In the combustion literature, contradictory results on the influence of turbulence on the local thickness of a premixed flame can be found and the present paper aims at contributing to reconcile this ...issue. First, different measures of local flame thickness in a turbulent flow, e.g. area-weighted and unweighted surface-averaged values of (i) |∇c|, i.e., the absolute value of 3D gradient of the combustion progress variable c, or (ii) 1/|∇c|, are studied and analytical relationships/inequalities between them are obtained. Second, the evolution of the different flame thickness measures is explored by numerically evaluating them, as well as various terms in relevant evolution equations derived analytically. To do so, various measures and terms are extracted from DNS data obtained from (i) a highly turbulent, constant-density, dynamically passive, single-reaction wave, (ii) moderately and highly turbulent, single-step-chemistry flames, and (iii) moderately and highly turbulent, complex-chemistry lean methane-air flames. In all those cases, all studied flame thickness measures are reduced during an early stage of premixed turbulent flame development, followed by local flame re-broadening at later stages. Analysis of various terms in the aforementioned evolution equations shows that the initial local flame thinning is controlled by turbulent strain rates. The subsequent local flame re-broadening is controlled by (i) curvature contribution to the stretch rate, which counter-balances the strain rate, (ii) spatial non-uniformities of the normal diffusion contribution to the local displacement-speed vector Sdn, and (iii) dilatation, which plays an important role in moderately turbulent flames, but a minor role in highly turbulent flames. Moreover, the present study shows that differently defined measures of a local flame thickness can be substantially different. This difference should also be borne in mind when comparing data that indicate local flame thinning with data that indicate local flame broadening.
In order to determine the mean rate of product creation within the framework of the Turbulent Flame Closure (TFC) model of premixed combustion, the model is combined with a simple closure of ...turbulent scalar flux developed recently by the present authors based on the flamelet concept of turbulent burning. The model combination is assessed by numerically simulating statistically planar, one-dimensional, developing premixed flames that propagate in frozen turbulence. The mean rate of product creation yielded by the combined model decreases too slowly at the trailing edges of the studied flames, with the effect being more pronounced at longer flame-development times and larger ratios of rms turbulent velocity
u
′ to laminar flame speed
S
L
. To resolve the problem, the above closure of turbulent scalar flux is modified and the combination of the modified closure and TFC model yields reasonable behaviour of the studied rate. In particular, simulations indicate an increase in the mean combustion progress variable associated with the maximum rate by
u
′/
S
L
, in line with available DNS data. Finally, the modified closure of turbulent scalar flux is validated by computing conditioned velocities and turbulent scalar fluxes in six impinging-jet flames. The use of the TFC model for simulating such flames is advocated.
•Ambiguity exists in extracting surface-averaged quantities from reacting-flow DNS.•Differently defined averaged quantities are compared analytically and numerically.•Difference between them is ...significant in highly turbulent reacting flows.•This difference in part explains controversy in flame thinning/broadening.
The paper aims at clarifying some issues associated with evaluation of surface-averaged quantities in Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of a turbulent reacting flow. For a quantity ϕ(t, x) averaged over an isosurface c(t,x)=c^ of a reaction progress variable c, there exist at least two different definitions of surface averages; an area-weighted surface average 〈ϕ〉s|c^,t and an unweighted surface average 〈ϕ〉v|c^,t. These two fine-grained averages can also be extended to coarse-grained surface averages 〈ϕ〉S|c^,ϵ,t and 〈ϕ〉V|c^,ϵ,t over an interval of c^≤c(t,x)≤c^+ϵ. In a highly turbulent medium, the difference 〈ϕ〉s−〈ϕ〉v between the area-weighted and unweighted surface averages can be significant for most quantities ϕ of basic interest. The sign of this difference depends on the sign of the correlation between ϕ and |∇c|, can be opposite for different ϕ or even for different isosurfaces of the same scalar field ϕ. For a quantity ϕ that can become singular in the zero-gradient points |∇c|(t,x)=0, its unweighted or area-weighted surface averages can still be bounded. The difference between area-weighted and unweighted surface averages of 1/|∇c| or |∇c| is relevant to explaining the well-known, but still challenging controversy between available data on the influence of turbulence on the local flame thickness.
The structure of premixed turbulent flames and governing physical mechanisms of the influence of turbulence on premixed burning are often discussed by invoking combustion regime diagrams. In the ...majority of such diagrams, boundaries of three combustion regimes associated with (i) flame preheat zones broadened locally by turbulent eddies, (ii) reaction zones broadened locally by turbulent eddies, and (iii) local extinction are based on a Karlovitz number Ka, with differently defined Ka being used to demarcate different combustion regimes. The present paper aims to overview different definitions of Ka, comparing them, and suggesting the most appropriate choice of Ka for each combustion regime boundary. Moreover, since certain Karlovitz numbers involve a laminar flame thickness, the influence of complex combustion chemistry on the thickness and, hence, on various Ka and relations between them is explored based on results of complex-chemistry simulations of unperturbed (stationary, planar, and one-dimensional) laminar premixed flames, obtained for various fuels, equivalence ratios, pressures, and unburned gas temperatures.
While significant increase in turbulent burning rate in lean premixed flames of hydrogen or hydrogen-containing fuel blends is well documented in various experiments and can be explained by ...highlighting local diffusional-thermal effects, capabilities of the vast majority of available models of turbulent combustion for predicting this increase have not yet been documented in numerical simulations. To fill this knowledge gap, a well-validated Turbulent Flame Closure (TFC) model of the influence of turbulence on premixed combustion, which, however, does not address the diffusional-thermal effects, is combined with the leading point concept, which highlights strongly perturbed leading flame kernels whose local structure and burning rate are significantly affected by the diffusional-thermal effects. More specifically, within the framework of the leading point concept, local consumption velocity is computed in extremely strained laminar flames by adopting detailed combustion chemistry and, subsequently, the computed velocity is used as an input parameter of the TFC model. The combined model is tested in RANS simulations of highly turbulent, lean syngas-air flames that were experimentally investigated at Georgia Tech. The tests are performed for four different values of the inlet rms turbulent velocities, different turbulence length scales, normal and elevated (up to 10 atm) pressures, various H2/CO ratios ranging from 30/70 to 90/10, and various equivalence ratios ranging from 0.40 to 0.80. All in all, the performed 33 tests indicate that the studied combination of the leading point concept and the TFC model can predict well-pronounced diffusional-thermal effects in lean highly turbulent syngas-air flames, with these results being obtained using the same value of a single constant of the combined model in all cases. In particular, the model well predicts a significant increase in the bulk turbulent consumption velocity when increasing the H2/CO ratio but retaining the same value of the laminar flame speed.
•Leading point concept is adapted for CFD research into complex-chemistry flames.•Atlanta experiments with highly turbulent lean syngas-air mixtures are simulated.•An increase in turbulent burning velocity with increasing H2/CO ratio is predicted.
A balance equation for the difference in the conditioned velocities
and
, derived and validated recently (Lipatnikov,
2008a
,
2008b
), is numerically solved in a statistically planar, one-dimensional ...case in order to (a) highlight the influence of premixed turbulent flame development on the direction of the mean scalar flux and (b) assess the equation by comparing computed trends with available experimental and DNS data. Numerical results show that (a) the flux
is gradient during an early stage of flame development followed by a transition to countergradient scalar transport (i.e.,
) at certain instant t
tr
; (b) the transition time t
tr
is increased by the rms turbulent velocity and decreases when the density ratio or the laminar flame speed increases; and (c) even after the transition from gradient to countergradient scalar transport, the mean flame brush thickness grows because the mean rate of product creation overwhelms the transport term in the combustion progress variable balance equation and serves to not only control the turbulent burning rate, but also cause the growth of the thickness.
Liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are the most common outcomes of chronic hepatitis B. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) induces transformation and cell death in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). DNA ...double strand breaks (DSBs) represent the most dangerous type of genome damage. It was shown previously that generation of phosphorylated histone H2AX foci is a reliable marker of DSBs. The aim of this study was to analyse generation of yH2AX foci in HBV and hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection in vitro and in liver biopsies of patients with CHB and CHB with delta-agent (CHD). Human hepatoma cell line HepG2-1.1merHBV with activated HBV life cycle was used to perform real-time PCR for analysis of pregenomic RNA, HBV DNA, HBV cccDNA and for immunocytochemical analysis of yH2AX. Liver biopsies from CHB and CHD patients were analyzed to confirm the results. HBV induces multiple discrete yH2AX foci in HepG2-1.1merHBV cells in vitro and in biopsies of CHB and CHB+D patients. The ratio of hepatocytes w/o yH2AX foci is significantly lower (49,9+/-12,3% vs. 85,5+/-0,9%, p
By (i) highlighting the mitigation effect of strain rates on laminar flame instabilities and (ii) comparing peak growth rates of laminar flame instabilities with strain rates generated by small-scale ...turbulent eddies, a simple criterion of importance of the influence of the instabilities on an increase in premixed flame surface area in turbulent flows is suggested. The criterion implies that, even in lean hydrogen-air mixtures, laminar flame instabilities can significantly affect the flame area only in weak or moderate turbulence (the Karlovitz number defined using laminar flame speed, thermal flame thickness, and Kolmogorov time scale is on the order of 10 or less under room conditions).
3D Direct Numerical Simulations of propagation of a single-reaction wave in forced, statistically stationary, homogeneous, isotropic, and constant-density turbulence, which is not affected by the ...wave, are performed in order to investigate the influence of the wave development on scaling (power) exponents for the turbulent consumption velocity
U
T
as a function of the rms turbulent velocity
u
′
, laminar wave speed
S
L
, and a ratio
L
11
/
δ
F
of the longitudinal turbulence length scale
L
11
to the laminar wave thickness
δ
F
. Fifteen cases characterized by
u
′
/
S
L
= 0.5,1.0,2.0,5.0, or 10.0 and
L
11
/
δ
F
= 2.1, 3.7, or 6.7 are studied. Obtained results show that, while
U
T
is well and unambiguously defined in the considered simplest case of a statistically 1D planar turbulent reaction wave, the wave development can significantly change the scaling exponents. Moreover, the scaling exponents depend on a method used to compare values of
U
T
, i.e., the scaling exponents found by processing the DNS data obtained at the same normalized wave-development time may be substantially different from the scaling exponents found by processing the DNS data obtained at the same normalized wave size. These results imply that the scaling exponents obtained from premixed turbulent flames of different configurations may be different not only due to the well-known effects of the mean-flame-brush curvature and the mean flow non-uniformities, but also due to the flame development, even if the different flames are at the same stage of their development. The emphasized transient effects can, at least in part, explain significant scatter of the scaling exponents obtained by various research groups in different experiments, thus, implying that the scatter in itself is not sufficient to reject the notion of turbulent burning velocity.
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