A New Global Mechanism for MILD Combustion Using Artificial-Neural-Network-Based Optimization

A new global mechanism of combustion called the GM-ANN mechanism is proposed for MILD combustion, with its reaction parameters being optimized by artificial neural network (ANN). More specifically, the GM mechanism is first obtained by selecting well-performed global reactions from Jones and Lindstedt (Combust. Flame 1988, 73, 233) (named JL mechanism) and Westbrook and Dryer (Combust. Sci. Technol. 1981, 27, 31) (named WD mechanism). Then, its parameters are optimized using ANN to achieve the results best matching those from experiments and/or numerical simulations using the detailed mechanism GRI-Mech-3.0 (abbreviated as GRI-3.0). The GM-ANN mechanism is tested by comparing its performance with those of GRI-3.0 and JL and WD mechanisms in zero-dimensional perfectly stirred reactor (PSR), nonpremixed CH4/H-2 jet-in-hot-coflow (JHC) flame, and premixed and nonpremixed combustion in furnace. Results obtained demonstrate that the GM-ANN mechanism performs better than the JL and WD mechanisms for various cases of MILD combustion. Therefore, the GM-ANN mechanism should be a better choice than the JL and WD mechanisms for high-cost computations of MILD combustion by large eddy simulation (LES) and direct numerical simulation (DNS) that need to use global mechanisms.

Automated summary

The GM-ANN mechanism is a new global combustion mechanism optimized by artificial neural network for MILD combustion, demonstrating better performance than traditional mechanisms in various cases.