Prediction of NO in turbulent diffusion flames using Eulerian particle flamelet model

The combustion characteristics for the turbulent diffusion flames using the unsteady flamelet concept have been numerically investigated. The Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved by a finite volume method of SIMPLE type that incorporates the laminar flamelet concept with a modified k - turbulence model. The NO formation is estimated by solving the Eulerian particle transport equations in a postprocessing mode. Two test problems are considered: CH4/H-2/N-2 jet flame and CH4/H-2 stabilised bluff body flame. The temperature and species profiles are well captured by the flamelet model. Two different chemical mechanisms (GRI 2.11 and 3.0) give nearly identical results for temperature and species except NO. The GRI 3.0 gives significantly higher NO levels compared to the GRI 2.11. This is mainly attributed to the difference in NO formation by the prompt mechanism. The NO formation is sensitive to the number of flamelet particles. The NO levels for two test flames do not change when the flamelet particle number exceeds six.