Heat release and flame scale effects on turbulence dynamics in confined premixed flows

As industry transitions to a net-zero carbon future, turbulent premixed combustion will remain an integral process for power generating gas turbines, aviation engines, and high-speed propulsion due to their ability to minimize pollutant emissions. However, accurately predicting the behavior of a turbulent reacting flow field remains a challenge. To better understand the dynamics of premixed reacting flows, this study experimentally investigates the effects of combustion heat release and flame scales on the evolution of turbulence in a high-speed, confined bluff-body combustor. The combustor is operated across a range of equivalence ratios from 0.7 to 1 to isolate the role of chemical heat release, flame speed, and flame thickness on the evolution of turbulence as the flow progresses from reactants to products. High-speed particle image velocimetry and CH* chemiluminescence imaging systems are simultaneously employed to quantify turbulent flame and flow dynamics. The results notably demonstrate that the flame augments turbulence fluctuations as the flow evolves from reactants to products for all cases, which opposes most simulations of premixed turbulent reactions. Notably, turbulence fluctuations increase monotonically with the heat of combustion and corresponding turbulent flame speed. Spatial profiles of turbulence statistics are conditioned on the mean flame front, and nondimensionalizing the turbulence profiles using laminar flame properties is shown to collapse all conditions onto a single curve. The resulting nondimensional profile confirms that turbulence dynamics scales with the heat of combustion and was used to develop a novel correlation to predict the increase in turbulent fluctuations across the premixed flame. A Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes decomposition is also explored to further characterize the effects of combustion heat release on the dominant mechanisms of turbulent energy transport. The cumulative results can guide modeling capabilities to better predict flame and flow dynamics and accelerate design strategies for premixed turbines with carbon-free fuels.