THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

Ping Wang

,

Zeyu Zhang

,

Zhengchun Yang

,

Subhajit Roy

,

Weijia Qian

,

Kang Cheng

EXPLORING THE COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS OF TURBULENT PREMIXED AMMONIA/HYDROGEN/AIR FLAMES VIA DTF MODEL-BASED LARGE EDDY SIMULATION

ABSTRACT
This study aims to investigate the combustion characteristics of a premixed swirl flame for a fuel mixture made of NH3 and H2. The use of NH3 and H2 as carbon-free fuels in combustion systems can significantly reduce GHG emissions. Blending NH3 with H2 is a promising approach to enhance H2 combustion safety and NH3 combustion intensity. A 3-D large eddy simulation using a dynamically thickened flame (DTF) model was run in order to get extensive and multi-scale information regarding the flow and reacting field of a premixed swirl flame using a 50% NH3 50% H2 fuel blend. The findings indicate that whereas NO is created near the flame front, OH radicals are mostly synthesized in the inner re-circulation zone. The fuel-NO pathway, which is sensitive to flame temperature, is what causes NO to be produced. The flame position is where the re-circulation zone lies, and the total re-circulation strength is determined by the inner re-circulation strength. The prediction of NO concentration by large eddy simulations, considering heat loss, is closer to the experimental value. The chemically reacting network simulation can precisely estimate NO emission by considering the heat loss ratio and the re-circulation strength calculated by large eddy simulations. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the combustion characteristics of an NH3/H2 fuel blend, which could contribute to the development of cleaner and more efficient combustion technologies. The findings of this study can be of great significance in the fields of sustainable energy and environmental protection.
KEYWORDS
Low carbon fuel, DTF model, Ammonia Combustion, LES, turbulent flame
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2023-11-23
PAPER REVISED: 2024-06-27
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2024-12-18
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2025-02-16
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI231123002W
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2025, VOLUME 29, ISSUE Issue 1, PAGES [675 - 689]
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Exploring the combustion characteristics of turbulent premixed ammonia/hydrogen/air flames via DTF model-based large eddy simulation

2025 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence