Numerical study of reacting flow characteristics of a 2D twin cavity trapped vortex combustor

In the present work, reacting flow characteristics of a 2D trapped vortex combustor (TVC) have been investigated numerically. Turbulent flow prevailing in the combustor is modelled using the two equation shear stress transport (SST) k-ω model and the turbulence–chemistry interactions are modelled using the eddy dissipation concept (EDC) model. Validation study reveals that the data generated by numerical model for reacting flow cases matches reasonably well with the experimental data. Simulation results indicate that for a particular operating condition, the flow structure within the cavity for reacting flow cases is significantly different from non-reacting flow cases. Besides this, under reacting flow condition, the vortex core location shifts with variation in operating condition. This study also reveals significant differences in the velocity gradient at the shear layer between reacting and non-reacting flow conditions. Furthermore, the turbulent kinetic energy at the cavity zone increases for the reacting flow condition, which is attributed to the volume expansion associated with the combustion processes. Also, temperature contours at locations downstream of the trailing edge indicate that both cavity flames are merged together for higher primary air velocity cases, and this is essential for efficient performance of TVC.