Modeling of Sandia Flame D with the non-adiabatic chemistry tabulation approach: the effects of different laminar flames on NO(X) prediction

The effects of different one-dimensional laminar flames on the prediction of nitrogen oxide (NO(X)) emission in Sandia Flame D are numerically investigated using a flamelet method in the present work. In addition to the basic control variables of the mixture fraction and the reaction progress variable for chemistry tabulation in this combustion model, two additional variables of mixture fraction variance and enthalpy loss are added to the control variable space to improve prediction accuracy of the NO(X) pollutant. The former variable of mixture fraction variance is used for the presumed probability density function integration, and the latter takes into account the non-adiabatic effect. Two flamelet libraries are generated based on the one-dimensional unstretched premixed flame and the one-dimensional counterflow diffusion flame, respectively. An additional transport equation for the mass fraction of nitrogen oxide (NO) is solved for improving prediction accuracy. The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulation results are compared and analyzed with experimental data. The simulation results show dependence on the type of laminar flame. In the four-dimensional control variable space, the results with steady unstretched premixed flame indicate great agreement on the predictions of temperature and NO field. The computational method proposed in the present work sheds light on the high-precision combustion numerical simulation of NO(X) emission.