Large-eddy simulation of turbulent confined coannular jets

Large-eddy simulation (LES) was used to study mixing of turbulent, coannular jets discharging into a sudden expansion. This geometry resembles that of a coaxial jet-combustor, and the goal of the calculation was to gain some insight into the phenomena leading to lean blow-out (LBO) in such combustion devices. This is a first step in a series of calculations, where the focus is on the fluid dynamical aspects of the mixing process in the combustion chamber. The effects of swirl, chemical reactions and heat release were not taken into account. Mixing of fuel and oxidizer was studied by tracking a passive scalar introduced in the central jet. The dynamic subgrid-scale (DM) model was used to model both the subgrid-scale stresses and the subgrid-scale scalar flux. The Reynolds number was 38000, based on the bulk velocity and diameter of the combustion chamber. Mean velocities and Reynolds stresses are in good agreement with experimental data. Animated results clearly show that intermittent pockets of fuel-rich fluid (from the central jet) are able to cross the annular jet, virtually undiluted, into the recirculation zone. Most of the fuel-rich fluid is, however, entrained into the recirculation zone near the instantaneous reattachment point. Fuel trapped in the recirculation zone is, for the most part, entrained back into the step shear layer close to the base of the burner.