Leading point behavior during the ignition of an annular combustor with liquid n-heptane injectors

Experimental and numerical investigations of ignition in combustors with multiple burners have recently emerged and have provided new insights on the last phase of ignition in gas turbine-like annular geometries where the flame propagates from burner to burner. Previous comparisons between calculations and experiments of light-round in a laboratory scale annular combustion chamber have demonstrated the ability of large-eddy simulation to predict such processes for perfectly premixed conditions and, more recently, for n-heptane spray injection. The present analysis focuses on two additional operating points with liquid n-heptane sprays and the turbulent flame propagation in the two-phase mixture is examined through the behavior of its leading points. The validation of the light-round process is characterized in terms of ignition delays. The detailed analysis of the propagation through the definition of a leading point enables to highlight some key phenomena responsible for the flame behavior, such as the influence of the liquid droplet spray and its vaporization in the chamber. Calculations indicate that the volumetric expansion due to the chemical reaction at the flame induces a strong azimuthal flow in the fresh stream at a distance of several sectors ahead of the flame, which modifies conditions in this region. This creates heterogeneities in the gas composition and wakes on the downstream side of the swirling jets formed by the injectors, with notable effects on the motion of the leading point and on the absolute flame velocity.     

Characterization of multi-regime reaction zones in a piloted inhomogeneous jet flame with local extinction

Gradient free regime identification (GFRI) is applied to 1D Raman/Rayleigh/LIF measurements of temperature and major species from the intermediate velocity case of the Sydney piloted inhomogeneous jet flame series to better understand the structure of reaction zones and the downstream evolution of multi-regime characteristics. The GFRI approach allows local reaction zones to be detected and characterized as premixed, dominantly premixed, multi-regime, dominantly non-premixed, or non-premixed flame structures, based on flame markers (mixture fraction, chemical mode, and heat release rate) derived from the experimental data. The statistics of chemical mode zero-crossings, which mark premixed reaction zones, and the relative populations of flame structures are shown to be sensitive to the state of mixing in the near field of the flame and to the level of local extinction farther downstream. Multi-regime structures, where premixed and non-premixed reaction zones occur in close proximity and both contribute to overall heat release, account for nearly half the total population at streamwise locations within the first several jet diameters. There is a rapid transition within the near field whereby the relative population of non-premixed and dominantly non-premixed structures grows from 0.05 to nearly 0.5, and the population of premixed and dominantly premixed structures decreases correspondingly as fluid entering the reaction zone becomes progressively fuel-rich. Local extinction and re-ignition bring a resurgence in premixed-type structures, many of which occur at fuel-lean conditions. There are also modest populations of multi-regime structures, having chemical mode zero-crossings at lean conditions, which would not exist in a fully burning jet flame.     

2D computations of FREI with cool flames for n-heptane/air mixture

Two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical simulation reproduced flames with repetitive extinction and ignition (FREI) in a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile with a stoichiometric n-heptane/air mixture, which have been observed in the experiment. The ignition of hot flame occurred from consumption reactions of CO that was remained in the previous cycle of FREI. Between extinction and ignition locations of hot flames, several other heat release rate peaks related to cool and blue flames were observed for the first time. After the extinction of the hot flame, cool flame by the low-temperature oxidation of n-heptane appeared first and was stabilized in a low wall temperature region. In the downstream of the stable cool flame, a blue flame by the consumption reactions of cool flame products of CH₂O and H₂O₂ appeared. After that, the hot flame ignition occurred from the remaining CO in the downstream of the blue flame. Then after the next hot flame ignition, the blue flame was swept away by the propagating hot flame. Soon before the hot flame merged with the stable cool flame, the hot flame propagation was intensified by the cool flame. After the hot flame merged with the stable cool flame, the hot flame reacted with the incoming fresh mixture of n-C₇H₁₆ and O₂.     

微小圆管中分裂火焰的实验与理论研究

对丙烷/空气在内径2 mm的圆管内的预混燃烧进行了实验研究,借助于高速数码摄像机发现了分裂火焰现象,其中一个为向上游传播的较亮的常规火焰,另一个为向下游传播的较暗的微弱火焰。这些火焰先后熄灭,经过一段时间后又重复发生自着火、分裂、反向传播、灭火过程。这种现象在富燃、化学恰当比以及贫燃火焰中都有存在。一维非稳态计算表明化...     

Lagrangian investigation of local extinction,re-ignition and auto-ignition in turbulent flames

Lagrangian PDF investigations are performed of the Sandia piloted flame E and the Cabra H₂/N₂ lifted flame to help develop a deeper understanding of local extinction, re-ignition and auto-ignition in these flames, and of the PDF models' abilities to represent these phenomena. Lagrangian particle time series are extracted from the PDF model calculations and are analyzed. In the analysis of the results for flame E, the particle trajectories are divided into two groups: continuous burning and local extinction. For each group, the trajectories are further sub-divided based on the particles' origin: the fuel stream, the oxidizer stream, the pilot stream, and the intermediate region. The PDF calculations are performed using each of three commonly used models of molecular mixing, namely the EMST, IEM and modified Curl mixing models. The calculations with different mixing models reproduce the local extinction and re-ignition processes observed in flame E reasonably well. The particle behavior produced by the IEM and modified Curl models is different from that produced by the EMST model, i.e., the temperature drops prior to (and sometimes during) re-ignition. Two different re-ignition mechanisms are identified for flame E: auto-ignition and mixing-reaction. In the Cabra H₂/N₂ lifted flame, the particle trajectories are divided into different categories based on the particles' origin: the fuel stream, the oxidizer stream, and the intermediate region. The calculations reproduce the whole auto-ignition process reasonably well for the Cabra flame. Four stages of combustion in the Cabra flame are identified in the calculations by the different mixing models, i.e., pure mixing, auto-ignition, mixing-ignition, and fully burnt, although the individual particle behavior by the IEM and modified Curl models is different from that by the EMST model. The relative importance of mixing and reaction during re-ignition and auto-ignition are quantified for the IEM model.     

The compositional structure of highly turbulent piloted premixed flames issuing into a hot coflow

Simultaneous line measurements of major species and temperature by the Raman–Rayleigh technique, combined with CO two-photon laser-induced fluorescence and crossed-plane OH planar laser-induced fluorescence have been applied to a series of flames in the Piloted Premixed Jet Burner (PPJB). The PPJB is capable of stabilizing highly turbulent premixed jet flames through the use of a stoichiometric pilot and a large coflow of hot combustion products. Four flames with increasing jet velocities and constant jet equivalence ratios are examined in this paper. The characteristics of these four flames range from stable flame brushes with reaction zones that can be described as thin and “flamelet-like” to flames that have thickened reaction zones and exhibit extinction re-ignition behaviour. Radial profiles of the mean temperature are reported, indicating the mean thermal extent of the pilot and spatial location of the mean flame brush. Measurements of carbon monoxide (CO) and the hydroxyl radical (OH) reveal a gradual decrease in the conditional mean as the jet velocity is increased and the flame approaches extinction. Experimental results for the conditional mean temperature gradient show a progressive trend of reaction zone thickening with increasing jet velocities, indicating the increased interaction of turbulence with the reaction zone at higher turbulence levels. For the compositions examined, the product of CO and OH mole fractions ([CO][OH]) is shown to be a good qualitative indicator for the net rate of production of carbon dioxide. The axial variation of [CO][OH] is shown to correlate well with the mean chemi-luminescence of the flames including the extinction re-ignition regions. The experimental findings reported in this paper further support the hypothesis of an initial ignition region followed by extinction and re-ignition regions for certain PPJB flames.     

Influence of advective heat flux on extinction scalar dissipation rate and velocity in negative edge flames

A counterflow flame geometry, which has previously been experimentally shown to produce stable negative edge flames, was studied using numerical simulations. In this geometry, the flame edge is formed off the counterflow centreline owing to a local increase in scalar dissipation rate. Hot products from the stable nonpremixed flame on the centreline flow through the edge at velocities of ～ 1–5 m/s. The size of the counterflow burner and the gas flowrates are varied in the simulations to alter the flame strength and velocity at the flame edge. The advection of products through the edge is shown to extend the flame extinction to higher scalar dissipation rates than required for centreline extinction. For high velocities, the scalar dissipation rate required for flame extinction can be related to the centreline extinction value by considering only the effect of energy addition to the flame edge via advection. However, for lower edge flame velocities, the effects of increased thermal and species diffusion through the edge must also be included. Since the advection at the edge is a product of both the local velocity and temperature gradient, a single correlation between the scalar dissipation rate and the negative edge flame velocity does not exist.     

Effects of combustible dust clouds on premixed flame extinction in normal- and micro-gravity

An experimental and numerical study was carried out on the effects of combustible solid particles on the extinction of atmospheric, strained, laminar premixed methane/air, and propane/air flames in normal- and micro-gravity. The study was conducted in the opposed-jet configuration in which single flames were stabilized either below or above the gas stagnation plane by counter-flowing a reacting mixture against ambient-temperature air. Spherical 50-μm glassy-carbon and 32-μm Lycopodium particles were injected from either the mixture or the air sides, and the flame extinction states were experimentally determined. The results provided insight into the effects of fuel type, gas-phase composition, strain rate, gravity, as well as particle type, number density, and injection orientation. The combustible particles could have a negative or positive effect on the gas-phase reactivity, depending on the prevailing strain rate and the orientation of injection. The effect of combustible particles on flame extinction was found to reverse when the orientation of the particle seeding is reversed. Experiments and simulations revealed that particle reactions that are not possible in upstream seeding become possible in downstream seeding due to differences in particle residence times and prevailing temperature fields. The effects of gravity on the particle–gas interactions were identified and explained. Gravity could notably modify the chemical response of reacting particles, which, in turn, affects the extinction behavior of the gas phase.     

Unsteady flamelet/progress variable approach for non-premixed turbulent lifted flames

The unsteady flamelet/progress variable approach has been developed for the prediction of a lifted flame to capture the extinction and re-ignition physics. In this work inclusion of the time variant behavior in the flamelet generation embedded in the large eddy simulation technique, allows better understanding of partially premixed flame dynamics. In the process sufficient simulations to generate unsteady laminar flamelets are performed, which are a function of time. These flamelets are used for the generation of the look-up table and the flamelet library is produced. This library is used for the calculation of temperature and other species in the computational domain as the solution progresses. The library constitutes filtered quantities of all the scalars as a function of mean mixture fraction, mixture fraction variance and mean progress variable. Mixture fraction and progress variable distributions are assumed to be β-PDF and δ-PDF respectively. The technique used here is known as the unsteady flamelet progress variable (UFPV) approach. One of the well known lifted flames is considered for the present modeling which shows flame lift-off. The results are compared with the experimental data for the mixture fraction and temperature. Lift off height is predicted from the numerical calculations and compared with the experimentally given value. Comparisons show a reasonably good agreement and the UFPV combustion model appears to be a promising technique for the prediction of lifted and partially premixed flames.     

LES-CMC simulations of a turbulent bluff-body flame

The large Eddy simulations (LES)-conditional moment closure (CMC) method with detailed chemistry is applied to a bluff-body stabilized flame. Computations of the velocity and mixture fraction fields show good agreement with the experiments. Temperature and major species are well-predicted throughout the flame with the exception of the flow regions in the outer shear layer close to the nozzle where the pure mixing between hot recirculating products and fresh oxidizer cannot be captured. LES-CMC generally improves on results obtained with RANS-CMC and on LES that uses one representative flamelet to model the dependence of reactive species on mixture fraction. Simulated CO mass fractions are generally in good agreement with the experimental data although a 10% overprediction can be found at downstream positions. NO predictions show a distinct improvement over the flamelet approach, however, simulations overpredict NO mass fractions at all downstream locations due to an overprediction of temperature close to the nozzle. The potential of LES-CMC to predict unsteady finite rate effects is demonstrated by the prediction of endothermic—or “flame cooling”—regions close to the neck of the recirculation zone that favours ethylene production via the methane fuel decomposition channel.     

Methane flames in a jet impinging onto a wall

Traditionally, research has focused on positive stretch in the stagnation flow and negative stretch along the Bunsen flame. Only a very limited amount of research has been devoted to studying the behavior of a conical Bunsen flame established in a stagnation flow, which is significantly affected by the combined effects of the curvature stretch and the aerodynamic straining. This investigation is aimed at studying the characteristics of laminar conical premixed flames in an impinging jet flow experimentally and theoretically. First, we analyze the transport processes of a nonreactive impinging jet flow numerically. For lower burner-to-plate distance, the potential core becomes concave at the top. Hence, a conical Bunsen flame established in such a flow field may suffer positive flow stretch. The predicted flame shapes using a simple model incorporated with the numerical results agree well with the experimental observations. Flame shapes exhibit double-solution characteristics in a certain range of methane concentrations. Experimentally, by following different paths of adjusting methane concentration (decreasing from rich to lean or increasing from lean to rich), two different flame configurations (planar or conical flame) may exist at the same flow conditions, namely burner-to-plate distance, inlet velocity, and methane concentration. At the higher (or lower) critical methane concentration, the transition from a flat flame to a conical flame (or from a conical flame to a flat flame) occurs. The calculation of stretch and measurement of flame temperature for the low inlet velocity, 0.8 m/s, show that the stretch of a conical flame established in a stagnation flow is negative (dominated by the flame curvature). However, it is important to emphasize that at high velocity, e.g., U_in = 1.6 m/s, a negatively stretched flame tip can suffer positive flow stretch. This significant finding has been verified in the experiment since the conical flame tip is higher than the positively stretched flat flame.     

A consistent LES/filtered-density function formulation for the simulation of turbulent flames with detailed chemistry

A hybrid large-Eddy simulation/filtered-density function (LES–FDF) methodology is formulated for simulating variable density turbulent reactive flows. An indirect feedback mechanism coupled with a consistency measure based on redundant density fields contained in the different solvers is used to construct a robust algorithm. Using this novel scheme, a partially premixed methane/air flame is simulated. To describe transport in composition space, a 16-species reduced chemistry mechanism is used along with the interaction-by-exchange with the mean (IEM) model. For the micro-mixing model, typically a constant ratio of scalar to mechanical time-scale is assumed. This parameter can have substantial variations and can strongly influence the combustion process. Here, a dynamic time-scale model is used to prescribe the mixing time-scale, which eliminates the time-scale ratio as a model constant. Two different flame configurations, namely, Sandia flames D and E are studied. Comparison of simulated radial profiles with experimental data show good agreement for both flames. The LES–FDF simulations accurately predict the increased extinction near the inlet and re-ignition further downstream. The conditional mean profiles show good agreement with experimental data for both flames.     

Experimental observation of turbulent jet ignition of pre-chamber with scavenging system for carbon dioxide diluted mixtures

The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) method can suppress knock and improve the thermal efficiency of engines. But it will also deteriorate the combustion stability and engine power. Turbulent jet ignition (TJI) is a reliable ignition resource for improving ignition stability and burning rate. However, the residual productions in the pre-chamber will worsen the performance of the TJI. To this end, a self-designed pre-chamber with a scavenging system has been proposed. In this study, the ignition process and flame propagation phenomena under different EGR dilution ratios for H₂/N₂/O₂ and CH₄/N₂/O₂ mixtures were conducted in a constant-volume combustion chamber. The results suggested that the increase in EGR dilution weakens the influence of cellular instability and causes buoyancy instability, the latter of which could be mitigated by the passive TJI method. For the passive TJI mode, the exit time of the hot jet was delayed, and the turbulent flame speed decreased with the increase of EGR dilution ratio. Four ignition phenomena, namely jet re-ignition, flame buoyancy, re-ignition failure, and misfire, were distinctly identified. However, EGR tolerance cannot be extended by passive pre-chambers. Therefore, the pre-chamber with a scavenging system that can effectively extend the lean combustion tolerance with EGR dilution compared to SI and passive TJI was proposed. The effects of air and fuel injection quantities on ignition and flame propagation were investigated. The flame propagation velocity was positively related to the air injection mass, whereas an optimum fuel mass was required to achieve fast flame propagation. The EGR limit based on dual injections in the pre-chamber was obviously extended. Moreover, under near EGR tolerance conditions, a leaner fuel injection in the pre-chamber was required to realize successful ignition in the main chamber, as strong turbulence could cause high heat transfer loss with the cool unburnt mixture and suppress the occurrence of re-ignition.     

Unsteady effects on flame extinction limits during gaseous and two-phase flame/vortex interactions

In highly fluctuating flows, it happens that high values of the strain-rate do not induce extinction of the flame front. Unsteady effects minimize the flame response to rapidly varying strain fields. In the present study, the effects of time-dependent flows on non-premixed flames are investigated during flame/vortex interactions. Gaseous flames and spray flames in the external sheath combustion regime are considered. To analyse the flame/vortex interaction process, the velocity field and the flame geometry are simultaneously determined using particle imaging velocimetry and laser-induced fluorescence of the CH radical. The influence of vortex flows on the extinction limits for different vortex parameters and for different gaseous and two-phase flames is examined. If the external perturbation is applied over an extended period of time, the extinction strain-rate is that corresponding to the steady-state flame, and this critical value mainly depends on the fuel and oxidizer compositions and the injection temperature. If the external perturbation is applied during a short period of time, extinction occurs at strain-rates above the steady-state extinction strain-rate. This deviation appears for flow fluctuation timescales below steady flame diffusion timescales. This behaviour is induced by diffusive processes, limiting the ability of the flame to respond to highly fluctuating flows. With respect to unsteady effects, the spray flames investigated in this article behave essentially like gaseous flames, because evaporation takes place in a thin layer before the flame front. Extinction limits are only slightly modified by the spray, controlling process being the competition between aerodynamic and diffusive timescales.     

Flame behavior in heated porous sand bed

This paper reports experimental and numerical investigations on the combustion characteristics of a lean methane–air mixture in a heated porous sand bed. The porous bed consisted of sand (SiO₂) particles with a mean particle diameter of 0.56 mm. The horizontally placed quartz tube was heated externally to initiate the combustion reaction in the porous bed combustor. The stabilized flame location curve as a function of averaged mixture velocity was obtained for various equivalence ratios. Contrary to the earlier finding of a C-shape flame stabilization behavior, a new S-shape behavior was observed in the present study. This can be divided into three regimes: high, moderate, and low velocity regimes. In the low velocity regime, flame with very weak luminosity was confirmed and the stabilized flame location moved downstream with the increase of the mixture velocity. For the moderate velocity regime, a stable flat flame was observed and the flame location moved upstream with the increase of the mixture velocity. An oscillatory flame behavior was observed in the high velocity regime. In this oscillatory mode, the flame front oscillated with a characteristic time period of the order on 1 h and increased with the increase of the mixture velocity. In order to further understand these experimental results, one-dimensional computational studies with detailed chemistry and heat transfer mechanisms were carried out. The computational results were in good agreement with experimental observations. The computations showed that solid-to-solid radiation played a significant role in the flame stabilized location. From the examination of the flame structure, it was found that the flame behavior in the low velocity regime was similar to that of the flameless combustion mode.     

Theoretical and experimental studies on mesoscale flame propagation and extinction

Mesoscale flame propagation and extinction of premixed flames in channels are investigated theoretically and experimentally. Emphasis is placed on the effect of wall heat loss and the wall–flame interaction via heat recirculation. At first, an analytical solution of flame speed in mesoscale channels is obtained. The results showed that channel width, flow velocity, and wall thermal properties have dramatic effects on the flame propagation and lead to multiple flame regimes and extinction limits. With the decrease in channel width, there exist two distinct flame regimes, a fast burning regime and a slow burning regime. The existence of the new flame regime and its extended flammability limit render the classical quenching diameter inapplicable. Furthermore, the results showed that at optimum conditions of flow velocity and wall thermal properties, mesoscale flames can propagate faster than the adiabatic flame. Second, numerical simulation with detailed chemistry demonstrated the existence of multiple flame regimes. The results also showed that there is a non-linear dependence of the flame speed on equivalence ratio. Moreover, it is shown that the Nusselt number has a significant impact on this non-linear dependence. Finally, the non-linear dependence of flame speed on equivalence ratio for both flame regimes is measured using a C₃H₈–air mixture. The results are in good agreement with the theory and numerical simulation.     

Role of large scale flow features on cycle-to-cycle variations of spark-ignited flame-initiation and its transition to turbulent combustion

This study investigates the influence of large-scale flow features, including flow structure and velocity magnitude, on the early-burn period variability in a homogenous-charge spark-ignited engine fueled with premixed propane-air mixture. Particle image velocimetry and in-cylinder pressure measurement data from a previous study - were processed to enable simultaneous flow characterization and flame-front tracking as well as apparent heat-release analysis. By combining probability analysis of flame development with conditional sampling of fast and slow early-burn cycles using 10% fuel mass fraction burned, it is shown that an undesirable flow structure produces an asymmetric flame development at the initial flame growth period. This asymmetric flame structure persists through the whole initial-to-turbulent transition period until the flame becomes fully turbulent. The undesirable flow condition is characterized by large-scale convective flows near spark plug rather than flows that lead to increased flame spread in multiple directions. The simultaneous flow and flame characterization enables the quantifications of flame-front propagation speed, unburned fuel-air mixture velocity ahead of flame front and local burning velocity at flame surface. Here the local burning velocity is referred to as laminar or turbulent flame speed. A simplified approach is introduced to derive integrated values for these quantities per crank-angle-degree, enabling the quantitative comparison of the trend-wise difference in these integrated metrics between fast and slow early-burn cycles. It is revealed that for the transition period, the CCV in the velocity magnitude of unburned fuel-air mixture ahead of the flame front accounts for nearly 50% to the variability of flame propagation speed. The burning velocity provides the remaining source of the flame propagation variability in this period. The flame propagation variations in the initial flame growth and fully turbulent periods are smaller than those in the transition period and are primarily dependent on the variability of large-scale flow features.     

Flame stabilization regimes for premixed flames anchored behind cylindrical flame holders

The objective of this study is to construct a regime diagram for laminar flames stabilized behind flame holders with respect to the presence of a recirculation zone (RZ), trend of heat loss to the burner, and flow strain and flame curvature effects. This is achieved by varying the radius of the cylindrical flame holder and the mixture velocity between the flashback limit and the blow-off limit at a fixed equivalence ratio. It is found that for all flame holders, a RZ vortex is not present near the flashback limit. At flashback, flow strain is almost zero and the flame curvature is found to be the main contributor to flame stretch. With increasing mixture velocity, the heat loss to the flame holder decreases for smaller radii and a RZ does not appear till blow-off occurs. For flame holders with radii greater than twice the flame thickness, the heat loss to the flame holder first decreases with increasing mixture velocity without a RZ. A further increase in the mixture velocity does not result in blow-off but instead, a RZ appears behind the flame holder reversing the heat loss trend. In this scenario, flow strain is found to increase significantly and becomes the major contributor to flame stretch, although curvature effects are still present. With the RZ present, the blow-off limits are significantly extended and the stabilization mechanism is altered. The RZ vortex shields the flame base from intense pre-heating resulting from the increase in heat loss to the flame-holder while it provides support to the flame leading edge by recirculation of hot products. The results obtained from this study are used to construct a regime diagram, which offers a broader view of the whole flame stabilization process and its mechanisms.     

Studies of autoignition-assisted nonpremixed cool flames

Autoignition-assisted nonpremixed cool flames of diethyl ether (DEE) are investigated in both laminar counterflow and turbulent jet flame configurations. First, the ignition and extinction limits of laminar nonpremixed cool flames of diluted DEE are measured and simulated using detailed kinetic models. The laminar flame measurements are used to validate the kinetic models and guide the turbulent flame measurements. The results show that, below a critical mixture condition, for elevated temperature and dilute mixtures, the cool flame extinction limit and the low-temperature ignition limit merge, leading to autoignition-assisted cool flame stabilization without hysteresis. Based on the findings from the laminar flame experiments, autoignition-assisted turbulent lifted cool flames are established using a Co-flow Axisymmetric Reactor-Assisted Turbulent (CARAT) burner. The lift-off heights of the turbulent cool flames are quantified using formaldehyde planar laser-induced fluorescence. Based on an analogy with autoignition-assisted lifted hot flames, a correlation is proposed such that the autoignition-assisted cool flame lift-off height scales with the product of the flow velocity and the square of the first-stage ignition delay time. Using this scaling, we demonstrate that the kinetic mechanism that most accurately predicts the laminar flame ignition and extinction limits also best predicts the turbulent cool flame lift-off height.     

A multi-zone chemistry mapping approach for direct numerical simulation of auto-ignition and flame propagation in a constant volume enclosure

A direct numerical simulation (DNS) coupling with multi-zone chemistry mapping (MZCM) is presented to simulate flame propagation and auto-ignition in premixed fuel/air mixtures. In the MZCM approach, the physical domain is mapped into a low-dimensional phase domain with a few thermodynamic variables as the independent variables. The approach is based on the fractional step method, in which the flow and transport are solved in the flow time steps whereas the integration of the chemical reaction rates and heat release rate is performed in much finer time steps to accommodate the small time scales in the chemical reactions. It is shown that for premixed mixtures, two independent variables can be sufficient to construct the phase space to achieve a satisfactory mapping. The two variables can be the temperature of the mixture and the specific element mass ratio of H atom for fuels containing hydrogen atoms. An aliasing error in the MZCM is investigated. It is shown that if the element mass ratio is based on the element involved in the most diffusive molecules, the aliasing error of the model can approach zero when the grid in the phase space is refined. The results of DNS coupled with MZCM (DNS-MZCM) are compared with full DNS that integrates the chemical reaction rates and heat release rate directly in physical space. Application of the MZCM to different mixtures of fuel and air is presented to demonstrate the performance of the method for combustion processes with different complexity in the chemical kinetics, transport and flame–turbulence interaction. Good agreement between the results from DNS and DNS-MZCM is obtained for different fuel/air mixtures, including H₂/air, CO/H₂/air and methane/air, while the computational time is reduced by nearly 70%. It is shown that the MZCM model can properly address important phenomena such as differential diffusion, local extinction and re-ignition in premixed combustion.