Numerical simulation of the reactive two-phase flow in a kerosene/air tubular combustor

Numerical simulation plays today an important role in the design of gas turbine combustors. It requires the understanding of basic physical phenomena encountered in turbulent and reactive flows. In most industrial applications concerning airbreathing propulsion, the fuel is injected in the liquid phase which often consists of a spray of fine droplets. This paper presents numerical simulations of the flowfield, inside a realistic tubular-type combustion chamber geometry, taking into account the interaction between the liquid droplets and the gaseous phase. The in-house ONERAʹs numerical code MSD was used to compute the turbulent reactive two-phase flow inside this 3D flame tube. In order to promote the liquid spray dispersion in the flow, the kerosene/air mixture is injected through a swirling injection system. A Lagrangian approach has been implemented in order to describe with good accuracy the droplet behaviour. This Lagrangian approach is numerically coupled with the Eulerian formulation describing the gaseous flow. Droplet dispersion induced by the turbulence of the flow is governed by probabilistic models taking into account the local turbulence conditions controlled by a two-equation k–ε model. Results are presented showing the influence of the prescribed swirl intensity on the global flow features. This investigation eventually helped us in finding the most appropriate conditions for future experimental testings.