thesis is an effort to understand the functioning of an afterburner with both the cold
and reacting hot fluids. Geometry of afterburner is modeled in 60 degrees sector. After-
burner are in use nowadays, most commonly in all the jet aircrafts, for better maneuvering
capabilities. Afterburners are devices used for thrust augmentation by dumping extra fuel
and burning the left-out oxygen in the exhaust of combustion chamber products.

Extremely complicated compressible and turbulent flow phenomena happening in the

wake of flameholder which are difficult to analyze and understand. The present work
focuses on understanding the flow phenomena in afterburner and behind the flameholder.
The performance of afterburners and how the temperature fields varying in combustion
processes are studied here. The aim is Evaluation of the preliminary design of afterburner
CFD simulations.

3D steady compressible flow simulations are carried out to understand afterburner flows
in greater detail than that can be gathered from control volume analysis. First a confidence
over the application of the tool is obtained by performing simulations on a geometry with
cold flow for which flow phenomenon is good.

ii
Contents

Abstract ii

1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Afterburners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Operation of afterburner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Afterburner and its components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Approach to the present report 6

2.1 Motivation for the current work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Objective of the current work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 Organization of thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Literature review 8
3.1 Combustion Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.2 Work by M.V.Ramana Reddy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 Work by Westbrook and Dryer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.4 Work by Ravichandran and Ganesan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.5 Work by Mattingley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4 Theory of combustion 11
4.1 Chemical reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.1.1 Well-stirred reactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2 Kollrack reaction mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3 Blow out time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5 Flow features 15
5.1 Shear layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.2 Flame stabilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.3 Design requirement for vee-gutter flameholder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6 Aspects of modeling 19
6.1 Conservation equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.1.1 Continuity equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.1.2 Momentum equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.1.3 Energy equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

iii
CONTENTS iv

6.1.4 Equation of state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

6.2 Turbulence modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.2.1 k − ² turbulence model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.2.2 Continuity equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.2.3 Momentum equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.3 Combustion modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6.3.1 Eddy dissipation combustion model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

7 Mesh generation 25
7.1 Splitting Of model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
7.2 Unstructured Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
7.3 Structured Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
7.4 Hybrid mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
7.5 Mesh Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

8 Numerical methods 31
8.0.1 Discretisation of governing equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

9 Problem definition 34
9.1 Afterburner description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
9.1.1 Inlet conditions for combustor and afterburner . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
9.1.2 Blowout time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
9.1.3 Afterburner performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

10 CFD results 42
10.1 Cold flow results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
10.2 Reacting flow results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

11 Conclusions 59
11.1 Flameholder performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
11.2 Diffuser performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
11.3 Temperature plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
11.4 Mass fraction Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
List of Tables

v
List of Figures

1.1 Temperature-Entropy diagram for a jet engine with an afterburner . . . . . 2

1.2 Afterburner system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Dry and on conditions of an Afterburner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

5.1 Flow Pattern in the vicinity of V-gutter Flameholder . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

7.1 Front Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

7.2 Middle Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
7.3 Rear Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
7.4 Middle Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

9.1 Afterburner of K9 engine at test station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

9.2 Afterburner model used with its dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

10.1 Density variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

10.2 Velocity variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
10.3 streamlines form chuteholes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
10.4 Streamlines from inlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
10.5 Streamlines from inlet and its temperature variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
10.6 Temperature distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
10.7 Temperature distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
10.8 Temperature distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
10.9 Temperature distribution at X=.35 on ZX plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
10.10Temperature distribution at X=.45 on ZX plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
10.11Temperature distribution ZX plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
10.12Temperature distribution ZX plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
10.13Temperature distribution ZX plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
10.14Temperature distribution ZX plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
10.15Temperature distribution ZX plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
10.16CO2 mass fraction variation variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

vi
Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Afterburners
Gas turbine engines for military fighter aircraft are often equipped with an afterburner for
increasing the thrust output of the engine. An afterburner is a duct in the engine’s exhaust
system which acts as an auxiliary combustion chamber. The exhaust of a combustion
chamber contains a large number of unused oxygen because of the high air-fuel ratios
necessary to limit the gas stagnation temperature which the turbine blade is exposed.This
excess oxygen at the turbine exit makes it possible to burn additional fuel downstream and
thereby to increase the nozzle exit temperature and jet velocity.Much higher afterburner
temperatures are allowed than those leaving combustor,because (a)there is no highly
stressed rotating machinery downstream of the afterburner,and (b)operation is for shorter
duration periods.
Increase in effective thrust can be explained using T-s diagram for a jet engine with
afterburner in fig(1.1), which shows that afterburning is analogous to reheating in an
open-cycle stationary gas turbine. The energy release in afterburner at approximately
constant stagnation pressure shifts the nozzle expansion process to the right on the T-
s diagram. As a result, nozzle enthalpy and temperature between T-s diagram constant
pressure lines increase as the nozzle inlet stagnation temperature increases. This produces
higher jet velocities thus higher thrust.

1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 2

Figure 1.1: Temperature-Entropy diagram for a jet engine with an afterburner

1.2 Operation of afterburner

Afterburner is an exhaust system that is fitted to the exit of low pressure turbine in the
gas turbine engine. The main components of afterburner are: diffuser that reduces the ow
velocity, screech liner to attenuate the transverse oscillations, fuel manifolds to provide
proper fuel distribution and a flame stabilizer that provides the recirculation zone for
flame anchoring. Figure 1.2 shows the construction of afterburner. Afterburner receives
vitiated air from the exit of low pressure turbine (LPT) at a temperature range of 780
K to 1065 K, and a pressure range of 55 KPa to 380 KPa from high altitude operation
to sea level. The exit velocity of LPT is of the order 0.5 to 0.6 Mach. When one desires
to light up afterburner by admitting fuel into the core cavity, it is extremely difficult or
impossible to achieve a stable flame due to high incoming velocity. Hence, a diffuser is
employed to reduce the velocity to the level of 0.3 Mach. A recirculation zone is created by
a V-shaped bluff body. Fuel is admitted through the manifold which is situated upstream
of central V-shaped- flame-stabilizer. The catalyst (platinum-rhodium) which is located
in the flame stabilizer helps in igniting the mixture of hot air from LPT and the fuel that
is sprayed in the vaporized form through the manifold at a pressure of 700 kPa. In the
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 3

Figure 1.2: Afterburner system

experimental test facility hot air is provided by a pre-heater ahead of afterburner. At

about 450o C combustion is initiated. Then, all the other three manifolds are activated to
achieve full afterburning at a fuel manifolds pressure of 2720 kPa. To simulate afterburner
entry conditions by the pre-heater, a fuel / air ratio in the range of 0.015 to 0.02 is needed.
For full afterburning the overall fuel air ratio is in the range of 0.05 to 0.06.
The transition from non-afterburning operation to afterburning operation is referred to
as lighting the afterburner and is accomplished by energizing the igniters while introducing
fuel into the afterburner through one of the fuel spray rings, referred to as the pilot
ring. The igniters initiate combustion of the fuel, the combustion being supported by
the unreacted air in the combustion products from the main combustion chamber. The
resulting flame is stabilized and held in place by one of the flameholder gutters, known as
the pilot gutter. Once this initial or pilot stage of afterburning is established, additional
fuel is supplied, usually sequentially, to each of the remaining or auxiliary spray rings
until all the spray rings are injecting fuel into the afterburner. The pilot flame ignites the
additional fuel and the flame expands from the pilot gutter to a series of auxiliary gutters
to achieve full afterburning operation. Meanwhile, the variable area nozzle opens wider
to provide additional flow area for discharging the hot gasses. The provision of fuel to
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 4

Figure 1.3: Dry and on conditions of an Afterburner

the various spray rings, the opening of the variable area exhaust nozzle and the operation
of the igniters is overseen and coordinated by an automatic control system operating in
response to the position of a throttle lever set by the pilot of the aircraft. The time
required for the above described lighting process is on the order of a few seconds. The
lightening process in afterburners is shown schematically in below figures.

1.3 Afterburner and its components

The major requirement of the afterburner is to ensure adequate flame stability and com-
pleteness of combustion within the specified length,while at the same time contributing
minimum total pressure loss. Due to very high specific fuel consumption, afterburners are
operated only for short durations when necessary. During the major part of flight, when
the afterburner is not under operation, the components of the afterburner namely diffuser,
flame stabilizer and fuel rings contribute a significant amount of total pressure loss. This
loss is still more when afterburner is under operation. As it depends on the flow mach
number and the flame holder blockage to keep the total pressure loss down to permissible
levels. Further, in aircraft engines,length is of great importance. The design of afterburner
should be optimum so that for a given afterburner length,it offers the best combination of
afterburner characteristics such as high combustion efficiency, low total pressure loss and
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 5

wide stability limits. To achieve these aims in the design and development of the after-
burner, adequate knowledge of the flow and combustion characteristics in the afterburner
is of vital importance. Although most of the useful information about such complex flow
is still obtained by experimental methods, numerical simulation can be of great help to
supplement, support and even reduce the extent of experimental work.Eventhough the
earlier works works mostly depend upon exorbitantly expensive experimental methods
and empirical correlations, the modern high-speed computers have changed the after-
burner design approach because of the reduction in the number of experiments and quick
and economical adaptability to different geometric configurations and input conditions.
The majority of earlier numerical simulations have been two-dimensional axi-symmetric,
considering only simple form of bluff bodies.The main aim of present investigation is to
predict the three-dimensional reacting flow fields in a practical afterburner system.
Chapter 2

Approach to the present report

2.1 Motivation for the current work

Traditionally combustion flow in the afterburner was calculated numerically and compu-
tationally by two dimensional models, where the three dimensional effects in flow fields
were missing. The results obtained like total pressure loss, combustion efficiency, mass
fraction contours in Ravichandran(10) may not resemble the actual flow. No people have
used the three dimensional model of afterburner to carry out combustion calculations in
it.
Few studies like references[2],[3] have done three dimensional studies in afterburner nut
not done the combustion calculations, only cold flow analysis and swirl effects are stud-
ied. There is no research paper concerning the combustion flow calculations in a full scale
three dimensional model numerically.
So, here is an attempt to study reacting flow in afterburner using Eddy Dissipation model
for combustion, and K-² model for turbulence. The required afterburner design specifi-
cations are obtained from GTRE(Gas Turbine Research and Establishment ) company.
This particular afterburner is fitted in K9(KAVERI) engine which is currently using in
LCA(Light Combat Aircraft).

6
CHAPTER 2. APPROACH TO THE PRESENT REPORT 7

2.2 Objective of the current work

The main objective of the proposed work is to improve the performance of afterburner on
studying the reacting mixing flow. For this CFD simulations for cold flow and reacting
flow have done. Methodology:
· To conduct CFD simulation in the afterburner geometry by making hybrid mesh for the
model using commercially available CFD software.
· The turbulence model used will be k − ² model techniques.
· The combustion model used will be Eddy dissipation model techniques.
· The results obtained are analyzed and design iterations are suggested.

2.3 Organization of thesis

This thesis is divided into multiple sections, beginning with an introduction to the flow
field inside afterburner , the motivation behind this work and objectives of the Thesis
in Chapter1 and Chapter 2. Literature review is carried in chapter 3. Flow features
concern with the geometry of the afterburner are discussed in chapter 4. Chapter 5
discusses briefly the turbulence theory and modeling and combustion theory and modeling
related to afterburner. Chapter 6 deals with the types of mesh commonly used for CFD
simulations. Numerical methods suitable for different terms in Governing equations and
discretization method are discussed in chapter 7. Problem definition, methodology and
computational procedure adopted for performing the simulation are described in chapter
8. Chapter 9 deals with results and discussion of simulation work carried out with k-²
turbulence model. Chapter 10 discusses conclusion of the present work carried out and
chapter 11 gives the overview of present work and future scope.
Chapter 3

Literature review

3.1 Combustion Simulation

Combustion reaction mechanism of jetA fuel used in this report is single-step oxidation
reaction, the corresponding input data is taken from Westbrook and Dryer(8). Numerical
simulation of combustion in afterburner is carried out by few people, due to the flow
complexity in afterburner- high temperature levels, high turbulence levels, presence of
flameholder and propelling nozzle. M.V.Ramana reddy, T.R.Shembhakar and J.J.Issac,
have done attempt to simulate the combustion in afterburner using computer code called
PHOENICS. But this study limited to two-dimensional flow field only. Isothermal flow
field studies in afterburner have carried out by Ganesan, Ravichandran(10). Aircraft
engine design book by mattingly(1) also explains lot about afterburner flow field system.
In these no combustion process is considered. Only the flameholder effects and swirl
effects in afterburner are studied. But the present report deals with both combustion
process and flameholder effects.

3.2 Work by M.V.Ramana Reddy

The flow in the afterburner was assumed as steady, to-dimensional axi-symmetric and
turbulent. Due to symmetry of the model computations were carried out in one half

8
CHAPTER 3. LITERATURE REVIEW 9

of the afterburner. The grid employed was 18 cells in Y-direction and 64- cells in Z-
direction. The V-gutter and nozzle were simulated by blocking the corresponding cells
in the computational domain by prescribing zero porosity for them. Computations were
carried out for both cold flow and flow with combust ion. The boundary conditions
are 830K static temperature, 3.2E5 Pa total pressure at the inlet. The wall is assumed
adiabatic. And the simulations were carried out by solving conservation equations using
k − ² turbulence model and spaldding’s eddy-breakup model.

3.3 Work by Westbrook and Dryer

The kinetic modeling of reaction mechanisms are studied thoroughly by these people.
The 30 step kollarack reaction mechanism of jetA fuel also modeled kinetically by these
two people. But we used single-step oxidation reaction of jetA fuel described kinetically
by these people. All reaction mechanisms were defined by using Arrhenius kinetic rate
equation. The values of pre-exponential factor and temperature index and activation
energy foe each independent reactions westbrook and dryer have predicted unique values
after conducting several experiments. These values are very useful in defining a chemical
reaction in a numerical simulation of combustion processes.

3.4 Work by Ravichandran and Ganesan

The cold flow field in an afterburner system studied experimentally and numerically by
Ravichandran and Ganesan. Experimental setup is prepared by perspex material, and
the flow is studied in it. The v-gutter flameholder stabilization effects in an afterburner
studied effectively. Numerically also the three dimensional steady state equations are
solved for different inlet swirl conditions and velocity vectors are presented in results. For
this computational domain is discritized into 32 × 28 × 15 nodes in x, r, θ directions re-
spectively and the intercode spacing is not uniform; especially very fine grid in θ direction
for radial V-gutter. The temperature of the flow field is assumed to be 900K within oper-
ating pressure 2.83atm. For various inlet swirl conditions the conservation equations are
CHAPTER 3. LITERATURE REVIEW 10

solved by SIMPLE procedure using tri-diagonal matrix algorithm. The finite difference
algebraic equations are obtained by integration over control volumes for each variables
and diffusive terms and the control volume boundaries. Under-relaxation factors are used
to promote the convergence.

3.5 Work by Mattingley

Engine design calculations were presented by mattingley in Aircraft Engine Design book.
It also describes the afterburner performance and flameholder performance on knowing the
desired input data. AEDSys Software is developed by him which has totally 8 sections, IN-
LET, COMPRESSOR, TURBINE, NOZZLE, EQL, COMBUSTION, MAIN BURNER,
AFTERBURNER. each of this section calculates the flow field properties in that particu-
lar zone of engine. We used COMBUSTION, AFTERBURNER sections. COMBUSTION
section solves kollarack reaction mechanism of jetA fuel and gives blowout time time and
mole fractions of product species on solving WSR equations. AFTRBURNER section
calculates the afterburner performance points at different stations of afterburner. Mat-
tingley’s work on AEDSys supports many of the calculations required while evaluating
the afterburner component’s performance.
Chapter 4

Theory of combustion

The system of partial differential equations describing the adiabatic, one dimensional,
ideal-gas phase chemical reaction without axial molecular or turbulent diffusion is given
by

∂ni ∂ni
+U = fi (nk , T ) i, k = 1...N S (4.1)
∂t ∂x
where

fi = −ρ−1 Σ(αij − α´ij )(Rj − R−j ) j = 1...JJ (4.2)

In equation 4.2 Rj and R−j are modified arrhenius expressions for forward and backward
rates for j th reaction.
Y
Rj = kj (ρnk )αkj
˙
(4.3)
Y
R−j = k−j (ρnk )α¨kj (4.4)

In above equations ni is the mass-specific mole number of the ith species(i=1..NS), T is

the temperature; ρ is the mixture mass density; α˙kj , α¨kj are the stoichiometric coefficients
of species reactants and products respectively. kj and k−j are the forward and reverse
rate constants. JJ is the total number of independent chemical reactions.

11
CHAPTER 4. THEORY OF COMBUSTION 12

4.1 Chemical reactors

The interplay of mixing and chemical and chemical processes that enable flameholding, in
a wake region can be better understood by using chemical engineering or chemical reactor
theory.

4.1.1 Well-stirred reactor

The Well-stirred reactor is an idealization of flow systems in which flow stream is recir-
culated in some way to promote gross-mixing of products, reactants, and reaction inter-
mediates. The physical reactor is being modeled is usually referred to as a back-mixed
or jet-stirred reactor. in terms of turbulent mixing theory, the WSR assumption implies
that the gross recirculating flow velocity is so great, and the turbulent diffusion across
streamlines so rapid, that every entering fluid particle has instantaneous access to every
other fluid particle. This assumption does not require that mass or energy transfer caused
by molecular diffusion will necessarily will occur between the fluid particles.
For flows that are time-steady, and for which the axial gradient term in equation4.1 can
be approximated by the finite difference formula
U dn
dx
i
≈ u 4n
4x
i
so that equation(4.1) becomes

ni − ǹi
ρU A = ρfi (ni , T )i, k = 1...N S (4.5)
A4x

where ǹi refers the upstream or entry value of ni into the control volume of volume V =
A4x and ρ A u = ṁ. with this notation WSR equations become

ṁ
(ni − ǹi ) = ρfi (ni , T )i, k = 1...N S (4.6)
V

This WSR chemical reactor will be applied to flameholder wake to calculate blowout time.
The chemical reactions involved in this wake region are described by 30 step kollrack
reaction mechanism and these are solved by AEDSys software.
CHAPTER 4. THEORY OF COMBUSTION 13

4.2 Kollrack reaction mechanism

In 1976 Reiner kollrack devised a 30-step reaction mechanism for modeling combustion of
”jet fuel”, including production of N Ox . The first two reactions are physico-elementary
reactions,but are ”global” reactions,devised to represent very great number of complex
and largely unknown steps in the pyrolysis of the jet fuel molecules to smaller fragments.

C12 H23 + O2 → 5C2 H4 + C2 H3 + O2 (4.7)

C12 H23 + OH → 6C2 H4 + O (4.8)

C2 H4 + H → C2 H3 + H2 (4.9)

H + H → H2 (4.10)

O + O → O2 (4.11)

H + OH → H2 O (4.12)

H + O2 → OH + O (4.13)

O + H2 → OH + H (4.14)

CO + OH → CO2 + H (4.15)

H + H2 O → OH + OH (4.16)

CH3 + O2 → CH2 O + OH (4.17)

HO2 → M + H + O2 + M (4.18)

HO2 + H → OH + OH (4.19)

CH2 O + OH → H2 O + HCO (4.20)

O + H2 O → OH + OH (4.21)

N2 + O → N O + N (4.22)
CHAPTER 4. THEORY OF COMBUSTION 14

N + O2 → N O + O (4.23)

N + OH → N O + H (4.24)

HCO + O2 → HO2 + CO (4.25)

HCO + OH → H2 O + CO (4.26)

C2 H4 + OH → C2 H3 + H2 O (4.27)

CH2 O + HO2 → HCO + OH + OH (4.28)

C2 H2 + HO2 → HCO + CH2 O (4.29)

C2 H3 + O2 → C2 H2 + HO2 (4.30)

N O + HO2 → N O2 + OH (4.31)

C2 H4 + HO2 → CH3 + HCO + OH (4.32)

H2 + CH3 → CH4 + H (4.33)

C2 H2 + OH → CH3 + CO (4.34)

CH3 + O → CH2 O + H (4.35)

4.3 Blow out time

Which is required parameter in case of designing the flame holders. It defines the time at
which the maximum rate of reaction occurs and the corresponding combustion efficiency
² if at all perturbed from its value the flame will blow-off.
To calculate the blow out time the region behind the flame holder is modeled as the Well-
stirred reactor(WSR). The combustion process is assumed as 30 step reaction mechanism
and the corresponding WSR equations are solved using AEDSys software.
Chapter 5

Flow features

The mechanism of flame holding in the afterburner appears to be same as in the main
burner, but there is a subtle difference between two. In the main burner primary zone
thee recirculation bubble is fueled from the inside and is confined by the combustor dome
and liner walls so that the primary zone combustion is forced to take place within the
confines of recirculation bubble. Consequently, there is no discernable flame front, and
spatially homogeneous combustion occurs within the micro-mixed reaction zone. In the
afterburner, however, the recirculation zone is fueled from the outside, so that discrete,
standing turbulent flame front is established in the shear driven mixing layer at the outer
edge of recirculation bubble. The chemical reactions responsible for flame holding occur
in a very small micro mixed reaction zone immediately behind the upstream-propagating
flame front. by the time the burning gases, which are disentrained in to the recirculation
bubble, flow back up stream to be re-entrained in the mixing layer, combustion is nearly
complete. There is negligible chemical reaction within hot recirculation zone, as it is
composed of almost burnt products. The hot recirculated gases that are mixed in within
external flow merely help to stabilize the axial location of the standing turbulent flame
front.

15
CHAPTER 5. FLOW FEATURES 16

Figure 5.1: Flow Pattern in the vicinity of V-gutter Flameholder

5.1 Shear layers

The afterburner utilizes turbulent shear layers for both flameholding and flame spread. To
understand this method of mixing, consider two uniform, parallel flowing streams of gas
flowing continuously over a splitter plate. Immediately downstream of the splitter plate,
the axial velocities are U1 and U2 . For clarity, it is initially assumed that the pressures
and densities of both streams are equal and constant, and that boundary layers on the
splitter plate and duct walls can be ignored.
If the to velocities differ, for example U1 > U2 , a shear layer is generated at the interface
between two streams, in which momentum is transported laterally from faster to the slower
stream. Not only are vorticity and momentum transported laterally but also thermal and
mechanical energy, and mass(molecules) may be transported laterally as well. If the two
streams have different molecular identities, the shear layer is also a ”mixing layer”. By
analogy with the definition of boundary layer thickness δm in the figure(5.1) is defined as
CHAPTER 5. FLOW FEATURES 17

the region within which the mole fractions of mixant gases differ by 1 percent or more
from their respective values in the unmixed streams.
The corresponding growth rate of the shear layer for streams of different densities given
by equation
µ ¶µ ¶Ã !
δ 1−r 1 + s.5 (1 − s.5 )(1 + s.5 )
= Cδ 1− (5.1)
x 1 + s.5 r 2 1 + 1.29 (1+r)
(1−r)

where
Cδ = .25 to .45
ρ2
s= rho 1
U2
r= U1

Another parameter used generally is mean convective velocity defined by

U1 + s.5 U2
Uc = (5.2)
1 + s.5

5.2 Flame stabilization

Two general types of flame stabilizing devices are used generally bluff body flameholder
vee-gutters and piloted burners, where a small piloting heat source is used to ignite the
main fuel flow.
In our present model vee-gutter flameholder is employed. The vee-gutter flameholders
have the advantage of low flow blockage and low total pressure loss. They are simple and
lightweight and have a good development history. The wake of a vee-gutter flameholder
is divided into two regions: a recirculation zone or bubble and a shear-driven mixing
layer, as shown in figure(5.1). The recirculation zone is characterized by a strong reverse
flow and very low chemical reaction rates. As combustion is essentially complete in the
recirculation zone, the temperature is nearly equal to adiabatic flame temperature corre-
sponding to the fuel-air ratio of the approaching stream. The mixing layer is characterized
by very strong shear, steep temperature gradients, and vigorous chemical reaction in the
micro mixed region behind the flame front, which is propagating upstream against the
mean velocity within the mixing layer. Following the termination of the mixing layer by
CHAPTER 5. FLOW FEATURES 18

disentrainment of the recirculating gases, the flame front continues to propagate outward
towards the walls.
The design goal is to select parameters that will cause the flame region to stand at a
location between xm , the mixing transition point defined by equations(5.1) and (5.2), and
x = L2 , where L is length of recirculation bubble. At about x = L
2
the mixing layer begins
to break down as a result of disentrainment of gases from mixing layer into the recir-
culation bubble. This is an interesting balancing act because the flame front must not
permitted to propagate so freely upstream that it ”flashes back” to the spray bars, nor
must it be allowed to ”blow-off” downstream because the mixing layer and recirculation
zone are not long enough.
To find the values of parameters that will provide the needed range for flame stabiliza-
tion, the mixing zone will be modeled as a single micromixed well -stirred reactor(WSR)
of lateral thickness equal to the average shear layer thickness δm and of axial length equal
to one-half of the recirculation bubble. The mean residence time or stay time in the WSR
can be estimated by

m ρδm ( L2 ) L
ts = = = (5.3)
ṁ ρδm Uc 2Uc
where Uc is the convective velocity within the mixing layer, defined by equation 4.2.

5.3 Design requirement for vee-gutter flameholder

The requirement for the flame front to stabilize is therefore that residence time or stay
time ts of the gases flowing through the mixing layer must be greater than, or equal to,
the WSR residence time at blowout tBO which is explained in section4.3 .
because the ts > tBO in the mixing layer is required, the design requirement for flame
stabilization can be stated as

L L
ts = = U1 +s.5 U2
> tBO (5.4)
2Uc 1+s.5
Chapter 6

Aspects of modeling

The mathematical models used for simulating the combustion of JetA fuel in afterburner
is fully compressible, transient Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations and spatially
filtered fully compressible, transient Navier Stokes equations. commercial fluid dynamics
(CFD) code, CFX-11 supplied by ANSYS inc., was used to perform simulations.

6.1 Conservation equations

6.1.1 Continuity equation

∂ρuj
=0 (6.1)
∂xj

6.1.2 Momentum equation

∂(ρui uj ) ∂pef f ∂(2(µ)Sij

=− + + SM i (6.2)
∂xj ∂xi xj
Cµ ρk2 ∂ui ∂uj
where µt = ²
;Cmu = 0.0845; Sij = 12 ( ∂x j
+ ∂xi
) ; The source term in the momentum
equation SM x =0 SM y = 0; SM z = -ρ g;

19
CHAPTER 6. ASPECTS OF MODELING 20

6.1.3 Energy equation

∂ρHef f uj
∂T
∂((λ + λt ) ∂x j
) ∂(Σρ(D + Dt )hm ∂ym
∂xj
)
= − + SE (6.3)
∂xj ∂xj ∂xj
µt cp
where ρ He f f = ρ E + pef f ; λt = P rt
; P rt =0.9; SE is the net volumetric heat release
due to radiation and combustion.

6.1.4 Equation of state

To close this system of equations, two relations must be introduced. Firstly there is the
equation of state, which for a perfect gas is

pW
m= (6.4)
RT

where R is the universal gas constant, R= 8314 J · kg −1 · K −1 .

Secondly there is constitutive equation ,

h = Cp T (6.5)

in which Cp is the constant pressure specific heat of air. Cp is the weak function of
temperature.

6.2 Turbulence modeling

6.2.1 k − ² turbulence model

The k − ² is a two equation turbulence model. This model is widely used because it of-
fers good compromise between numerical effort and computational accuracy. This model
uses the gradient diffusion hypothesis to relate the Reynolds stresses to mean velocity
gradients and the turbulent viscosity. The turbulent viscosity is modeled as product of
turbulent velocity and turbulent length scale. In k −² model, the turbulence velocity scale
CHAPTER 6. ASPECTS OF MODELING 21

is computed from the turbulent kinetic energy, which is provided from the solution of its
transport equation. The turbulent length scale is estimated from two properties of the
turbulence field, usually the turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate. The dissi-
pation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy is provided from the solution of its transport
equation. In k − ² model, k is the turbulence kinetic energy and is defined as the variance
of the fluctuations in velocity. It has dimensions of (L2 T −2 ). ² is the turbulence eddy
dissipation (the rate at which the velocity fluctuations dissipate ), and has dimensions of
² per unit time (L2 T −3 ). The k − ² model introduces two new variables k and ² into the
system of equations. The continuity and momentum equations will be then equation is
then

6.2.2 Continuity equation

∂ρuj
=0 (6.6)
∂xj

6.2.3 Momentum equation

∂(ρui uj ) ∂pef f ∂(2(µ + µt )Sij

=− + + SM i (6.7)
∂xj ∂xi xj
Cµ ρk2
where µt = ²
;Cmu = 0.0845; µt is the viscosity accounting for turbulence.
The value of k and ² come directly from the differential transport equations of turbulent
kinetic energy and turbulence dissipation rate :

∂k
∂ρkuj ∂(αk (µ + µt ) ∂x j
)
= + Pk − ρ² (6.8)
∂xj ∂xj

∂²
∂ρ²uj ∂(α² (µ + µt ) ∂x j
) ² ²2
= + C1² Pk − C2² ρ (6.9)
∂xj ∂xj k k
η(1− ηη Sk
p
where αk = α² = 1.39; C1² = 1.42 - 0
1+βη 3
;η= ²
; S= 2Sij Sij ; η0 = 4.38; β = 0.012;
since the flow is considered compressible, the equation of state is also solved which is
CHAPTER 6. ASPECTS OF MODELING 22

given by
P = ρRT (6.10)

6.3 Combustion modeling

6.3.1 Eddy dissipation combustion model

In this model, the detailed combustion mechanism of JetA fuel developed by Kollrack
(1976) is used. This mechanism involves 30 elementary reactions among 21 species:
C12 H23 ,C2 H4 ,C2 H3 ,CH4 , H2 O, CO2 , H2 , CO, O2 , N2 , O, H, OH, HO2 , H2 O2 , CH3 ,
CH2 O, CH2 O, HCO, N , N O. The EDC model is used to introduce turbulencechemistry
interactions. The model is based on a general reactor concept for the calculation of the
average net species production rates in turbulent reactive flows. Combustion takes place
in the regions of the turbulent field where the highest molecular fluxes occur. Those re-
gions are associated with the smallest turbulence structures, the so-called fine-structures.
Through a step-wise description of the turbulence energy cascade process from large to
progressively smaller eddies, an expression for the mass fraction γ ∗ of the fine-structures
and for the characteristic time scale τ ∗ for mass exchange between the fine-structures and
the bulk fluid is derived, dependent upon the turbulence quantities and the viscosity:
r r
∗ 3 ν² ∗ ν
γ = 9.67 4 τ = 0.41 (6.11)
k ²

These quantities are subsequently used in the reactor modeling of the fine structures. It
is concluded that the model provides a link between the small-scale turbulence structures
(or fine structures), where reactions take place, and the grid-scale turbulence structures
that can be described by turbulence models like the RNG k, which is used in this work.
A detailed analysis of the turbulence energy cascade model that was used to derive the
expressions Equations and can be found in Ertesvag and Magnussen (2000).
When the EDC model is to be integrated in a CFD code like FLOWSIM every single
CHAPTER 6. ASPECTS OF MODELING 23

computational cell is considered to be composed of a reactive space, namely the fine-

structures and the surrounding fluid that is inert. The reactive space is modeled as a
Perfectly Stirred Reactor (PSR) exchanging mass and energy with the surrounding inert
fluid. Thus, the solution of a PSR problem in every single cell involving the system of
non-linear algebraic equations consisting of the mass and energy balances is required. To
make the simulations more robust, temporal derivatives are added in the balances and the
set of non-linear algebraic equations is transformed into an initial value problem where
the ODE set of mass and energy balances (equations(6.6) and (6.7)) is integrated form a
known initial state to steady-state.

∗ ∗ ∗
dym (ym − ym ) ωm Mm
= ∗ ∗
+ m = 1, 2....N S (6.12)
dt (1 − γ )τ ρ∗
P
dh∗ ym hm − ym∗ ∗
hm
= ∗ ∗
+ q̇r ad∗ (6.13)
dt (1 − γ )τ
The superscript asterisk refers to quantities in the fine structures. If there is no superscript
averaged quantities over the cell are meant. In Eq(6.13) the net radiative heat transfer
rate q̇r ad∗ from the fine-structures to the surrounding fluid is neglected.
In this work, the implicit Euler method is used for time marching when solving the set
of ODE’s. As only the steady-state solution is needed, relatively large time steps can
be taken, thus reducing the required number of iterations and the required CPU time.
Solution of the system of Eqs(6.12) and (6.13) provides values for the variables in the
fine structures (T ∗ , y m ,.... m=1, . . ., NS) and for the net species production rates .m
in the fine-structures. Eventually, the average net species production rates, Rm , that are
substituted in the species transport equations (Eq(6.12)), which are integrated over each
control volume, are calculated from:

γ∗
Rm = (y ∗ − ym ) (6.14)
(1 − γ ∗ )τ ∗ m

Thus, the effect of turbulence on the source terms, Rm Mm , of the species transport
equations (Eq(6.14)) is taken into account through the determination of the mass fraction
CHAPTER 6. ASPECTS OF MODELING 24

and of the characteristic time scale of the fine structures.

Chapter 7

Mesh generation

The partial differential equations that govern fluid flow and heat transfer are not usually
amenable to analytical solutions, except for very simple cases. Therefore, in order to
analyze fluid flows, flow domains are split into smaller subdomains (made up of geometric
primitives like hexahedrons and tetrahedrons in 3D and quadrilaterals and triangles in
2D). The governing equations are then discritized and solved inside each of these sub-
domains. Typically, one of three methods is used to solve the approximate version of
the system of equations: finite volumes, finite elements, or finite differences. In a CFD
analysis, the number of cells in the mesh should be taken sufficiently large, such that an
adequate resolution is obtained for the representation of the geometry of the flow domain
and the expected flow phenomena in this domain. The accuracy of numerical solution
is partly determined by the nature of the mesh used to represent the physical domain.
In CFD, numerical error are dependent on quality of mesh and becomes visible in flow
solution. Different types of mesh generation techniques are discussed below.

7.1 Splitting Of model

Mesh generation is carried out in Ansys IcemCfd software. Two types of meshes can be
created for a model one is structured mesh, other is unstructured mesh. Present model

25
CHAPTER 7. MESH GENERATION 26

Figure 7.1: Front Part

is divided into three parts to proceed with mesh generation(Front part, middle part,
rear part). Middle part is done with unstructured mesh. This part consists of V-gutter
assembly and chute holes. Making a structured mesh to this geometries is a complex
procedure so for that reason unstructured mesh has been created to this part. Front and
rear parts are done with structured mesh.
The details of unstructured and structured meshes are explained briefly in the following
sections.

7.2 Unstructured Mesh

An unstructured mesh is characterized by irregular connectivity is not readily expressed
as a two or three dimensional array in computer memory. This allows for any possible
element that a solver might be able to use. Compared to structured meshes, the storage
requirements for an unstructured mesh can be substantially larger since the neighbor-
hood connectivity must be explicitly stored. The most popular family of algorithms for
unstructured grid generation are those based upon Delaunay triangulation, but other
methods, such as quadtree or octree approaches are also used. Given a set of points in a
CHAPTER 7. MESH GENERATION 27

Figure 7.2: Middle Part

Figure 7.3: Rear Part

CHAPTER 7. MESH GENERATION 28

Figure 7.4: Middle Part

plane, a Delaunay triangulation of these points is the set of triangles such that no point
is inside the circumcircle of a triangle. The triangulation is unique if no three points are
on the same line and no four points are on the same circle. The octree approach is based
on spatial subdivision algorithm in which cells are recursively subdivided until required
resolution is obtained. In RANS calculation, unstructured mesh is preferred in the region
where convective fluxes are dominant. Part of the model with unstructured mesh is shown
in fig2.1.

7.3 Structured Mesh

Structured mesh generation is popular and successful method of discretising domain.
The method is based on direct mapping from physical domain to computational domain.
Boundary points prescribed within physical domain are used to interpolate points within
computational domain. The major advantage of structured mesh generation is that the
implicit mapping inherently stores the mesh connectivity and hence maintaining low mem-
ory overheads. In RANS calculation, structured mesh is preferred in the regions where
viscous stresses are dominant. A structured mesh is characterized by regular connectivity
CHAPTER 7. MESH GENERATION 29

that can be expressed as a two or three dimensional array. This restricts the element
choices to quadrilaterals in 2D or hexahedra in 3D. Structured mesh is obtained using
two types of algorithms namely Algebraic grid generation algorithms and Numerical grid
generation algorithm. In Algebraic grid generation algorithms, coordinates of nodes is
calculated using some functions. In Numerical grid generation algorithms, coordinates of
nodes is calculated by solving partial differential equations. Blocking had done for the
following shown parts of the model to create structure mesh. The mesh statistics follows
as
Rare part mesh - 2lakh elements, 3lakh nodes
Front part mesh - 3 lakh elements, 4 lakh nodes
CHAPTER 7. MESH GENERATION 30

7.4 Hybrid mesh

A hybrid mesh is a mesh that contains structured portions and unstructured portions.
Hybrid mesh is similar to unstructured mesh in that they use identical method of data
storage. The only difference is that, the hybrid meshes are constructed using more then
one cell topology. The advantage is that cells of different topology can placed in flow
region where they are most suited. Hybrid mesh consists of pyramidal elements. These
elements are created when we merge unstructured and structured meshes. Structured and
unstructured meshes which are created for the model parts are merged finally across the
interfaces to create hybrid mesh for the entire model as shown in figure.

7.5 Mesh Statistics

Structured mesh
For Front part
Number of elements - 44271
Number of nodes - 38857
For Rear Part
Number of elements - 53811
Number of nodes - 47479
Unstructured mesh(middle part)
Number of elements - 547518
Number of nodes - 92616
Hybrid mesh
Number of elements - 653876
Number of nodes - 179276

This particular Hybrid mesh is imported to Ansys Cfx Softare to solve the flow field
in the model.
Chapter 8

Numerical methods

The mathematical models discussed in chapter 6 define the general equations for which
we wish to find the solution. In general it is not possible to derive analytical solutions to
these equations, so other methods must be found. Numerical methods are generally used
in these circumstances. the fundamental numerical method used in this work is:
The geometry is discritized into many small volumes (mesh or grid ); The conservation
equations are integrated over the discritized volumes;
The modified conservation equations are approximated by finite difference equations ; and
The finite difference equation are solved using an iterative solver.
As the CFX-10 commercial CFD code was used to simulate the fluid flows, only a brief
outline of the numerical models used will be presented here, adapted from user manual
of the code. For a more complete derivation of these equations the reader is referred to
Versteeg and Malalasekara (4), Ferziger and Peric (2), Patankar(3) or Fletcher (11).

8.0.1 Discretisation of governing equations

This approach involves discretizing the spatial domain into finite control volumes using
a mesh. The governing equations are integrated over each control volume, such that the
relevant quantity (mass, momentum, energy, etc.) is conserved in a discrete sense for each
control volume.
The figure below shows a typical mesh with unit depth (so that it is two-dimensional),

31
CHAPTER 8. NUMERICAL METHODS 32

on which one surface of the finite volume is represented by the shaded area.
It is clear that each node is surrounded by a set of surfaces which comprise the finite
volume. All the solution variables and fluid properties are stored at the element nodes.
Consider the mean form of the conservation equations for mass, momentum and a passive
scalar, expressed in Cartesian coordinates

∂ρuj
=0 (8.1)
∂xj

∂(ρui uj ) ∂pef f ∂ (2(µ + µt )Sij )

=− + + SM i (8.2)
∂xj ∂xi xj
³ ´ ³ ´
∂T ∂ym
∂ρHef f uj ∂ (λ + λ )
t ∂xj ∂ Σρ(D + D )h
t m ∂xj
= − + SE (8.3)
∂xj ∂xj ∂xj
These equations are integrated over a control volume, and Gauss divergence theorem is
applied to convert some volume integrals to surface integrals. For control volumes that
do not deform in time, the time derivatives can be moved outside of the volume integrals
and the equations become: Z
ρUj dnj = 0 (8.4)
S
Z Z Z µ ¶ Z
∂Ui ∂Uj
ρUj Ui dnj = − P dnj + muef f + dnj + SUj dV (8.5)
S S S ∂xj ∂xi V
Z Z
ρUj Hef f dnj = Γef f dnj (8.6)
S S

where V and S respectively denote volume and surface regions of integration, and dnj is
the differential Cartesian component of the outward normal surface vector. The surface
integrals are the integrations of the fluxes and the volume integrals represent source or
accumulation terms. Changes to these equations due to control volume deformation are
presented below
The first step in solving these continuous equations numerically is to approximate
them using discrete functions. Now consider an isolated mesh element such as the one
shown below. The surface fluxes must be discretely represented at the integration points
to complete the conversion of the continuous equation into their discrete form. The
CHAPTER 8. NUMERICAL METHODS 33

integration points, ipn, are located at the center of each surface segment in a 3D element
surrounding the finite volume. The discrete form of the integral equations are written as

Σip (ρUj ∆nj )ip = 0 (8.7)

∂Ui ∂Uj
Σip (P ∆ni )ip + Σip (µef f ( + )δnj )ip + SU i V = σip ṁip (Ui )1p (8.8)
∂xj ∂xi
∂φ
σip ṁip φ1p = σip (Γef f δnj + Sφ V (8.9)
∂xj
where V is the control volume, the subscript ip denotes an integration point, the sum-
mation is over all the integration points of the finite volume, δnj is the discrete outward
surface vector,δt is the time step. Note that the First Order Backward Euler scheme
has been assumed in this equation, although a second order scheme is also available as
discussed below. The discrete mass flow through a surface of the finite volume is denoted
by ṁ ip and is given by:
ṁ = (ρUj δnj )ip (8.10)

High resolution scheme

The High Resolution Scheme computes locally to be as close to 1 as possible without
violating boundedness principles. The recipe for is based on that of Barth and Jesperson.
The high resolution scheme is therefore both accurate (reducing to first order near dis-
continuities and in the free stream where the solution has little variation) and bounded.
Note that for vector quantities, such as velocity, beta is independently calculated for each
vector component
Chapter 9

Problem definition

9.1 Afterburner description

The geometry considered for modeling is Afterburner system of K9 engine. It is consisting
of liner, vee-gutter flameholder, spay bars for fuel injection, and nozzle. The geometry
and its details are shown in below figures.

9.1.1 Inlet conditions for combustor and afterburner

Since the inlet of the afterburner receives exhaust gases from main combustion chamber,
the mass fractions of species gases left out in the exhaust mixture has to be calculated.
For this NASA glenn’s computer program has used. The performance points for main
burner are shown in below tables.

F uelF low( Kg
s
) AirF low( Kg
s
) P ressure(KP a) T emp(K) F uel − AirRatio
0.984 46.35 212.0 1046 0.0212

Bypass flow conditions for main burner listed as:

BypassF low(Kg/s) P ressure(KP a) T emp(K)

9.1 220.3 458.2

34
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 35

Figure 9.1: Afterburner of K9 engine at test station

Figure 9.2: Afterburner model used with its dimensions

CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 36

The above flow conditions were setup in the NASA glenn’s computer program and the
exhaust of main burner gas’s species concentration is calculated. These values will be
the core flow inlet conditions for afterburner. Main burner exhaust gas mixture’s species
concentration listed in below table:
Mass fractions

C2 0.15886
CO2 0.06363
H2 O 0.02478
N2 0.75273

To allow the different mass flow through the nozzle during combustion process, the area
of the nozzle exit diameter can be altered. And the values suitable for cold flow and
reacting flow of nozzle diameter listed as:

Coldf low(meters) Hotf low(meters)

0.548 0.024

9.1.2 Blowout time

Once the meshed model has imported to CFX flow solver, the corresponding core inlet,
bypass flow, fuel mass flow conditions will be given and the flow is solved. Now considering
the flow field behind the vee-gutter flameholder, the wake behind it forms a recirculation
region. This region is now modeled as well-stirred chemical reactor in AEDSys KINETX
software. The length and area of this bubble are measured from flow simulations, these
will be the input values for KINETX software. The data entry values are listed in below
table.

A(cm2 ) L(cm) T ype ṁA ṁf

52 3.5 W SR 1 0.02

KINETX software solves the 30 step Kollarack combustion reaction mechanism of jet fuel
in this recirculation region and gives blowout time, residence time, mole fractions,mass
fractions etc.,. And the values of these are listed below in table.
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 37

F lowElementT ype W SR @Blowout(W SR)

EquivalenceRatio 0.3109 0.3109
ResidenceT ime(sec) 4.474E − 3 6.244E − 4
Area(cm2 ) 52.00 52.00
Length(cm) 3.50 0.00
V olume(cm3 ) 182.00 0.00
SpaceV elocity(m/s) 7823.00 294.50
F lowrate(Kg/sec) 1.02 1.02
Enthalpy(kJ/Kg) −2412.00 −2412.00
Combustionef f iciency −0.0347 −43.28
T emperature(K) 1045.00 0.00
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 38

Species M oleN umbers M oleF ractions M assF ractions

C12 H23 1.162E − 04 1.196E − 04 1.945E − 02
C2 H2 1.795E − 07 1.847E − 07 4.673E − 06
C2 H3 7.992E − 07 8.226E − 07 2.162E − 05
C2 H4 4.894E − 06 5.037E − 06 1.373E − 04
CH2 O 1.714E − 12 1.765E − 12 5.147E − 11
CH3 4.872E − 12 5.015E − 12 7.326E − 11
CH4 1.000E − 20 1.029E − 20 1.604E − 19
CO 2.522E − 12 2.596E − 12 7.063E − 11
CO2 4.106E − 02 4.226E − 02 1.81
HCO 4.146E − 12 4.268E − 12 1.203E − 10
H 3.576E − 12 3.681E − 12 3.605E − 12
H2 8.633E − 14 8.917E − 14 1.746E − 13
H2 O 3.906E − 02 4.020E − 02 0.704
HO2 1.795E − 07 1.847E − 07 5.923E − 06
N 1.156E − 20 1.190E − 20 1.620E − 19
NO 1.721E − 20 1.771E − 20 5.163E − 19
N O2 1.000E − 20 1.029E − 20 4.601E − 19
N2 0.750 0.772 21.0
O 4.277E − 12 4.402E − 12 6.843E − 11
OH 1.073E − 10 1.104E − 10 1.824E − 09
O2 0.141 .0145 4.51

9.1.3 Afterburner performance

From experiments done, the inlet pressure and temperature conditions are known. In
data entry the required input is given as listed below in table:

Angle R Ga1 Ga2 P T a1 P T a2 T T a1 T T a2 GF s

35 0.96 46.611 9.76 211.7 222.2 1046 463 2.224
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 39

where
Ga1 - core mass flow(kg/s)
Ga2 - Bypass mass flow (kg/s)
Gfs - Fuel mass flow (kg/s)
PTa1 - Total pressure of core flow(KPa)
PTa2 - Total pressure of bypass flow (KPa)
TTa1 - Total temperature of core flow (K)
TTa2 - Total temperature of bypass flow (K)
Input to AFTRBRN to compute diffuser performance Diffuser performance can
be obtained by giving following input data.

T otalpressure(kP a) 211.70
T otalT emperature(K) 1046.0
M achnumber 0.5
M ixturegasf low(Kg/sec) 23.00
Outerradius(cm) 40.000
Innerradius(cm) 37.477
Height(cm) 5.0467
P ressure(kP a) 179.75
V elocity(m/sec) 310.2
Area(m2 ) 8.2525

The above values have given in AEDSys AFTRBRN software and the diffuser performance
is obtained. The results are listed below in table:
Diffuser
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 40

ṁ(Kg/sec) 23.00
γ 1.336
P t(kP a) 208.7
T t(K) 1046
P ressure(kP a) 206.90
M ach 0.1137
V elocity(m/sec) 58.42
Area(m2 ) 34.91
Area∗ (m2 ) 6.756
I(N ) 1.0656

Diffuser Performance

Dif f userEf f iciency 0.9006

P ressurerecoverycoef f icient 0.8503
T otalpressureratio 0.9858
T otalpressurelosscoef f icient 9.3797E − 02
T otalpressureloss 6.3031E − 02

Flame Holders
Blowout time which is obtained from KINETX is given as input to get the flameholder
performance. The listed below tables are having flameholder performance values:

ṁ(Kg/sec) 24.10
γ 1.300
P t(kP a) 208.6
T t(K) 2000
P ressure(kP a) 206.70
M ach 0.1196
V elocity(m/sec) 80.14
Area(m2 ) 34.91
Area∗ (m2 ) 7.075
I(N ) 1.3716
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 41

Flameholder performance

DragCoef f icient(CD ) 0.5751

T otalpressurelosscoef f icient 0.9696
T otalpressureratio 0.9917

Flame holders Dimensions required

15∗ vee − gutterwidth(cm) 0.6667

Channelheight(cm) 6.667
Af terburnerlength(cm) 23.55
Chapter 10

CFD results

Single step reaction of jetA fuel combustion has simulated using Eddy dissipation com-
bustion model and k − ² turbulence model in afterburner using ANSYS CFX flow solver.

10.1 Cold flow results

42
CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 43

Figure 10.1: Density variation

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 44

Figure 10.2: Velocity variation

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 45

Figure 10.3: streamlines form chuteholes

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 46

Figure 10.4: Streamlines from inlet

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 47

Figure 10.5: Streamlines from inlet and its temperature variation

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 48

Figure 10.6: Temperature distribution

10.2 Reacting flow results

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 49

Figure 10.7: Temperature distribution

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 50

Figure 10.8: Temperature distribution

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 51

Figure 10.9: Temperature distribution at X=.35 on ZX plane

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 52

Figure 10.10: Temperature distribution at X=.45 on ZX plane

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 53

Figure 10.11: Temperature distribution ZX plane

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 54

Figure 10.12: Temperature distribution ZX plane

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 55

Figure 10.13: Temperature distribution ZX plane

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 56

Figure 10.14: Temperature distribution ZX plane

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 57

Figure 10.15: Temperature distribution ZX plane

CHAPTER 10. CFD RESULTS 58

Figure 10.16: CO2 mass fraction variation variation

Chapter 11

Conclusions

11.1 Flameholder performance

Wake behind the V-gutter flameholder-that is the recirculation region, is modeled as well-
stirred reactor, and the flow inside this reactor is solved in AEDSys KINETX software.
The result from which showing that residence time is greater than the blowout time, which
is the condition flame stabilization. So the performance of V-gutter flameholder is good
enough.

11.2 Diffuser performance

After giving input conditions for afterburner in AEDSys AFTRBRN software, the diffuser
performance values are obtained. The mach number at the exit of diffuser is 0.17, which
is the significant thing required for GTRE company. SO following the diffuser dimensions
might help them to improve the performance of afterburner.

59
CHAPTER 11. CONCLUSIONS 60

11.3 Temperature plots

The temperature distributions behind the flameholder showing the temperature regions
along the edge of the recirculation bubble. Telling that the combustion process is occuring
in the micro-mixing shear layer by entraining unburnt products into it and disentraining
burnt products into recirculation region.
From temperature distribution along planed we can note that tha maximum attained
temperature was 1230K, which is approximately nearer to the adiabatic flame temperature
of the mixture combustion.
Near liner region in the plots always showing the lesser teperatures this is due to the
attached flow observed which is comming out of chute holes. The liner can bare higher
temperatures by its material, so changing the chute hole design will probably help to mix
the bypass flow with core flow and higher temperature near the liner.

11.4 Mass fraction Plots

The mass fraction variation of jetA fuel curve along the length of afterburner showing the
complete combustion of fuel by not leaving any of the fuel left in mixture.
Bibliography

[1] Aircraft engine design, Jack D.Mattingly, William H.Heiser, Daniel H.Daley, 2003

[2] Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics, J.H.Ferziger and M.Peric

[3] Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Suhas V.Patankar

[4] An Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics, H.K. Versteeg and W.

Malalasekara, Longman Group, 1995

[5] M. Zellat, Th. Rolland, and F. Poplow, ”Three-Dimensional Modeling of Combustion

and Soot Formation in an Indirect Injection Diesel Engine,” SAE Paper 900254
(1990).

[6] J. B. Maxwell, Data Book on Hydrocarbons (D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc.,
Princeton, New Jersey, 1958).

[7] Technical Data on Fuel (J. W. Rose and J. R. Cooper, John Wiley and Sons, New
York, 1977).

[8] C. K. Westbrook and F. L. Dryer, ”Chemical Kinetic Modeling of Hydrocarbon

Combustion,” Prog. Energy Combust. Sci. 2984 10,l-57 (1984).

[9] CFD simulations of steam cracking furnaces using detailed combustion mechanisms,
G.D. Stefanidis, B. Merci, G.J. Heynderickx,., G.B. Marin Computers and Chemical
Engineering,2006,30:635-649

[10] Numerical Simulation of Combusion in afterburner

61
BIBLIOGRAPHY 62

[11] C.A.J. Fletcher - Computational Techniques for Fluid Dynamics

99