Premixed flames subjected to extreme turbulence: Some questions and recent answers

It has been predicted that several changes will occur when premixed flames are subjected to the extreme levels of turbulence that can be found in practical combustors. This paper is a review of recent experimental and DNS results that have been obtained for the range of extreme turbulence, and it includes a discussion of cases that agree or disagree with predictions. Extreme turbulence is defined to correspond to a turbulent Reynolds number (Re-T, based on integral scale) that exceeds 2800 or a turbulent Karlovitz number that exceeds 100, for reasons that are discussed in Section 2.1. Several data bases are described that include measurements made at Lund University, the University of Sydney, the University of Michigan and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab. The data bases also include DNS results from Sandia National Laboratory, the University of New South Wales, Newcastle University, the California Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge. Several major observations are: (a) DNS now can be achieved for a realistic geometry (of the Lund University jet burner) even for extreme turbulence levels, (b) state relations (conditional mean profiles) from DNS and experiments do tend to agree with laminar profiles, at least for methane-air and hydrogen-air reactants that are not preheated, and (c) regime boundaries have been measured and they do not agree with predicted boundaries. These findings indicate that the range of conditions for which flamelet models should be valid is larger than what was previously believed. Additional parameters have been shown to be important; for example, broken reactions occur if the back-support is insufficient due to the entrainment of cold gas into the product gas. Turbulent burning velocity measurements have been extended from the previous normalized turbulence levels (u'/S-L) of 24 up to a value of 163. Turbulent burning velocities no longer follow the trend predicted by Shchelkin but they tend to follow the trend predicted by Damkohler. The boundary where flamelet broadening begins was measured to occur at Re-Taylor = 13.8, which corresponds to an integral scale Reynolds number (Re-T) of 2800. This measured regime boundary can be explained by the idea that flame structure is altered when the turbulent diffusivity at the Taylor scale exceeds a critical value, rather than the idea that changes occur when Kolmogorov eddies just fit inside a flamelet. A roadmap to extend DNS to complex chemistry and to higher Reynolds numbers is discussed. Exascale computers, machine learning, adaptive mesh refinement and embedded DNS show promise. Some advances are reviewed that have extended the use of line and planar PLIF and CARS laser diagnostics to studies that consider complex hydrocarbon fuels and harsh environments. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.