Cold Flow Mixing Process in Micro-Combustors

Understanding the scalar dissipation dynamics of the fluid inside the combustion chamber of a gas turbine is important from the stand point of mixing. Current numerical design tools stem from RANS simulations which have turbulence closure issues and arbitrary corrections factors such as turbulent Schmidt number. Fluid mixing can be studied easily through the dissipation rate of the scalars in a given region of investigation. In this experimental research, a non-reactive flow field inside the micro-combustor is resolved in a specially designed experimental facility, which includes a rectangular test section which simulates the flow inside an annular combustion chamber with multiple port of fuel injection at different directions. The flow field is dominated by the cross flow and the impinging flow/co-flow regimes. The research aims to study the dissipation rate of the introduced scalar in a geometry representative of micro combustors by resolving instantaneous scalar and vectoral fields. This is intended to provide a benchmark validation test case for future numerical investigations.

Schematic of the Mixing Flow Facility