Influence of Thermal Radiation Models on Prediction of Reactive Swirling Methane/Air Flame in a Model Gas Turbine Combustor

A numerical simulation of reactive swirling methane/air non-premixed flame in a new three-dimensional model combustion chamber is carried out to assess the performance of two thermal radiation models, namely, the Discrete Transfer Radiation Model and the P-1 Model. A Finite Volume staggered grid approach is employed to solve the governing equations. The second-order upwind scheme is applied for the space derivatives of the advection terms in all transport equations. The SIMPLEC algorithm is used to handle the velocity and pressure coupling. The eddy dissipation model is employed to predict the heat release and the Reynolds stress turbulence model is applied to simulate the flow behavior. A weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model is used for the gas radiative properties. Computational results with and without the radiation effects are compared with the available experimental data and the two radiation models are evaluated in terms of computational efficiency and prediction accuracy. Comparison of present numerical results with experimental data reveals that the thermal radiation mode is important especially for heat flux on the walls. Both the Discrete Transfer Radiation and P-1 radiation models predict temperature distribution reasonably well, although the latter involves a relatively high computational cost. The P-1 model overestimates heat flux on the walls.