CFD simulations of combustion in Afterburner

A Project Report
Submitted in partial fullment 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 eort to understand the functioning of an afterburner with both the cold
and reacting hot uids. 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 ow phenomena happening in the
wake of ameholder which are dicult to analyze and understand. The present work
focuses on understanding the ow phenomena in afterburner and behind the ameholder.
The performance of afterburners and how the temperature elds varying in combustion
processes are studied here. The aim is Evaluation of the preliminary design of afterburner
CFD simulations.
3D steady compressible ow simulations are carried out to understand afterburner ows
in greater detail than that can be gathered from control volume analysis. First a condence
over the application of the tool is obtained by performing simulations on a geometry with
cold ow for which ow 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 ameholder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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 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 denition 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 ow results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
10.2 Reacting ow results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
11 Conclusions 59
11.1 Flameholder performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
11.2 Diuser 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
10.16CO
2
mass fraction variation variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
vi
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Afterburners
Gas turbine engines for military ghter aircraft are often equipped with an afterburner for
increasing the thrust output of the engine. An afterburner is a duct in the engines 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 eective thrust can be explained using T-s diagram for a jet engine with
afterburner in g(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 tted to the exit of low pressure turbine in the
gas turbine engine. The main components of afterburner are: diuser that reduces the ow
velocity, screech liner to attenuate the transverse oscillations, fuel manifolds to provide
proper fuel distribution and a ame stabilizer that provides the recirculation zone for
ame 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 dicult or
impossible to achieve a stable ame due to high incoming velocity. Hence, a diuser is
employed to reduce the velocity to the level of 0.3 Mach. A recirculation zone is created by
a V-shaped blu body. Fuel is admitted through the manifold which is situated upstream
of central V-shaped- ame-stabilizer. The catalyst (platinum-rhodium) which is located
in the ame 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 450
o
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 ame is stabilized and held in place by one of the ameholder 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 ame ignites the
additional fuel and the ame 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 ow 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 gures.
1.3 Afterburner and its components
The major requirement of the afterburner is to ensure adequate ame stability and com-
pleteness of combustion within the specied length,while at the same time contributing
minimum total pressure loss. Due to very high specic fuel consumption, afterburners are
operated only for short durations when necessary. During the major part of ight, when
the afterburner is not under operation, the components of the afterburner namely diuser,
ame stabilizer and fuel rings contribute a signicant amount of total pressure loss. This
loss is still more when afterburner is under operation. As it depends on the ow mach
number and the ame 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 oers the best combination of
afterburner characteristics such as high combustion eciency, 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 ow and combustion characteristics in the afterburner
is of vital importance. Although most of the useful information about such complex ow
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 dierent geometric congurations and input conditions.
The majority of earlier numerical simulations have been two-dimensional axi-symmetric,
considering only simple form of blu bodies.The main aim of present investigation is to
predict the three-dimensional reacting ow elds in a practical afterburner system.
Chapter 2
Approach to the present report
2.1 Motivation for the current work
Traditionally combustion ow in the afterburner was calculated numerically and compu-
tationally by two dimensional models, where the three dimensional eects in ow elds
were missing. The results obtained like total pressure loss, combustion eciency, mass
fraction contours in Ravichandran(10) may not resemble the actual ow. 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 ow analysis and swirl eects are stud-
ied. There is no research paper concerning the combustion ow calculations in a full scale
three dimensional model numerically.
So, here is an attempt to study reacting ow in afterburner using Eddy Dissipation model
for combustion, and K- model for turbulence. The required afterburner design speci-
cations are obtained from GTRE(Gas Turbine Research and Establishment ) company.
This particular afterburner is tted 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 ow. For this CFD simulations for cold ow and reacting
ow 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 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 ow
eld 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 briey 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 dierent terms in Governing equations and
discretization method are discussed in chapter 7. Problem denition, 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-
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 ow
complexity in afterburner- high temperature levels, high turbulence levels, presence of
ameholder 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 ow eld only. Isothermal ow
eld studies in afterburner have carried out by Ganesan, Ravichandran(10). Aircraft
engine design book by mattingly(1) also explains lot about afterburner ow eld system.
In these no combustion process is considered. Only the ameholder eects and swirl
eects in afterburner are studied. But the present report deals with both combustion
process and ameholder eects.
3.2 Work by M.V.Ramana Reddy
The ow 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 ow and ow 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 turbulence model and spalddings 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 dened 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 dening a chemical
reaction in a numerical simulation of combustion processes.
3.4 Work by Ravichandran and Ganesan
The cold ow eld in an afterburner system studied experimentally and numerically by
Ravichandran and Ganesan. Experimental setup is prepared by perspex material, and
the ow is studied in it. The v-gutter ameholder stabilization eects in an afterburner
studied eectively. Numerically also the three dimensional steady state equations are
solved for dierent inlet swirl conditions and velocity vectors are presented in results. For
this computational domain is discritized into 32 28 15 nodes in x, r, directions re-
spectively and the intercode spacing is not uniform; especially very ne grid in direction
for radial V-gutter. The temperature of the ow eld 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 nite dierence
algebraic equations are obtained by integration over control volumes for each variables
and diusive 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 ameholder 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 ow eld 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 dierent stations of afterburner. Mat-
tingleys work on AEDSys supports many of the calculations required while evaluating
the afterburner components performance.
Chapter 4
Theory of combustion
The system of partial dierential equations describing the adiabatic, one dimensional,
ideal-gas phase chemical reaction without axial molecular or turbulent diusion is given
by
n
i
t
+ U
n
i
x
= f
i
(n
k
, T) i, k = 1...NS (4.1)
where
f
i
=
1
(
ij

ij
)(R
j
R
j
) j = 1...JJ (4.2)
In equation 4.2 R
j
and R
j
are modied arrhenius expressions for forward and backward
rates for j
th
reaction.
R
j
= k
j

(n
k
)

kj
(4.3)
R
j
= k
j

(n
k
)

kj
(4.4)
In above equations n
i
is the mass-specic mole number of the i
th
species(i=1..NS), T is
the temperature; is the mixture mass density;
kj
,
kj
are the stoichiometric coecients
of species reactants and products respectively. k
j
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 ameholding, 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 ow systems in which ow 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 ow velocity is so great, and the turbulent diusion across
streamlines so rapid, that every entering uid particle has instantaneous access to every
other uid particle. This assumption does not require that mass or energy transfer caused
by molecular diusion will necessarily will occur between the uid particles.
For ows that are time-steady, and for which the axial gradient term in equation4.1 can
be approximated by the nite dierence formula
U
dn
i
dx
u
n
i
x
so that equation(4.1) becomes
UA
n
i
` n
i
Ax
= f
i
(n
i
, T)i, k = 1...NS (4.5)
where ` n
i
refers the upstream or entry value of n
i
into the control volume of volume V =
Ax and A u = m. with this notation WSR equations become
m
V
(n
i
` n
i
) = f
i
(n
i
, T)i, k = 1...NS (4.6)
This WSR chemical reactor will be applied to ameholder 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 NO
x
. The rst 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.
C
12
H
23
+ O
2
5C
2
H
4
+ C
2
H
3
+ O
2
(4.7)
C
12
H
23
+ OH 6C
2
H
4
+ O (4.8)
C
2
H4 + H C
2
H
3
+ H
2
(4.9)
H + H H
2
(4.10)
O + O O
2
(4.11)
H + OH H
2
O (4.12)
H + O
2
OH + O (4.13)
O + H
2
OH + H (4.14)
CO + OH CO
2
+ H (4.15)
H + H
2
O OH + OH (4.16)
CH
3
+ O
2
CH
2
O + OH (4.17)
HO
2
M + H + O
2
+ M (4.18)
HO
2
+ H OH + OH (4.19)
CH
2
O + OH H
2
O + HCO (4.20)
O + H
2
O OH + OH (4.21)
N
2
+ O NO + N (4.22)
CHAPTER 4. THEORY OF COMBUSTION 14
N + O
2
NO + O (4.23)
N + OH NO + H (4.24)
HCO + O
2
HO
2
+ CO (4.25)
HCO + OH H
2
O + CO (4.26)
C
2
H
4
+ OH C
2
H
3
+ H
2
O (4.27)
CH
2
O + HO
2
HCO + OH + OH (4.28)
C
2
H
2
+ HO
2
HCO + CH
2
O (4.29)
C
2
H
3
+ O
2
C
2
H
2
+ HO
2
(4.30)
NO + HO
2
NO
2
+ OH (4.31)
C
2
H
4
+ HO
2
CH
3
+ HCO + OH (4.32)
H
2
+ CH
3
CH
4
+ H (4.33)
C
2
H
2
+ OH CH
3
+ CO (4.34)
CH
3
+ O CH
2
O + H (4.35)
4.3 Blow out time
Which is required parameter in case of designing the ame holders. It denes the time at
which the maximum rate of reaction occurs and the corresponding combustion eciency
if at all perturbed from its value the ame will blow-o.
To calculate the blow out time the region behind the ame 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 ame holding in the afterburner appears to be same as in the main
burner, but there is a subtle dierence between two. In the main burner primary zone
thee recirculation bubble is fueled from the inside and is conned by the combustor dome
and liner walls so that the primary zone combustion is forced to take place within the
connes of recirculation bubble. Consequently, there is no discernable ame 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 ame front is established in the shear driven mixing layer at the outer
edge of recirculation bubble. The chemical reactions responsible for ame holding occur
in a very small micro mixed reaction zone immediately behind the upstream-propagating
ame front. by the time the burning gases, which are disentrained in to the recirculation
bubble, ow 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 ow merely help to stabilize the axial location of the standing turbulent ame
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 ameholding and ame spread. To
understand this method of mixing, consider two uniform, parallel owing streams of gas
owing continuously over a splitter plate. Immediately downstream of the splitter plate,
the axial velocities are U
1
and U
2
. 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 dier, for example U
1
> U
2
, 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 dierent molecular identities, the shear layer is also a mixing layer. By
analogy with the denition of boundary layer thickness
m
in the gure(5.1) is dened as
CHAPTER 5. FLOW FEATURES 17
the region within which the mole fractions of mixant gases dier by 1 percent or more
from their respective values in the unmixed streams.
The corresponding growth rate of the shear layer for streams of dierent densities given
by equation

x
= C

_
1 r
1 + s
.5
r
__
1 + s
.5
2
_
_
1
(1 s
.5
)(1 + s
.5
)
1 + 1.29
(1+r)
(1r)
_
(5.1)
where
C

= .25 to .45
s=

2
rho
1
r =
U
2
U
1
Another parameter used generally is mean convective velocity dened by
U
c
=
U
1
+ s
.5
U
2
1 + s
.5
(5.2)
5.2 Flame stabilization
Two general types of ame stabilizing devices are used generally blu body ameholder
vee-gutters and piloted burners, where a small piloting heat source is used to ignite the
main fuel ow.
In our present model vee-gutter ameholder is employed. The vee-gutter ameholders
have the advantage of low ow blockage and low total pressure loss. They are simple and
lightweight and have a good development history. The wake of a vee-gutter ameholder
is divided into two regions: a recirculation zone or bubble and a shear-driven mixing
layer, as shown in gure(5.1). The recirculation zone is characterized by a strong reverse
ow and very low chemical reaction rates. As combustion is essentially complete in the
recirculation zone, the temperature is nearly equal to adiabatic ame 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 ame 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 ame front continues to propagate outward
towards the walls.
The design goal is to select parameters that will cause the ame region to stand at a
location between x
m
, the mixing transition point dened by equations(5.1) and (5.2), and
x =
L
2
, 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 ame front must not
permitted to propagate so freely upstream that it ashes back to the spray bars, nor
must it be allowed to blow-o downstream because the mixing layer and recirculation
zone are not long enough.
To nd the values of parameters that will provide the needed range for ame 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
m
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
t
s
=
m
m
=

m
(
L
2
)

m
U
c
=
L
2U
c
(5.3)
where U
c
is the convective velocity within the mixing layer, dened by equation 4.2.
5.3 Design requirement for vee-gutter ameholder
The requirement for the ame front to stabilize is therefore that residence time or stay
time t
s
of the gases owing through the mixing layer must be greater than, or equal to,
the WSR residence time at blowout t
BO
which is explained in section4.3 .
because the t
s
> t
BO
in the mixing layer is required, the design requirement for ame
stabilization can be stated as
t
s
=
L
2U
c
=
L
U
1
+s
.5
U
2
1+s
.5
> t
BO
(5.4)
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
ltered fully compressible, transient Navier Stokes equations. commercial uid dynamics
(CFD) code, CFX-11 supplied by ANSYS inc., was used to perform simulations.
6.1 Conservation equations
6.1.1 Continuity equation
u
j
x
j
= 0 (6.1)
6.1.2 Momentum equation
(u
i
u
j
)
x
j
=
p
eff
x
i
+
(2()S
ij
x
j
+ S
Mi
(6.2)
where
t
=
Ck
2

;C
mu
= 0.0845; S
ij
=
1
2
(
u
i
x
j
+
u
j
x
i
) ; The source term in the momentum
equation S
Mx
=0 S
My
= 0; S
Mz
= - g;
19
CHAPTER 6. ASPECTS OF MODELING 20
6.1.3 Energy equation
H
eff
u
j
x
j
=
(( +
t
)
T
x
j
)
x
j

((D + D
t
)h
m
y
m
x
j
)
x
j
+ S
E
(6.3)
where H
e
ff = E + p
eff
;
t
=
tcp
Pr
t
; Pr
t
=0.9; S
E
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
m =
pW
RT
(6.4)
where R is the universal gas constant, R= 8314 J kg
1
K
1
.
Secondly there is constitutive equation ,
h = C
p
T (6.5)
in which C
p
is the constant pressure specic heat of air. C
p
is the weak function of
temperature.
6.2 Turbulence modeling
6.2.1 k turbulence model
The k is a two equation turbulence model. This model is widely used because it of-
fers good compromise between numerical eort and computational accuracy. This model
uses the gradient diusion 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 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 eld, 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 model, k is the turbulence kinetic energy and is dened as the variance
of the uctuations in velocity. It has dimensions of (L
2
T
2
). is the turbulence eddy
dissipation (the rate at which the velocity uctuations dissipate ), and has dimensions of
per unit time (L
2
T
3
). The k model introduces two new variables k and into the
system of equations. The continuity and momentum equations will be then equation is
then
6.2.2 Continuity equation
u
j
x
j
= 0 (6.6)
6.2.3 Momentum equation
(u
i
u
j
)
x
j
=
p
eff
x
i
+
(2( +
t
)S
ij
x
j
+ S
Mi
(6.7)
where
t
=
C

k
2

;C
mu
= 0.0845;
t
is the viscosity accounting for turbulence.
The value of k and come directly from the dierential transport equations of turbulent
kinetic energy and turbulence dissipation rate :
ku
j
x
j
=
(
k
( +
t
)
k
x
j
)
x
j
+ P
k
(6.8)
u
j
x
j
=
(

( +
t
)

x
j
)
x
j
+ C
1

k
P
k
C
2

2
k
(6.9)
where
k
=

= 1.39; C
1
= 1.42 -
(1

0
1+
3
; =
Sk

; S=
_
2S
ij
S
ij
;
0
= 4.38; = 0.012;
since the ow is considered compressible, the equation of state is also solved which is
CHAPTER 6. ASPECTS OF MODELING 22
given by
P = RT (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:
C
12
H
23
,C
2
H
4
,C
2
H
3
,CH
4
, H
2
O, CO
2
, H
2
, CO, O
2
, N
2
, O, H, OH, HO
2
, H
2
O
2
, CH
3
,
CH
2
O, CH
2
O, HCO, N, NO. 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 ows. Combustion takes place
in the regions of the turbulent eld where the highest molecular uxes occur. Those re-
gions are associated with the smallest turbulence structures, the so-called ne-structures.
Through a step-wise description of the turbulence energy cascade process from large to
progressively smaller eddies, an expression for the mass fraction

of the ne-structures
and for the characteristic time scale

for mass exchange between the ne-structures and

the bulk uid is derived, dependent upon the turbulence quantities and the viscosity:

= 9.67
3
4
_

= 0.41
_

(6.11)
These quantities are subsequently used in the reactor modeling of the ne structures. It
is concluded that the model provides a link between the small-scale turbulence structures
(or ne 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 ne-
structures and the surrounding uid that is inert. The reactive space is modeled as a
Perfectly Stirred Reactor (PSR) exchanging mass and energy with the surrounding inert
uid. 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.
dy

m
dt
=
(y
m
y

m
)
(1

m
M
m

m = 1, 2....NS (6.12)
dh

dt
=

y
m
h
m
y

m
h

m
(1

+ q
r
ad

(6.13)
The superscript asterisk refers to quantities in the ne structures. If there is no superscript
averaged quantities over the cell are meant. In Eq(6.13) the net radiative heat transfer
rate q
r
ad

from the ne-structures to the surrounding uid is neglected.

In this work, the implicit Euler method is used for time marching when solving the set
of ODEs. 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
ne structures (T

, y
m
,.... m=1, . . ., NS) and for the net species production rates .m
in the ne-structures. Eventually, the average net species production rates, R
m
, that are
substituted in the species transport equations (Eq(6.12)), which are integrated over each
control volume, are calculated from:
R
m
=

(1

(y

m
y
m
) (6.14)
Thus, the eect of turbulence on the source terms, R
m
M
m
, 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 ne structures.
Chapter 7
Mesh generation
The partial dierential equations that govern uid ow and heat transfer are not usually
amenable to analytical solutions, except for very simple cases. Therefore, in order to
analyze uid ows, ow 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: nite volumes, nite elements, or nite dierences. In a CFD
analysis, the number of cells in the mesh should be taken suciently large, such that an
adequate resolution is obtained for the representation of the geometry of the ow domain
and the expected ow 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 ow
solution. Dierent 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 briey 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 uxes are dominant. Part of the model with unstructured mesh is shown
in g2.1.
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 dierential 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 dierence is that, the hybrid meshes are constructed using more then
one cell topology. The advantage is that cells of dierent topology can placed in ow
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 nally across the
interfaces to create hybrid mesh for the entire model as shown in gure.
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 ow eld
in the model.
Chapter 8
Numerical methods
The mathematical models discussed in chapter 6 dene the general equations for which
we wish to nd 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 modied conservation equations are approximated by nite dierence equations ; and
The nite dierence equation are solved using an iterative solver.
As the CFX-10 commercial CFD code was used to simulate the uid ows, 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 nite 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 gure 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 nite volume is represented by the shaded area.
It is clear that each node is surrounded by a set of surfaces which comprise the nite
volume. All the solution variables and uid 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
u
j
x
j
= 0 (8.1)
(u
i
u
j
)
x
j
=
p
eff
x
i
+
(2( +
t
)S
ij
)
x
j
+ S
Mi
(8.2)
H
eff
u
j
x
j
=

_
( +
t
)
T
x
j
_
x
j

_
(D + D
t
)h
m
ym
x
j
_
x
j
+ S
E
(8.3)
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:
_
S
U
j
dn
j
= 0 (8.4)
_
S
U
j
U
i
dn
j
=
_
S
Pdn
j
+
_
S
mu
eff
_
U
i
x
j
+
U
j
x
i
_
dn
j
+
_
V
SU
j
dV (8.5)
_
S
U
j
H
eff
dn
j
=
_
S

eff
dn
j
(8.6)
where V and S respectively denote volume and surface regions of integration, and dn
j
is
the dierential Cartesian component of the outward normal surface vector. The surface
integrals are the integrations of the uxes and the volume integrals represent source or
accumulation terms. Changes to these equations due to control volume deformation are
presented below
The rst 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 uxes 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 nite volume. The discrete form of the integral equations are written as

ip
(U
j
n
j
)
ip
= 0 (8.7)

ip
(Pn
i
)
ip
+
ip
(
eff
(
U
i
x
j
+
U
j
x
i
)n
j
)
ip
+ S
Ui
V =
ip
m
ip
(U
i
)
1p
(8.8)

ip
m
ip

1p
=
ip
(
eff

x
j
n
j
+ S

V (8.9)
where V is the control volume, the subscript ip denotes an integration point, the sum-
mation is over all the integration points of the nite volume, n
j
is the discrete outward
surface vector,t 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 ow through a surface of the nite volume is denoted
by m ip and is given by:
m = (U
j
n
j
)
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 rst 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 denition
9.1 Afterburner description
The geometry considered for modeling is Afterburner system of K9 engine. It is consisting
of liner, vee-gutter ameholder, spay bars for fuel injection, and nozzle. The geometry
and its details are shown in below gures.
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 glenns computer program has used. The performance points for main
burner are shown in below tables.
FuelFlow(
Kg
s
) AirFlow(
Kg
s
) Pressure(KPa) Temp(K) Fuel AirRatio
0.984 46.35 212.0 1046 0.0212
Bypass ow conditions for main burner listed as:
BypassFlow(Kg/s) Pressure(KPa) Temp(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 ow conditions were setup in the NASA glenns computer program and the
exhaust of main burner gass species concentration is calculated. These values will be
the core ow inlet conditions for afterburner. Main burner exhaust gas mixtures species
concentration listed in below table:
Mass fractions
C
2
0.15886
CO
2
0.06363
H
2
O 0.02478
N
2
0.75273
To allow the dierent mass ow through the nozzle during combustion process, the area
of the nozzle exit diameter can be altered. And the values suitable for cold ow and
reacting ow of nozzle diameter listed as:
Coldflow(meters) Hotflow(meters)
0.548 0.024
9.1.2 Blowout time
Once the meshed model has imported to CFX ow solver, the corresponding core inlet,
bypass ow, fuel mass ow conditions will be given and the ow is solved. Now considering
the ow eld behind the vee-gutter ameholder, 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 ow simulations, these
will be the input values for KINETX software. The data entry values are listed in below
table.
A(cm
2
) L(cm) Type mA m
f
52 3.5 WSR 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
FlowElementType WSR @Blowout(WSR)
EquivalenceRatio 0.3109 0.3109
ResidenceTime(sec) 4.474E 3 6.244E 4
Area(cm
2
) 52.00 52.00
Length(cm) 3.50 0.00
V olume(cm
3
) 182.00 0.00
SpaceV elocity(m/s) 7823.00 294.50
Flowrate(Kg/sec) 1.02 1.02
Enthalpy(kJ/Kg) 2412.00 2412.00
Combustionefficiency 0.0347 43.28
Temperature(K) 1045.00 0.00
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 38
Species MoleNumbers MoleFractions MassFractions
C
12
H
23
1.162E 04 1.196E 04 1.945E 02
C
2
H
2
1.795E 07 1.847E 07 4.673E 06
C
2
H
3
7.992E 07 8.226E 07 2.162E 05
C
2
H
4
4.894E 06 5.037E 06 1.373E 04
CH
2
O 1.714E 12 1.765E 12 5.147E 11
CH
3
4.872E 12 5.015E 12 7.326E 11
CH
4
1.000E 20 1.029E 20 1.604E 19
CO 2.522E 12 2.596E 12 7.063E 11
CO
2
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
H
2
8.633E 14 8.917E 14 1.746E 13
H
2
O 3.906E 02 4.020E 02 0.704
HO
2
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
NO
2
1.000E 20 1.029E 20 4.601E 19
N
2
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
O
2
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 PTa1 PTa2 TTa1 TTa2 GFs
35 0.96 46.611 9.76 211.7 222.2 1046 463 2.224
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 39
where
Ga1 - core mass ow(kg/s)
Ga2 - Bypass mass ow (kg/s)
Gfs - Fuel mass ow (kg/s)
PTa1 - Total pressure of core ow(KPa)
PTa2 - Total pressure of bypass ow (KPa)
TTa1 - Total temperature of core ow (K)
TTa2 - Total temperature of bypass ow (K)
Input to AFTRBRN to compute diuser performance Diuser performance can
be obtained by giving following input data.
Totalpressure(kPa) 211.70
TotalTemperature(K) 1046.0
Machnumber 0.5
Mixturegasflow(Kg/sec) 23.00
Outerradius(cm) 40.000
Innerradius(cm) 37.477
Height(cm) 5.0467
Pressure(kPa) 179.75
V elocity(m/sec) 310.2
Area(m
2
) 8.2525
The above values have given in AEDSys AFTRBRN software and the diuser performance
is obtained. The results are listed below in table:
Diuser
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 40
m(Kg/sec) 23.00
1.336
Pt(kPa) 208.7
Tt(K) 1046
Pressure(kPa) 206.90
Mach 0.1137
V elocity(m/sec) 58.42
Area(m
2
) 34.91
Area

(m
2
) 6.756
I(N) 1.0656
Diuser Performance
DiffuserEfficiency 0.9006
Pressurerecoverycoefficient 0.8503
Totalpressureratio 0.9858
Totalpressurelosscoefficient 9.3797E 02
Totalpressureloss 6.3031E 02
Flame Holders
Blowout time which is obtained from KINETX is given as input to get the ameholder
performance. The listed below tables are having ameholder performance values:
m(Kg/sec) 24.10
1.300
Pt(kPa) 208.6
Tt(K) 2000
Pressure(kPa) 206.70
Mach 0.1196
V elocity(m/sec) 80.14
Area(m
2
) 34.91
Area

(m
2
) 7.075
I(N) 1.3716
CHAPTER 9. PROBLEM DEFINITION 41
Flameholder performance
DragCoefficient(C
D
) 0.5751
Totalpressurelosscoefficient 0.9696
Totalpressureratio 0.9917
Flame holders Dimensions required
15

vee gutterwidth(cm) 0.6667

Channelheight(cm) 6.667
Afterburnerlength(cm) 23.55
Chapter 10
CFD results
Single step reaction of jetA fuel combustion has simulated using Eddy dissipation com-
bustion model and k turbulence model in afterburner using ANSYS CFX ow solver.
10.1 Cold ow 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 ow 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: CO
2
mass fraction variation variation
Chapter 11
Conclusions
11.1 Flameholder performance
Wake behind the V-gutter ameholder-that is the recirculation region, is modeled as well-
stirred reactor, and the ow 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 ame stabilization. So the performance of V-gutter ameholder is good
enough.
11.2 Diuser performance
After giving input conditions for afterburner in AEDSys AFTRBRN software, the diuser
performance values are obtained. The mach number at the exit of diuser is 0.17, which
is the signicant thing required for GTRE company. SO following the diuser dimensions
might help them to improve the performance of afterburner.
59
CHAPTER 11. CONCLUSIONS 60
11.3 Temperature plots
The temperature distributions behind the ameholder 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 ame temperature
of the mixture combustion.
Near liner region in the plots always showing the lesser teperatures this is due to the
attached ow 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 ow with core ow 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.
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61
BIBLIOGRAPHY 62
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