CFD Study of NO_x Emissions in a Model Commercial Aircraft Engine Combustor

Air worthiness requirements of the aircraft engine emission bring new challenges to the combustor research and design. With the motivation to design high performance and clean combustor, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is utilized as the powerful design approach. In this paper, Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations of reactive two-phase flow in an experimental low emission combustor is performed. The numerical approach uses an implicit compressible gas solver together with a Lagrangian liquid-phase tracking method and the extended coherent flamelet model for turbulence-combustion interaction. The NOx formation is modeled by the concept of post-processing, which resolves the NOx transport equation with the assumption of frozen temperature distribution. Both turbulence-combustion interaction model and NOx formation model are firstly evaluated by the comparison of experimental data published in open literature of a lean direct injection (LDI) combustor. The test rig studied in this paper is called low emission stirred swirl (LESS) combustor, which is a two-stage model combustor, fueled with liquid kerosene (RP-3) and designed by Beihang University (BUAA). The main stage of LESS combustor employs the principle of lean prevaporized and premixed (LPP) concept to reduce pollutant, and the pilot stage depends on a diffusion flame for flame stabili-zation. Detailed numerical results including species distribution, turbulence performance and burning performance are qualita-tively and quantitatively evaluated. Numerical prediction of NOx emission shows a good agreement with test data at both idle condition and full power condition of LESS combustor. Preliminary results of the flame structure are shown in this paper. The flame stabilization mechanism and NOx reduction effort are also discussed with in-depth analysis.     

Design and Performance of an Improved Trapped Vortex Combustor

 A trapped vortex combustor (TVC) has been a very promising novel concept for it offers improvements in lean blow out, altitude relight, operating range, as well as a potential to decrease NO_x emissions compared to conventional combustors. The present paper discusses the improved designs of the new combustor over the prior ones of our research group, including that: a) the overall dimensions, both axial and radial, are reduced to those of an actual aero-engine combustor; b) the air flow distribution is optimized, and especially 15% of the air is fed into the liner as cooling air; c) a straight-wall diffuser with divergence angle 9癷s added. A series of experiments (cavity-fueled only, under atmospheric pressure) has been conducted to investigate the performance of the improved TVC. Experimental results show that at the inlet temperature of 523 K, the inlet pressure of 0.1 MPa, stable operation of the TVC test rig is observed for the Mach number 0.15-0.34, indicating good flame stability; the combustion efficiency obtained in this paper falls into the range of 60%-96%; as the total excess air ratio increases, the combustion efficiency decreases, while the increase of the inlet temperature is beneficial to high combustion efficiency; besides, the optimal Mach numbers for high combustion efficiency under different inlet conditions are confirmed. The outlet temperature profiles feature a bottom in the mid-height of the exit. This paper demonstrates the feasibility for the TVC to be applied to a realistic aero-engine preliminarily and provides reference for TVC design.     

亚燃冲压模型燃烧室高空负压试验

为了验证亚燃冲压燃烧室在高空负压条件下稳定工作的能力,设计了带蒸发式值班火焰稳定器与直射式喷油装置的亚燃冲压模型燃烧室,对该模型燃烧室进行了冷态流阻试验、贫油熄火边界试验以及不同截面燃烧效率试验研究。研究结果表明,试验件的冷态流阻系数略大于1,冷态总压恢复系数0.98以上;蒸发式火焰稳定器贫油熄火边界较宽;两截面燃烧效率最低相差6%,最高相差19%,在高空负压条件下,增加燃烧段长度能显著提高燃烧效率。     

航空发动机燃烧室声载荷自激励门限自回归仿真模型

采用自激励门限自回归分析方法,利用航空发动机环形燃烧室测试数据,得到燃烧室噪声声压时间信号自激励门限自回归仿真模型SETAR（2;1;15,14）,并与控后非门限的自回归滑动平均模型ARMA（6,5）进行了比较,仿真结果表明,误差方差明显降低。     

超燃冲压发动机双凹腔燃烧室氢气燃烧流场分析

为了比较超燃冲压发动机中双凹腔燃烧室相对于单凹腔燃烧室在促进燃烧方面的优势,运用高速摄影仪拍摄了氢气当量比为0.07时燃烧室中的火焰情况,结合数值仿真结果,得出如下结论:小当量比情况下氢气燃烧很稳定,燃烧区域主要集中于前凹腔的剪切层和该凹腔所围成的三角区以及该凹腔下游壁面位置,燃料喷口周围没有火焰;无论是串联凹腔燃烧室还是并联凹腔燃烧室,相同条件下燃烧时壁面压力均比单凹腔燃烧室高,串联凹腔之间的回流区为燃烧提供了有利的条件;在一定范围内,串联凹腔之间的距离越近,燃烧放热越集中,壁面压力越高.      

多孔介质表面预混火焰熄火特性实验

对微型燃烧室中多孔介质表面预混火焰开展了不同孔径、孔隙率的多孔介质出口流场特性和熄火特性实验研究.研究结果表明:相对于圆管流,多孔介质出口流场边界层变薄,主流区宽度增加约50%,速度波动最大可达到前者的2.2倍.多孔介质孔径相同时,随孔隙率减小,或孔隙率相同时,随孔径减小,主流区的速度波动幅值均减小,在小孔径下更为明显,最大速度波动幅值从2.435m/s减小至1.099m/s.多孔介质表面预混火焰的熄火特性受出口流场和火焰形态的影响很大,孔隙率减小或孔径减小都会使相同当量比下熄火速度增加,多孔介质参数的影响最大可使熄火速度增加近1倍.      

回流型脉冲爆震燃烧室工作特性分析

为了获得回流型脉冲爆震燃烧室在不同工作频率下的工作特性,通过试验和数值相结合的方法对该爆震室工作频率10~30Hz时的出口燃气总压、总温、流量变化规律以及该爆震室的增压能力进行了测试与计算分析。结果表明：出口燃气总压、总温具有极高的峰值和较高的平台区,其工作频率10~30Hz时,压力平台值为0.36~0.91MPa,时均温度为710~1270K。此外,该爆震室排气流量十分集中,以10Hz为例,在一个爆震循环的16%时间内,排出了整个循环60.5%的燃气。为此对出口燃气总压进行质量加权平均,发现该爆震室的增压比随工作频率的增加而降低,在2.05~2.37。     

第2级径向旋流器旋流数对燃烧室点火和贫油熄火性能的影响

双级旋流器是航空发动机燃烧室头部产生回流区所采用的主要形式,研究主要考察第2级径向旋流器的旋流数对点火与燃烧稳定性能的影响,数值模拟结果能够较好地匹配第2级径向旋流器设计参数.试验研究表明:第2级径向旋流器旋流数的改变对燃烧室点火性能无影响;但减小该旋流数会对贫油熄火性能产生明显地改善,旋流卷吸效果会影响回流区火焰稳定.减小第2级径向旋流器旋流数,使下游卷吸量增加,回流区流动与火焰匹配更好,更有利于燃烧稳定性的提高.      

环形级间驻涡燃烧室壁温分布试验

通过对环形驻涡燃烧室进行壁温分布试验研究,可以考察燃烧室的冷却和进气结构是否存在问题,为后续的燃烧室强度计算提供依据.试验结果表明,各工况条件下燃烧室的壁温均未超过材料的上限值,燃烧室可以长期正常工作;燃烧室的最高壁温出现在凹腔前壁面下部或凹腔上壁面中部;燃烧室壁温受主流气量、凹腔进气量、供油量的影响较大,受蒸发管蒸发用气温度的影响较小.